OR IS GOD THE GOD OF JEWS ONLY? IS HE NOT THE GOD OF GENTILES ALSO? (Ro 1:16; 9:24-26; 11:12,13; 15:9-13,16; Genesis 17:7,8,18; Psalms 22:7; 67:2; Psalms 72:17; Isaiah 19:23-25; 54:5; Jeremiah 16:19; 31:33; Hosea 1:10; Zechariah 2:11; Zechariah 8:20-23; Malachi 1:11; Matthew 22:32; 28:19; Mark 16:15,16; Luke 24:46,47; Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17; Galatians 3:14,25-29; Ephesians 3:6; Colossians 3:11)

To paraphrase...

 "Or is God the God of the Jews only? (as He must be, if justification is by the Law: for only to the Jews did God give the Law). Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: since God is One (in His being, and alike to all nations). And He shall justify the circumcision (Jewish believers) out of simple faith (and not by their keeping Moses' Law though they had it from God), and the uncircumcision (Gentiles, who had nothing) through their faith (apart from His giving them the Law)."

Vine observes that...

 Faith is not a national quality, so neither is God merely a national God. Justification is not granted on a condition which only those under the Law can fulfill. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson )

The Old Testament is replete with allusions to the Gentiles being included in God's plan of salvation...

"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants (which would include both Jews and Gentiles) after you. (Genesis 17:7)

That Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations (goyim = Gentiles). (Psalm 67:2)

May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; And let men bless themselves by him; Let all nations (goyim = Gentiles)  call him blessed. (Psalms 72:17)

Paul was in fact an apostle to the Gentiles, for Jesus clearly commissioned him as...

"a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" (Acts 9:15)

Paul had already declared the Gentiles were not excluded writing...

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 (see note Romans 1:16)

In Galatians Paul explained that...

"in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:14)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

In Ephesians Paul emphasized...

that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, (Ephesians 3:6)

Writing to the Colossians he declared that...

there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. (see note Colossians 3:11)

Salvation for the Gentiles was not a new teaching, the psalmist praying...

God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us-- Selah. That Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations (goyim ~ the heathen, the Gentiles). (Ps 67:1-2) (Comment: the prayer invokes God's continued blessing on Israel so that the Gentiles might experience His salvation and also praise Him)

Paul explains to the Galatians that

"you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3:25-29)

J Vernon McGee explains this passage

"In other words, does God belong to the Jews alone and not also to the Gentiles? And Paul says, "Yes, to the Gentiles also." Now, listen to this. This is a very cogent argument. Paul says, "If justification is by the law, then God does belong to the Jews. But if justification is by faith, then He is the God of both Jews and Gentiles." Now, notice the logic of this. If the Jew persisted in this position, then there must be two Gods-one for the Jews, one for the Gentiles. But the Jew would not allow this. He was a monotheist, that is, he believed in one God. Probably the greatest statement that ever was given to the nation Israel was Dt 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: Jehovah, our Elohim is one Jehovah" (literal translation mine). That was the clarion message He gave in the pagan world before Christ came." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

William Newell explains the passage paraphrasing it as follows...

"Or is God the God of the Jews only? (as He must be, if justification is by the Law: for only to the Jews did God give the Law). Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: since God is One (in His being, and alike to all nations). And He shall justify the circumcision (Jewish believers) out of simple faith (and not by their keeping Moses' Law though they had it from God), and the uncircumcision (Gentiles, who had nothing) through their faith (apart from His giving them the Law)." (Romans: Verse by Verse).

YES, OF GENTILES ALSO: nai kai ethnon:

There is only one true God as Paul explained in a parallel thought in his letter to the Corinthians writing that...

"For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from Whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we exist through Him." (1Corinthians 8:5-6)

Justify (1344) (dikaioo from dike = right) (Click for more discussion of dikaioo). Dikaioo in this context means to cause men to be in a proper or right relation with God. To declare righteous.

Vine adds that...

The future tense “shall justify” does not indicate mere futurity, it suggests an unalterable principle, upon which God acts, a principle with which His acts are ever consistent. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson )

Circumcised (4061) (peritome from perí = around + témno = cut off) refers literally to cutting and removal of the foreskin. (See exposition of Scriptures on Circumcision) The Hebrew people came to take great pride in circumcision and in fact, it became a badge of their spiritual and national superiority.  Here Paul uses "circumcised" as a term for "Jew".

Why does Paul say "by faith" for the Jews and "through faith" for the Gentiles? Cranfield points out that attempts to find a very subtle difference are not convincing. Augustine was probably correct in ascribing the change to rhetorical variety.

Although other commentators see no major difference in "by" and "through", Vincent writes that...

Some make the two prepositions equivalent. The difference may be explained from the fact that the real Jew has already a germinating faith from the completion of which justification arises as fruit from a tree. So Wordsworth: “The Jews are justified out of (ek) the faith which their father Abraham had, and which they are supposed to have in him. The Gentiles must enter that door and pass through (dia) it in order to be justified.”

Uncircumcised (203) (akrobustia from ákron = the extreme + búo = cover) means uncircumcised or uncircumcision and thus referred to the prepuce or foreskin.  Akrobustia here is the term of scorn and derision by Jews, for they equated the "uncircumcised" with being a pagan Gentiles.

"By faith" or "through faith" signify that  both Jew and Gentile find acceptance with God in the same way -- on the basis of faith -- a personal committal to Him, a personal trust in Him.

Faith (4102) (pistis) (Click more detailed study of pistis) means a firm persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth, veracity, reality or faithfulness. Saving faith is not just mental assent but firm conviction, surrender to the truth and conduct emanating from that surrender. In sum, faith shows itself genuine by a changed life.

MacDonald adds...

"Whatever the reason for the use of different prepositions here (by and through), there is no difference in the instrumental cause of justification; it is faith in both cases." (MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

One (1520) (heis) is the first cardinal number and defines that which is united as one in contrast with being divided or consisting of separate parts. There is only one God.  There is not one God for the Jew and one for the Gentile. Paul's point is that righteousness through faith means we are all on equal footing. There is not one way of salvation for the Jew and another way for the Gentiles. His plan of salvation is the same for both groups! We Gentiles thank Him for this great truth!

Vine writes that...

faith is regarded as a law, or principle, which excludes all human glorying. It shuts out all possibility of works as a means of justification (Ro 3:27, 28). Hence in the matter of faith Gentiles are on the same ground as Jews, and the confirmation of this lies in the fact that “God is One”; that is to say, there is not one God for the Jew and one for the Gentile. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson )

The oneness of God was a belief basic to Judaism and proclaimed by every devout Jew each day (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4). Here Paul appeals to this doctrine, claiming that since God is one, He must have the same concern for the salvation of the Gentile as he does for the Jew. The Judaism of Paul’s day, however, did not draw the same conclusion from God’s essential unity. They taught that the only way a Gentile could be rightly related to God was to become a proselyte to Judaism, including coming under the yoke of the law. And even then, they were always Gentiles, never quite up to the level of Jews by birth. In the eyes of the Jew, they had no natural claim on God. Paul says, however, that God is interested in the Gentiles apart from the law and that contrary to certain Jewish expectations, the Gentiles are saved through the same faith that saves a Jew.

Why does Paul make this statement about the Law at this point? He knows that in view of the fact that he has been arguing that a man is justified apart from keeping the Law, he would undoubtedly be accused of being against the Law (anti-nomianism). He refutes the hypothetical charge as absurd.

As MacArthur explains...

Salvation by grace through faith does not denigrate the law, but underscores its true importance: (1) by providing a payment for the penalty of death, which the law required for failing to keep it; (2) by fulfilling the law’s original purpose, which is to serve as a tutor to show mankind’s utter inability to obey God’s righteous demands and to drive people to Christ (Gal. 3:24); and (3) by giving believers the capacity to obey it (Ro 8:3, 4). (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word Pub)

Nullify (2673) (katargeo from kata = intensifies meaning + argeo = be idle from argos = ineffective, idle, inactive from  a = without + érgon = work) (Click in depth study of katargeo) literally means to reduce to inactivity. The idea is to make the power or force of something ineffective and so to render powerless, reduce to inactivity. To do away with. To put out of use.  To cause to be idle or useless. To render entirely idle, inoperative or ineffective. Cause something to come to an end or cause it to cease to happen. To abolish or cause not to function. To free or release from an earlier obligation or relationship.

Here katargeo means to  make ineffective the power or force of the Law.  Someone has written that katargeo is pictured by phrases like "pull the teeth out of," or "declaw."

The Amplified Version renders it do we

"make the Law of no effect, overthrow it or make it a dead letter?"

Phillips explains it this way

"Are we then undermining the Law by this insistence on faith?"

Paul undoubtedly knew that he would be accused of antinomianism (being against the law) for arguing that a man was justified apart from keeping the law. The detractors might argue something like this:

“If men have never been saved on any other basis than faith in God, then the Law not only is useless now but was always useless.”

The problem is that they have a misunderstanding of the purpose of God's Law. It was never meant to save us but to show us that we need salvation.

John Piper comments...

" O, how many times this happens in serious theological discussion! You take a stand on some truth and someone says, "Oh, but if you believe that, then you can't believe this. You are nullifying this truth to hold that other truth." Someone has been taught, perhaps, that if you believe in the sovereignty of God in conversion, then you must nullify human accountability to believe. So they say, "You are nullifying human accountability." Or, if you say you believe in the providence of God over all things - from the turning of hairs white or black to the fall of every bird from the sky - someone will say, "Then you are nullifying prayer - why pray if God rules all things so completely?" But just because someone cannot see how two truths can fit together