Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 3
It seems that a lot of people were speaking proudly in the first Christian churches. They were proud about their family origins (2 Corinthians 11:21-22); or they were proud about what they had achieved. (2 Corinthians 10:12). Paul did not approve.
A person can only have a right relationship with God because of what Christ has done. Nobody deserves that, and nobody can earn it. It is God’s free gift to us, because of his great kindness. So we have no right to be proud; instead, we should have a humble attitude, and we should be grateful to God.
God saves (rescues) us from our evil deeds, from the devil and from death. He does it when we have faith (trust) in him. However, we do not even have the right to be proud about our faith. Our faith is God’s gift to us (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We are all guilty of many wrong and evil acts (3:23). Our behaviour has made us into enemies of God (5:10). If we really could stop all our wrong acts, that might be a reason to be proud (4:2). However if we try then we fail (7:14-21). Even if someone succeeded, that person would still not have a right relationship with God. That is only possible because of Christ, because it is a gift of God.
So Christians must not be proud. They are not better than other people are. Their relationship with God is entirely the result of God’s great kindness.
Next part: By faith, people from every nation can know God (Romans 3:29-30)
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