Transcript
The book of Romans chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. We will take the first couple of verses this morning. Paul begins, What therefore is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit (or profit) of the circumcision? (verse 2) Much according to every way. For first, (that is, primary, most important) indeed, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
The word oracles is a diminutive word of (logos) for word. These are selected words. Words of revelation given directly to the Jews out of the mouth of God.
(Verse 3) For what if some disbelieved? Our unrighteousness does not make the faith of God ineffective, does it? It is expecting the answer, no.
4) May it not happen! And let God become true, and every man a liar; according as it has been written, “That You should be justified in Your words, and you should overcome in Your judgement.”
5) Now if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Unrighteousness does not hinder the God who is inflicting wrath on us. And I am speaking according to man.
6) May it not be! How will God judge the world?
7) For if the truth of God abounded in my lie for the glory of God; then why yet am I also being judged as a sinner?
8) And not (according as we are slandered, and according as some affirm us to say), that “We should do the evil things in order that the good things might come,” of whom (that is, the ones who are saying this) the judgment is just.
As I mentioned the first hour both of our studies focus on the same theme. Paul has – in the book of Romans, he has told them that in chapter 2 verse 1 that the Jew has the mindset to turn to the Gentile and look at the Gentile living in his corruption and to judge them according to the law. They are breaking that law, they are breaking this law, they are breaking this law. And the Jews are very proud people, they will tell you what laws you are breaking. And so he says that you who are judging, the reason why you judge is that you are doing the same things. And then, in verses 2 to 16 he says that both Jew and Gentile alike are going to be judged, first of all (verse 2), according to the truth. So he says if you are a Hebrew person, or a religious person and you are judging someone else because you see them doing your sin, you also are going to be judged the same way.
Verse 5 he says you are going to be judged according to the hardness and the impenitence of your heart. Your heart is hard, you have refused to repent, you will be judged according to that.
Verse 6, everyone will be judged according to his activity. That is spiritual activity in his life. Not your religiosity or law keeping.
And fourthly, Paul says in verse 16 that everyone is going to be judged according to his gospel. Uh oh. The Hebrew and Jewish person already knows that Paul is not favorable to the law.
In fact we saw in verses 17 to 29 that when Paul talked about ceremony, he talked about circumcision, he says look even if you have been physically circumcised but in your heart you have disbelieved God and disobeyed God, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. And the uncircumcision, that is the Gentiles, when they have a heart response to God their uncircumcision becomes circumcision spiritually.
And he summarizes in verses 28 and 29 from last week. He says because a Jew is not a true Jew until he has been circumcised in his heart. So this brings the Hebrew or Jewish person to the point where he says, “Then what is the advantage to being a Jew?” As I mentioned the first hour the Hebrew people believe that they are the chosen people, which they are. That they have been privileged by God beyond all other people on the earth, and they have. But the greater the privilege the greater the judgment, and they don’t understand that. The Hebrew or Jewish person believes that his salvation, his eternal life is provided for him according to God’s covenant promises. It has nothing to do with his response, it has nothing to do with the response of his heart, it is just that he is a Hebrew and he is a Jew. And he sets himself up as a judge of others.
But Paul says look you as a Hebrew, as a Jew, you are going to be judged like a Gentile is too. The same facts. The same truth. Your heart is going to be judged just like the Gentile, not your law keeping. The activity of your life – do you have God’s Spirit in you? or are you are you doing your own thing? And, the Jew as well as the Gentile will be judged according to Paul’s gospel. “Okay, well, what about the keeping of the law? What about circumcision? That is the sign of the covenant.” Yes, and if you did that, that is fine, but that is all outward. If you have not been circumcised in your heart, that will do you no good as far as eternal life goes. So the Hebrew and Jewish person not only is confused and perplexed but also very angry. Because Paul is taking that divide between the gospel of the law and the gospel of grace, and he is making that division even wider saying, “It is not even close.”
So the question comes up in verse 1. There are four questions in verses 1 to 8, we will take the first one. Therefore what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the profit or benefit of the circumcision? He says, (verse 2) Much according to every way. And he is giving the most important principle in answer to this first question, higher than all the other reasons. First of all, that they were entrusted with the words or oracles of God. They were entrusted with the word of God. That is the advantage of the Jew. But he is also going to point out, it also brings greater responsibility.
So the Hebrew or Jewish person believes that if he was born Hebrew or Jewish that he is a son of Abraham. Therefore he was born into salvation. And through circumcision he has fulfilled the law of the sign of the covenant.
But you remember in John chapter 8, as John in his gospel presents the struggle between the Jewish leaders and Jesus, they came to Jesus and said, “You are casting out demons by the prince of demons.” And Jesus said, in John 8:44, He says, “You are not the sons of Abraham, you are of your father the devil and his works you will do.” Pretty tough language. Just because you were born Jewish does not guarantee you salvation and eternal life. They believe, “We are God’s chosen people and we are under the covenant, therefore Gentiles are sinners.”
In Exodus chapter 25 verse 16 God entrusted the words of God to the Jewish people. He says, “Take My testimony, and take the tablets, and take all the writings, and put it in what is called the Ark of the Covenant.” It was an ark that they put the law in and they carried it everywhere they went.
Number one, the Jewish people believe that just by being in possession of the law guarantees them eternal life. That is equivalent to us saying, “I have a Bible in my house, that makes me a Christian.” Because they possessed God’s word – that was number one, their first point. Even if they did not study it, they possess it, therefore they have eternal life.
But it went even further than that with the Jews. It was so sacred – God’s word was so sacred to them. God says – concerning this Ark of the Covenant with God’s Law inside, that if they go near it, or touch it, they will die. And yet we are told not to add to it or take away from it. The Jewish people learned to reverence and to fear the laws of God. You do not mess with it or you will die.
There is another sacred thing that the Jews would do. I want to show you just an example of how sacred they believe the Torah or the Tanak is, the Old Testament. The first word of Genesis: bereshith, In beginning. In Hebrew just this one letter is your preposition: in. Rosh means beginning. In beginning. The Jews take the first letter which is a bēt (ב) and they said, “That first letter represents four things.”
1) The straight line in the back closes it off from any other thing that came before it. Anything that came before it is not sacred.
2) The top line prevents us from going up and beyond the word itself.
3) The bottom line keeps us from bending down to other false teachings and other opinions.
4) And the only side that is left open is the front side which means that everything that expresses itself out from that letter is the word of God.
Anything before it, above it, below it is not sacred. It is not the word of God. But everything that follows it – you see the open space? All the words that come out from that, all the way through the Torah, all the way through the Tanak, that is the sacred word of God. So they literally held to it. You do not add to it and you do not take away from it. As a matter of fact, you do not touch it.
And then you were to come up to this kind of person and say, “You know, you do not have salvation just because you got physical possession and you hold it in high esteem. Just because you go by that as the word of God and nothing else. That is commendable but it does not guarantee you are saved.”
Jesus in John chapter 5 verse 39, Jesus expressed this habit that the Hebrew and Jewish people had. He says, You are searching the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: but they are they which testify of Me. He said in them. Just by being in the Scriptures, studying them day and night, putting in mental effort to study the Torah. And then it says, In them you think you have eternal life. They presume by their much mental study of the Torah that they have eternal life. But Jesus says, But they are what are testifying of Me. You can study the Torah all you want to, but if you reject The One that the Torah is pointing to, you will not be saved. That is very easy to understand. That if they rejected the Messiah they are not going to be saved just because they are Jewish.
But you have to understand that is the philosophy that the Hebrew or Jewish person carried. “I have God’s word. We as Jews have God’s word. We study God’s word. We keep our minds constantly busy and mindful of the word of God.” And they hang things on themselves to remind them even when they are away from the word of God – these phylacteries, these boxes that you see some Jews wear. They are strapped on their head and these boxes are right here in the front and inside is a tiny scroll of the Torah, the law. So as they are going through this day this box clunks them in the head and reminds them. Because when were out doing our chores we have a tendency to concentrate on what we are doing and forget about the word of God. So they did this for a constant reminder so their minds would not be taken off of the Torah. Boy, that is pretty commendable. But if they reject The One that the Scriptures are talking about, if they are not obedient to the truth, it will do them no good.
So you can understand this first question. “What good is it to be a Jew?” If nothing ceremonial that I can do – even in obedience to the ceremony of the law, that is not going to save me. Being born son of Abraham in the flesh, that is not going to save me. Then, what good does it do? What is the advantage of the Jewish person? Well, the advantage is they have been given the word of God to study and apply to themselves and then go out and preach it to the world. They studied it. They worked it mentally. But they did not apply it to themselves.
What can we learn from all of this? Just because they are Jewish does not mean that they are the only types of people that have this kind of deception about what it means to be saved. There are many Gentiles today that say, “I have a Bible in my house. Not just one, I have one for every room. I read my Bible ten chapters a day.” That is great but that is not what makes you a Christian. We have people putting in tremendous effort, both with human effort and mental effort. And many times, I am sure people have been frustrated with me, but I have been frustrated with them, when people talk to me from out of their heads about what the Bible says, and all the verses they have memorized, and it is like, “Well, what about Jesus? How much time do you spend with Him?”
And I can remember a time when I was younger when we used to trade back and forth all the Scriptures, “Well, what about this?” and we would quote it. Somebody else would quote another Scripture. Going back and forth talking about the Scriptures. That is great for understanding of the Scriptures but that is not going to save you. Having a personal relationship with the Bible does not guarantee that you are going to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You see, religion amongst all people is the same, it is just that we are not hung up on the Torah, the law. And yet to us the Bible is very sacred. It is the God breathed Word of God. In fact, the Hebrew Jewish person has more respect for the word of God than we do. We throw it around like it is just another book. So religion is the same for all people just in different forms. We too search the Scriptures and they speak of Jesus.
I am reminded of what we studied last the Thursday night. As a healing took place after the coming of the Holy Spirit, they called Peter and John in, the Sanhedrin did, and they said, “What name are you preaching in?” And they said they are preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. So the Council was against them and sharing the things of Christ. And the Scripture says, They took note of them that they were unlearned and ignorant men.
Unlearned literally means ungrammared, no education. And the word ignorant is (idios) where we get our word idiot from. It does not mean stupid, it means privately taught. So what they were saying is, “You are uneducated men.” They took note of them. They noticed them, “You guys are uneducated. Whatever you have learned you have learned privately because you have not gone through the rabbinical schools.” So it says, They took note of them that they were unlearned and ignorant men, and then it says, And they took note of them that they had been with Jesus. These are people who are experts in the law, the Scripture. So they said, “Oh, this is where it is coming from. It is not their education, it is because they have been hanging around Jesus. And His influence, His teaching is why they are preaching the way they are.”
I am all for education but education is just a tool. It is not a measure of spirituality but rather a tool. Our minds are gaining tools for the Holy Spirit to use when He ministers to us and helps us to understand. But just gaining an education in the Bible, there is no spirituality in that. The whole point of the study of the word of God is be able to understand Jesus more, to be drawn closer to Him and develop a personal relationship in response to Him through His word.
But too many times we stop just between us, the church system, and the study of a book. Which only goes as far as the head and we keep it closed as far as God ministering to the heart. And the Lord says, “All of this is good.” Fellowship is good. Study is good. All of that is good. But if it is not received by the heart, if the heart is not changed by the word of God, spiritually it is good for nothing. We have a tendency to get very headstrong in our culture. We have our minds filled with the Bible and that is good except we have more of a relationship with the Bible than we do with Jesus.
I do not know about you but I would love for people when they got through talking with me they would know, number one, I studied the word of God. I love to receive what God’s Spirit says through His word, but I want them to look back and say, “This was not just a religious guy quoting the Bible to me but here is someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
I do not tell people. When they say, “Oh, you believe in that guy that says He walks on water and they said He was raised from the dead – and just because of that book.” Uh, wait a minute here. I do not believe in Jesus because of the book. I am telling you what Jesus said and did. I am not going to quote you out of a book, I will quote Jesus. Your qualm is not with me it is with Jesus. Either He is telling the truth or He is a liar. But you see when people cut us off from Jesus and it is just us and a book arguing between them and their book – try to use reason and logic to defeat them mentally. Their argument is not with me. Either Jesus said it or He did not. Either it is the truth or it is a lie. God has made it real to me, He has brought me to come to know Jesus Christ.
I hope, my hope is that when people are finished talking with me as we share together, is they will be ministered to through His word. But most of all they will look back and say, “He has been with Jesus. He knows Jesus. You can take his Bible away from him, does not make any difference.” Not going to change me or my mind if you can take my Bible away because my salvation and my approach to life and to God is based not on the Bible, based on the reality of Jesus Christ. He is living. He is real. His Spirit lives inside of me. How do you argue against that?
I have even told people when they try to share a little bit about evolution. Their science book against my religious book. And I tell them – I disarm them right away, “You know, if the Lord did not save me,” I do not talk about what I do, “If the Lord did not save me, I would probably agree with you.” I mean you have to believe something. That sounds pretty good to me. But you see, I cannot believe that because Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me, revealed to me my need for Him, and His Spirit came inside to live in me and I am possessed by His Spirit. Even in my head if I agreed with you I cannot get away from the truth. I do not have the truth, the truth has me. So you can tell me about evolution all you want to. I can disagree with it even humanly and mentally. But the reality is I know the Creator. Not just with my mind but with my heart. So you can talk about it all you want, you can take my book away from me. I will not quote you any Scriptures about creation, because I know who created all things because the One who created all things revealed Himself to me. If He did not do that to you I cannot help that.
You see, it all goes back to Jesus, not with mental arguments. It is good to share with one another to learn and research but let us not forget it is not a relationship with a book, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is our strength. He is the truth. And my prayer is that people will see Christ in us and the word of God will be the explanation for our relationship with Jesus Christ. It will be the explanation of who we are and why we do what we do. It is not about, “I have to go to church on Sunday morning,” it is about, “I am going to be with God’s people to learn more about Jesus.” It is not about a duty that I have to perform. It is about a place I go to because Jesus is there with His people and He is revealing more of Himself to us, and drawing us closer to Him, and opening up our minds to understand more about the God who created the universe. It is not about church. It is about a living relationship with the living Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
