Romans 3: 1-8

(Romans 3: 1-8)

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.

 

In the second half of Chapter 2, Paul said, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 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. 』. Regarding Paul's thesis, reading this epistle and predicting the appearance of some Jews who will be refuted, Paul begins with their hypothetical question.

 

『What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Certainly to Paul's point, some Jews say, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. It was clear that the Jews at that time regarded themselves as chosen people and considered very special beings. According to Paul's assessment, they felt like they had no discrimination.

 

In response to their expected question, Paul wrote, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. "There are many privileges for the Jews to think in every way, but above all, "were committed the oracles of God" is the first privilege of the Jews, Paul said. Here, the Hebrew word “were committed” means “delegated from God”. This means that the Jews have the privilege of entrusting the word of God. However, they only perceived the entrusted to the Word as a privilege, and were not interested in believing and practicing it.

 

Therefore, as Paul also predicts, their unrighteous actions are also revealed by the faithfulness of God. The reason was that they were only paying attention to their rights and overlooked their responsibility. Their center and heart weren't just the two-sided Jews who served God, but only at the level of the superficial Jews.

 

Reminding that it was the privilege of the Jews to take on the Word, Paul once again brought up a story he wanted to tell: 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; 』
The Jews, including Paul himself, had the privilege of giving the word. Does that guarantee that they are better than the Greeks? Never, says Paul. The reason is that both Jews and Greeks are under sin. Paul cites the Old Testament scriptures and clarifies how much humans, including Jews, are sinners.

 

『There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Paul gives a concrete indication of the use of the law, which the Jews regarded as a privilege. 『Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 』Paul says the law's purpose is to convict men of sin. Sin refers to leaving God.

 

This world created by God must have an end as a material world. In other words, unlike the spirit world, the material world was created finitely because it exists only until the purpose in which God created the world is achieved. No matter how good this world is, it cannot be said to be better than the spirit world where God exists. As the book of Revelation says, Heaven is expressed as a jewel. The spirit world is expressed as a place incomparable to this world because this world is a world where the spirit is confined. In Luke 8, the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, died. By the way, Jesus saved the child.

 

In Luke 8:54-55, "And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. When we think about the returning of the spirit of a dead child, the spirit is trapped in the body. We can see that when the spirit goes out, the body dies, and when the spirit comes in, the body lives. The spirit and the body are in opposite positions. "The body alive" means that the spirit is dead. The expression "dead" means that the relationship with God is broken. In order for the spirit to live, the body must die, but in reality it cannot. Jesus died on the cross, and those who believe in him die physically with Jesus. In order for the spirit to live, the physical body must die on the cross with Jesus and be reborn as a spiritual body with Jesus. Spirits trapped in the physical body cannot know about God. However, only when we are born again in the body of the spirit we can communicate with God and God in Christ.