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Dr. MacArthur has been appearing our blog more frequently lately. We have come to notice that he doesn't really teach the Bible. He teaches his doctrine, Calvinism. Everything revolves around this. If he can't fit his Calvinism in, he won't teach on it.
This may explain why so many people think he's a great Bible teacher. He's really good at Calvinism. For us, this makes him a bad Bible teacher.
Today he makes the common Calvinistic error that the issues of our sinful state and ultimate salvation is a legal proceeding, in the manner we understand law in the western world.
However, there is no such thing in the pages of the Bible. There is no arraignment, no trial, no attorneys, no right to a presumption of innocence, and no jury. There is not even a pronouncement of "guilty."
No, we are already dead and condemned:
Jn. 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already...Ro. 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
Every man, woman, and child ever born on this earth (except one), was born dead. We all were "condemned already," caused by the "one trespass." Adam's sin brought death and condemnation. That is the default state of man. Already condemned.
Which means of course that there is no trial. The condemnation against Adam, death, happened thousands of years ago. We simply are born into the state of death and decay and bondage that creation experienced (Ro. 8:20) when Adam was condemned (Ro. 5:16). Sinning is what dead, condemned people do.
Which of course means that the Dr. MacArthur's entire premise is false.
This post was first published in July 2020. -ed.
A legal arraignment is where the accused is brought to court to answer formal charges. And that is what the apostle Paul did with all of humanity—all of us—in the third chapter of his epistle to the Romans. (There isn't a single thing in Romans 3 about an arraignment or charges being brought before God.)
At this trial, (There is no trial.)
the whole human race is brought before the eternal Judge. The charge against us is uttered in Romans 3:9: “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” (Paul was referring to the charges he had made previously in his letter.)
“What then?” simply means, “What is the case? How are we to understand the situation?” What follows is the answer to that question, stated in God’s own words.
Bear in mind the structure of the preceding context. In Romans 2:12 Paul states his point succinctly: “All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” That is all-inclusive. It encompasses each one of us—Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free.
Then Paul goes on to lay out the charge in meticulous detail. In Romans 2:14–16, he charges the Gentiles with sin, even though they were not directly given God’s written law. In verses 17–29, he charges the Jews with sin as “transgressor[s] of the Law” (Romans 2:27). In Romans 3:1–8, he defends the righteousness of God as Judge. Then in verse 9, just before launching into that long string of Old Testament references (Romans 3:10–18), he sums up what he has just said and reiterates the main point so no reader can possibly miss it: “We have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” The whole world is “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19, NKJV). (It is clear Dr. MacArthur is confusing his western view of law and legal processes with Paul's terminology. However, Paul was not presenting a legal case as Dr. MacArthur understands it.)
“What then?” simply means, “What is the case? How are we to understand the situation?” What follows is the answer to that question, stated in God’s own words.
Bear in mind the structure of the preceding context. In Romans 2:12 Paul states his point succinctly: “All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” That is all-inclusive. It encompasses each one of us—Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free.
Then Paul goes on to lay out the charge in meticulous detail. In Romans 2:14–16, he charges the Gentiles with sin, even though they were not directly given God’s written law. In verses 17–29, he charges the Jews with sin as “transgressor[s] of the Law” (Romans 2:27). In Romans 3:1–8, he defends the righteousness of God as Judge. Then in verse 9, just before launching into that long string of Old Testament references (Romans 3:10–18), he sums up what he has just said and reiterates the main point so no reader can possibly miss it: “We have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” The whole world is “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19, NKJV). (It is clear Dr. MacArthur is confusing his western view of law and legal processes with Paul's terminology. However, Paul was not presenting a legal case as Dr. MacArthur understands it.)
That is Paul’s formal arraignment. The charge is universal guilt. (No, Paul has gone to great lengths to describe the Jews' position before God. The charge [made by Paul] is that gentiles and Jews are both sinners, that there are no longer differences between Jews and gentiles when it comes to sin.)
No human being escapes that charge. He makes the universality of sin as plain and categorical as possible, refusing to exclude even himself: “Are we better than they?” (Romans 3:9). “We” is a clear reference to Paul and his missionary companions—and by implication, it includes all Christians. (No, "we" is Paul and his fellow Jews. Paul began this chapter with:
Ro. 3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
There are two "we's" in this, the "we" who is presenting the information, and the "we" who is the information. This is about what Paul [the editorial "we"] was telling the Romans about Jews versus gentiles [the subject "we" is the Jews].
We are very surprised indeed that such a simple concept escapes Dr. MacArthur.)
The same pronoun (“we”) is used in verse 8 (“we are slanderously reported”; “some claim that we say”). The “we” in verse 9 clearly refers to the same people. (No, it clearly doesn't. Paul clearly changes from the editorial "we" to the subject of the letter "we," the Jewish people. This is very clear in verse 9:
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better?
The editorial "we" makes a conclusion about the subject "we." Thus, "we" conclude that "we" are not better than the gentiles.)
It’s a reference to those who proclaim the gospel. To paraphrase, Those of us who are making this charge, pointing out that Jews and Gentiles are hopeless sinners—are we saying we’re a special case? Are we claiming to be better than everyone else? “Not at all” (Romans 3:9). (This "paraphrase" is simply a restatement of his errant opinion.)
He uses an emphatic negative. In no way do we think that! We are wretched sinners too. Elsewhere, in 1 Timothy 1:13–15, Paul describes himself as the chief of sinners—“formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.” He retained a keen awareness of his own sin throughout his life. He was a mature, seasoned apostle when he wrote Romans 7:14: “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” And verse 24: “Wretched man that I am!” (Somehow the fact that Paul was discussing the Jews versus the gentiles escapes Dr. MacArthur.
In fact, if one would read the entirety of Romans keeping clearly in mind that Paul was writing to deal with the difference between Jews and gentiles, a lot of doctrinal problems would go away.)
So Paul very acutely feels his own fallenness. He’s not setting himself up as a judge over the rest of humanity. He is merely stating the case. The entire human race is fallen and sinful, including Paul, his companions, and all believers. We all belong to the same sin-cursed race.
It’s good to remember that Christians are nothing but redeemed sinners (No, all things have been made new [2Co. 5:17], and we are no longer sinners.)
—saved from condemnation not because we are somehow better, smarter, more worthy, or more acceptable to God. As Paul himself testifies, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18). “It is God who is at work in [us], both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Apart from Christ, we’re all in the same guilty condition as the world’s most dissipated human being. Without Christ, we would be completely under the command, control, dominion, and damning power of sin. As a matter of fact, we once did walk in step with the prince of the power of the air, Satan. Remember, in our natural, fallen state, we “were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:3). (Dr. MacArthur gets all this exactly correct.)
That is the arraignment. (Sigh. But then he reverts to his previous errant template.)
That is the arraignment. (Sigh. But then he reverts to his previous errant template.)
Paul summons the entire Adamic race into court, (No, he didn't.)
and on the authority of God’s Word, he reads the capital charge against us: “[We] are all under sin” (Romans 3:9). The arraignment is complete. Paul now moves on to the indictment, which we’ll consider next time.
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