But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance? (I speak as a man)
All Commentaries on Romans 3:5 Go To Romans 3
John Chrysostom
AD 407
What does Paul mean? God honored the Jews, but they dishonored him. This gives God the victory and shows the greatness of his love toward man, in that he continued to honor them in spite of what they were like. But if this is true of us (someone might say), why am I to be punished when I have contributed to God’s victory by dishonoring him? Paul answers this by a corresponding absurdity. In effect, he says that if this man were the cause of God’s victory and he was punished as a result, it was an injustice. But if God is not unjust and the man was punished, then he could not have been the cause of God’s victory…. For God’s justice far exceeds what we think of as justice and is based on other ineffable criteria.
