Part 3: The advantages of being a Jew

Welcome to part three. Paul has shown that Gentile and Jew are both guilty. So someone might well ask: then what was the point of being one of God's chosen people? Was there any advantage in it at all? Paul answers that question, and then reaches his great conclusion.

His first point: the main advantage was to have Scripture. Read Romans chapter three, verses one to eight.

What, then, is the advantage of being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. (Romans 3:1–2, BSB)

Much in every way. They had been entrusted with the very words of God. No other nation had that. The Old Testament Scriptures prepared them for Christ's coming. They told them who He would be, and what He would do. As Paul wrote to Timothy: the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.

And yet many of them did not believe. Does that mean God had failed? Certainly not, says Paul. Let God be true, and every man a liar. God cannot be blamed for their failure to believe what He had given them. The fault was not in the Scriptures.

Now think of those who have had a Christian upbringing. They have an even greater advantage. They have the New Testament as well: not only the promise that Christ would come, but the record of His coming, His death, and His resurrection.

So are the privileged any better off before God? Paul's second point: the privileged Jew is still guilty. Read Romans chapter three, verses nine to eighteen.

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12, BSB)

Not even one. Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. And Paul does not ask them to take his word for it. He quotes their own Scriptures, one passage after another. Throats, tongues, lips, mouths, feet, eyes. Sin has reached every part of us.

That does not mean everyone is as bad as they could possibly be. It means there is no part of us that sin has left untouched, and no one who seeks God of their own accord.

In fact, the Jew is even more responsible, because he has not used his privileges. The Lord Jesus said: ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be required.’ And the same is true of a Christian upbringing. A Bible in the home, parents who prayed, years of hearing the gospel: if we do not turn to Christ, these leave us more responsible before God, not less.

And so Paul comes to his conclusion. No one can save himself by keeping God's commands. Read Romans chapter three, verses nineteen and twenty.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin. (Romans 3:19–20, BSB)

Every mouth silenced. Picture a courtroom. The evidence has been heard, and the accused is asked whether he has anything to say. And he has nothing. Every excuse is gone. The whole world is held accountable to God.

Then what is the law for? Paul tells us: the law brings awareness of sin. It is like a mirror. A mirror shows you that your face is dirty. It cannot wash it. God's law gives us the knowledge of sin. It cannot make us righteous. Or, to use Paul's word, it cannot justify us. We shall meet that word again in the next study.

A drowning man cannot save himself. He needs someone to reach him and pull him out. It is the same with us. We cannot save our own souls. We need a Saviour.

So that is where Paul leaves us at the end of this first study. No one, religious or not, is able to say they are innocent before God. It is a dark picture. But Paul has painted it for a reason.

Though we cannot make ourselves righteous, Paul will show us God's way of declaring a person righteous. That is the topic of the next study. And it is wonderful news.

Below this video, you'll find the passages from this part, and some questions to think about.

Then take the short quiz to complete study one.

In study two: reckoned righteous. Thank you for watching.