https://youtu.be/hEHAcYcHJrs
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans last time we started Rom 3:4;
The first two words are " me ginomai" that is an idiom for a strong negative expletive that we noted could be translated "hell no."
The strong negative indicates that God's integrity and faithfulness does not depend on the righteousness or goodness of man, or anything else that man can produce. God's faithfulness depends on God's character and specifically His integrity that is comprised of His righteousness and justice.
God's faithfulness is always based upon the principle of grace, and under grace everything depends on who and what God is. Therefore this strong negative emphasizes God's integrity that all believers are related to positionally at salvation and experientially at spiritual maturity.
"rather, let God be true, but though every man a liar" the important thing is to emphasize who and what God is, not who and what we are.
This begins with the postpositive conjunctive particle de, emphasizing a contrast after a strong negative. It is translated "rather." Then the present middle imperative of the verb "ginoma" that means to come to be, to become.
"Ginomai" is used here as a substitute for "eimi" (I am) when "Theos (God) is the subject because God never becomes anything always God is.
But He becomes something to us and so "ginomai" is a compromise with "eimi" because as we learn doctrine we have to change our thinking about God.
As we change our thinking about God we enter into the perspective of grace. Until we change our thinking about God from understanding doctrine we are not oriented to grace. This is how legalism occurs.
If we emphasize self, legalism enters. If we emphasize God and God's integrity we become grace oriented.
The present tense here is a static present representing a condition taken as fact. The middle voice: because it relates the action of the verb more intimately to the subject, stressing the subject as an agent, this is the indirect middle emphasizing God as producing the action of the verb as a part of His perfect integrity.
The imperative mood is often the mood of command, however it is also the mood of entreaty or volition. We have here the imperative mood of entreaty that does not convey the finality of a command but gives the urgency of a request, taking into account the free will of man.
Then comes the predicate nominative singular from "alethes," the real connotation of which is "constant" or "valid." It is translated "truth" as an attribute of God and refers here to God's righteousness and justice that are attributes of His integrity. Here it is used to describe God's judicial righteousness. In this context "alethes" means "trustworthy" or "reliable," as a reference to God's integrity.
"but every man a liar" is not quite correct. The adversative use of the conjunctive particle "de" is translated "though."
There is no "but" about it. It is an absolute fact because it is a foregone conclusion that God has the monopoly on integrity, and mankind has no integrity under the principle of total depravity.
"Every" is the nominative singular of "pas." We have the singular noun, "anthropos" for man generically that refers to all mankind as the subject. With "pas," "every man" makes it personal.
The word for "liar" is "pseustes." This doesn't mean someone running around always telling lies; it means that all of us are basically dishonest. This means that man is ignorant and in this case ignorance becomes arrogant stupidity.
God has total cognizance. Man's understanding of God starts out as total ignorance because we are spiritually dead. This phrase does not refer to telling lies; it is living in ignorance and therefore living in falsehood. Ignorance becomes falsehood.
Rejection of Jesus Christ as savior is equivalent to blasphemy and is the antithesis of integrity and therefore is some synonym of being a liar such as deceit or hypocrisy.
But in addition when they reject Christ as savior they reject epignosis that is the Holy Spirit's teaching of the gospel that means they definitely know what they have rejected because they have understood enough doctrine to be saved. By rejecting the gospel they understand they declare God to be a liar.
When an unbeliever understands the gospel, if he exhales yes, faith in Christ, then he recognizes God's integrity, but if he exhales no he says God is a liar.
Every person who rejects Jesus Christ as savior in effect alleges that God is a liar.
So the issue is: God's integrity is the source of salvation or God is a liar. That God is a liar is a blasphemous lie that opposes the truth.
Rom 3:4; Expended Translation so far "Emphatically not: rather, let the God be proved reliable, though every man a liar."
Mankind's lack of integrity does not cancel God's integrity. Man superimposes his lack of integrity on God but the character or essence of God rejects it because God's integrity is unassailable.
Even though every rejection of Christ declares God is a liar God's integrity persists regardless of the blasphemy. God is never impressed with public opinion; only people and satan who solicits public opinion are impressed with public opinion.
People who are under judgment from God always seek to assuage their guilt with approval from others. Evil people are intolerant and demand approval righteous people are tolerant because they are not condemned by guilt.
We see this big time in our country today where all of the rabble-rousers are guilt-ridden leftists.
Salvation adjustment to God's justice results in receiving God's righteousness. One half of His integrity is the guarantee of eternal salvation. The great issue in salvation is the God's righteousness being imputed, and with it justification. Logically, justification results from the imputation of the righteousness of God.
Salvation maladjustment to God's justice results in receiving judgment from God's justice. Lack of having one half of divine integrity is a guarantee of temporal and eternal condemnation from God.
God's justice that gives believers His righteousness at salvation, and later on blessing at spiritual maturity, is the source of blessing or cursing.
God's justice of provides the righteousness of God to anyone who will believe in Christ but God's justice provides judgment for anyone who rejects Christ as savior therefore; God's integrity is involved with either adjustment or maladjustment to God's justice.
Adjustment to God's justice resulting in the imputation of God's righteousness is referred to as justification. Justification is the first blessing from God's integrity logically chronologically they are simultaneous.
Maladjustment to God's justice at salvation is called condemnation. In other words, condemnation is cursing from God's justice. Whether justification or condemnation God's integrity is maintained by both blessing and cursing from His justice.
God's integrity continues reliable, and God's faithfulness is consistent, whether he is using justification or condemnation. In both blessing and cursing God's integrity is maintained by God's justice.
"as it is written" begins with an adverb, "kathos" translated" just as" that introduces a quotation from the Old Testament scripture in Psa 51:4;
Next the perfect passive indicative from the verb "grapho" that means to write. The perfect tense is a grammatical perfect or the rhetorical use of the intensive perfect.
The action is completed and the existing results are before us in the fact that there is a completed Old Testament canon from which the apostle Paul is quoting.
The passive voice: the relevant Old Testament passages receive the action of the verb; they are quoted. The indicative mood is declarative used for a dogmatic assertion of fact, a quotation from the OT scriptures.
"that you may be justified" from the adverb "hopos" is used as a conjunction, and with it a conjunctive particle that is very unusual, "an." It comes from the Attic Greek, where it was used with the aorist subjunctive to form a purpose clause.
Generally it is translated "in order that" or "for the purpose of." The particle "an" cannot be translated with a single English word. Its meaning depends upon the meaning and tense of the verb that it is used with.
Here it is used to indicate a perfect clause. And this is not Koine Greek. Then the aorist passive subjunctive of the verb "dikaioo" (dika = righteousness, and the adjective from which it is derived here is dikaioo).
The verbal form, "dikaioo," means to make righteous, to establish as right, to validate. In the Koine Greek it means to justify, to declare righteous, to vindicate, to show justice, or to do justice.
Here it is used for vindication of God's integrity, especially God's justice but it does not exclude God's righteousness. This amounts to an anthropopathism because God never ever needs vindication.
It is a gnomic aorist, used for a fact that Goss's integrity is axiomatic in quality and in character. So the aorist is used as though it has always existed and always will exist.
The idiom is translated by the English present tense. It is also a dramatic aorist. The dramatic aorist states the reality of divine integrity with the absolute certainty of a past event.
God has always been righteous and just, He always will be because He cannot change. The passive voice: God's essence with emphasis on His integrity receives the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood is used to introduce a purpose clause.
"in Your words" - the preposition "en" plus the instrumental plural of cause or means, "logos." "Logos" in the plural means words containing doctrine, and we have the instrumental of means, so it is "by means of doctrine."
But it is specifically someone's doctrines-the possessive genitive singular from the intensive pronoun "autos," used to emphasize God as the owner because the owner is God.
Since God is infinite, eternal, invisible, and incomprehensible it is necessary for God to reveal Himself to mankind through Bible doctrine.
The doctrines of the scripture always vindicate God's integrity.
God's integrity is demonstrated through the perception of Bible doctrine.
Mankind can only adjust to God's justice through doctrine.
First, there is the gospel; the doctrine required for salvation then the whole realm of doctrine for the believer in Jesus Christ.
This is why maximum doctrine resident in the thinking is maturity adjustment to God's justice.
"and prevail" from the continuative use of the conjunctive particle "kai." "Nikao" means to prevail, to conquer, or to overcome. It is translated "that you might prevail" or "be the victor."
The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, that views the action in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of its results. The active voice: the person and integrity of God produces the action. The subjunctive mood is used to indicate the continuation of the purpose clause.
"That you may prevail," means that God's justice in judging is always right.
"when You are judged" the prepositional phrase is "en" plus the locative of the definite article, with the infinitive to denote contemporaneous time.
The infinitive of time is equivalent to a temporal clause. This is a case where you take the preposition "in" and make it when. The present passive infinitive of "krino" is the object of the infinitive.
The passive of "krino" refers to the judgment that people customarily pass upon the lives and actions of others, so "krino" has the connotation of slander or maligning.
There is also the accusative singular of general reference from the pronoun" su, "and from this we derive the fact of being slandered,"
'Su" becomes the subject of the infinitive. The personal pronoun refers to God- Literally it means, "when you are being slandered."
The present tense is a historical present in which a past event is viewed with the vividness of a present occurrence. The passive voice: God, the perfect judge, is being criticized and slandered.
Expanded Translation Rom 3:4: "Emphatically not: rather, let the God be proven reliable, though every man a liar; as it stands written, In order that you might be demonstrated as just by means of your doctrines, and that you might prevail when you are being slandered."