What does Romans 3:3 mean?
To answer your good question, let’s read Romans 3:1-3, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” (NASB)
At the time of the writing of this epistle, the Apostle Paul had not yet been to Rome. Yet, he had a desire to go to them and declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” When men needed to hear, and still need to hear, is the gospel, the good news that salvation is offered to everyone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who needs to be saved? EVERYONE! He said in verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” In the course of his writing, Paul shows that the heathen need to be saved, the Gentiles need to be saved, and the Jews need to be saved.
The Jews considered themselves somewhat better than the heathen and Gentile. Romans 2:17 says, “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God.” Being God’s ‘chosen people’, they rested in the law and boasted that, because they were Jews, they were accepted by God. Oddly enough, they rested in a law which they had historically and continuously broken. They believed that because they were circumcised, they were acceptable before God. Romans 2:29 says, “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
As to answer their objections in advance, Paul asked in Romans 3:1, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?” Paul points out that they were greatly advantaged because they had the “oracles of God”, or the utterances of God. Whether by a prophet or by the written Word, the Jews had an advantage because the Lord communed with them, making Himself known and His will known to them. Now we get to the verse in question. Romans 3:3 asks, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” All did not believe, in fact MOST of the Jews did not believe. We read in Romans 10:16, “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” But that does not make the faithfulness of God void for those who do believe. God does not fail those who put their trust in Him just because others did not believe. Their unbelief could not, and did not impact the reliability and faithfulness of God in his promises to His people. In Romans 4:24 it is said that Abraham “being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” Abraham realized the Lord’s faithfulness continued, even in the face of the unbelief and disobedience of His earthly people. 2 Timothy 2:13 tells us very plainly, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (251.4)