God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
God forbid.
Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
for then.
Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Job 8:3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
Job 34:17-19 Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just? …
In that case,
Paul is responding to a hypothetical argument that questions God's justice. This rhetorical style is common in Paul's letters, where he anticipates objections and addresses them directly. The use of "in that case" suggests a logical progression in the argument, emphasizing the importance of understanding God's nature and the implications of His actions.
how could God judge the world?
This phrase underscores the belief in God's ultimate authority and role as the judge of all humanity. The concept of God as judge is rooted in the Old Testament, with passages like Psalm 96:13 and Ecclesiastes 12:14 affirming that God will judge the world with righteousness. In the New Testament, this theme continues, with Jesus speaking of the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. The question posed by Paul highlights the necessity of God's justice for the moral order of the universe, affirming that God's judgments are true and righteous, as seen in Revelation 16:7.
Paul’s emphatic answer slams the door on any notion that God could ever be unjust. Earlier he had asked, “If some did not believe, will their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? Certainly not!” (Romans 3:3–4). In the same spirit, verse 6 begins with the same two words—“Certainly not!”—to remind us:
• God’s character is immovable. “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19).
• His faithfulness never depends on our faithfulness. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Timothy 2:13).
• Whenever human logic suggests God might act unrighteously, Scripture cuts it off with this determined refusal: “Far be it from the LORD to do wickedness” (Job 34:10).
Paul is answering the hypothetical: “If our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, is He unjust to inflict His wrath?” (Romans 3:5). By repeating the phrase “in that case,” he exposes how absurd the premise is. Consider:
• If sin could ever excuse itself by showcasing grace, you would reach the same false conclusion condemned later: “Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:1–2).
• The entire fabric of God’s moral order would unravel. Genesis 18:25 presses the point: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
• God’s law judges motives as well as actions (Matthew 5:21–22, 27–28); any theory that paints Him as unjust overturns both law and Gospel.
Here is Paul’s decisive argument: if God were unjust, universal judgment would be impossible. Yet Scripture everywhere assumes and promises that judgment.
• “He judges the world with justice; He governs the peoples with equity” (Psalm 9:8).
• “God...will repay each person according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6).
• “He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed” (Acts 17:31); that Man is the Son to whom “all judgment” has been given (John 5:22).
Rejecting God’s right to judge would nullify these passages, but they stand firm. Therefore, the very existence of a coming judgment proves the premise false: God is perfectly righteous even while human sin magnifies His grace.
Romans 3:6 meets a daring suggestion—that God might be unjust—with a thunderous “Certainly not!” If such a thought were true, moral order would collapse and final judgment would evaporate. Yet Scripture steadfastly portrays God as faithful, immutable, and perfectly righteous. Because He is holy, He will indeed judge the world through Christ; because He is faithful, His judgments will be just; and because He is gracious, our unrighteousness magnifies His glory without ever excusing sin.
(6) For then how shall God judge the world?--St. Paul considers it a sufficient answer merely to propound this question. He and those to whom he was writing all assumed that there must be a future judgment.The way in which Bishop Butler deals with the argument from necessity is very similar to this, substituting only present for future judgment. "It is fact that God does govern even brute creatures by the method of rewards and punishments in the natural course of things. And men are rewarded and punished for their actions--punished for actions mischievous to society as being so, punished for vicious actions as such--by the natural instrumentality of each other under the present conduct of Providence," &c. Hence the necessitarian is in this dilemma: either his opinion is not true, or else it must be capable of being harmonised with these facts. The facts themselves are postulated.