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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
THE GREAT ADVANTAGE
(Romans Study Series #6)
Romans 3:1-9, "What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say) Let us do evil that good may come? Whose damnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin:"
In our last study we read the Apostle Paul’s words to the church at Rome. It was evident that he was speaking to both Jews and Gentiles but most of his remarks spoke directly at the heart of Judaism and the act of circumcision according to the Law of Moses.
He has already shown that just because we possess the knowledge of God’s perfect way does not mean that we will necessarily be saved by that knowledge. Paul ahs proven that knowledge is not salvation, that rituals and ceremonies won’t save us and our position, in the church really doesn’t mean anything either, when it comes to salvation. The only thing that matters is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
With these statements to the Jews of Rome in mind, Paul begins this chapter by asking a question that would make the Jews think hard.
What advantage do you have as a Jew? What benefit to your life does the act of circumcision give to you that sets you apart from everyone else?
The Jews had many advantages but they only became advantages if the things of God that they possessed were taken off the shelf and put to work.
You can possess all knowledge, have the highest degree of education and be wealthy beyond your wildest dream but, if you don’t have Jesus and you don’t make proper use of what you have, then those things become a greater curse against you.
The act of circumcision that the Jews received from Moses was strictly adhered to but what good was it unless someone were to realize that this was a natural act that symbolized the separation of sin from the heart of a believer. Unless the law would lead someone to Christ, then it was really powerless except to condemn us to death.
The fact is that they were, in each successive generation, certain of their direct linage of Abraham and thus were entitled to the inheritance that God had promised to Abraham. This was their proof that they belong to God as His chosen nation.
While Israel should have had a surplus of blessing to give to other nations, their position and possessions did not enrich them because they failed to take advantage of them. They were too caught up in their own circumstances to consider how much of a blessing or a curse they would be for multitudes of generations to come, both Jew and Gentile.
I wonder how many of us are squandering our advantage in God? Are wasting the power, position and provision of God’s investment of love in us? Are we disregarding our heritage, casting it aside because we lack a personal relationship with our God?
Like Paul says in the 2nd verse of this chapter, we have a great advantage over those who don’t know Christ. We have the great cookie and we have the best thing that this life can offer to a human being because God has chosen us to carry the Word of the gospel to the whole world. God has entrusted each of us with the “New Wine” of the Holy Ghost and he allows us to carry this great promise and message around in earthen vessels that are easily broken.
What an advantage to know the Lord! What an advantage to be able to freely worship Him! What an advantage to freely serve Him to study His Word; to walk in His light and to possess the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit! We are a people most blessed indeed!
Whether we use the gifts of the Spirit and take advantage of our position in Christ to do His will or not, it doesn’t change the unchangeable truth that Jesus is God and that He saves men from their sin.
God’s truth will remain the same. His message will go on and on. Our little petty arguments and failure to do God’s will does not weaken or change the plan of God at all and neither does it damage His record of faithfulness.
Our unbelief may come, but the truth is still the truth. We may argue against it. We may attempt to change it. We may refuse to recognize it – but the truth ever remains the same.
God has placed His trust in us. God has confidence that we will not fail to do His will! It is our prayer that we live up to God’s expectations and never fail to do what He wants.
But what if we fail? Does that change God?
What if we didn’t believe in the Word of God as being infallible? Does that make it wrong?
Truth remains constant whether we accept it or not.
Illustration:
This reminds me of a dumb question that I hear every so often from someone who is trying to be argumentative. “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make any sound?”
Whether we hear it fall or not is irrelevant. The fact is that God’s Laws do not change and if the Law of Gravity is true and brings that tree crashing down, then the Law of Air Vibrations that cause sound waves to travel is also true and if no one else hears it, God does!
Illustration:
Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven’t even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That’s right, that’s right."
When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can’t be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
Roger von Oech, Ph.D., A Whack on the Side of the Head, Warner Books, 1983, p. 23.
In verse 4 of this chapter Paul brings the only possible answer. God forbid that our petty failures and unbelief should ever change our unchangeable God. Let God be True and every man a liar. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. He said what He meant and He meant what He said. Truth is truth and that settles the whole matter.
The most valuable point is that because truth is truth and because God never changes, we can place our utmost confidence in Him to keep us in His Kingdom until we can, one day, be called home to Glory. God is faithful to His chosen people of the church just has He has been and shall continue to be unto the nation of Israel.
God may have to correct, chastise or teach us some hard lessons but His love never fails and His mercy endures into all generations. God will keep those in perfect peace whose minds are stayed upon Him. God is faithful and He will do what He promises.
When we sin, God’s holiness and righteousness is offended. He is justified in and blameless for judging our sin and all of man’s reasoning cannot change that fact!
Speaking in human terms we often wonder if God is really as righteous and holy as He claims to be, especially when we see such vast injustices that seem to pass un-noticed. We may even question God’s righteousness when we see Him arise in wrath and bring harsh judgment and even death upon those who would dare to oppose Him. If we carry this to an extreme we may begin to wonder if God has the right to judge the whole world.
That’s when we get on dangerous ground. Many men are already thinking along these same lines and they refuse to bow to a God that they consider uncaring and unjust. The problem is that we have a warped view of what justice is and that we also don’t know the whole story.
God is sovereign. Whether we want to accept it or not is unimportant because it doesn’t change God. God’s grace is without limits and yet we cannot presume upon God’s grace and sin against Him knowing that He will forgive.
Should we sin so that God’s grace can abound even more? Should we disobey God and put His faithfulness to His promises to the test? Should we tempt God to see if He will punish us or forgive us? HOW DUMB CAN WE BE SOMETIMES!
Illustration:
This brings to mind the a few instances that have happened on the job.
One mechanic opened a steaming hot radiator on a truck and scalded his arm badly in the steam. When I asked him if he was all right he said, “Aw, there’s nothing to that. You get used to it after a while.”
I submit that we should never get so used to committing sin that it doesn’t bother us anymore. We should never tempt God and put Him in the position of overlooking our ignorance knowingly.
Those who would handle rattlesnakes and drink strychnine to test God’s Word are tempting God. I know the Bible says, in Mark 16:17-18, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
But, I wouldn’t hold a snake or drink poison any more than I would climb up to the top of a tall pine tree with a copper rod in my hand in the middle of a lightning storm. I would not tempt God’s mercy and grace by jumping off of the Empire State Building just to see if His angels would really catch me. I wouldn’t jump out of an airplane without a parachute to disprove the Law of Gravity. God gives us common sense and then expects us to use it or suffer the consequences of our own actions.
In the first place, those scriptures in Mark are talking about taking that old serpent the devil, dragging him out by the tail and kicking him out of the church. It surely isn’t talking about dragging in a rattler and kissing it on the side of the head. Man loves to make doctrines out of single scripture and then wonders why some of them die in the process of living up to their own man-made religion. God help us!
Illustration:
I’m like old Wendy Bagwell, the singing evangelist who told a story of going to such a church some years ago. Some dear sweet little old saint came up to him and said in a sarcastic tone, “Why Brother Wendy, if God told you to pick up that rattler, do you mean to tell me that you wouldn’t do it!”
Bro. Wendy answered her, “Yes man I sure would! If God told me to do it I would – but He didn’t and I ain’t!”
Folks don’t presume upon God’s mercy. He is under no obligation to protect us from our own foolishness.
I believe that, in course of doing our duty for God, that He will protect us from many of Satan’s traps but I also believe that when God is through with me, I don’t want to do anything that would send me home to Glory before God calls me.
In verse 8 we see that even the Apostle Paul was falsely accused at times. It seems that he had been accused of preaching that God received more glory if we sinned than if we lived righteously because God would be able to show more mercy and grace to us as sinners.
Paul calls that an absurd statement.
It is not sin that brings glory to God. It is God’s solution to sin that brings Him glory and that solution is the Cross of Christ. The Law brings us to the knowledge of sin and then the cross cleanses sin from us through the power of the Blood of Jesus.
Now we come to the conclusion of Paul’s arguments. Is their any advantage to being a Jew? Is there any advantage to being a Christian?
While there are great advantages in knowing God and knowing the Law; in knowing the truth; in understanding the ways of the Lord; none of these are of any value unless there is action, by faith, to commit our work and our way to the Lord and be about His business.
Paul says that there is no advantage without faith in God and works to prove that faith. For all have sinned. There is none righteous without God, no not one.
Without the Blood of Christ and a risen savior we have no hope. With Jesus in our heart and the Blood of the Lamb applied to our heart, then we have all the truth and we can use it to further the Kingdom of God among men.
Paul’s conclusion is that we are all sinners, every one of us. There are no exceptions!
Our only hope is in Christ! Our only hope is in having a relationship with Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
