In Romans 3:5–6 Paul confirms that God already knew in advance. Israel themselves is a people descended from a worshipper of idols, Abram in Ur. God never had any illusions about Israel—and rightly so, as has now become apparent. God’s faithfulness to the covenant people was therefore not based in naivety, but rather in great compassion over a lost, idolatrous, and sinful people. Human beings have nothing to complain about to God, for his righteousness silences them. God is certainly not unjust when he pours out his wrath over Israel. Paul is speaking from the human perspective here, for the question itself simply does not exist for God. For how could he judge the world in righteousness if he were unrighteous by letting Israel’s evil go unpunished?1
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)