By Robert Wurtz II
THE NARROW ROAD TO SALVATION
(Revisiting the Book of Romans)
Part 3
By Robert Wurtz II
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.(Romans 3:1-4)
In lesson two we learned that we are not exempt from guilt in the eyes of God no matter who or what we are. We learned that God does not grade on a ‘curve' and has not granted believer's diplomatic immunity. We are no less guilty if we sin as a believer, than if we had never came to God. And finally we learned that circumcision in the flesh is not a ticket to Heaven, but a born again experience that changes the heart.
Paul then asks the question of the Romans in verse one of chapter three, is there an advantage to being a Jew? And is there an advantage to the covenants that contained to ordinance of circumcision? First of all we must look back to Abraham to properly understand circumcision.
It happens that Abraham was given a promise from God that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promise came at a time when Abraham was past age, and he and his wife were well stricken in years. And although medical science was not then as it is today, Abraham and Sara knew that child bearing for them would be a medical impossibility; that is, without a miracle from God. It was this promise along with the promise of a heavenly city, which Abraham exercised a verifiable faith in and obtained the promise. Even though he would search unsuccessfully till the day of his death for the city that had foundations whose builder and maker was God (Hebrews 11:10); Abraham received the promise of a son that would bring forth the man child, who would take away the sins of the whole world (Revelation 12:5). God would postpone Abraham's discovery of the heavenly city until the fullness of time, when all those who as Abraham exercised faith in the one true God, would enter in and dwell for all eternity (Hebrews 11:12-16).
It is this faith that God recognized in Abraham, and identified it with the sign of circumcision. All male children from Abraham on were to be circumcised on the eighth day of their life. The sign of circumcision never saved a single soul, but it brings with it the identity of a people who are separated to God. The circumcision served as a distinction between those who exercised faith in God, and those who trusted in their own gods. It would later bring with it the permanent sign of God's covenant people the Jews, who were entrusted with God's eternal word (V.1-2). In time some of the Jews would cease to believe in the promised seed (Jesus Christ), while others did indeed believe and wrote 55 of the 56 books of the Bible. No matter who chose not to believe that Jesus was the Christ, their lack of faith would never overcome God's faithfulness to His promises. The very fact that we can even find salvation is rooted in our universal unfaithfulness to God's law, and God knowing our inability to keep it. God, being the merciful God that He is, realized the He alone was righteous, and if man was going to be righteous, He would have to impute it to him. This is done by God not imputing to us the debt of our sin- having placed it upon Christ through His shed blood.
God ALONE is Righteous
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.
(Romans 3:5-8)
Romans 3:5-8 teaches us that our unrighteousness actually reinforces the truth that God alone is righteous. As a matter of fact, man's sinfulness tends to verify God's righteousness. Because of this fact carnal minded people throughout the centuries have seen that as a justification for them to continue in sin. They believe that through their sin, they are doing God some sort of favor by demonstrating that He alone is righteous. They have ignored the fact that God does not need man to verify anything about Himself. God alone is righteous whether man commits a sin in order to realize it or not.
The question then arises, is God unrighteous for taking vengeance for mans sin? The answer is no! This is because God created man in a perfect state and left them to choose whether they follow God's example in righteousness, or turn away from His commandments and yield to the LIES of Satan. Man is judged for his decision to obey unrighteousness (Romans 2:8-11), when he could have opted to obey God's word. This is the difference between faith and unbelief. Faith believes to the extent that it obeys. Belief + disobedience = rebellion. Belief + obedience = faith.
Can Man be Righteous Apart From God?
Because of the fact that man is finite, he can never be righteous -in of, him or her self. Mankind can acquire righteousness from God, but in themselves they are not powerful enough to obtain to righteousness. Even if a person desired to be righteous, it is out of their reach as a human being. Righteousness is an attribute of God's deity, and if it is to be obtained, He will have to bring it to pass in our lives as we live by FAITH. As far as man can be righteous is as far as he can obey what God has commanded him. This is why we are told not to swear- because we do not have the power to come through on promises like that. If we make a promise that is possible to keep in the here and now- but not if the circumstances change and we have ‘sworn' to do it-it is unrighteousness. God on the other hand has the POWER to make promises and come through on them. This is also why the Children of Israel got into trouble. They did not think about what they were covenanting to do when they agreed to keep all the laws of God when Moses came down from the mount. They should have said- this is a hard thing- but with YOUR HELP we can do it. They either did not realize- or they did not give it adequate thought. They signed on the bottom line and wist not that they were helpless to keep it. The law was holy and good- but they were carnal and sold under sin.
Do Evil That Good May Come? GOD FORBID!
The final remark made is to the effect that since we are in this condition, why not just do evil that good may come? That type of ‘throw in the towel' mentality is damnable at it's root. 'If I can't be righteous in myself, why not just sin that grace may abound?' I'll tell you why, because God is not in the business of having his heart stomped on by a rebellious and disobedient people, for the sake of proving the strength of His love or the latitude of His mercy.
Are We Better than They?
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; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 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.
(Romans 3:9-19)
If you were to be righteous, you would first have to have the ability to do what's right, know what is right, and then the desire to do right. When God has given man a means with which to obtain righteousness, man has opted against it. Whether Jew or Gentile mankind at the heart has not clung to the source for righteousness. Man's lapse of Faith in God and His word, has caused every act of disobedience.
The Purpose of the Law
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 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. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.(Romans 3:19-26)
The first purpose of the law was to demonstrate to the world the nature of God. God is holy, righteous, sovereign, and jealous; and those attributes are balanced by His love, mercy, gentleness, and long suffering. When we look at the law we see God's nature, and that same law reveals to us our own nature as though it were a mirror (James 1:21-25). God's word will literally discern what nature or spirit you are of (Hebrews 4:12). The law exposes man for who he is as he stands face to face with the personality of God. Man is rebellious against God in the heart, and the ordinances of the law touch not, taste not, handle not, are there for the purpose of demonstrating man's rebellion to a God that has required him to be sanctified and distinguished (peculiar) from the world. Remember, although the law is holy and good (Romans 7:8-13) it only gives our carnal nature that cannot be made subject to the law of God, something to rebel against.
