Sunday, May 10, 2020

Romans 3:1-4 “Reality”


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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