Romans 3:1-4

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged.”

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hello. This is Dr. Bill Branks, author of Love the Word. Today's text is Romans 3 verses 1 to 4. Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means. Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. In the previous chapter, Paul spends a lot of time correcting the Jews for their distorted view of who they are and how they can be saved. He dismantles their theology, and if they were listening, leaves them with a bit of an identity crisis. Anticipating this, Paul asks the question they are likely thinking, then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? The Jews saw themselves as being devalued as the gospel of salvation by faith, not works, became more widespread. Paul's message was that being a Jew and keeping the law, including circumcision, was not necessary for salvation. If that's true, the Jews may ask, are we no different than the Gentiles? You are, Paul says, but not in the way you think. You have been entrusted. Many years ago, I worked for a very demanding business owner who was desperately trying to keep his business afloat. One night, he called me in to hand deliver a package to a business four hours away, which needed to be there by 7 AM. As I left, he said, You are the only one I could trust to get this there. I'm not sure why he thought that, at twenty five, I wasn't all that reliable, but the package was delivered on time. It feels good to be chosen or trusted to do something. It means someone has seen potential in you, even if you haven't. The Jews had forgotten that they had been entrusted with the oracles of God. By no merit of their own, they were chosen by God to possess his word. They had access to God knowledge that no one else had, a privilege and advantage they had overlooked or taken for granted. This privilege, however, came with no guarantees. Even though God chose them, they remained vulnerable to sin and faithlessness. Does this somehow call God's faithfulness into question? Not at all, Paul declares. It's interesting how the human mind works. When our faith wavers or sin takes control, we start questioning God's faithfulness. We think he isn't making me stronger. He isn't shielding me from temptation. He has abandoned me. It's his fault I'm not a better Christian. Our thoughts aren't usually that blunt, but we tend to dwell on that kind of thinking. When something we're responsible for isn't the way it should be and we can't find a way to fix it, we often want to blame someone else. Focus on fixing the problem, not the blame, we already know where the blame lies. When I lived in Chicago, I often walked past the Water Tower, a one hundred eighty two foot tall former water pump station in downtown Chicago. The tower became especially well known when it survived unscathed during the Chicago fire of eighteen seventy one, while the buildings around it burned to the ground because the tower was rock solid, entirely made of stone. Imagine the scene, block after block in every direction from the water tower, reduced to smoldering ashes while the tower remained standing strong. That scene reminds me of Paul's comment, let God be true though everyone were a liar. If all of man's reason, truths, and philosophy wage war against the truth of God, it would be left smouldering all around the rock solid, unchanging, unwavering truth of God. Our failures never nullify God's faithfulness and promises but do prove He is justified in all His judgments. Fighting God's truth is pointless, discouraging, and faith decaying. Trusting His promises and His faithfulness takes the burden off of us and puts it on God to lead and provide in His time, and He never fails.