Think of v1 here as the response of the Jewish listener to what Paul has just said in 2:1-29. He says, "Paul, are you saying, therefore, that we Jews—despite our laws and everything—have no advantage over the Gentiles at all? If this is the case, then, of couse, this would be to say that the entirety of the Old Testament witness was false. V2 then represents Paul's reply: No, no. There is "much in every way." Most of all, Paul says, "they have been entrusted with the very word of God" (v2). It is difficult for readers of the English text to quickly catch on with the argument here because we forget, or are unaware, that the word "entrust" comes from the same semantic pool as words like 'believe,' or 'execise faith.' To be "entrusted with the very word of God" straightway implies two things. 1) A letter, e.g., entrusted to us is not meant for us but for someone else of which we are only the 'postman.' The "word/oracle of God" entrusted to Israel was meant for someone else. But who? The Gentiles. That Israel was meant to be a light to the Gentiles has long been a Jewish affirmation of faith. 2) Being entrusted with the task assumes that the Jews would be faithful to it. But have they? To this any Jew will have to reply, "Well, not always. Certainly not all Jews have been." To which now comes a fresh thought, "Does this mean that because of some unfaithful Jews, God would nullity God's faithfulness?" (v3b). To this Paul says, "Not at all."
Two other thoughts come rushing from the Jews listening. "Alright, but "if our (or some of our) unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say?" (v5). I.e., since God's righteousness is more clearly made manifest as a result of our unrighteousness, isn't God unjust to bring his wrath on us?" Paul's reply is a clear, "Certainly not!" The logic itself is flawed; carried to its logical end, God would not be able to judge the world. The second thought follows a simliar line as the first, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" (v7). This idea Paul thinks is so ridiculous he suggests a more compact expression for it, "Let us do evil that good may result," and expression that apparently had been slanderously attributed to him and his fellow workers—"as some claim we say" (v8).
So are we (the Jews) any better than the Gentiles? Paul's answer is a resounding "Not al all." As proof from Scriptures, Paul cites Psm 14:1-3//53:1-3 (in vv10-12), Psm 5:9 and Psa 140:3 (in v13), Psa 10:7 (in v14), Isa 59:7-8 (in v15-17) and Psa 36:1 (in v18).
The law is useful because through it one becomes conscious of sin but it is incapable of putting humans right with God; "no-one will be declared righteoous in [God's] sight by observing the law" (v20). Jews as well as Gentiles are all objects of God's wrath.
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