So we have seen what is wrong with the world (and perhaps got a reminder of the first few chapters of Genesis). God is just and righteous; surely God will do something!
Chapters 2-3 make it clear that God is not indifferent to the corruption and suffering of the world. It is also made clear that God will not play favorites. There is a special group, the children of Abraham, who are in covenant with God, as we recall in Genesis. The point, though, is not that they may be a special exception "for God shows no partiality" (Rom. 2:11), but so that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Somehow, God's work of making things right shall be done through a particular family/nation.
And as God takes this nation under care, God also blesses them with a law (as we shall see in Exodus!) to guide them as the people of God. When they fail to take its guidance to heart and into practice, they are accountable to the law. The law is good, holy, and a guide to righteous living, but simply being the people who have the law is not going to create a special privilege. Those who do not have the law but instinctively do what the law ordains are found to be in the right (2:14-16). Those who boast in being those who possess the law, but fail to actually live up to it bring God's name into disrepute (2:23-24). Both the law and circumcision are signs of a covenant that calls Israel into righteous living; they are not grounds for honoring that particular nation above others, especially when they are part of the same mess as the rest of the nations. The advantage of the Jews is that they have a great privilege--they were "entrusted with the oracles of God" (3:2)--but have not been good stewards of what was meant, all along, to be a blessing to the whole world.
And Paul introduces a big question on which God's dilemma hinges: "Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?" ( 3:3b). God is righteous. And God is faithful. God has made a covenant with Israel so that his righteousness may come to bear upon the world. What happens when the covenant people do not live up to this, when even the people of God can be justified before God? Will God break the covenant with Israel or will God compromise righteousness? What if the answer is NEITHER? Through verse 20, Paul affirms both God's righteousness/justice and God's truthfulness/faithfulness.
Chapters 2-3 make it clear that God is not indifferent to the corruption and suffering of the world. It is also made clear that God will not play favorites. There is a special group, the children of Abraham, who are in covenant with God, as we recall in Genesis. The point, though, is not that they may be a special exception "for God shows no partiality" (Rom. 2:11), but so that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). Somehow, God's work of making things right shall be done through a particular family/nation.
And as God takes this nation under care, God also blesses them with a law (as we shall see in Exodus!) to guide them as the people of God. When they fail to take its guidance to heart and into practice, they are accountable to the law. The law is good, holy, and a guide to righteous living, but simply being the people who have the law is not going to create a special privilege. Those who do not have the law but instinctively do what the law ordains are found to be in the right (2:14-16). Those who boast in being those who possess the law, but fail to actually live up to it bring God's name into disrepute (2:23-24). Both the law and circumcision are signs of a covenant that calls Israel into righteous living; they are not grounds for honoring that particular nation above others, especially when they are part of the same mess as the rest of the nations. The advantage of the Jews is that they have a great privilege--they were "entrusted with the oracles of God" (3:2)--but have not been good stewards of what was meant, all along, to be a blessing to the whole world.
And Paul introduces a big question on which God's dilemma hinges: "Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?" ( 3:3b). God is righteous. And God is faithful. God has made a covenant with Israel so that his righteousness may come to bear upon the world. What happens when the covenant people do not live up to this, when even the people of God can be justified before God? Will God break the covenant with Israel or will God compromise righteousness? What if the answer is NEITHER? Through verse 20, Paul affirms both God's righteousness/justice and God's truthfulness/faithfulness.
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