Lessons #85 and 86
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Two Jewish Advantages (Rom 3:1-4)
1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
In the introduction of this section of Romans 3:1-4, we stated that because the apostle defined a true Jew as a person that has received true circumcision, that we interpreted to mean regeneration, and he had argued that a person could be a true Jew without physical circumcision and without being an ethnic Jew, it is easy to misconstrue what the apostle said about the Jews and think that he was downplaying being a Jew. In short, that a reader, especially, a Jewish reader, may wonder what, if any, is the advantage that belongs to Jews who have prided themselves in the ancient world as God’s covenant people with the unique circumcision rite. To counter such misunderstanding, the apostle in the passage before us conveyed that there are two advantages that belong to the Jews although we stated that he did this, using rhetorical questions and answers to communicate these advantages. We stated that a message of this section is that You have the privilege of God’s word in written form and are the beneficiary of His faithfulness. We ended our last study by asserting the apostle stated what is the most important or most significant about the advantage that belongs to a Jew in sentence of Romans 3:2 they have been entrusted with the very words of God. Precisely, we ended with the question of what it is that the apostle meant in this advantage with the promise to answer it in today’s study. So, it is with the answer to this question that we begin our study this morning.
We give the answer in a simple sentence and then we justify how we arrived at the answer by considering the words the apostle used in the sentence of Romans 3:2. The answer is that the first advantage that belongs to the Jews is they are the recipients of God’s promises and by implication possessors of the OT Scripture. Let me justify this answer by considering the words the apostle used in the sentence of Romans 3:2 they have been entrusted with the very words of God we are considering.
The word “entrusted” is translated from a Greek verb (pisteuō) that its predominant meaning in the Greek NT is “to believe”, that is, “to think something to be true” as Apostle Paul used it to describe what he thought about the report of division in the church of Corinth that he received as we read in 1 Corinthians 11:18:
In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
The Greek word may also mean “to trust”, with the implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted, as it is used in Apostle Paul’s instruction through Titus regarding the conduct of those who have trusted God in Titus 3:8:
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
The word may have the sense of “putting something to the care of another,” that is, “to entrust” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is a task given to him, as we read in Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
In our passage of Romans 3:2, the word has the sense of “to be entrusted,” that is, “to be or become the recipient of something placed into one’s care.” The thing Jews were recipients and that was placed in their care, so to speak, is given in the phrase of Romans 3:2 words of God.
The phrase words of God should be understood to mean the words about God and from God. In other words, what has been entrusted to the Jews consisted of what God said that included His promises and what are said about God that consists of the written word of God. You see, the word “words” is translated from a Greek noun (logia) that means “saying,” that is, “a message that is stated or declared by a particular person; especially divine messages or oracles that are gathered together to form a collection.” Thus, it is used in Stephen’s speech to refer to the revelations from God received by Moses in Acts 7:38:
He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.
The phrase living words may be translated living oracles. The word is used of “the sayings of Christians who have been endowed with the gift of ministry through spoken words” in the admonition of Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:11:
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
In our passage of Romans 3:2, it is used primarily of God’s promises to Israel and by implication to entire OT Scripture.
The context of the phrase of Romans 3:2 words of God demands that we consider it as involving God’s promises because the apostle in verse 3 refers to God’s faithfulness that we will get to shortly. Such reference makes better sense if the words of God include His promises. The Greek word that we considered is used to translate a Hebrew word that has range of meanings that include God’s word as what He commands and His promises. The Greek word used in Romans 3:2 that means “word” is used to translate in the Septuagint a Hebrew word (ʾimrāh) that may mean “word, saying.” Thus, the word is used to describe what Yahweh revealed to Joseph in dream about his future position while he was in Canaan. The psalmist used our Hebrew word that we indicated is translated in the Septuagint with the Greek word that means “word” to describe the information Joseph received as declared in Psalm 105:19:
till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.
Verse 19 of Psalm 105 is part of the story of Joseph that the psalmist told so that what proved Joseph to be true about his dreams is described in the phrase the word of the LORD. This phrase refers to the dream Yahweh gave to Joseph described in Genesis 37:5–10:
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. 9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
Our primary concern is to recognize that the Greek word used in Romans 3:2 for the word of God is the same used in the Septuagint of Psalm 105 to describe dream given to Joseph that is described as word of God. The same Hebrew word is also translated promise in the psalmist’s petition to Yahweh in Psalm 119:41:
May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise;
The phrase your promise is more literally your word. The same Hebrew word is used in parallelism to the word “law” in describing the judgment of Israel for rejecting the word of God as recorded in Isaiah 5:24:
Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.
The sentence they have rejected the law of the LORD is parallel to verbal phrase spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel so that the Hebrew word we are concerned with conveys the sense of God’s law. Thus, it is most likely that when the apostle used the Greek word in Romans 3:2 translated “words” he had in mind both the promises, laws of God, and entire OT Scripture entrusted to Israel.
We know that God entrusted to Israel both His promises and His written word that reveals who He is. The most important promise of God to Israel concerns the coming of the Messiah. This promise was first given to Abraham when God called him to leave his country of birth as recorded in Genesis 12:3:
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Yahweh God later elaborated on the promise of all nations being blessed through Abraham to mean that it is through his offspring that the blessing would come as stated in Genesis 22:17–18:
17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
The promise of all nations being blessed through Abraham’s offspring was repeated to his son, Isaac, according to Genesis 26:4:
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
The promise was restated to Abraham’s grandson, Jacob or Israel, as recorded in Genesis 28:14:
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.
The offspring through whom the nations would be blessed is Christ as the Holy Spirit explained through Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:16:
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.
It is certainly because it is through Israel that Jesus Christ would come that is recognized by Apostle Paul when he referred to Jesus’ humanity as linked to the house of David in Romans 1:3:
regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David.
Anyhow, this promise of Christ coming through Israel was given in different ways. Yahweh gave the same promise to Moses in form of another prophet like him coming to Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
The phrase a prophet like me from among your own brothers is certainly a reference to Christ as the Holy Spirit interpreted through Apostle Peter in his appeal to those who witnessed the miracle of healing of a crippled beggar to respond positively after his preaching of the gospel as narrated in Acts 3:19–23:
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
It is this promise of Christ coming through Israel that is also meant when David referred to the promise Yahweh made to him as he spoke to his son, Solomon, as he was about to assume the rule of Israel as stated in 1 Kings 2:4:
and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.
We contend that the most important promise to Israel was that of Christ coming through them but there are other promises that are related to this major promise. Yahweh promised to rescue or to redeem Israel from bondage in Egypt as recorded in Exodus 3:8:
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Related to this promise of rescue or redemption is that of giving Israel victories over their enemies as recorded in Exodus 23:27–30:
27 “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
Both promises are certainly included in the promises of Yahweh to Israel that Joshua in his final address to Israel reminded them of Yahweh keeping His promises to Israel in Joshua 21:45:
Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Israel not only possessed the advantage of God’s promise of Christ coming through them, but they also possessed the word of God in written form. Yahweh spoke the words of the Ten Commandments to them as He reminded them prior to emphasizing His prohibition against idolatry as stated in Exodus 20:22:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:
Israel upon hearing Yahweh speak to them, pleaded with Moses to receive Yahweh’s word on their behalf instead of Him speaking to them directly as recorded in Exodus 20:19:
and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
Yahweh granted their request so that He spoke His words to them through Moses that he wrote down as stated in Exodus 24:3–4:
3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
The written law of Yahweh to Israel was used for their instructions since those who taught the people referenced the law as a written document. For example, when the returnees from Babylonian exile assembled, the law, recognized as a written document, was read to them with explanations according to Nehemiah 8:1–3:
1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
It was not only the law that was written down but the other parts of the OT Scripture. For example, Yahweh commanded Prophet Jeremiah to write down His words He spoke through him as we may gather from Jeremiah 30:2:
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
We find similar instruction to Prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:2:
Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
Prophet Habakkuk wrote down information that conveyed God’s operation that involves how He deals with His children who are in rebellion and how He uses the wicked to punish them and afterwards He would punish the wicked. I am saying that the prophets certainly wrote down information about God that enabled Israel to recognize whom He is as, for example, His defining His character through Moses as recorded in Exodus 34:5–7:
5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
In any event, it is our interpretation that the phrase of Romans 3:2 words of God should be understood as the word from God and about God. The implication is that the word from God includes both His promises and instructions as given in the OT Scripture that Israel possessed as an advantage over Gentiles. This brings us to what we consider as a second advantage of the Jews although that is not clearly stated but implied.
The implied second advantage the Jews possessed is experiencing of God’s faithfulness in a way that cannot be said of any nation or group of people since no people received direct promises from God as to judge His faithfulness to His promises or to His word. As we indicated previously, this advantage is implied in the rhetorical questions the apostle posed in the passage we are considering. The next rhetorical question of the apostle is given in Romans 3:3 What if some did not have faith? Literally, the Greek reads For what? If some did not believe/were unfaithful. This is because the apostle used an interrogative pronoun (tis) that he used in Romans 3:1 that we indicated in that verse has the meaning “what?” and the same meaning applies in our passage. However, it is followed by a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” In our verse, it is in connection with a question so that some English versions did not see the need to translate it. It is used in a transitional sense in a question that is elliptical that it may mean “then” or “well” so that the Greek phrase that consists of the two Greek words we considered may read fully as “what then is the situation?” In this way, the apostle’s mind went back to the advantage of God’s words that Israel possessed as we have explained.
The apostle’s rhetorical question assumes a failure on the part of some of the Israelites because of the clause of Romans 3:3 if some did not have faith. The word “if” is translated from a Greek particle (ei) that is used in different ways in the Greek. For example, the Greek particle is used as a marker of condition that exists in fact or hypothetical so that it is translated “if.” On the one hand, if a writer presents an action associated with a verb as real, although the writer may or may not believe the action to be real, there is the implication there is no doubt or uncertainty about what is stated when our Greek particle is used. Thus, in some contexts, the word “if” may be understood to mean “since”, especially if the action has already taken place as in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul regarding the conduct expected of those who have believed in Christ as stated in Colossians 3:1:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
The clause Since, then, you have been raised with Christ is literally Therefore, if you have been raised together with Christ. The apostle did not state something that is conditional as the literal translation would imply. No! He stated truth that applies to anyone who is a believer in Christ in that the person has been raised with Christ as he stated in Ephesians 2:6:
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Hence, it is fitting for the word “if” used in Colossians 3:1 to be understood as “since” as believers, by virtue of their salvation, have been raised with Christ. On the other hand, if a writer presents the action associated with a verb as possible, the implication is that the thing in question is possible but uncertain, though assumed probable. Thus, it is used to narrate what Apostle Paul said before Governor Felix in his defense in which he indicated that if the Jews had a case to charge him with, they should have been before the governor to present his charge as stated in Acts 24:19:
But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me.
The clause if they have anything against me may, according to the standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG), be translated if they should have any charges to bring against me, implying something possible but uncertain. In our passage of Romans 3:3, because the apostle used it to state something that is true, the particle is best translated “since” to indicate that the apostle was not concerned with something that is uncertain, but what is certain. None of the English versions that I consulted used the word “since” in their translation of the clause we are considering but the interpretation we have given is reflected in the CEV and in the NLT. The CEV rendered the first part of the verse as “It is true that some of them did not believe the message” while the NLT translated it as “True, some of them were unfaithful.”
In any case, there should be no doubt that what the apostle wrote in the Greek of Romans 3:3 that is literally translated if some did not have faith is indeed true. I will demonstrate its truthfulness after I consider the key word the apostle used in the clause. The expression “have no faith” is translated from a Greek verb (apisteō) that means “to disbelieve, refuse to believe” as the word is used by Luke to describe the response of the disciples to the report of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the women that He appeared after His resurrection as recorded in Luke 24:11:
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
The word may mean “to be unfaithful, to betray trust” as it is used to state what God would not do because we fail to be faithful as stated in 2 Timothy 2:13:
if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
In our passage of Romans 3:3, the word has the sense of “to disbelieve,” that is, “to not trust in or rely on someone or something; especially used of not trusting in or relying on the God of Israel.” Of course, it is possible to take the word to mean “to be unfaithful” since both meanings are true of the Jews during the exodus and during Apostle Paul’s ministry. Thus, it is probably the case the apostle had in mind both meanings with emphasis on the first meaning of not believing.
The Scripture reveals that some of the Israelites of exodus generation did not believe God’s promise and certainly were unfaithful to Him. This we know because after the twelve spies returned from exploring the land of Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb exercised faith in God’s promise of defeating their enemies and giving them the land He promised them. The rest of the spies and the Israelites for the most part did not believe so that Yahweh threatened to destroy them as we read in Numbers 14:11:
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?
The psalmist referenced this lack of faith of the Israelites in Psalm 106:24:
Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise.
Apostle Paul later in this epistle to the Romans asserted that some of the Israelites did not believe God’s message as he quoted from Prophet Isaiah in Romans 10:16:
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
The human author of Hebrews declared that some Israelites did not believe the message they heard as we read in Hebrews 4:2:
For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
Without going into the details of the interpretation of the verbal phrase did not combine it with faith, it suffices to say that it is concerned with lack of faith on the part of the Israelites of the exodus generation. Jude also referenced the lack of faith of some of the Israelites as the reason for their destruction as stated in Jude 5:
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
These passages we have cited show that indeed there were some Israelites who did not believe God’s promises and Israel’s idolatry is evidence of their unfaithfulness to their God. In the time the apostle wrote, it was certainly a fact, as it is true today, that some of the Jews did not believe in Christ. So, we are correct to state that the clause of Romans 3:3 if some did not have faith should be translated since some did not have faith to indicate the apostle did not doubt that some of the Israelites did not believe God’s promises or did not believe in Christ in the time of the apostle and some were unfaithful. We mean that both facts state what were true of some Israelites that the word “if” should not be thought of as expressing any doubt, but what are true.
All the same, Apostle Paul, having stated what is true of some of the Israelites, continued with his rhetorical question in Romans 3:3 Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? The expression “lack of faith” is translated from a Greek word (apistia) that means “lack of belief, unbelief,” that is, “unwillingness to commit oneself to another or respond positively to the other’s words or actions” as it is used to explain the reason Jesus Christ did not do many miracles in His hometown of Nazareth as narrated in Matthew 13:58:
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
The phrase because of their lack of faith may be translated because of their unbelief. It is with the meaning of “unbelief” that Apostle Paul used it to explain his reason for persecuting the church of Christ until he received mercy from the Lord Jesus as stated in 1 Timothy 1:13:
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
In our passage of Romans 3:3, the word is used in both senses of “unbelief” and “unfaithfulness” with focus on unfaithfulness. Hence, the apostle focused on the failure of the Jews to believe in Jesus Christ at the time he wrote and on the past unfaithfulness of Israel to the terms of their covenant with their God. Thus, the apostle’s question concerns whether the unbelief and unfaithfulness of some of the Israelites would nullify God’s faithfulness.
The word “nullify” is translated from a Greek verb (katargeō) that has several meanings. It may mean “to use up, to waste” as it is used to describe the uselessness of the unproductive fig tree that use up the soil in Lord Jesus’ parable recorded in Luke 13:7:
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
The Greek word may mean to cause the release of someone from an obligation hence “to be released, to be discharged” as in the release of a woman from marriage bond at the death of the husband in Romans 7:2:
For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
It may mean to cause something to lose its power or effectiveness, that is, “to invalidate, make powerless” as it is used to indicate that the law did not invalidate God’s covenant with Abraham in Galatians 3:17:
What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.
The expression does not set aside may be translated does not invalidate. The Greek word may mean “to abolish, wipe out, set aside” as in Galatians 5:11:
Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
In our passage of Romans 3:3, the sense of the word is “make ineffective,” that is, “to cause something to lose its power or effectiveness.” What is to be made ineffective is described in the phrase of Romans 3:3 God’s faithfulness or literally the faithfulness of God. The Greek phrase should be interpreted as “faithfulness that characterizes God.”
The word “faithfulness” is translated from a Greek noun (pistis) although often translated “faith” has several other meanings. The Greek word may mean “faith” in the active sense of believing or trusting in someone; the kind of believing that brings salvation. Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is “true piety or genuine devotion or even firm commitment.” Stephen was described as one who had a genuine devotion or firm commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ in that he did not waver in what he believed but was fully devoted to the Lord. This is the sense of the word “faith” in Acts 6:5:
This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is as an important virtue that Christians should have, or they have as a result of believing in Christ or as a result of the Holy Spirit operating in them. So, it is used to describe “faithfulness” that is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit given in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is a reference to a religious movement such as the Christian faith, which is essentially the same as “the Christian religion.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to describe what people heard about him following his conversion as stated in Galatians 1:23:
They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
Paul’s former effort was focused on exterminating Christians and so the Christian movement. Thus, what he tried to destroy is not so much the preaching of the gospel but the Christian movement since if he stopped the movement, he would have destroyed the Christian religion. Of course, that was not to be the case as he was converted and became one of the most fervent advocates of the Christian movement.
Still another meaning of the Greek word translated “faith” is “body of teaching” or “doctrine.” It is in this way that the word “faith” is used to describe what will happen to some at later times as we read in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
It is possible that “faith” here can also be interpreted as the “Christian faith,” but it is more likely the apostle meant Christian doctrine especially because of the expression things taught by demons. It is the sense of doctrine or body of teaching of the Christian faith that “faith” is used in Jude 3:
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
In our passage of Romans 3:3, the Greek word means “faithfulness” or “commitment.”
We indicated that the phrase of Romans 3:3 God’s faithfulness should be understood as faithfulness that characterizes God. In effect, faithfulness is a character of God since that is how He described Himself in the passage we cited previously, that is, Exodus 34:6:
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
Of course, when we speak of faithfulness as character of God, we mean that God will always do what He has said and fulfill what He has promised. He would never go back from His promise as that is what Yahweh conveyed to Balaam as recorded in Numbers 23:19:
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
It is because of God’s faithfulness that, for example, we are assured that every time we sin and confess it, we are forgiven as the Holy Spirit conveyed through Apostle John in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Since God’s faithfulness involves His promises so His faithfulness here in Romans 3:3 concerns His fulfillment of His promises to Israel. That aside, the rhetorical question of Apostle Paul in Romans 3:3 is Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? The answer to this question is what led to the implied second advantage of the Jews we indicated concerns enjoyment of God’s faithfulness in the sense of fulfilling His promises. The answer is introduced in the expression of Romans 3:4 Not at all! We are out of time, so we will consider this and the rest of verse 4 in our next study. Anyhow, let me remind you of the message we are expounding which is You have the privilege of God’s word in written form and are the beneficiary of His faithfulness.
01/30/26