The First in Line
Scripture: Romans 3:1-4
(Romans 3:1-8) 1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."
Have you ever taken some time and watched a teacher with a group of children? I find it interesting how the sin nature will compel the children to react when their teacher yells out, “Everybody line up!” Usually there’s a little bit of reluctance, but when one or two begin to head for the teacher, chaos breaks out. There’s pushing, shoving, running, and yelling, and all so that one can get to the front of the line. Does being the first in line really mean anything? Most of the time it doesn’t mean a thing, yet within every child there is that innate desire to be first in line, to beat everyone else to the front and have that few seconds of importance in everyone else’s eyes.
When God chose Abraham He didn’t yell out, “First one here will enjoy eternity with me!” No, instead He went right to the heart of man and found the only heart that was worth being first in line. He didn’t look for the one with all the money, all the fame, or all the power. No, He went looking for a man that was devoted and committed to Him. And you all know who that was, it was Abraham. God made a choice, He made a distinction and the seed of Abraham enjoyed that distinction for many years.
In God’s eyes the Jews were first in line. However, the pride and selfishness that we mentioned earlier about the schoolchildren is that very pride that could be found in the descendants of Abraham. The pride of being chosen by God, which could have been put to good use, continued to lead the Jews astray over the centuries. Throughout the Old Testament we are able to see the ‘sin circle’ of the Jewish people. They would seek God, receive His blessings and then they would wander away from Him. Subsequently, they then would be rebuked by God and the circle would start all over again.
Nevertheless the Jewish people were a chosen people and were separated unto God, and the sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham (Genesis 17:11) was to be circumcision of the flesh.
Yet, here in verse one, Paul says:
(Romans 3:1) What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?
Why does He ask this question? After all, didn’t God set up the covenant in the first place? Well, first of all, we need to remember that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is writing this epistle to the Romans, which means that it is actually God that is asking the question. Writing through the power of God, Paul couldn’t just simply stand up and say there wasn’t any difference because there was a difference and there had always been a difference. God Himself had laid down the rules from the beginning. If we were to read the Old Testament, we would see that God had specifically instructed the Jews on how to come Him. No other people group was allowed to approach God, unless that person had changed their nationality. Ruth had to change her nationality before she could approach God in worship.
She told Naomi…
(Ruth 1:16) Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
So, if there was an advantage to being a Jew, and being set apart by circumcision, why was Paul now saying that circumcision had nothing to offer unless there was a circumcision of the heart?
Remember in chapter two, where Paul says,
(Romans 2) 28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
So what advantage is there to being a Jew?
2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
There is the primary reason for being a Jew, “that unto them were committed the oracles (words, utterance) of God.”[KJV]. Why is this so important to the first century reader? It was important because during these times people sought out numerous other ways to learn about their futures. People used various methods to receive so-called revelations from their own pagan gods for the direction of their lives and futures. There were some that consulted the movements of fish in a tank. There were some that left a coin on the altar of Hermes then stopped up their ears and walked through a crowd, until suddenly, they unstopped their ears and took guidance and revelation from the first words uttered by someone that just happened to pass by.
There were people that interpreted the whispers of the branches of an oak tree, while others listened to the talk of birds. Some watched the flight of birds, if they flew in one direction it meant a certain result and if they flew in another direction it meant something else.
Priests of Rome used to open the bodies of birds to see how the entrails were marked. Even today, people listen to astrologists and psychics in order to try to understand their futures.
To the Jew and everyone else, the very words of God indicate that the one and only God revealed these words by divine dictation, meaning: God has spoken, end of discussion.
What then advantage to being a Jew? Being able to approach God, which meant the difference between Heaven and Hell. And being entrusted with the very words of God, which reveals the mind of God, but there is one more…
The Jews were the people chosen by God to produce the Messiah who was to bring individual redemption to individual sinners. And, they are the people chosen by God to be the ultimate administrators of this earth at the time of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So now you can understand the exclamation…
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way!
With all the advantages and benefits of being a Jew…
Verse three…
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
This verse is not about the unbeliever. The KJV translates the word as did not believe and unbelief, while the NIV is a little closer to the correct translation: faithlessness. The first sentence isn’t talking about the person that we share the truth with that takes up a position contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rather it is talking about the Jew that knows the truth, yet refuses to accept and incorporate, by faith, that truth into their lives.
Let me give you an example. Suppose you were to hear of a distant relative of yours that has included you as the sole inheritor of their estate in their Last Will and Testament. You brag about this fact to everyone around you. And, because you are the sole inheritor of this large inheritance, you enjoy the fact that it makes you feel important to all your friends and relatives. However, in your heart you have no faith that you will actually receive the estate. As sole inheritor you are set to receive a large inheritance, you have the papers before you that name you as the sole inheritor, yet, when the person passes away, you refuse to pick up the inheritance, simply because you have no faith in the one that provided the inheritance in the first place.
That was the state of the Jews. They had been entrusted with the truth and were proud of their titles, positions, and power, yet they refused or gave no thought to the responsibility of that trust. Thus the question…
3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
The question as put forth here is basically a reflection of a national disobedience that had taken place since Abraham’s time. Even Abraham, who believed God and his faith was counted unto him as righteousness, went south (to Egypt) during a time of famine instead of trusting God.
So why didn’t God simply cast the Jews off? Because, in the face of their faithlessness, God remains faithful because of the nature of His own being.
(Galatians 3)13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. 15 Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
The contract was signed and sealed by God with Abraham. By comparison, if we were to look at contracts today, once a contract is signed and witnessed, it cannot be added to nor can anything be taken from it, without the consensus of both parties.
As an example, if you sign a contract with a builder to construct a building for $10,000, they cannot begin building and halfway through tell you it’s going to cost $15,000, unless there is a provision in the contract for cost overrun. Likewise, the person contracting the builder can’t tell the builder halfway through construction to change something, and expect the price to remain the same.
This covenant with Abraham, in today’s contractual language could possibly read like this:
God, party of the first part, does hereby make this contract, as promises to Abraham and Christ, joint parties of the second part, and that God is going to fulfill all of His promises because, in spite of the faithlessness of Abraham, there is eternal faithfulness in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in our society today, if a person breaks a covenant, promise or contract with another person, more likely than not, the person with whom the contract is made will have no legal obligation to fulfill the contract. Yet, in the end of verse three and verse four we see quite the opposite…
Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."
We see that God is true and man is false, and since that is so, God is not nullified by the falsehood of men, and besides that, the contract was made not only with Abraham, but with Christ, God Himself. As such, God is prepared to faithfully fulfill with man, through Christ, what He promised several thousand years ago because of His very nature, truth. Thus the sentence…
Let God be true, and every man a liar.
God is, by nature, true, while man is by nature (after the fall) false, because he naturally seeks falsehood and rejects the truth.
This is evident in Psalm 51, a Psalm that was written after the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
(Psalm 51) 1 [For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
In these verses, David cried out to God because of his great sin of adultery and murder.
David had sinned against:
• Bathsheba,in destroying her honor
• Uriah, in taking his wife and then in taking Uriah’s life.
• His nation, since his action had brought defeat in battle instead of victory.
• Himself, since he lost the privilege of building the temple for God.
All of that was on the sin plate, so to speak, of David. Yet, to whom does he cry out? Who does he asks forgiveness? He says, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight" (KJV).
All sin is against God, while the human involvement or ramifications are secondary. And, David says,
so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Everyone else looking on the sin of David may have thought, well since it was okay for the king to do it, it’s okay for me to do it…not so. David admits that it was all wrong in God’s sight. David took sides with God against himself. And that must be our position when sin enters into our lives. We must always side with God against ourselves, for God is true and we are false. When we recognize that we have sinned because of our own nature and because we have not exercised faith to lay hold upon the power that is available every moment through the Spirit of God, then we are in the position of those who may obtain mercy by going on to acknowledge that the failure was all in ourselves and that surely there was none in God.
That is why Paul uses such strong language here.
Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."
The words of God had been given to the Jews. They had been given to the people of God by the prophets of God. Yet what had the people of God done with them?
(Luke 13:34) 34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
One might think that since God entrusted the Jews with His very words, that there would be copies everywhere. Yet such was not the case. Even the Bible tells us in Nehemiah’s day, the law as neglected and had even been lost. And, when it was found, people were excited and crowded around as it was publicly read. Yet, these are only isolated incidents for the history of the people that brought the word to us, even as Romans 3:1-4 reveals to us, there was no love for the Word of God in their hearts. They should have been missionaries, but they were not. They should have shouted it from the rooftops, but they did not. They could have sung this
Psalm…
67:1 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah 2 that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. 4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah 5 May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. 6 Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. 7 God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Yes, they should have sung that to the people, but they didn’t. Instead, they were against everyone around them. So much so, we read in John 4:9…
(John 4:9) The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Summary:
We must draw from this a conclusion that Christians today are just as guilty as the Jews to whom Paul was speaking. Why? We are just as guilty because no longer do the Jews possess the whole oracles of God. The Word of God, in its fullness, has passed from Jewish custody to us.
I hear people boast about the number of Bible they have in their homes, yet not about the number of people they have reached with that Word with which they have been entrusted.
We all share an individual responsibility toward the truth we profess. We can never break the plan of God by our own inconsistencies, but our inconsistencies can break our own selves against the plan of God.
The Jews were once first in line, but now that position has been surrendered to you. You are now first in line, what are you going to do with that position?
