RSV ~ Romans 3 Notes

Rom 3:2 | ISB Notes

the oracles of God: The Torah spoken to Moses and written down for Israel. This gave a great advantage to the covenant people compared to the rest of the world because it ordered their worship, gave them clear guidelines for living, and drew them closer to God. An inventory of these benefits is listed in 9:4-5.

Rom 3:3 | ISB Notes

faithfulness: Despite the transgressions of Israel, Yahweh never canceled his commitment to the people or his obligations to uphold the terms of his covenants (11:1).

Rom 3:4 | ISB Notes

That you may be justified: A citation from Ps 51:4.

• David is pleading for divine mercy. Though crushed by the weight of his sins, he dares not accuse God of wrongdoing but insists the Lord is perfectly just in sentencing the sinner and making him accountable for his misbehavior.

Rom 3:8 | ISB Notes

do evil that good may come?: Someone has accused Paul of teaching that the end justifies the means. He vigorously denies this, holding that evil actions can never be done in the hope that something good will come of them. Both the act (means) and the intention (end) must be pure for our deeds to be morally acceptable (CCC 1789).

Rom 3:9 | ISB Notes

under the power of sin: Paul builds his argument to a climax with the charge that every nation is in bondage to sin and in need of salvation. Not even the Jews, lavished with so many blessings and advantages, have been able to rise above their fallen nature and crowd sin out of their lives. Supporting testimony is heard from the Scripture passages cited in the following nine verses.

Rom 3:10-18 | ISB Notes

Six citations from the OT confirm the charge that wickedness has flourished in Israel. The chain is made of links from Ps 14:3, Ps 5:9, Ps 140:3, Ps 10:7, Is 59:7-8, and Ps 36:1.

•Many of these passages distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, suggesting that Paul is not condemning every single Israelite without exception. His point is that sin has taken hold of the covenant people as it has the rest of the world. He is likewise showing that sin, which has spread throughout the body of mankind, has also spread throughout the body of every man who is prone to use his members as instruments of wickedness (6:13). All but one of these passages highlights a part of the body in this way (throat, tongues, lips in 3:13, mouth in 3:14, feet in 3:15, eyes in 3:18).

Rom 3:20 | ISB Notes

works of the law: Paul uses this expression eight times in his writings, twice in Romans (3:20, 28) and six times in Galatians (Gal 2:16; 3:2, 5, 10). Christian scholarship, both ancient and modern, has understood it in different ways. (1) Some, like St. Augustine, take it to mean observance of the entire Law of Moses, whole and undivided. On this view, Paul contends that no act of obedience to the moral, ceremonial, or juridical commandments of the Torah can bring about the justification of the sinner. (2) Others, like St. Jerome, understand the expression to mean the ceremoniai iaws of Moses, such as circumcision, dietary laws, feast days, and Sabbath observance. On this view, Paul charges that the ritual works of the Torah, which defined the Jewish way of life during the Mosaic age, have become obsolete in the New Covenant and thus have no bearing on justification.

Both views are correct in their proper context: initial justification in Baptism takes place apart from any observance of the Law whatever (Tit 3:4-7), whereas final justification at the Last Judgment takes place apart from the ceremonial works of the Law, but not apart from observing the moral commandments of the Law (Rom 2:13; Mt 19:16-19; 1 Cor 7:19; Jas 2:8-13).

knowledge of sin: Because the Torah defines what is good and evil, it acts as a moral informant and makes the sins of Israel stand out in stark clarity (2:17-23; 7:7; Heb 10:1-3).

See essay: The Works of the Law at Gal 3.

Rom 3:21-26 | ISB Notes

Paul turns from the tragic history of sin (1:18— 3:20) to the redeeming work of Christ (3:21-8:39). These transitional verses resume Paul’s discussion of the “righteousness of God” introduced in 1:16-17.

Rom 3:21 | ISB Notes

the law and the prophets: The Scriptures prepared Israel for a Messiah who would conquer the devil (Gen 3:15), make atonement for sin (Is 53:10-12), and renew the heart of man (Ezek 36:25-27) through the founding of a New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34).

Rom 3:23 | ISB Notes

all have sinned: Not all without exception (every human being), but all without distinction (Jews and Gentiles alike, 3:9; 10:12).

That there are exceptions is clear: Jesus was sinless; children below the age of reason do not willfully commit sin; and tradition holds that Mary, by the grace of God, lived her entire life unstained by sin.

Rom 3:24 | ISB Notes

redemption: A ransom price paid for the release of captives. See note on Eph 1:7.

Rom 3:25 | ISB Notes

an expiation: A sacrifice that wipes away sin.

• The expression is used multiple times in the Greek OT for the mercy seat, or golden lid that covered the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:17; Heb 9:5). The high priest of Israel sprinkled blood on the mercy seat once a year on the Day of Atonement to expiate the sins of the people and restore them to fellowship with Yahweh (Lev 16:1-34). For Paul, the mercy seat typifies Christ as the living seat of God’s presence and the place where atonement is made with sacrificial blood (CCC 433).

• Christ, who became an expiation by blood, teaches us to follow his example by the mortification of our members (St. Gregory of Nyssa, On Perfection).

Rom 3:28 | ISB Notes

justified by faith: Faith is a gift of grace that moves us toward God (Phil 1:29). It leads to justification because it leads to Baptism (6:3-4; 1 Cor 6:11).

The object of justifying faith is both personal and propositional: it embraces God as well as the revealed tenets of the gospel. Catholic theology holds that faith does not act alone in this process but reaches out with hope for divine mercy and love for the Lord. Faith manifests itself in the lives of believers through obedience (1:5), love (Gal 5:6), and good works (Eph 2:10).

See essay: Faith and Works at Jas 2.

works of law: For possible meanings of this, .

• The Council of Trent decreed in 1547 that man, by his own efforts and works, can never merit the initial grace of justification that makes him a child of God and a member of the New Covenant. This grace is an entirely free gift fro

m Jesus Christ conferred in Baptism (Sess. 6, chap. 8) (CCC 1987-2011).

Rom 3:30 | ISB Notes

God is one: The monotheistic creed of ancient Israel (Deut 6:4). Paul draws an important lesson from it: because Jews and Gentiles have one and the same God, all are justified in one and the same way, i.e., by faith.