Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.”
I have read this passage (Romans 3.1-4) for years, but I don’t ever remember it as passive (“when you are judged”) but active (“when you judge”). Maybe this is because I had an NIV most of my life, which takes Paul’s quotation from the Greek Septuagint and replaces it with the Hebrew of Psalm 51.4. Paul deliberately chooses the translation that makes God the one judged rather than the one judging.
Yet among those who claim a “high view” of Scripture (though arguably that term has be redefined to mean a high view of the parts of the Westminster Confession that can be most easily abstracted from context and made to fit a Southern Presbyterian apologetic), we get completely reactionary statements like, it is “a mistake to see Romans as a theodicy rather than as an exposition of salvation.”
Look, is it an accident that Paul uses a prooftext from Habakkuk as his opener?
Hat tip to Matt, to whom I am greatly indebted and grateful that he pointed this out.
Mark,
Given the brevity of the excerpt (it is “a mistake to see Romans as a theodicy rather than as an exposition of salvation.”) on the Ref 21 site, I’m willing to give Sinclair Ferguson the benefit of the doubt. Of course, as Romans 3:26 makes clear, the vindication of God’s righteousness and an unfolding of the plan of salvation are not to be pitted against each other.
David
In last line of first paragraph, I think you mean “makes God the one judged” rather than “one judge.”
David, here is the lecture: audio. You are absolutely right to mention the uselessness of false polarization. And I certainly believe that our salvation is expounded in Romans.
But I was thinking more of how the quote was used in Reaction21 rather than Ferguson’s original intentions.
Mark,
Thanks for the link.
I listened to the lecture (while doing other things – so I might have missed parts of it) and it struck me as fairly reasonable and balanced. It was the type of presentation that I would expect from Sinclair Ferguson.
I did laugh a bit when I went back to the Ref 21 site and read point #6, where Lig Duncan writes: “He notes that the NPP has a tendency to establish straw men …” It is a good thing that WE don’t have anyone in OUR circles who tends to do that!
Praying for God’s grace toward your family,
David