The Bad News That Makes the Good News Great (Romans 3:1-20)

Big Idea: We need Christmas because we all stand guilty before God and can raise no objection, so we need a Savior.

There’s nothing like a good courtroom scene in a movie. There are a lot of them. One of them is in the film A Few Good Men, in which the character played by Tom Cruise cross-examines a colonel played by Jack Nicholson. Nicholson finally erupts with the legendary line: “You can’t handle the truth!” It’s memorable, and I may have used that a few times in my own life to get out of a tricky situation.

But that’s not the only one. I could name courtroom scene after courtroom scene from movies like A Time to Kill to To Kill a Mockingbird to 12 Angry Men and more.

Today we enter the courtroom for the final moments of a trial. Paul is prosecuting humanity, all of us. You and I stand accused. The lawyers are raising their final objections. Paul dismantles each one with precision, and then presents his closing argument. His arguments are devastating and yet unavoidable.

No matter who you are, it’s crucial that you feel the weight of his argument, because as hard as it will be to hear, it will lead you to a very good place.

Objections! (3:1-8)

Let’s review Paul’s argument so far.

In chapter 1:18 to the end of chapter one, Paul argues that Gentiles stand condemned before God. He argues that God's wrath is being revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Humanity's core problem is that we suppress the truth about God despite the fact that he has revealed himself clearly to everyone. As a result, God has given humanity over to the consequences of their rebellion through judicial abandonment. It’s a devastating picture of humanity that explains so much about our world.

But that’s not all. In chapter 2, Paul turns to his morally upright readers, who are probably nodding along with Paul. He makes a surprising statement to them as well in 2:1 (CSB): “Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.” They don’t get a pass, because they’re equally guilt of the same sins, and their religious heritage won’t save them. Paul levels the playing field: no one—Gentile or Jew, pagan or religious—can stand before God on the basis of their own righteousness. Jews as well as Gentiles stand guilty before God and need a Savior.

Paul’s arguments are devastating. You can tell that Paul understands that his readers don’t like what he’s saying because he begins to deal with objections they might raise. He’s already dealt with one in chapter 2, and now he deals with three more in chapter 3.

I need to warn you: John Piper said, “I found this passage to be about as hard a paragraph to deal with as any in this letter. The difficulty of following the train of thought in this paragraph is enormous.” In fact, after preaching this passage, Piper preached an entire message called “Why God Inspired Hard Texts.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones said that this is one of the most difficult paragraphs not only in Romans, but also in the whole Bible. But let’s see if we can understand these three objections and how Paul answers them.

Objection #1: What happened to the advantages of being Jewish? (3:1-2)

“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?” (3:1). In other words, God chose Israel out of all the nations. He made a covenant with them, and gave them circumcision as a sign and a seal. If Jews stand equally condemned before God, does all that go down the drain? Why did God to the trouble to choose Abraham and his descendants and set them apart? What happened to the edge they enjoyed?

It’s a good question, and Paul replies, “Much in every way.” In other words, it’s not just a slight yes. It’s an emphatic yes. They have a huge advantage. Then he continues: “To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God” (3:2). In other words, there is a huge advantage to being Jewish. They were given the gift of God’s law. What an incredible gift. God revealed his mind, will, and plan to them. That’s not a minor advantage; that’s a huge advantage. Paul mentioned one advantage, but there are others: the covenants, God's presence in the temple, the promises, the prophets, and more.

Paul acknowledges the advantages the Jewish people had, similar to how we benefit from being in church and reading God's word today. There are massive advantages to being part of a church. We have the Bible. You have so many good influences around you. The advantages are profound. But they’re not enough. An advantage can be wasted, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there initially.

Objection #2: Isn’t God failing to keep his promises? (3:3-4)

“What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” If Paul is right and Jewish people are still condemned before God, does that mean God has been unfaithful to his eternal covenant with them? If God’s people are unfaithful, doesn’t that mean that God is unfaithful?

This is such an important question that Paul devotes three whole chapters to it, and we’re going to get to them much later in chapters 9 to 11. He only gives a partial answer here. There’s a lot more coming. But here’s his partial answer:

By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.” (3:3b-4)

Paul’s words are strong. “By no means”! could be translated, “Not on your life!” God will never break his covenant. Israel may not have kept their side of the covenant, but God has been faithful to keep his side. David quotes from Psalm 51:4, from David’s confession of great sin, so show: the problem is not with God. God is faithful even when humans are faithless.

Objection #3: Aren’t we doing God a favor by sinning? (3:5-8)

Things are breaking down. The objections are starting to get silly. The questioning is becoming hostile and a little ridiculous. Read verse 5:

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)

In other words, judging makes a judge look really good. If judging my sin makes God look good, how could he be displeased with my sin? Paul is almost embarrassed to deal with this objection.

But it comes in another flavor in verse 7:

But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?

Isn’t my sin to God’s advantage? If my sin magnifies his holiness, how could God condemn me? My sin is dong God a favor!

You can see how twisted this line of thinking is. The worse we are, the better, because my sin makes God’s holiness and grace look better. But Paul is clear in his response. “By no means” he says in verse 6. He hardly has to refute them. Just restating these objections shows how ridiculous they are. They’re self-refuting. They’re just mind-games to evade our own responsibility before God. They’re absurd. There’s nothing more that needs to be said. No further debate is needed. The line of questioning is out of line.

Paul’s made the case that Jews, and by extension religious people, stand condemned just as idol-worshiping Gentiles do. It’s not that they don’t have advantages. It’s not that God hasn’t been faithful to his promises. It’s just not enough. They still stand guilty before a holy God, and no amount of mind-games will erase that.

These objections just seem like a desperate attempt to avoid what we know to be true. “Don’t play games with the Bible,” says John Piper. “Be as careful as you can in handling the Word of God.” Don’t resort to tricky reasoning and spin to avoid the inescapable conclusion that all humans stand guilty before a holy God.

Closing Argument (3:9-20)

Now we come to Paul’s closing argument. Here’s how he sets things up: “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.” That’s his main argument: despite their advantages, Jews have ended up no better off before God than Gentiles. Both are under sin. “The person who lives a life of tremendous immorality and debauchery, who fits every description of 1:18-32, and the person who is conscientious and moral are alike under sin” (Tim Keller).

Then Paul weaves together a tapestry of quotations from verses 10 to 18 from all over Scripture, particularly the Psalms, but also Proverbs and Isaiah.

…as it is written:
(From Psalm 14:1-3 and Psalm 53:1-3)
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
(From Psalm 5:9)
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
(From Psalm 140:3)
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
(From Proverbs 10:7)
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
(From Isaiah 59:7-8)
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
(From Psalm 36:1)
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Here you have a complete catalog of human sin. How bad is it? Really bad.

…in the long history of the human race there have been only three basic views of human nature: (1) that man is well; (2) that man is sick; and (3) that man is dead… The third view, the one the Bible presents, is that we humans are not well, nor even sick. We are dead so far as our being able to do anything to please, understand, or find God is concerned. (James Montgomery Boice)

Every part of us has been affected. It is not that we are as bad as we could be; it is that every faculty, every aspect of our character and conduct, including our mind, will, emotions, and affections, has been affected by sin. It’s reflected in how we speak. It’s reflected in the violence we commit against each other. It’s reflected in our posture towards God and our refusal to honor him.

Turgenev, the Russian poet, caught it perfectly when he said, “I don’t know what the heart of a bad man is like, but I do know what the heart of a good man is like and it is terrible.”

And so we’re left with the inescapable conclusion of Paul’s argument in verses 19-20:

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

This is the conclusion of the previous 62 verses from Romans 1:18 on: Every single human being stands condemned before the judgment seat of God. He pictures humanity standing before God’s throne one day. We may have had speeches of self-vindication, speeches full of excuses, ready to present before God. But on that day, every word will be silenced. “No mouth anywhere in the world—from the primitive tribe to the university lecture hall—will be able to raise a legitimate objection against God’s judgment” (John Piper). God’s law won’t help us; it will only point out how far short we’ve fallen. Every one of us will stand guilty before a holy God.

That’s Paul’s case. He’s answered every objection. He’s established an irrefutable case. All of us stand guilty.

You may think, “This is the worst Christmas sermon I’ve ever heard.” But I’ve called this sermon “the bad news that makes the good news great.” What Paul describes here is the problem that made Christmas necessary. Paul’s argument is essentially a recap of all of human history from Genesis 3 to the end of the Old Testament. We could not get out of the mess we created. We needed a Savior.

And so Jesus came to do what we couldn’t do. The chasm between holy God and sinful humanity couldn't be crossed from our side. We had nothing to offer, no righteousness to bring. But in the manger, God crosses from his side toward us. Jesus came to live the life we couldn’t, to be the one righteous person who will provide the righteousness needed for all who believe. He came to bear God’s wrath for our sins.

Romans 1:18-3:20 shows us things are worse than we thought. But Jesus came to solve this unsolvable problem. Matthew 1:21 says, “He will save his people from their sins.” He is the Savior that we need.