So what's the point?

Romans 3

Vs 1-2 Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? 2 Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.
So far Paul has gone to great lengths to show that it’s not lineage or circumcision that saves us. Just like Nick said last week, it’s not the T-shirt that makes you a UFC fan. So now Paul addresses a question from unseen objectors. We would almost expect Paul to answer, “no, there is no benefit to being a Jew or circumcision since righteousness is a matter of the heart.” Instead he says that there are great benefits. What kind of advantages or privileges were/are afforded to the Jewish nation? One great example is the way that God gives them victory in battle. There are myriad of examples of this in the Old Testament, but let's look at a few modern examples. There have been 4 modern wars initiated by the Arab nations against Israel. In 1948 Israel regained it's sovereignty as a nation. In this war Israel didn't have a single cannon or tank and they had only 9 obsolete planes. Since they had very limited ammunition they often dropped bottles filled with rocks from the planes rather than bombs. Despite these and the overwhelming odds in military numbers, Israel won it's independence and with more land than they would have had if peace treaties had been signed. In 1973 Egypt and Syria aided by at least nine Arab states, launched a surprise attack on Israel during it's holiest day of the year. The odds were astronomically against Israel. 180 Israeli tanks faced off against 1,400 Syrian tanks and 436 Israeli soldiers were attacked by 80,000 Egyptians. Israel expelled the enemy military in 2 days and were on the verge of destroying Egypt's military within 2 weeks when a cease fire was initiated. I would never ever want to be on the wrong side of a fight with Israel!
The most important honor, however, would be that God entrusted them with the truth about Himself. While this was a great privilege and honor it was also a great responsibility. If they mishandled the information or misrepresented the God they were chosen by they would be held more accountable than those to which God had not chosen to reveal himself. This great blessing could also be a great burden. Author Shalom Aleichem (Rabinowitz), is credited with saying, "God, I know we are your chosen people, but couldn't you choose somebody else for a change?"

Vs 3-4 True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? 4 Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,
“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.”
The objector appears to be saying that Israel wasn’t faithful. Paul answers this by saying that their unfaithfulness does not negate God’s faithfulness. Instead, the contrast shows God’s faithfulness to be all the more great. This could be carried out to every possible example we can think of. Our lack of love shows God is love. Our imperfection shows His perfection, our impatience shows His patience. God is the ultimate, perfect version of everything that is good about us and everything at which we fail.
Psalm 51:4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.

Vs 5-8 “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) 6 Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? 7 “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8 And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
This seems to be the logical outcome of this argument. If God’s greatness is shown to be even more great by my sin then why does he punish me for sinning? If we are saved by faith and not by works then why is it a problem for us to keep on sinning? In Paul’s time many were accusing him of teaching this sort of Gospel. He taught so hard against salvation by works that some began to think that he was teaching that it didn’t matter how you lived as long as you had faith in God. Is it possible to have saving faith and continue to live in sin? No, if there is true faith there will be change...not perfection, but some sort of exterior indicator of what has happened on the inside.
James 2:25-26 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
We will address this topic even more when we get to Romans 6.