BACKGROUND:
Having firmly described the shared sinful condition of humankind in Romans chapter 2, Paul turns to several thoughts about the unique benefits of being Jewish. He wants to remind his Jewish brothers that their lack of faith has not hindered God’s plan. Paul does not want his people to miss the significance of God’s faithfulness. In spite of their failures, God still allows them to be the people of the Messiah. In fact, the Jews’ lack of faith is a clear witness to the absolute need for a Savior. Neither they nor we can save ourselves. God’s faithfulness is our only hope.
Paul makes clear that true “Jewishness” is not a matter of heritage, but a matter of one’s relationship with God, and that true circumcision is not on the body, but on the heart. The Jewish response might have well been, “Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision?” Paul gives his response.
Paul answers yes, there are advantages for those members of God’s chosen nation. The Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God (Exodus 19–20; Deuteronomy 4:8). That great privilege alone made the Jews even more responsible to live up to God’s requirements. Paul himself was a Jew, and even though he became a dynamic Christian, he did not turn his back on his heritage. In fact, he realized that the prophets, the law, and God’s plan all pointed to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Therefore, he could confidently state that being a Jew and being circumcised did have meaning, but only as part of God’s total plan. The Jews were entrusted with God’s words, preserving them until the coming of Christ, who was the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures.
While it was true that many Jews were unfaithful to God or to what they had been entrusted, that didn’t change the fact of God’s faithfulness. Many Jews rejected the gospel and thus failed to understand their own Scriptures. But Israel’s unfaithfulness did not determine God’s faithfulness. God had always been faithful to Israel, despite the nation’s failings, and God would continue to be faithful to his covenant with them.
Paul quoted from one of the profoundly confessional passages in the Old Testament (Psalm 51:4). It records the repentance of David following his confrontation with the prophet Nathan over his sin with Bathsheba. In the revelation of his sin David realized, as all of us must, that there is no denial before God. He sees even those things that we hide so well in ourselves and perhaps even come to believe never happened. Kings were used to getting their way. We tend toward the same arrogance. Before God it carries no weight at all.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
In the first eight verses of chapter 3 Paul asks some questions and gives some answers. In a synagogue setting it was perfectly normal for the teacher to speak and then say, "Are there any questions?" And he'd open it up. That's what's going on here in Romans 3.
Paul is the prosecuting attorney. The opposition stands up and say, "I object." The background for these questions are in the previous chapter. Paul has just told the Jews that their religion will not get them to heaven. In fact, he says, nobody's religion will get you to heaven. He says you're not going to make it because of your race, religion, or ritual. In reading chapter 2 it seems that there is absolutely no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Paul is not saying that. He's just saying none of us are innocent.
The first question is about the Jew's uniqueness.
3:1 "What advantage is there then in being a Jew? Or what value is there in circumcision?" Paul is saying, Some of you are thinking, "Why be religious? If working hard and going to church and being circumcised and keeping the law and serving the Jewish holidays won't get me into heaven, why should I even do it?" Is there any advantage in being a Jew over being a pagan if we're all guilty?
Paul answers in v. 2. "Much in every way." It's a great privilege to be a Jew. Praise the Lord! If you're Jewish you ought to be proud of it. There is advantage to it. What is that advantage?
He's saying that the greatest thing the Jews had going for them was that God had given them His word, more than all the rituals and all the other things, God had given them His word. The best thing they had going for them was the Old Testament. This is the Jews' great distinction. God told them, This is the Word and it has been entrusted to you.
Exodus 25. Why did God give them the Word? The first reason that God gave the Jews the Word was to care for it and protect it. We, as Christians, have a lot to thank the Jews for because they have preserved the Bible for thousands of years. If you were to open a Hebrew Bible the first thing you'd notice when you opened it is that you were at the end. The Hebrews read the Bible backwards. The last page of the Hebrew Bible is actually the first page. Genesis 1:1. This word of God has been preserved through centuries and centuries because one thing the Jews did do was take care of the Word that was intrusted to them.
Raiders of the Lost Ark -- great movie, lousy theology! A lot of adventure but very little truth about what the Ark of the Covenant was. What is the Ark of the Covenant? This was the box that was encrusted by gold inside and out that the Jews were to keep the word of God in. In Exodus 25 God gives the instructions for making the Ark. "Have them make a chest of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out and make a gold molding around it. ... make gold rings and fasten them on the four sides ... make poles that are to go through these rings and they're never to be removed."
The reason why, the ark was so sacred, they were never to even touch it. Why? Because it contained the Word of God. The two tables of the Ten Commandments were actually put in that ark. v. 16 "Then put in the ark the testimony which I will give you [the Word of God] and place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the testimony which I will give you." What was special about the ark? Nothing. What was special about the ark was what was inside of it -- the Word which was given to the Jews from God which they were to take care of.
Later God told Solomon to build a temple, an enormous, elaborate temple. Why? To hold the ark which held the Word of God. It was that important. God says I'm giving the Jews the Word to take care of it and protect it so that down through the ages people will have it.
Romans. That was part of the Jewish privilege talked about in v. 2. But there were two parts to this entrustment. The second thing the Jews were to do with the Word of God was to share it. The Jews were to be the missionaries to the rest of the world. God did not make them the chosen nation so they could say, We got it and you don't! He did not make them to be a special group so that they could say, We're the In crowd. Everybody else, forget it! He made them to be evangelists to the world. They were to take the Word of God and share it. But did they do that? No, they didn't.
The Jews did one of the two things God gave them the word for. They took care of it, preserved it. But they didn't share it. They thought that "We're the chosen people" meant We're the only people. But God said, "I gave you the Word so that you could share it with everybody else." The Jews saw their position as a position of prestige and privilege. But Paul said, You have an advantage yes -- the Word of God, but you also have a responsibility.
The second question that Paul deals with is God's faithfulness. The first question is about the Jew's uniqueness and the second is about God's faithfulness. Paul imagines some saying, "What if some of them did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?"
Paul says in v. 4, "Not at all. Let God be true and every man be a liar. As it is written so that you may be proved right in your words and prevailing in your judging." The question Paul asks now is, Since the Jews did not follow God's word completely does that mean that all the promises God made to them, God doesn't have to keep them any more? Paul says, No! Not at all! This is a favorite expression of Paul's. Not at all! It's used thirteen times in Paul's writings and nine times in the book of Romans. The literal translation is No! No! No! No! No! No! It means God forbid! It is the strongest statement you can make in the Greek language. It means Absolutely not!
God does not break His promises even when our performance doesn't warrant it. There are some people questioning God's faithfulness. They're saying since the Jews were unfaithful to God does that mean that God can now be unfaithful to the Jews? and He doesn't have to keep all the promises He made to them? Paul says No! Even if every person in the world is a liar, God is true.
In the Bible there are two kinds of promises. There are conditional promises and there are unconditional promises. Conditional promises are promises that say, "If you do this then I will do this." "Ask and it shall be given unto you." The condition is Ask, the promise is It shall be given unto you. It doesn't say if you don't ask He's going to give it anyway. There is a condition. How about "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Condition: call on the name of the Lord. If you do your part, God does His part. 2 Chronicles 7;14 "If my people which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." There is a promise and there's a premise. Those are conditional promises.
There are also in the Bible many promises that are totally unconditional whether we do what's right or not. These are the promises that Paul is talking about here. There are some promises to the Jews that God made regardless of what they did. For instance, God promised the Jews that eventually they would have a Messiah. Did the Jews deserve that Messiah? Were they faithful all through the years of the Old Testament? They weren't. But did God send the Messiah anyway? Sure. Even though He knew that they were going to reject Him, He sent Him anyway. That was an unconditional promise. The Bible also says that one day Christ is going to come back. That's a promise. It doesn't matter what you do or what you don't do. That promise is not conditioned upon you. This is what Paul is talking about here.
He's saying some of you are saying that since the Jews have blown it and then God can forget everything He's promised to them. Paul says No, God's promises are based on His character not on man's performance.
Aren't you glad that some of God's promises aren't based on how you perform? I'm really glad!
God is saying that even though the Jewish nation has not done what I told them to do, I still love them and I still will fulfill the promises that I made to them. If you want an example of the faithfulness of God, look at the nation of Israel. How many of those nations in the Old Testament are still around today? Only one! Israelites. Because God is faithful. We see the faithfulness of God in the nation of Israel. That ought to be an encouragement to us. One of the reasons why these promises in the Bible ought to be so precious to us is because they are absolutely trustworthy. You can count on them. God will never go against His word. God says it and it will happen!
Paul is saying that God is still not through with Israel. He is working with the church today but God still has a plan for Israel. He still has promises to keep and to fulfill. Stay with me this week as we work through this foundational passage. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
Later God told Solomon to build a temple, an enormous, elaborate temple. Why? To hold the ark which held the Word of God. It was that important. God says I'm giving the Jews the Word to take care of it and protect it so that down through the ages people will have it.
Romans. That was part of the Jewish privilege talked about in v. 2. But there were two parts to this entrustment. The second thing the Jews were to do with the Word of God was to share it. The Jews were to be the missionaries to the rest of the world. God did not make them the chosen nation so they could say, We got it and you don't! He did not make them to be a special group so that they could say, We're the In crowd. Everybody else, forget it! He made them to be evangelists to the world. They were to take the Word of God and share it. But did they do that? No, they didn't.
The Jews did one of the two things God gave them the word for. They took care of it, preserved it. But they didn't share it. They thought that "We're the chosen people" meant We're the only people. But God said, "I gave you the Word so that you could share it with everybody else." The Jews saw their position as a position of prestige and privilege. But Paul said, You have an advantage yes -- the Word of God, but you also have a responsibility.
The second question that Paul deals with is God's faithfulness. The first question is about the Jew's uniqueness and the second is about God's faithfulness. Paul imagines some saying, "What if some of them did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?"
Paul says in v. 4, "Not at all. Let God be true and every man be a liar. As it is written so that you may be proved right in your words and prevailing in your judging." The question Paul asks now is, Since the Jews did not follow God's word completely does that mean that all the promises God made to them, God doesn't have to keep them any more? Paul says, No! Not at all! This is a favorite expression of Paul's. Not at all! It's used thirteen times in Paul's writings and nine times in the book of Romans. The literal translation is No! No! No! No! No! No! It means God forbid! It is the strongest statement you can make in the Greek language. It means Absolutely not!
God does not break His promises even when our performance doesn't warrant it. There are some people questioning God's faithfulness. They're saying since the Jews were unfaithful to God does that mean that God can now be unfaithful to the Jews? and He doesn't have to keep all the promises He made to them? Paul says No! Even if every person in the world is a liar, God is true.
In the Bible there are two kinds of promises. There are conditional promises and there are unconditional promises. Conditional promises are promises that say, "If you do this then I will do this." "Ask and it shall be given unto you." The condition is Ask, the promise is It shall be given unto you. It doesn't say if you don't ask He's going to give it anyway. There is a condition. How about "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Condition: call on the name of the Lord. If you do your part, God does His part. 2 Chronicles 7;14 "If my people which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." There is a promise and there's a premise. Those are conditional promises.
There are also in the Bible many promises that are totally unconditional whether we do what's right or not. These are the promises that Paul is talking about here. There are some promises to the Jews that God made regardless of what they did. For instance, God promised the Jews that eventually they would have a Messiah. Did the Jews deserve that Messiah? Were they faithful all through the years of the Old Testament? They weren't. But did God send the Messiah anyway? Sure. Even though He knew that they were going to reject Him, He sent Him anyway. That was an unconditional promise. The Bible also says that one day Christ is going to come back. That's a promise. It doesn't matter what you do or what you don't do. That promise is not conditioned upon you. This is what Paul is talking about here.
He's saying some of you are saying that since the Jews have blown it and then God can forget everything He's promised to them. Paul says No, God's promises are based on His character not on man's performance.
Aren't you glad that some of God's promises aren't based on how you perform? I'm really glad!
God is saying that even though the Jewish nation has not done what I told them to do, I still love them and I still will fulfill the promises that I made to them. If you want an example of the faithfulness of God, look at the nation of Israel. How many of those nations in the Old Testament are still around today? Only one! Israelites. Because God is faithful. We see the faithfulness of God in the nation of Israel. That ought to be an encouragement to us. One of the reasons why these promises in the Bible ought to be so precious to us is because they are absolutely trustworthy. You can count on them. God will never go against His word. God says it and it will happen!
Paul is saying that God is still not through with Israel. He is working with the church today but God still has a plan for Israel. He still has promises to keep and to fulfill. Stay with me this week as we work through this foundational passage. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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