Week 6 - Thursday

The Advantage of Being Jewish

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. (Romans 3:1-2)

The Jews believed they were going to go to heaven, simply because they were Abraham's descendants. Another thing they relied upon for their salvation was their religious sacrificies and ceremonies, one of which was circumcision. Because Paul taught that the Jews were not guaranteed salvation, he was often accused by the Jews of attacking God's people (Acts 21:27-28). Paul knew that some of the Jewish readers of this letter, might have the same objection. So Paul defends his position, first by asking the questions he knew many of them must be thinking. If a Jew was not guaranteed of going heaven because they were Abraham's descendant, then what advantage has the Jew? And if there was also no assurance of salvation in being circumcized, what is the benefit of circumcision? Paul answers both objections with the statement, great in every respect. The next question his readers would be sure to have is, "why"? What's so great about being a Jew? Already in their history the Jews had been in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, until Moses led them out of captivity. They then traveled 40 years in the desert, fought battle after battle to set up their nation. For the next several hundred years they were under frequent attack from neighboring nations. They had been conquered by the Babylonians, then later by the Greeks, and at the present time they were under Roman rule. Not only were they an oppressed people in this world, but now according to Paul, the guarantee they thought they had of a blessing in the next world; wasn't theirs either. What then, is the advantage in being a Jew?

The advantage in being a Jew, is that they have been entrusted with the oracles of God. Oracles has been translated from the Greek word logia which means the words or utterances of God. One major benefit the Jews had was, that out of all the nations in the world, God chose to deliver His Law to them. He also sent prophets to the Jews, to declare God's word to them. This gave them a great advantage in knowing God's will and thus a better opportunity of being saved. However, with greater opportunity also comes greater responsibility. Because the Jews had such an advantage, God held them more accountable for their actions than He did the Gentiles. Most of the Jews failed to recognize that God expected more of them. Unfortunately, they chose to believe they could be saved without seeking to do God's will. Paul loved the Jews. He was a Jew himself . His hearts desire was that they would be saved. Paul tried to tell the Jews, even though they had the advantage of being God's chosen people, that in itself was not enough to save them. Today, we not only have the Old Testament Scriptures that the Jews had, we have the 27 books of the New Testament as well. This gives us an even greater advantage in coming to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But just like the Jews, our advantage gives us greater responsibility. God holds those who know the gospel, all the more accountable for what they do with it.

Readings for today: Rom. 10:1; Rom. 9:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 10:26-27