<p>3:8 <i>And why not do evil that good may come? (As some people slanderously charge us with saying</i><i>- </i>Paul&rsquo;s opponents repeated the gossip &ldquo;we be slanderously reported&rdquo; and fabricated primary evidence that they had actually heard Paul say &ldquo;and... affirm&rdquo; that therefore we should sin so that blessing would come from God. Note the legal language again- they were as it were putting Paul in the dock and making affirmations against him. Vilification is something which every preacher and teacher of the Gospel has to put up with, and we shouldn&rsquo;t be surprised when we encounter it. Paul speaks of such slanderers and word twisters in very tough terms: &ldquo;Whose damnation is just&rdquo;. This of course is in the context of his having just pointed out that the legal condemnation of the unbelieving world is just and right. He perceived his critics within the ecclesia as actually being in the unbelieving world. He also sees their damnation as a present thing- human behaviour is played out before the judgment seat of God right now. It&rsquo;s not that He is unaware of it and will only consider it at the future judgment seat. Slanderous words and fabricated evidence against God&rsquo;s children is seen as an &lsquo;affirmation&rsquo; made in the Divine court- and it will be judged with damnation.</p><p><i>Their condemnation is just)- </i>To God, slanderers and false teachers within the ecclesia already are given their condemnation (Rom. 3:8). &quot;The Lord shall judge the people... God judgeth (present tense) the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day... he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows&quot; (Ps. 7:8,11-13). God is now judging men, and preparing their final reward. For the wicked, the arrow is prepared in the bow, the sword is sharpened- all waiting for the final day in which the present judgments will be executed.</p>