God Justified, Though Man Believes Not

God Justified, Though Man Believes Not

(No. 2255)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 8, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 31, 1890.

"For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? God forbid: yes, let God be true, and every man
a liar; as itis written, That You might be justified in Your sayings,
and might overcome when You are judged." Romans 3:3,4.

THE seed of Israel had great privileges even before the coming of
Christ. God had promised by Covenant that they should have those
privileges and they enjoyed them. They had Revelation and a Divine
Light, while all the rest of the world sat in heathen darkness. Yet so
many Jews did not believe, that, as a whole, the nation missed the
promised blessing. A great multitude of them only saw the outward
symbols and never understood their spiritual meaning. They lived and
died without the blessing promised to their fathers. Did this make the
Covenant of God to be void? Did this make the faithfulness of God to be
a matter of question? "No, no," says Paul, "if some did not believe,
and so did not gain the blessing, this was their own fault; but the
Covenant of God stood fast, and did not change because men were
untrue." He remained just as true as ever and He will be able to
justify all that He has said and all that He has done–and He will do
so even to the end. When the great drama of human history shall have
been played out, the net result will be that the ways of God shall be
vindicated notwithstanding all the unbelief of men!

I am going to talk of our text, at this time, first, as giving to us a
sorrowful reminder–"For what if some did not believe?" It is sad to be
reminded that there have always been some who did not believe. Next,
here is a horrible inference which some have drawn from this grievous
fact, that is, because some did not believe, it has been hinted that
their unbelief would make the faith of God or the faithfulness of God
without effect, to which, in the third place, the Apostle gives an
indignant reply–"God forbid: yes, let God be true, but every man a
liar; as it is written, That You might be justified in Your sayings,
and might overcome when You are judged."

I. Well now, first, we have, here, A SORROWFUL REMINDER. There have
always been some who have not believed.

When God devised the great plan of salvation by Grace. When He gave His
own Son to die as the Substitute for guilty men. When He proclaimed
that whoever believed in Jesus Christ should have everlasting life–you
would have thought that everybody would have been glad to hear such
good news and that they would all have hastened to believe it! Christ
is so suitable to the sinner–why does not the sinner accept Him? The
way of salvation is so simple, so suitable to guilty men! It is
altogether so glorious, so grand, that if we did not know the depravity
of the human heart, we should expect that every sinner would at once
believe the Gospel and receive its blessings! But, alas, some have not
believed!

Now, this is stated very mildly. The Apostle says, "For what if some
did not believe?" He might have said, "What if many did not believe?"
But he is talking to his Hebrew friends and he wishes to woo them–so
he states the case as gently as he can. Remember, dear Friends, the
carcasses of all but two who came out of Egypt fell in the wilderness
through unbelief. Only Joshua and Caleb entered the Promised Land, but
the Apostle does not wish to unduly press his argument, or speak so as
to aggravate his hearers and he, therefore, puts it, "For what if some
did not believe?"

Even in his own day, he might have said, "The bulk of the Jewish nation
has rejected Christ. Wherever I go, they seek my life. They would stone
me to death, if they could, because I preach a dying Savior's love!"
But he does not put it so. He only mentions that some did not believe.
Yet this is a very appalling thing, even when stated this mildly! If
all here, except one person, were Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it was announced that that one unbeliever would be

pointed out to the congregation, I am sure we would all feel in a very
solemn condition. But, dear Friends, there are many more than one here
who have not believed on the Son of God and who, therefore, are not
saved! If the unconverted were not so numerous there is all the greater
need for our tears and our compassion.

The terms of Paul's question suggest a very sweet mitigation of the
sorrow. "What if some did not believe?" Then it is implied that some
did believe! Glory be to God, there is a numerous "some" who have
believed that Jesus is the Christ! And believing in Him, have found
life through His name! These have entered into a new life and now bear
a new character, "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever."
Beloved, we thank God that the preaching of the Gospel has not been in
vain! Up yonder, more numerous than the stars are they that walk in
white robes which they have washed in the blood of the Lamb! And down
here, in spite of our mourning, there is a glorious company who still
follow the Lamb–who is to them, their only hope.

Looking at the other side of the case, it is true that, at times, the
"some" who did not believe meant the majority. It must be admitted that
sometimes, unbelievers are greater in number even among the hearers of
the precious Word. Read the story of Israel through, in the Books of
Kings and Chronicles, and you will be saddened to find how, again and
again, they did not believe. The history of Israel, from the moment
they became a nation, is a very painful one. It is full of the mercy of
God, but it is also full of treachery of the human heart. In the days
of the Judges, the people served God while a good Judge ruled over
them–but as soon as he was dead, they went astray after false gods!

I almost think that the Christian Church is now in the period of the
judges. When the Lord raises up, here, one, and there, another, to
preach His Word faithfully, the people seem to take heed to it–but
when the faithful preachers are gone, many of their hearers turn aside
again. Blessed be to God, we expect the coming of the King, soon, and
when the King comes, and the period of the Judges shall have ended,
then we shall enter upon a time of rest and peace! It may be that even
among hearers of the Gospel, those who do not believe are greater in
number than those who do believe. My text sounds like a solemn knell
and there is something terribly awful about it, like the deep rumbling
of underground thunder!

Now, dear Friends, this unbelief has usually been the case throughout
all ages among the great ones of the earth. In our Savior's day, they
said, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him?" The
Gospel has usually had a free course among the poor and among those who
some call, "the lower orders," though why they are said to be lower
than others, I do not know, unless it is because the heavier and more
valuable things generally sink to the bottom. The Church of God owes
very little to kings and princes and nobles. She owes far more to
fishermen and peasants. Jesus said, "I thank You, O Father, Lord of
Heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and have revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it
seemed good in Your sight." I suspect that, until the King, Himself,
shall come, we shall still find that the common people will gladly hear
the Gospel and that, while Christ the Lord will choose, for His own,
some from all ranks and conditions of men, it will still be true that,
"not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called."

I think we may also say, with deep solemnity that some who have not
believed have belonged to the religious and to the teaching class. In
the days of our Lord and His Apostles, the scribes and Pharisees were
the greatest haters of the Doctrine of Christ. Those whom you might
have supposed being most familiar with the Scriptures–the scribes,
would soon have recognized the Messiah–were the men who would not
acknowledge Him! So it was with the priests, even the chief priests,
the men who had to do with the sacrifices and with the Temple–they
rejected Christ, although they were the religious leaders of the
people! Do you suppose it is very different, now? Alas, my Friends, we
may be preachers, and yet not preach the Gospel of Christ! We may be
members of the Church and yet not savingly know the Gospel. We may go
in and out of the House of God–and seem to take part in its holy
service, and yet, all the while, we may be strangers and foreigners in
the Presence of the Most High!

Believers are not always those whom you would suppose to be Believers.
The Lord often brings to Himself, as in the case of the centurion, of
whom we read this morning–far-off ones, rough soldiers, who were not
thought likely to feel the power of such gentle teaching as the
Doctrine of the Cross–and they bow before the Savior. But alas, alas!
Among those who appear to be the children of the Kingdom, brought up in
the worship of God, there are some, yes, many, who have not believed on
Christ and, saddest of all, even among those who are the teachers of
others in the things of God, there are some that have not savingly
believed!

Now, dear Friends, if we take the whole range of the nations favored
with the Gospel, we shall have to say, and say it, as it were, in
capital letters, "SOME DO NOT BELIEVE," and that, "SOME," is a very
large number! The question of the Apostle is, "What if some did not
believe?" Well, if I had to ask and answer that question, at this time,
I would say, "What if some do not believe?" Then they are lost. "He
that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only-begotten Son of God." There still remains, to
those who hear the Gospel, the opportunity to believe and, believing,
they shall find life through the sacred name. Let us pray for them. If
some do not believe, let us who do believe, make them the constant
subject of our prayers–and then let us tell them what is to be
believed–and bear our witness to the saving power of the Gospel!

When we have done that, let us scrupulously take care that our life and
conduct are consistent with the doctrines that we teach, so that, if
some do not believe, they may be won to Christ by the example of those
who believe in Him. Oh, that every Christian here would seek to bring
another person to Christ! I pray you, Beloved, if you have tasted that
the Lord is gracious, be not barren nor unfruitful. If you know the
great secret, tell it to others! Proclaim it! Proclaim it! We all need
stirring up to this blessed work–I am sure we do. I heard of a
Christian who always spoke about Christ to, at least, one person every
day. I commend the example for your imitation. How many of us could say
that we do that? I know there are some here who do 10 times as much as
that. It has grown to be a habit with them to speak of Christ to
everyone they meet, but it is not the habit of all who believe. It
takes some Christians a long time to begin to say anything for their
Lord. Let us try and labor hard, that, if some people do not believe,
we may bring them to the Savior that God may have praise from them,
also.

II. But now I advance a step further and dwell upon A HORRIBLE
INFERENCE drawn from the fact that some did not believe. The inference
was that their unbelief had made the faith of God, or the faithfulness
of God, altogether without effect. I will translate what Paul said
without dwelling on his words.

Some will say, "If So-and-So and So-and-So do not believe the Gospel,
then religion is a failure." We have read of a great many things being
failures nowadays. A little time ago it was a question whether marriage
was not a failure. I suppose that, by-and-by, eating our dinners will
be a failure, breathing will be a failure, everything will be a
failure. But now the Gospel is said to be a failure. Why? Because
certain gentlemen of professed culture and supposed knowledge do not
believe it! Well, dear Friends, there have been other things that have
not been believed in by very important individuals and yet they have
turned out to be true! I am not quite old enough to remember all that
was said about the introduction of the steam engine, though I remember
right well going to see one and a railway train as great wonders when I
was a boy.

Before the trains actually ran, all the old coachmen and all the
farmers that had horses to sell would not believe for a moment that an
engine could be made to go on the rails and to drag carriages behind
it! And in Parliament they had to say that they thought they could
produce an engine that could go at the speed of eight miles an hour.
They dared not say more, because it would have been incredible if they
did! According to the wise men of the time, everything was to go to the
bad and the engines would blow up the first time they started with a
train. But they did not blow up and everybody now smiles at what those
learned gentlemen (for some of them were men of standing and learning)
ventured, then, to say.

Look at the gentlemen who now tell us that the Gospel is a failure!
They are the successors of those who have risen up, one after the
other, whose principal objective has been to refute all that went
before them! They call themselves philosophers and, as I have often
said, the history of philosophy is a history of fools, a history of
human folly! Man has gone from one form of philosophy to another and
every time that he has altered his philosophy, he has only made a
slight variation in the same things. Philosophy is like a
kaleidoscope–the philosopher turns it round and exclaims that he has a
new view of things! So he has, but all that he sees is a few bits of
glass which alter their form at every turn of the toy.

If any of you shall live 50 years, you will see that the philosophy to
today will be a football of contempt for the philosophy of that period.
They will speak, amidst roars of laughter, of evolution–and the day
will come when there will not be a child but will look upon it as being
the most foolish notion that ever crossed the human mind! I am not a
prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I know what has befallen many of
the grand discoveries of the great philosophers of the past. And I
expect that the same thing will happen again. I have to say, with Paul,
"What if some did not believe?" It is no new thing, for there have
always been some who have rejected the Revelation of God. What then?
You and I had better go on believing and testing for ourselves–and
proving the faithfulness of God–and living upon Christ our

Lord, even though we see another set of doubters, and another, and yet
another, ad infinitum. The Gospel is no failure, as many of us know!

Is the Gospel to be disbelieved because some people will not receive
it? I think not, dear Friends. As I have already said, many other
things have been believed, although some people have not believed them,
and the believers have had the best of it, and so they always will. Has
the Gospel changed your character? Has the Gospel renewed you in the
spirit of your mind? Does the Gospel cheer and comfort you in the day
of sorrow? Does it help you to live and will it help you to die? Then
do not give it up, even though some do not believe it!

Again, dear Friends, has God failed to keep His promise to Israel
because some Israelites did not believe? That is the point that Paul
aims at and the answer is, "No!" He brought Israel into the Promised
Land, though all but two that came out of Egypt died in the wilderness.
He did give that Promised Land to Israel, albeit that, through their
unbelief, God smote them and they were destroyed. Yet a nation came up,
again, from their ashes and God kept His Covenant with His ancient
people and He is still keeping it today. The "chosen seed of Israel's
race" is "a remnant, weak and small." But the day is coming when they
shall be gathered in and then we shall rejoice–for then shall be the
fullness of the Gentiles, also, when Israel has come to her own Lord
and King. God has not cast away His people whom He did foreknow, nor
has He broken His Covenant made with Abraham, nor will He while the
world stands, even though many believe not on

Him.

Will God fail to keep His promise to anyone who believes on Him?
Because some do not believe, will God's promise, therefore, fail to be
kept to those who do believe? I invite you to come and try. When two of
John's disciples enquired of Jesus where He dwelt, He said to them,
"Come and see." If any person here will try Christ, as I tried Him when
yet a youth as miserable as I could be, and ready to die with
despair–if they shall feel in believing such joy as I felt–if they
shall experience such a change of character as passed over me when I
believed in Christ, they would not tolerate a doubt! What they have
known, felt, tasted and handled of the good Word of God, will prove to
them that if some believe not, yet God abides faithful! He will never
deny Himself. One said that she believed the Bible because she was
acquainted with the Author of it, which is an excellent reason for
believing it. You will believe the Gospel if you are acquainted with
the Savior who brings that Gospel to us! Personal dealings with God in
Christ, personal trust in the living Savior, will put you out of reach
of this strange inference that God will be unfaithful because some do
not believe in Him.

I am going a step further. Will God be unfaithful to His Son if some do
not believe? I have heard, sometimes, a fear expressed that Christ will
lose those for whom He dies. I thank God that I have no fear about
that. "He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." I
never come to you and, in forma pauperis, ask you to accept
Christ–begging and praying you to take Christ because otherwise He
will be a loser by you. It is you who must beg of Him! He gives Grace
as a king bestows his favors. No, more–He lovingly condescends to
entreat you to come to Him. Suppose that you wickedly say, "We will not
have Christ to reign over us." If you think that you will rob Him of
honor and bring disgrace upon Him by your rejection, you make a great
mistake! If you will not have Him, others will. If you who are so wise
will not have Christ, there are plenty, whom you reckon to be fools,
who will take Him to be their "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption." If you who are so frivolous will not have my Lord, you
will die in your sins! But there are others who will have Him. Do not
think that you can, by any possibility, rob Him of His Glory! "For what
if some did not believe?" This Word of God shall yet become true–"The
kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His
Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." If myriads reject Him,
there will be myriads who will receive Him! And in all things He shall
have the preeminence! And He will return to His Father not defeated,
but more than a conqueror over all His foes!

To put the question in another shape, "For what if some did not
believe?" Will God alter His revealed Truth? If some do not believe,
will God change the Gospel to suit them? Will He seek to please their
depraved taste? Ought we to change our preaching because of "the spirit
of the age?" Never! Unless it is to fight "the spirit of the age" more
desperately than ever! We ask for no terms between Christ and His
enemies except this–unconditional surrender to Him! He will lessen no
jot or tittle of His claims, but He will still come to you and say,
"Submit yourselves. Bow down and acknowledge Me King and Lord and take
Me to be your Savior. Look unto Me and be you saved, all the ends of
the earth, for I am God, and besides Me there is none else." If you
wait till there is a revised version of the Gospel, you will be lost!
If you wait till there is a Gospel brought out that will not cost you
so much giving up of sin, or so much of bowing your proud necks,

you will wait until you find yourself in Hell! Come, I pray you! Come
even now and believe the Gospel! It cannot be altered to your
taste–therefore alter yourself so as to meet its requirements.

Now suppose that these men, who will not believe, should all concert
together to proclaim new views in order to upset the Gospel? You see,
up to the present time, they never have agreed. One wing of Satan's
army of doubters always destroys the other. Just now the great
scientists say to the modern-thought gentlemen and say to them very
properly, "If there is no serpent, and no Eve, and no Adam, and no
flood, and no Noah, and no Abraham–as you tell us now that all this is
a myth–then your whole old Bible is a lie." I am very much obliged to
those who talk thus to the disciples of the higher criticism. They
thought that they were going to have all the scientists on their side
to join them in attacking the ancient orthodoxies. There is a split in
the enemy's camp! Amalek is fighting Edom and Edom is contending
against Moab!

But suppose they were all to agree? Well, what would happen, then? I
thought I saw a vision once, when I was by the seaside. To my closed
eyes there seemed to come down to the beach at Brighton a huge black
horse which went into the water and began to drink. And I thought I
heard a voice that said, "It will drink the sea dry." My great horse
grew and grew till it was such a huge creature that I could scarcely
measure it, but still it drank, and drank, and drank. All the while the
sea did not appear to lower in the least–the water was still there as
deep as ever. By-and-by the animal burst and its remains were washed up
on the beach–and there it lay dead, killed by its own folly. That will
be the end of this big black horse of infidelity that boasts that it is
going to drink up this everlasting Gospel!

I remember that Christmas Evans put this Truth of God rather roughly on
one occasion. He said, "There was a dog on the hearthrug and there was
a kettle of boiling water on the fire. As the kettle kept puffing out
steam and hot water, the dog sat up and growled. The more the kettle
kept on puffing, the more the dog growled and, at last, he seized the
kettle by the throat and, of course, the boiling water killed him."
Thus will unbelievers do with the Gospel. They growl at it today, but
if they ever join together and really make an attack upon it, the
Gospel will be a savor of death unto death to those who oppose it, as
it is a savor of life to those who receive it!

Thus have I mentioned this horrible inference.

III. Now I close by speaking very briefly upon AN INDIGNANT REPLY to
this horrible inference. In reply to this question, "Shall their
unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" Paul give a solemn
negative–"God forbid." All the opponents of the Gospel cannot move it
by a hair's breath–they cannot injure a single stone of this Divine
building. It remains always the same. Let them do what they may, they
cannot alter it!

Then Paul utters a strong expression of dissent–"Yes, let God be true,
but every man a liar." Can you picture this great host? Here they come,
all the men who ever lived, unnumbered millions! They come marching up
and we stand like the inspecting general at a review and see them all
go by. And as every man passes, he shouts, "The Gospel is not true!
Christ did not die! There is no salvation for Believers in Him!" The
Apostle Paul, standing as it were at the saluting-point, and seeing the
whole race of mankind go by, says, "God is true, and everyone of you is
a liar!" "Let God be true, but every man a liar." You know the way that
we have of counting heads, and if the majority goes in a particular
direction, we almost all go that way. If you count the heads and there
is a general consensus of opinion, you are apt to say, "It must be so,
for everybody says so."

But what everybody says is not, therefore, true. "Let God be true, but
every man a liar." It is a strange, strong expression, but it is not
too strong. If God says one thing and every man in the world says
another, God is true, and all men are false! God speaks the truth and
cannot lie. God cannot change. His word, like Himself, is immutable. We
are to believe God's Truth if nobody else believes it. The general
consensus of opinion is nothing to a Christian. He believes God's Word
and he thinks more of that than of the universal opinion of men!

Paul next uses a Scriptural argument. Whenever he gets thoroughly red
hot and wants an overwhelming argument, he always goes to the Divine
treasury of Revelation. He quotes what David had said in the 51st
Psalm, "That You might be justified in Your sayings, and might overcome
when You are judged."

God will be justified in everything that He has said. You may take
every line of the Word of God and rest assured that God will be
justified in having directed the sacred penman to write that line.

God will also be justified when He judges and when He condemns men.
When He pronounces His final sentence upon the ungodly, "Depart from
Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels," He shall be justified even in that dreadful hour.

A very startling expression is used here–"That You might overcome when
You are judged." Think of this enormous evil! Here are men actually
trying to snatch the balance and the rod from the hand of God and
presuming to judge His judgments, and to sit as if they were the god of
God! Suppose that they could be daring enough to do even that–the
verdict would be in God's favor! It would be proved that He had neither
said anything untrue, nor done anything unjust. We are confident that
although some do not believe God, He will be justified before men and
angels, and we shall have nothing to do but to admire and adore Him,
world without end!

Now, I could say much more, but I will not except just this–I want
those who are the Lord's people to be very brave about the things of
God. There has been too much yielding, apologizing and compromising. I
cannot bear it! It grieves me to see one Truth of God after another
surrendered to the enemy. A Brother writes to me, saying, "You do not
put so much mirth into your preaching as you used to do. When the
captain at sea whistles, then all the sailors feel more cheerful." My
Friend adds, "Whistle a bit." I will do so. This is my way of whistling
to cheer my shipmates. I believe in the everlasting God and in His
unchanging Truth–and I am persuaded that the Gospel will win the day,
however long and stern the conflict rages! Therefore, my Brothers and
Sisters, be not ashamed of the Gospel, nor of Christ your Lord, who
died that He might save you eternally. "Watch you, stand fast in the
faith, quit you like men, be strong." Even if it did come to this, that
every other man in the world were against the Truth of God, stand you
to His Word, and say, "Let God be true, but every man a liar."

The other word that I have to say is a message to the unsaved. If you
are opposed to God, I beseech you give up your opposition at once! The
battle cannot end well for you unless you yield yourself to God. He is
your Maker and Pre-server–every argument we can use ought to convince
you that you should be on His side. I pray you remember that, for you
to contend with God is for the gnat to contend with the fire, or the
wax to fight with the flame! You will be destroyed if you come into
collision with Him! Then yield to Him at once. "Kiss the Son, lest He
be angry, and you perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a
little." What is it to kiss the Son? Why, to accept the Lord Christ as
your King and Savior! To ask Him to be your peace and your salvation.
Ask Him, now, before that clock ceases striking. I pray that some may
at this moment say, "I will have Christ and I will be Christ's!" The
Lord grant it! This great transaction done now, it shall be done
forever and you and I will meet on the other side of Jordan, in the
land of the blessed, and eternally praise Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood and made us kings and priests unto
God! The Lord be with you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

Portion of Scripture Read before Sermon–Romans 3. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–166, 675, 674.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON ROMANS3.

Verse 1. What advantage then has the Jew? Or what profit is there of
circumcision? If, after all, both Jew and Gentiles were under sin, what
advantage had the Jew by the Covenant under which he lived? Or what was
the benefit to him of the circumcision which was his distinctive mark?

2. Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the
oracles of God. The Jews were God's Chronicle-keepers. They had to
guard the holy Books, "the Oracles of God." They had also to preserve
the knowledge of the Truth of God by those divers rites and ceremonies
by which God was pleased to reveal Himself of old time.

3. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? Did He not, after all, bless the Jews
though among them were unbelievers? Could it be that their unbelief
would turn God from His purpose to bless the chosen people? Would their
lack of faith affect God's faithfulness?

4. God forbid: yes, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, that You might be justified in Your sayings, and might
overcome when You are judged. However faithless men might be, God was
still true and faithful. Paul quotes the Septuagint, which thus renders
David's words.

5. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what
shall we say? If it so turns out that even man's sin makes the holiness
of God the more illustrious, what shall we say?

5. Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance? (Ispeak as a man). Paul
spoke as a mere carnal man might be supposed to speak. If ever we are
obliged, for the sake of argument, to ask a question which is almost
blasphemous, let us do it very guardedly and say something to show that
we really do not adopt the language as our own, just as Paul says, "I
speak as a man." If the very sin of man is made to turn to the Glory of
God, is God unjust in punishing that sin?

6. God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? God will judge
the world–and He does judge the world even now. There are judgments
against nations already executed and recorded on the pages of history.
If God were unjust, how could He judge the world?

7. For if the Truth of God has more abounded through my lie unto His
Glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? If God has even turned the
opposition of evil men to the establishment of His Truth, as He has
often done; why, then, are men punished for it? These are deep, dark
questions, which come out of the proud heart of man and Paul ventures
to answer them.

8. And not rather, (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm
that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? Whose damnation is
just. We never said, we never even thought that we might do evil that
good should come! No, if all the good in the world could come of a
single evil action, we have no right to do it. We must never do evil
with the hope of advancing God's cause. If God chooses to turn evil
into good, as He often does, that is no reason why we should do evil
and it is no justification of sin! The murder of Christ at Calvary has
brought the greatest possible benefit to us, yet it was a high crime
against God, the greatest of all crimes, when man turned deicides and
slew the Son of God!

9. 10. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way: for we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are under sin; as it is
written. Paul had already proved in the Epistle that both Jews and
Gentiles were guilty before God. Now he quotes a set of texts from
Israel's own holy Books to show the universal depravity of men. Notice
how he rings the changes on the words, "all" and, "none."

10 – 12. There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that
understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out
of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
does good, no, not one. This is the character of all unregenerate men.
It is a true description of the whole race of mankind, whether Jews or
Gentiles. In their natural state, "there is non righteous . . . there
is none that seeks after God . . . there is none that does good, no,
not one."

13. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have
used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips. Paul does not use
flattering words, as those preachers do who prate about the dignity of
human nature. Man was a noble creature when he was made in the image of
God–but sin blotted out all his dignity.

14 -19. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are
swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the
way ofpeace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their
eyes. Now we know that what things soever the Law says, it says to them
who are under the Law. The Jews are comprehended here, for they are
especially "under the Law." The whole chosen seed of Israel, highly
privileged as they were, are described in these terrible words that we
have been reading, which Paul quoted from their own sacred Books!

19. That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. That is the true condition of the whole
world–"guilty before God." This is the right attitude for the whole
human race–to stand with its finger on its lips, having nothing to say
as to why it should not be condemned.

20. Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified
in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin. All the Law does
is to show us how sinful we are. Paul has been quoting from the sacred
Scriptures and truly, they shed a lurid light upon the condition of
human nature. The Light of God can show us our sin, but it cannot take
it away. The Law of the Lord is like a mirror. Now, a mirror is a
capital thing for finding out where the spots are on your face– but
you cannot wash in a mirror–you cannot get rid of the spots by looking
in the glass. The Law of God is intended to

show a man how much he needs cleansing, but the Law cannot cleanse him.
"By the Law is the knowledge of sin." The Law proves that we are
condemned, but it does not bring us our pardon.

21 – 22. But now the righteousness of God without the Law is
manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon them that believe. We have no righteousness of our own, but God
gives us a righteousness through faith in Christ–and He gives that to
everyone who believes.

22 – 23. For there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God. There are degrees of guilt, but all men have
sinned. There is no difference in that respect, whatever gradations
there may be in sinners.

24. Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Dear Hearers, are you all justified, that is, made
just through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus? You are certainly
all guilty in the sight of God– have you all been made righteous by
faith in the redemption accomplished on the Cross by Christ Jesus our
Lord? I beg you to consider this question most seriously. And if you
must truthfully answer, "No," may God make you tremble and drive you to
your knees in penitence to cry to Him for pardon!

25. Whom God has set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in His
blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God. God holds back the axe which,
were it not for His forbearance, would cut down the barren tree. He
still forbears and He is ready to pardon and blot out all the past if
you will but believe in His dear Son.

26 – 27. To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He
might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. Where is
it? It is to be found in a great many people. It is common enough, but
where ought it be? Where does it get a footing? It is shut out. There
is no room for boasting in the heart that receives Christ. If a man
were saved by works, he would have reason to glory–boasting would not
be shut out. But as salvation is all of Grace through faith in Christ,
boasting is barred out in the dark and faith gratefully ascribes all
praise to God.

27 – 31. It is excluded. By what Law? Of works? No: but by the Law of
faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the Law. Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of
the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles, also: seeing it is one God which
shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through
faith. Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yes, we
establish the Law. Whether Jews or Gentiles, there was no salvation for
them by the works of the Law. The only way in which the circumcised or
the uncircumcised could be justified was by faith. This principle does
not make void God's Law! On the contrary, it establishes it and sets it
on the only right and solid foundation! The Gospel of the Grace of God
is the best vindication of His Law.