Romans 3:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

All justification belongs to God. Having clearly proved this by what was said above, the Apostle then brings in the prophet's words, which confirm his own. He says: “That You may be justified in Your words, and may prevail when You are judged” (Ps 50:6).

God did everything on His side, but the Jews did not become better because of it. Then the Apostle presents another objection arising from this, saying: “But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say?

Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. Certainly not” (Rom 3:5-6).

On the other hand, God, who sent the Christ whom He had promised, is faithful. Thus He will prevail in His judgment, fulfilling the promise in which they doubted. The one who does not believe Him will be condemned as a liar.

He will prevail by showing Himself both to the faithful and to the liar who does not believe in His Word. For the unbeliever will see the Son of God coming in glory (cf. Mt 24:30; Mk 13:26; Lk 21:27), whom he denied.

He will also see the resurrection of the flesh. He will know that treachery has been overcome by God's promise and righteousness (Ps 51:4).

What diminution will God's glory receive from this? Blessed Paul expressed the same thing elsewhere, saying: “If we do not believe, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim 2:13).

Here he also brings forward the testimony of Scripture: “As it is written: That You may be justified in Your words, and may prevail when You are judged” (Ps 50:6).

The particle “that” here denotes not the cause, but the consequence. For we do not sin in order to show God's love for mankind. Rather, although God pours forth fountains of benefactions, ordering salvation for all, men remain free.

Some choose to be well-pleasing to God. Others take the opposite path and find an end suited to that path. Yet God, while also benefiting them, has as His justification at the Judgment His complete care for them.

Thus He said to Israel: “My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Or how have I wearied you? Answer Me” (Mic 6:3). Then He recalls His benefactions in detail.

So also through the mouth of Jeremiah He cries: “What fault did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me, and walked after vain things, and became vain?” (Jer 2:5). There too He adds an enumeration of His benefactions.

Meanwhile the divine Apostle, as if speaking in the person of his opponents, draws the inference: “But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man” (5).

By the unfaithfulness of the Jews here, the Apostle means their refusal to recognize the Messiah, not their failure to preserve the integrity of Holy Scripture. Otherwise Jesus Christ and the Apostles would not have delayed in convicting the Jews of corrupting Holy Scripture.

Elsewhere the Apostle Paul only affirms that the word of God, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it, did not profit them (Heb 4:2).

“But every man a liar.” That is, let it be so; let him be recognized as such. “A liar,” ψεύστης, means false. God is always true and without falsehood in His words. Man, however, is false, falls into error, and stubbornly persists in his error. He deceives himself and leads others into deception, often intentionally. Therefore, if you are to see falsehood, place it not on God’s side, but on man’s. In what you see accomplished before your eyes, you are compelled to see the fulfillment of God’s promises. Stand on this side and acknowledge it as true, since you confess God, Who clearly bears witness to this truth, to be true. But recognize these certain men as false, changing the truth of God into a lie within themselves. The fact that, as you see, they seem to prevail is insignificant. It is only for a time. Even here God will put them to shame before He exposes them before the whole world at His judgment. The truth of God will triumph, for God is all-victorious.

Ambrosiaster writes: “Both propositions, that God is true and that every man is a liar, are taken from the book of Psalms (see Ps 86:15; Ps 116:11). He calls man a liar insofar as he does not believe what God has promised. For by denying that God will give what He has promised, he lies. Being himself false, he presents even God as false on various occasions, when he does not believe His promises. The Apostle calls every man who does not believe God’s promises a liar. But this name applies especially to the Jews, about whom he is speaking here, in that when they saw Christ, they denied that He is the One Whom God had promised. For this reason it is just to recognize them as false. But God is true, for He sent Christ, as He had promised.”

In confirmation of the truth he has expressed, the Apostle cites the words of the prophet David from the penitential psalm: “That You may be justified in Your words and prevail when You are judged” (Ps 51:4). You are always justified, or You are always right, in Your words. You remain the victor “when You are judged,” that is, when You pronounce judgment on someone. When You judge someone, the one judged will himself acknowledge and confess that You are right. Applied to the course of the Apostle’s discourse, this means that the unbelief of the Jews does not refute the truthfulness of God. God is always true in His promises and always fulfills what He has promised. Whoever says otherwise is false. This is confirmed also by the prophetic word, according to which God is always right in His words and proves victorious in judgment.

Chrysostom says: “If one considers and compares what God gave the Jews and how the Jews conducted themselves before God, the victory is on God’s side. God is right in everything. God did everything on His part, but the Jews did not become better from it.” Blessed Theodoret gives the following examples of how God is justified in judgment: “Thus He also said to Israel: ‘My people, what have I done to you? Or how have I offended you? Or how have I wearied you? Answer Me’ (cf. Mic 6:3). Then, in order to stop their mouths, He recalls His benefits in detail. So also through the mouth of Jeremiah He cries: ‘What fault did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me, walked after vain things, and became vain?’ (cf. Jer 2:5). He likewise adds an enumeration of benefits.” Thus God is always justified in judgment by the abundance of His benefits, and by always faithfully fulfilling His promises.

“He prevails when He is judged by fulfilling what men do not believe He will fulfill. For when they do not believe Him, they regard His word as false. But when He fulfills what they thought He would not fulfill, He prevails, showing that He is true, and that the one who does not believe His words is false” (Ambrosiaster).

One may broaden the limits of this word somewhat. Let some not have believed. Nevertheless, God fulfilled His promise. He sent His Son as Redeemer of the world. By the fact that many believed, He showed that the words entrusted to the Jews truly contained prophecies concerning Him, and that the whole Old Testament institution served as preparation for receiving Him. The preaching goes forth, the Gospel spreads, and the work enters into the measure foretold concerning Him. Yet let some remain unbelieving. This is only here. The judgment will come, and the truth of God will triumph. “They will see the Son of God in the glory which they did not wish to give Him, and they will acknowledge that their unbelief toward the promises has been overcome by the truth of the event” (Ambrosiaster).

Thus the Apostle dispels the perplexity suggested by the unbelief of certain men, and restores conviction in the victorious power of God’s truth. The mind receives the imprint of the glorious course of things according to God’s foreordination, and God is magnified in His glory. The Jew, because of his unbelief, is seen all the more to be impoverishing and depriving himself. “In speaking of the greatness of the promises in the words of God, the Apostle seems to defend the Jews. Yet with all this he brings into view a new accusation, proving that they did not believe the words of God, which were for their honor” (blessed Theophylact). But by this they not only did not harm God’s glory, but on the contrary exalted it still more. This course of thoughts led the Apostle to a new objection, which perhaps he had actually heard in his discussions with Jews, especially with those in Corinth, who among the Greeks had become accustomed to refinements.