In Romans 3:9, are Jews better than Gentiles?
No. Romans 3:9 declares Jews are not better than Gentiles, for Paul says “No, in no wise,” since both Jew and Gentile have already been proved to be all under sin. Any advantage Israel had did not change the universal need, because there is no difference.
Les explains that in Romans 3:9 Paul is speaking as a Jew and asks, “Are we Jews better than they Gentiles?” The answer is “No, in no wise,” because both Jew and Gentile were beforehand proved to be all under sin. Israel had been set apart as a separated, holy people, and Romans 3:1–2 shows they had much advantage because the Word of God was committed to them. God gave them the priesthood, the worship, the civil law, and the whole system of law. Yet in the final analysis, Les says, it accomplished practically nothing. Their difference only proved that the old Adamic nature is just as evident in the son of Abraham as in a Gentile. There is no difference.
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;