Romans 3:29
Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
Truth to Learn
No group of people has exclusive rights to God and His truth.
Behind the Words
“Only” is translated from the Greek word monon. This is probably derived from the verb menō, meaning “to remain” or “to stay.” Hence, monon means “that which remains, alone, or only.”
The word “not” is translated from ouchi, which is derived from ou, the absolute “not” in Greek. However, ouchi is a stronger form meaning “not at all” or “no way!”
“Yes” is from the Greek word nai, which implies strong affirmation. We could reasonably translated this as “yes, certainly.”
The word “Gentiles” is from ethnos, meaning “a group of people belonging together and living together, a race, or a nation.” It has been used historically by Jewish writers (as it is here) as a reference to those people, or nations, who are not Jewish.
Meaning Explained
Paul has just stated in conclusion that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. To a Jew this would imply that the Law is void, otherwise why have they been working so hard for all these centuries to satisfy the Law through works.
Paul is saying that if justification could come from the Law (and only from the Law, as the Jews thought) then He must only be the God of the Jews since they are the only ones who had the Law. That’s why Paul asks the question, “Or is He the God of the Jews only, and not also of the gentiles?” He then immediately answers the question, “Yes, He is the God of the Gentiles also.”
The apostle is not making a casual statement here. The use of ouchi and nai indicate that he is making a couple of very strong statements: “Is He not at all also the God of the Gentiles? He most certainly is also the God of the Gentiles!”
The Jews knew that Jehovah is the God of all mankind, but they also knew that only the Jews had the Law. This made them selfish about the Scriptures and their relationship with God. They began to believe that Jehovah was their God exclusively, but Paul is bursting that bubble. Not only is He the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles but, as he will state in the next verse, He justifies (declares as righteous) both the Jews and the Gentiles. That would have come as a shock to many Jewish Christians who believed that God only justifies those who keep the law. It also may come as a shock to Christians today who believe we have to keep a lot of “rules” to be saved or to stay saved.
Application
Once again, we can see a strong parallel between the attitude of the Jewish people at the time of Christ and the attitude of Christians today. The Jews believed they had exclusive rights to God and were unwilling to share Him with Gentiles, building a wall between Jews and Gentiles. Since Christians have been given the Great Commission, we are commanded to share the Gospel with the whole world. But many denominations believe only they have “the correct” truth, thus building walls between Christians.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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