So I am a Jew, what is the advantage?

WHAT ADVANTAGE THEN HATH THE JEW? WASTED PRIVILEGES BY DISOBEDIENCE

ROMANS 3:1-8

Charles E. Whisnant, Pastor/Teacher

June 28, 2010

 

You look at the history of the Jews and you would wonder if there were ever any advantages.

War    Captivity    Death    Hated    Slandered Slaughtered    Imprisoned

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE JEWS: Historically.

You will notice it would seem there has been no advantage of being a Jew in their history.

You will notice there was no advantage from the spiritual point of view either.

SO DID THE JEWS HAVE ANY ADVANTAGE AT ALL?

ROMANS PRESENTS JESUS CHRIST AS THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL.

• Romans 1:1 to 3:20    Part of the Good News is the Bad News. The bad news is man is a sinner and God has condemned mankind for their sins.
  
• The good news is only good if we understand the bad news
  
• So Paul has presented the fact that all men have been condemned by God. The immoral person, the moral or ethical man, and even the Jews.
  
• So Paul knows that the Jews will have a lot of questions about what he has presented. The Jews would have at least three objections to Paul's point of view.
  

1A    OBJECTION # 1 vs. 1-2 "Then what advantage has the Jew?

"I mean if a Gentile can become like a true Jew, those who believe the Gospel and have experienced circumcision of their heart, why be a Jew?" "What does a Jew have over and above the Gentile? "Is there then no real value of being a Jew?"

• In effect they were saying: "Paul the way you sound, it is as though these privileges that God has given to us, really means nothing at all, so what good is it to be Jewish?" "We're not special?" "Seems to us it's more a liability than asset."
  Paul comes back and says, "No, I am not saying that. You have been given a position of great privilege." vs. 1-2
  
• They believed that they were so special they didn't have to fulfill the purpose God had chosen them in the first place.
  

OR WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF CIRCUMCISION?

• So we would say today: "Is not being a member of the Catholic church or Baptist church and having been baptized going to save us?" What is the advantage of being under the umbrella of the church or Christianity?"
  
  • They would point out these verses:
    
    • Deut. 10:14-15        Isaiah 43:2    Psalms 135:5
      

MUCH IN EVERY WAY? Or "GREAT IN EVERY RESPECT." vs. 2

• Romans 9:4-5 Look at Jewish privileges:
  
  • Adoption, glory, law, covenants, services, promises.
    
• The point Paul was making: they just never lived up to what they possessed, they wasted the privileges
  
  • of proclaiming the true God.
    
  • Revealing the Messiah.
    
  • The blessing of God by serving God.
    
  • The land set apart from any other.
    
  • Ultimate glory in the kingdom.
    
  • Amos 3:2 They just didn't catch on to the privileges or the responsibilities.
    

CHIEFLY BECAUSE THAT UNTO THEM WERE COMMITTED THE ORACLES OF GOD

• First of all, they were entrusted with important sayings or messages of God. They received "the" word of God. The term "oracles" stressing the fact that the Words in Scripture actually constituted the very utterance of God. Deut. 4:5-6.
  
• Acts 7:38, the Mosaic Law. Romans 3:2; refers to the entire O.T. Hebrews 5:12; refers to the basic doctrines and 1 Peter 4:11 the utterances of God through Christians teachers.
  
• These oracles, or words, or revelations, or important sayings, were given to and through the Jews and are preserved for us not in the O.T.
  
• What was sad, at times the Jews couldn't even find the Scriptures.
  

"God's authoritative self-revelation was committed as a trust to them in treasure and then proclaimed to the world. "

Catch this: pay attention: "They only received the transcript of the Eternal Mind, trusted with His own Laws, and constituted guardians of His cause and by which the Saviour was called." Advantage? Yes, yes.

Today: What advantage then is it to be in the local church? It's a high privilege folks. Many reasons why. One: you get to hear the Word of God being proclaimed. Or would you rather read the Family Circle Magazine.

You and I have had in this country a high privilege of hearing the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. With high privilege goes high responsibility. We have the great wonderful freedom and opportunity (for now) to hear the Word of God. Yet I am afraid we have become like the Jews and have fallen into the same mindset of the Jews. We are okay, we are privileged, we don't need to obey the teachings, nor do we need to be responsible to what we are taught.