Romans 3:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

NIV: What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?

NASB: Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

CSB: So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

NLT: Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision?

KJV: What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

NKJV: What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?

Paul anticipates that some readers may take his words in the previous verses to suggest there is no advantage to being a member of God's chosen people, Israel. After all, Paul wrote that all people, both the Jews and Gentiles, have earned God's judgment with our sinfulness. Those under the law of Moses, the Jews, have all broken the law. The fact that they have the law and even that they are circumcised, as all male Jews were, will not keep them from answering to God for their own personal sin.

In that sense, Paul has said, there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. So is there any advantage to being included in the Jewish people and being circumcised, as God has commanded? Paul answers this question using a sort of back-and-forth approach in the following verses. By posing these questions, and providing answers, Paul gives a very direct counter to anyone who might raise those points in objection to his teachings.

Romans 3:1–8 contains a series of questions which might have come from someone opposed to Paul's teaching in Romans 2. Using this challenge-response structure, Paul clarifies that being Jewish and circumcised still comes with great advantages. He also points out that God remains faithful to the Jewish people in spite of their sin. In fact, His faithfulness in the face of unfaithfulness increases His glory. That does not mean, however, that God wants human beings to continue to sin, as some were accusing Paul of teaching.

Romans 3 begins with a question-and-answer scheme. These are responses one might expect from someone opposed to what Paul wrote in Romans 2. Next, Paul quotes from a series of Old Testament passages. These Scriptures show that those writers also agreed that nobody, not one person, deserves to be called righteous. Paul declares emphatically that no one will be justified by following the works of the law. Finally, though, he arrives at the good news: righteousness before God is available apart from the law through faith in Christ's death for our sin on the cross.

The prior chapter explained that God's judgment on sin will come to all men, whether or not they understand the literal law. Faith in God, in the heart, matters more to God than rote obedience. At the start of this chapter, Paul answers a series of questions from an imagined objector to those teachings. Next, he quotes a series of Old Testament passages which support His teaching that human beings are by nature sinful. Each of us turns away from God. Nobody can be justified by the law, Paul insists. Fortunately, it is possible to attain God's righteousness: but only by His grace, through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice for our sin on the cross. We must come to this by faith, and it is available to Jews and Gentiles alike.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.

Accessed 4/28/2024 12:58:33 PM