What does Romans 3:5 mean?

Explanation

Romans 3:5 is a part of an argument in which the Apostle Paul is anticipating potential objections to his teaching about sin and God's justice.

In this verse, Paul is suggesting a rhetorical question that someone might ask: if our unrighteousness (sinfulness) highlights the righteousness of God (His moral perfection), isn't it unfair for God to punish us? Since our sinfulness serves to showcase God's righteousness, does punishing us make God unrighteous?

Paul immediately clarifies that he is speaking from a human perspective ("I speak as a man") to make it clear that this is a flawed human argument, not a divine truth.

He is acknowledging that such an argument might seem logical from a human point of view, but he is leading into an explanation that will refute this way of thinking and demonstrate God’s justice in His judgment.

Historical Context

The Book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul around AD 57.

He wrote to the church in Rome, which was a mix of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.

The Jewish followers would be familiar with the law of Moses and the sacrificial system, while the Gentile followers may have been more influenced by Greco-Roman philosophies and ethics.

The Roman Empire, at this time, was known for its legal system, and concepts of justice and righteousness would have been significant in the minds of those living under Roman rule. Paul is addressing a fundamental question of God's justice as it relates to the law and sin.

Theological Insights

Some theological insights can be discerned from Romans 3:5:

• Divine Justice: The verse contributes to the debate on how God's justice works in relation to human sinfulness.
• God's Righteousness: It posits that human sin accentuates the righteousness of God, raising the question of how God can be just in punishing sin.
• Hyperbolic Rhetoric: Paul uses a style of argumentation common in Rabbinic teachings, where a hyperbolic question is raised so that it can be robustly dismissed.

Different theological traditions offer varied understandings of this passage.

Some emphasize God's sovereign right to judge sin as He sees fit, while others focus on the discrepancy between human and divine justice.

Practical Applications

Practically, Romans 3:5 can remind individuals:

• Not to Justify Wrongdoing: To not rationalize their wrongdoing by claiming it serves to highlight God’s goodness.
• Understanding God’s Justice: To come to a deeper understanding of God's justice, His capacity to judge all fairly and righteously.
• Humility: To approach God and the topic of divine justice with humility, recognizing human limitations in fully grasping God’s ways.

Cross-References

• Romans 6:1: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
• Romans 5:8: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
• Romans 9:14: "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid."
• Romans 3:7-8: "For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just."

Language Study

In Romans 3:5, key words in the original Greek are important for understanding the verse:

• "Unrighteousness" (Greek: ἀδικία, adikia): Injustice or wrong.
• "Commend" (Greek: συνιστάνει, synistanei): It means to establish or stand together, often used to authenticate or prove something.
• "Righteousness" (Greek: δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosyne): It is the condition of being in right relationship or being just.
• "Taketh vengeance" (Greek: ἐπιφέρων, epipheron): To bring upon, often with the sense of inflicting punishment.
• "Unrighteous" (Greek: ἀδικος, adikos): Unjust or wrong.

Understanding these words deepens the comprehension of how Paul contrasts God’s righteousness with human unrighteousness and the concept of divine judgment.

Cultural and Religious Comparisons

This questioning of divine justice and human sinfulness has parallels in other cultural and religious literature. For instance, in Platonism, the gods were sometimes thought to be indifferent or capricious.

However, Judaism and Christianity present God as consistently righteous and just. The question of why a perfect God would tolerate imperfection appears in various forms across many philosophic and religious traditions.

Scientific Perspectives

While Romans 3:5 doesn't directly intersect with modern scientific understandings, the concepts of morality, justice, and the human condition have been subjects of interest in fields such as psychology, sociology, and evolutionary biology.

Science has investigated the development and function of moral reasoning in humans, but it typically doesn't address theological questions of divine justice directly.

Commentaries

Scholars and theologians provide various interpretations of Romans 3:5:

• Some, like John Stott, have commented on the absurdity of justifying our sin by pointing to the goodness it supposedly highlights in God.
• Others, like N.T.

Wright, suggest that the verse supports the idea of God's covenant faithfulness and righteousness in the face of human failure.

• Commentators like Douglas Moo emphasize the argumentative style of Paul, who uses a rhetorical question to refute an incorrect human assumption about divine justice.