As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
1Therefore, what [is the]
advantage of the Jew, or what [is the] profit of the circumcision? 2[There
is] much according to every way, because first they were entrusted with the
oracles of God. 3For, what if some disbelieved (were unfaithful),
does not their unbelief (unfaithfulness) nullify the truth (truthfulness,
faithfulness) of God? 4May it
never be! But, let God be truthful but every man a liar, just as it is written,
“In order that You may be justified in Your speaking and You will be victorious
in what You [are] judging (or being judged).”
Paul pauses here to ponder what I
believe turns out to be a question of profound implications: “What about the
Jew?” In chapters 1 and 2, Paul has shown that all mankind is rightly under the
judgment of God and that the Jew, as a Jew, has no advantage as he would stand
before the tribunal of God. Chapter 2 ended with Paul saying, “A man is not a
Jew if he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. No, a man
is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,
by the Spirit…” (vv.28,29).
People say this question is coming
from those objecting to what Paul is saying. I don’t think we need to assume
that. The fact is, it is a good
question. What about the Jew? What Paul seems to be saying there at the end of
chapter 2 is that it really makes no difference whether a person is a Jew or
Gentile. Along with that, we have passages like Gal. 3:26-29: “You are all sons
of God through faith in Christ Jesus…There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ. If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” We are also
told, “Now in Christ Jesus you who were once afar off have been brought near
through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two
one and has broken down the barrier…Through Him we both have access to the
Father by one Spirit” (Eph. 2:13-18).
There are a lot of people down
through the years who would take these verses to conclude that the church has
replaced the Jews as the people of God, that Jews as Jews no longer possess any
distinction, that they were “set aside” when they rejected and murdered the
Messiah. Those same people will speak of Israel as “the church” in an Old Testament
sense and now we are “the church” in the New Testament sense. So, what about
the Jew? Does the Gospel essentially negate their distinction as a people? Does
there remain any advantage to being Jewish, any distinction? Notice Paul’s
answer: “Much in every way!”
Here’s what I think: Yes, it is
true, as we stand before God, it matters not whether you are a Jew or a
Gentile, male or female, etc. As Paul will go on to say, “For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God.” All human beings are born dead in their
trespasses and sins and all need the salvation that Jesus and His gospel offers.
All can be born again and become the children of God. However, that said, a man
is still a man and a woman is still a woman. A born again man still grows a
beard and loves bacon. A born again woman still bears children and loves Reese’s
Cups. Yes, our standing before God is exactly the same, but that doesn’t change
the distinctions of who we are. The same is true of Jew and Gentile.
Spiritually speaking a saved Gentile becomes as a Jew before God. But…a Gentile
is still a Gentile and a Jew is still a Jew.
God said to Abraham in Gen.
17:6-8, “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and
kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting
covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations
to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I
will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you;
and I will be their God.” One can read these words again and again and
there is much to observe. For one thing, notice the promises are unconditional. The Mosaic Covenant,
given later, was conditional: If they obeyed, they would be blessed; if they
disobeyed, they would be cast out of the land. But here we have the Abrahamic
Covenant and notice there are no
conditions. God promised Abraham to bless his descendants.
Notice too it is “everlasting.” This
Abrahamic Covenant – God’s promise to bless Abraham’s descendants is a forever promise. For whatever it is
worth, even note that their rightful possession of the land of Canaan is an “everlasting”
possession. As they say, “Put that in your pipe and smoke it!” I don’t want to
get off on another rabbit trail, but I would suggest that is why there has to
be a new heaven and a new earth. New earth? Why a new earth? God promised to
Israel the land of Canaan as an everlasting
possession. Somehow in eternity, the land of Canaan on this new earth will
always be the home of Jewish people,
of Abraham’s physical descendants. No
such promises are accorded to us Gentiles. I think the bottom line is that a
physical descendant of Abraham (a Jew) is a physical descendant of Abraham and
those who are not (us Gentiles) are not. Men are not women and women are not
men. We may be “equal” in our standing before God, but that doesn’t change the
distinctions with which we have been created.
So what about the Jew? Since the
Cross, is it okay for us to see them as a cursed, rejected people? Should we
write them off as the refuse of an ancient past gone terribly wrong? Since we’re
all equal in God’s eyes, is their Jewishness now irrelevant? Is there left any advantage
to being a Jew? Again, note Paul’s answer: “Much in every way!” He will go on,
I know, in chapters 9-11 to elaborate on this entire discussion, but I want to
say, based on these Scriptures, that God has not forgotten His promises to
Abraham. The Jewish people will always be the Jewish people and yes, they are
special to God. If I could inject here, it’s not that they are more special than anyone else, but they are
special in their own way.
As an immediate application of
this, I want to note that the Lord specifically told Abraham, “I will bless
those who bless you and curse those who curse you” (Gen. 12:3). Based on this
verse, I would conclude that no, it is not okay to see the Jewish people as a
cursed, rejected people. They are still a blessed people and we should bless
them ourselves. We should bless them in our mind and whatever opportunity we
may have to offer them respect, we should. I believe without reservation that
America in some part enjoys divine blessing precisely because (and if) we seek
to be a blessing to the nation of Israel. The Lord went on to tell Abraham that
“all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” That promise found its fulfillment ultimately in the coming of the Messiah, but, as with all truth, it
is a fractal of reality that Jewish people simply are a blessing to the rest of
us. I don’t have the statistics in front of me, but historically a very high
percentage of the good that has been done in this world has come through Jewish
minds and hands – way beyond the tiny fraction of their population.
So, right off the bat here in
chapter 3, what about the Jew? Right in the middle of this discussion
demonstrating we have all sinned and fallen short, that there is only one
Gospel, are we given to dismiss Jewishness? No. Their promises go on. Their “peopleness”
goes on. They are still distinct ethnically. And they are still blessed and a
blessing as Jews. There is yet much to say about them and about their future
(Paul will give three chapters of the
book of Romans just to address that matter!). The book of Romans is a book
about reality. God is our reality and the Gospel – man’s relationship with his
Creator God – is the reality of living in this world. That realization itself
begs extensive discussion, but let me conclude by saying here that recognition
of Jewishness is part of that reality. It’s not just some religious curiosity.
There is a God, He is real, and in His real world there are and always will be
Jewish people.
Embracing that truth is part of
you and I living in reality.
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