Paul uses courtroom language to make an important point in his letter to the Roman church. To use our own courtroom language, he is saying, none of us is in the position of prosecutor or judge. No, we are all in the dock. No one is without guilt; so, no one can claim higher moral ground because we all share the same condition even if it expresses itself differently in different people. Paul is conscious, as he writes this letter, of his former attitude as a Jewish Pharisee and how he prided himself in his knowledge of the law. So, he gives a lot of space in chapters 2-3 to warning the Jewish minority in the Roman congregation of an attitude that he had previously harboured. Having the law did not mean that their job was to act for the prosecution. “No,” Paul says, “that’s the wrong position. The law is given to you so that you will realise your real position. You are in the dock.” The Jews understood that they had a role in making the truth known to the world. The problem was that they were doing this from the position of the judge rather than from the position of the offender. It is a huge difference, whether you speak as a fellow offender or as a judge. God was saying to them, and he says to us now: “I don’t want you to go out into the world in the position of a judge to prosecute; No, I want you to go out into the world as a fellow offender with a testimony of God’s grace.”
Reflect on how you relate to those whose actions you find objectionable. Pray for someone in particular.
Read Romans 3:9-20
