Teachers who have been at their craft for years learn to anticipate the questions pupils ask — each generation thinks they are the only ones who have ever thought of them, but the same questions come up every year. It is the same for pastors: "Why does God allow suffering?" "How can a God of love send people to hell?" "What about other religions?" Paul, the apostle, was a master teacher. He had been preaching the gospel for more than twenty years, in dozens of synagogues and marketplaces around the world. He knew Jewish questions inside out — not only because he had heard them from others, but because he himself had once asked them as a Pharisee. In Romans 3:1-8, Paul anticipates four objections that Jewish hearers would raise against his teaching in chapter 2, and in answering them he teaches us invaluable lessons about how to engage with sceptics and defend the gospel in our own day.
Four Jewish Objections to the Gospel
Paul has just spent chapter 2 making the point that Jews and Gentiles alike stand in the same position before God — none of them has a righteousness of their own. Being a Jew will not save you. Possessing the law and being circumcised will not keep you from condemnation. Even as he writes, Paul can hear the kinds of questions that Jewish men and women in Rome will ask when chapter 2 is read aloud to them. Like any good teacher, he goes on to anticipate them. If Paul were writing to people in Galway rather than Rome, these might not be his four questions — perhaps instead he would address what happens to people who have never heard the gospel, or how God can be angry with people for expressing the sexuality He gave them. But he is writing to the Romans, and so he deals with Jewish questions.
Objection 1: "What advantage is there in being a Jew?" (verses 1–2)
This is an obvious question in light of chapter 2. Paul has said that the two greatest Jewish privileges — the law and circumcision — cannot save. So the question naturally follows: what is the point of them? Paul's answer: "Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." That is an immense privilege. Just because the mere possession of these things doesn't save you doesn't mean they have no value.
If you are hill-walking in the Connemara Hills, a map of Connemara has huge value — but only if you take it out of your bag, open it up, and use it. Keep it sealed in your rucksack and it will not get you home. God's words are like that map: a wonderful blessing when used properly. Or think of it like the fuel for a fire that has been set but not yet lit — the paper, the kindling, the logs, the coal are all in place. As soon as the spark comes, there will be a huge blaze of light and heat. If you grew up in a Christian family, learning Scripture, memorising verses, hearing sermons, seeing the gospel lived out — all of that is anything but worthless. It is tremendous fuel. And once you come to living faith in Christ, it all catches fire. The rest of us who did not have that upbringing have so much catching up to do.
Objection 2: "Doesn't Jewish unfaithfulness nullify God's faithfulness?" (verses 3–4)
Some Jews didn't keep the covenant. They were, as Paul said in chapter 2, Jews only outwardly — their circumcision was only skin deep. So the objection comes: if God promised to bless the Jews and now He condemns some of them, has His faithfulness failed? Paul denies this in the strongest possible terms: "Not at all!" — a phrase so forceful it might be rendered, "Not on your life, not in a billion years." Human unfaithfulness cannot touch God's faithfulness. Even if every single human being who has ever lived were a liar, God would still be unchangeably righteous. In fact, when He judges unfaithful Jews, He is being faithful to His covenant promises — because that is exactly what He warned He would do if they disobeyed.
Objection 3: "If our sin highlights God's righteousness, is God unjust to punish us?" (verses 5–6)
This builds on the previous objection: if my badness shows up God's goodness all the more clearly by contrast, have I not done God a good turn? It is a bit like a 200-metre race where one or two runners are so uncompetitive they actually walk part of the course — they make everyone else look really good by comparison. Is that what our sin does for God? Paul is visibly uncomfortable even repeating this argument: "I am using a human argument," he says — in other words, this is a lot of nonsense. He rejects it completely. If God cannot punish the Jews because their wickedness enhances His righteousness, then He cannot punish anyone at all — not even the wicked pagans of chapter 1. Would Adolf Hitler be welcomed into heaven because he throws God's goodness into such sharp relief? Not in a million years.
Objection 4: "Let us do evil that good may result" (verses 7–8)
This is the logical extreme of the previous objection: if my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness, why not do even more evil? The worse we are, the better! Some people actually accused Paul of teaching this (verse 8). Paul does not even dignify it with an answer. He simply says: "Their condemnation is just." If that is what you think, then you are going to hell and you deserve to go to hell.
Four Lessons for Sharing the Gospel
These Jewish objections may not be our questions today, but the way Paul handles them teaches us enormously about evangelism and apologetics. Martin Lloyd-Jones, perhaps the greatest preacher of the twentieth century, called these the most difficult verses in all of Romans — so if you find them heavy going, you are in good company. But the practical lessons are gold.
Lesson 1: Paul Engages with Debaters — and So Should We
Throughout the book of Acts, Paul does not just preach a sermon and then rush out before anyone can challenge him. He reasons, persuades, argues, responds to questions, dialogues. He defends the gospel against misunderstanding and misrepresentation. He talks to people one-to-one and tries to answer their problems. He spends eight verses here in Romans engaging with debaters. We need to do the same. Don't back away or be intimidated. Don't bury your head in the sand from the arguments unbelievers raise.
More than that: listen carefully to what people are actually saying, not just what you think they are saying. It is so easy to set up straw men and knock them down. Find out what this particular Muslim or Roman Catholic or atheist actually believes — because they are not all the same. Find out what people in Galway are wrestling with, because these are not necessarily the same questions they are asking in Dublin or Belfast or New York. That would be a great project for a church: pool the questions we hear and develop answers to them. A one-size-fits-all approach to evangelism usually means one size fits nobody.
Lesson 2: People Will Twist Your Words
Verse 8: "Some slanderously claim that we say, 'Let us do evil that good may result.'" People heard Paul preach the free gospel of God's grace and came away saying he was teaching people to sin as much as possible. Peter says in 2 Peter 3:16 that Paul's letters "contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort." They did it with Jesus too — calling Him a glutton, a blasphemer, a drunkard, a man with a demon. They twisted His words to say the very opposite of what He was teaching.
So if they did it with Paul and with Jesus, don't be surprised when they do it with you. A lady once responded to a gospel explanation by saying, "So you're telling me that only good people can be Christians" — the exact opposite of what had been said. You talk about homosexual practice, and they say you are a homophobic bigot who wants to see homosexuals burned. We should be as clear as we can, minimise every possibility for misunderstanding — but be ready for distortion, whether malicious or innocent.
Lesson 3: You Don't Have to Answer Everything
Not all questions are equal, and not all questioners are the same. Paul's four objections here form a downward spiral — the first is a fair question, the second is theoretical, the third is ridiculous, and the fourth is blasphemous. Paul gives less and less time to each, and doesn't answer the last one at all. There is often a downward spiral in debate: you answer one question, and another appears instantly. Then another, and another. The questioning is endless because the real problem is not intellectual — it is in the heart. They don't want to believe.
Jesus commands us to exercise discernment: "Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs" (Matthew 7:6). Jesus Himself practised this — when asked "By what authority are you doing these things?" in Mark 11:28, He deliberately refused to answer. Walking away from a fruitless debate can sometimes be the very thing God uses to bring someone to their senses. Keeping patiently answering every trick question can feed their pride and put them in the driving seat. Sometimes saying, "If that is what you really think, then only the grace of God can save you — and if you ever want to talk seriously, please come and find me" has more power than a hundred further arguments.
Lesson 4: Don't Answer Everyone the Same Way
Proverbs places two apparently contradictory verses side by side: "Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes" and "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." It is not a contradiction — it all depends on the situation and the person. You need wisdom to tell the difference. Is this question being asked from an armchair or from a wheelchair? That makes all the difference in the world to how you respond. When someone asks, "Why does God allow suffering?" — it may be a genuine cry from someone who has suffered unimaginably, or it may be one more trick question from someone who wants to stump the Christian. Be praying as you talk: "God, help me to know what kind of person this is. Give me wisdom. Give me insight."
And remember: in the end, only the Holy Spirit can open blind eyes and bring new spiritual life. Paul — probably the most brilliant debater, after Jesus, that the world has ever seen — did not convince everyone he spoke to. Most Jews rejected the gospel, and nobody knew their arguments better than Paul himself. So we need to pray earnestly that God will take our faltering words and use them to bring new life to people's hearts.
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This article is part of our Romans sermon series. Listen to the previous sermon: The Religious Man (Romans 2:17-29), or continue to the next: All Under Sin (Romans 3:9-20).
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