Daily Devotions
Romans
"Their condemnation is just."
Text: Romans 3:8
SLANDEROUS REPORTS
Paul was very precise in his description of people who pursued the path of perverse reasoning. He knew that their perversity would take yet another form. They would attempt to lay the blame on Paul.
“As we are slanderously reported and as some affirm
that we say. Their condemnation is just.”
Romans 3:8
The following texts describe the occasions when Paul had slanderous reports made against him.
1. Accusation from Gentiles (Philippi)
“These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city,
and they teach customs which are not lawful for us,
being Romans, to receive or observe.”
Acts 16:20-21
2. Accusation from Jews (Corinth)
“This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary
to the law”
Acts 18:13
3.Another accusation from Jews (Jerusalem)
“Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men
everywhere against the people, the law, and this place;
and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple
and has defiled this holy place.”
Acts 21:28
4.Accusation of orator Tertullus (representing the Sanhedrin Council)
“For we have found this man a plague, a creator of
dissension among all the Jews throughout the world,
and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried
to profane the temple…”
Acts 24:5-6
ANALYSIS OF ALL THESE ACCUSATIONS
How may we best understand these accusations?
1. They are baseless.
2. They are spurious.
3. They are trumped up charges that would not bear close scrutiny.
Paul’s word concerning these slanderous reports is strikingly simple.
“Their condemnation is just.”
Romans 3:8