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It is a fascinating thing to note that when the Gospel is presented with clarity and honesty that the very nature of the Gospel message provokes a response. This is seen as Paul continues to make his case that God intends to justify (make righteous) those who come to Jesus in faith apart from works.
Even in this early stage of developing the idea, Paul is able to draw on the words of the critics of the Gospel. He has already touched on the question that the opponents of his message raise: Would God not be unrighteous to judge us if our sin puts His righteousness on display? But he then picks up another misguided and unreasonable assault:
And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
Some have distorted Paul’s preaching as if he were insisting that his hearers should do evil things so that God could bring good out of it. Not being able to grasp the Gospel idea that God does indeed rescue and redeem by grace and not by works, the critics insist that Paul must be arguing for people to do evil things for the purpose of creating a situation for God to do good.
But, as Paul notes, such an idea is worthy of judgment in itself. It misrepresents God, it misrepresents Paul’s teaching, and it misrepresents the work of the Gospel.
However, if in our sharing of the Gospel we are not at risk of being so misunderstood–if we don’t make so big a deal of grace that some might accuse us of promoting a message of doing evil so that God could do good–we might not be sharing the grace-filled message of the Gospel.
If Paul had been teaching a righteousness that comes through keeping rules and doing good deeds, such a charge would never be raised. The very nature of the slanderous report underscores the gracious message Paul was preaching.