Introduction to Romans 3:1–31: the close of the indictment and the righteousness of God revealed

Says Romans 3 opens with the question Romans 2 raised: "What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?" (3:1, BSB). It closes the indictment begun at 1:18 with the verdict that "Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin" (3:9, BSB) and that "no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law" (3:20, BSB). Then it turns: "But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed" (3:21, BSB).

Implies 3:1–20 completes the case of 1:18–3:20. The Jew's advantages are real (3:2; 9:4–5), but they do not exempt him, and Scripture itself places all people under sin (3:9–19). 3:21–26 takes up the thesis of 1:16–17 and states how God justifies sinners: freely, by grace, through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God presented as a propitiation (note.exegetical.Rom.1.17.righteousness-of-god). 3:27–31 draws the consequences: boasting is excluded, a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law, the one God justifies Jew and Gentile alike, and the law is upheld.

Structure. 3:1–8: the Jew's advantage and God's faithfulness, with three objections. 3:9–20: all under sin, shown from a chain of Old Testament texts (3:10–18) and sealed by the law's verdict (3:19–20). 3:21–26: the righteousness of God revealed apart from the law, through πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, with the propitiation at its center. 3:27–31: boasting excluded, justification by faith, and the law upheld.

Form. As in Romans 2, Paul argues by question and answer, and he rejects false inferences with μὴ γένοιτο, "Certainly not!" (3:4, BSB; also 3:6, 31). Background on the oracles of God, the slander of 3:8, the ἱλαστήριον, "works of the law," and collections of texts is in the historical notes cited in each section.