#14 HCBC 1-14-07 AM
What Advantage in Religious Surroundings?
The wrath of God against all mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
The grace of God in the gospel 3:21 – 8:39
The plan of God for Jews and Gentiles 9 - 11
The will of God for changed relationships 12:1 – 15:13
The wrath of God against all mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
Depraved Gentile society 1:18-32
Critical moralizers 2:1-16
Self-confident Jews 2:17 – 3:8
The law v. 17-24
Circumcision v. 25-29
Some Jewish objections v. 1-8
The whole human race 3:9-20
Paul systematically works through his description of the wrath of God being revealed
against the depraved Gentile society,
against the critical moralizers,
against the self-confident Jews
and ultimately against the whole human race!
I. Circumcision Doesn’t Save vs 25
II. Law-keepers would be Considered Circumcised vs 26
III. Uncircumcised Law-keepers Condemn Circumcised Law-breakers vs 27
IV. Outward Signs do not guarantee Inward Reality vs 28
V. Outward Signs Bring Praise from Man, Inward Reality Brings Praise from God vs 29
Circumcision didn’t save anyone!
Baptism doesn’t save anyone!
Sharing in the Lord’s Table doesn’t save anyone!
In the first 8 verses of chapter 3, Paul anticipates some objections from the Jews!
They may have been actual objections that Paul had faced from Jews!
They may have been questions that Paul himself had before his salvation experience!
They may have been rhetorical questions that Paul anticipated might be asked!
The NIV has eight question marks in these eight verses!
We will group them into three:
What advantage in religious surroundings? vs 1-2
What about God’s faithfulness? vs 3-4
What about our sin? vs 5-8
I. What advantage in religious surroundings? vs 1-2
Paul asks the question in verse one and gives his answer in verse two.
The question is: What advantage is there in being a Jew or being circumcised?
His answer is: Much in every way!
We already know that Paul has made the point that there is no saving values in being a
Jew or in being circumcised!
So, what does he mean when he says that there is much advantage in every way?
Paul gives just one answer here but later, in Romans 9, he gives eight advantages!
Let’s go first to Romans 9 to see the advantages listed ther and then return to see
the advantage that Paul discusses here!
Romans 9:1-5
1. the adoption as sons
Being adopted speaks of a sovereign act of God who drew the Jewish people into
a special family relationship with himself.
The advantage of being as sons is that of having the privilege of approaching God
directly as one’s Father!
2. the divine glory
In the context of Jewish history, this phrase refers to God’s revelation of himself
in glory on Mount Sinai at the time of the giving of the law, in the Most
Holy Place of the Jewish temple, and in a few other places. No other nation
had this privilege.
3. the covenants
This advantage, in the plural, refers to those special bondings to Israel including
the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, and the Davidic covenant. These promises from God, for his own good pleasure, were made only to
the Jews.
4. the receiving of the law
This advantage is the one to which Paul refers in Romans 3:2 and we will look at
it upon our return to that passage.
5. the temple worship
This was an obvious advantage because in the early days God actually manifested
himself in the tabernacle or temple. The advantage refers to the way in
which the temple worship pointed the pathway to God by atoning sacrifices
for sin, which prefigured the only perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ!
6. the promises
The Old Testament, as well as the New, is filled with promises to God’s people.
This is certainly an advantage because God’s promises are sure and reliable
since it is God who made them!
7. the patriarchs
The word means “fathers” and refers collectively to all the giants of Israel’s past.
This list would certainly be headed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
It was an advantage to have had such ancestry because God had worked
through these men greatly and they were models of faith and
godliness to their descendants.
8. the human ancestry of Jesus Christ
Being related to Christ did not secure salvation for Jewish people,
but it was still better to be close to him and his ministry in this way than to
be far from him.
If nothing else, it would have been an advantage to have a cultural affinity out of
which it would have been easier to understand the meaning of his teaching.
But in chapter three Paul gives only one answer to his won question: What advantage is ther in
being a Jew?
“They have been entrusted with the very words of God”
“the oracles of God”
This is of utmost importance to us!
We cannot claim the other advantages that Paul listed in Romans 9, but this one we can!
We can say ours are the Scriptures, because we have been given the very words of God
in our language!
James Montgomery Boice says:
Can any of us experience anything in life of greater personal advantage to our souls than
possession of the Holy Scriptures?
Without the Bible we would be utterly confused, adrift in a sea of human speculation about all
the great questions of life!
Is there a God?
Who are we?
How do we come to God?
How is our sin to be dealt with?
What way of life is best?
Does what we do here matter?
It is only from the revelation of God in the Bible that we can have sure answers to any of these
life-and-death questions!
Paul’s question to the religious people of his day, shouts a question to religious people today!
What advantage is there in religious surroundings?
If, Paul’s day no one was saved by being a Jew, circumcision, or religious surroundings;
If, in our day, no one is saved by baptism, celebrating the Lord’s Table, or church
Attendance;
What advantage is there in religious surroundings?
Going to church and listening to the preaching of the Word of God, will at the very
least, cause you to know the way of salvation!
Being in a home where Jesus is Lord will give you an advantage above most people of
the world!
Attending a Christian school will give you an exposure to the gospel that some will
never enjoy.
Having the vast Christian literature available that we do provides an advantage that most
of the world does not have.
What you do with it will be up to you!
The man or woman, boy or girl, who is in a “religious surrounding”,
assuming it is a Bible believing, Bible preaching, Bible practicing surrounding,
is much more likely to hear, to understand, and to be drawn by God to
salvation than one who is not in that “religious surrounding”!
To hear the very words of God is the most assured path to salvation!
But this brings us to a question of our own that every person must face:
What is this Word of God to which Paul refers in verse two?
The issue is the nature of the Bible?
Is it a divine book or a human book?
Is it supernatural or natural?
Is it something that is binding on our minds and morals,
or is it simply a collection of noble thoughts,
which we may use or neglect according to our own perception of the issues?
Three options:
The Bible is the Word of God.
The Bible is a collection of the words and ideas of men.
The Bible is a combination of the two.
Nearly 500 years ago, John Calvin wrote:
This is the principle that distinguishes our religion from all others, that we know
that God has spoken to us and are fully convinced that the prophets did not speak
of themselves, but, as organs of the Holy Spirit, uttered only that which they had been commissioned from heaven to declare. All those who wish to profit from the Scriptures must first accept this as a settled principle, that the Law and the Prophets are not teachings handed on at the pleasure of men or produced by men’s minds as their source but are dictated by the Holy Spirit.
When the Bible is proclaimed and believed as the inerrant, trustworthy Word of God,
people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
and believers grow in their walk with God!
According to one commentator this is because of what God does through His Word:
(James Montgomery Boice)
1. Unsaved men and women are born again by the work of the Holy Spirit
operating through the Bible.
2. Christians are convicted of sin and enabled to turn from it by the power of
the Holy Spirit speaking through the Bible.
3. Christians are sanctified, or made holy, through the Bible.
4. Christians learn the will of God through the Bible, and it is through the Bible
that they are given wisdom to apply the details of Scripture to their daily
lives.
When you hold a copy of the Word of God in your hands, do you recognize what the
Bible truly is?
Do you see it as God’s Book?
Do you thank God for it?
Do you prize it above all earthly possessions?
Do you make it your chief goal in life to know it and live by it?
So, Paul’s question: What advantage is there in “religious surroundings”?
Is answered in one way here:
Much in every way because we have been given the Word of God!
What an advantage!
Bur Paul goes on…
II. What about God’s faithfulness? vs 3-4
Paul says: What if some did not have faith?
Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
In other words, does God’s faithfulness depend upon man’s response?
Paul exclaims: Not at all! No way!
If every man and woman, boy and girl on earth were a liar, God would still be true!
Paul quotes Psalm 51:4 to make his point:
“So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”
God’s truthfulness proves Him right when He judges!
When God speaks, He is always right!
God is faithful and right and true because He is God!
The things that God has spoken will stand regardless what men do or say!
The promises that God has made will be kept without dependence on what we do!
God’s faithfulness does not depend on man’s behavior!
Later on, again in chapter nine, Paul will go into this matter in depth to demonstrate
that God is sovereign in human affairs and does all things justly;
that God foretold that Israel as a whole would reject the Messiah;
that the gospel would be offered to the gentiles, even that for the good of the Jews;
that, in the end, God’s promises to the Jews would be fulfilled;
that God is faithful!
Paul anticipates yet another question as he continues in verse five.
III. What about our sin? vs 5-8
The root of the question is seen in verse eight:
“why not say, (skipping over the parenthetical statement)
“Let us do evil that good may result?”
The point here is that if it takes sin to bring about salvation, why not sin more so that
salvation will be greater!
Paul’s response is that anyone who seriously thinks this way is seriously deluded and
his or her condemnation is seriously deserved!
The person who would say:
“Because God is glorified due to His forgiveness of sin, let us sin more so that
God will be glorified more.”
is condemned and ought to be condemned!
The theologian calls this antinomianism.
It says: If we are saved by grace through faith, entirely apart from any works of the law,
then what does it matter whether we live righteous lives or not?
Indeed, isn’t it good that we sin, because then God is given even greater glory as our
Savior?
Paul says: Certainly not! God is the righteous judge of the universe! He is truth!
He will bring about just judgment!
In this section, Paul addresses the major question of: “If religious surroundings do not
guarantee salvation, of what advantage is there in religious surroundings?”
His answer is: “There is great advantage, and arguably the greatest is that we have been given
the Word of God!”
Will we take it for what it is?
Will we give it the honor and respect that it deserves?
Will we accept it and allow it to have sway over our lives?
Will we see it as our daily bread?
Will be make it our goal to know it and live it?