Romans 3 is a heavy chapter. But what really caught my attention this morning is a side note stuck in parentheses: “as we be slanderously reported” (8).

A report about Paul claimed he taught “Let us do evil, that good may come.”

Paul dismissed it as slander and moved on.

I am challenged by that. I suppose that stood out to me because of some reports about me. One of them claims . . . . Oh, never mind. If you hear (or read) an evil report about me, please ask me about it.

By the way, I think it is “neat” that God allowed him to include in the Scriptures a personal defense like this. That says something positive about God and His thoughtful grace to His children.