Romans 3:1-5 – “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?  Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.  What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?  By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

Paul, describes his ability to have pursued righteousness under the law as greater than that of any other – Phil 3:4-6 – “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.  from the tribe of Benjamin, and was blameless under the law.  He was a Pharisee among Pharisee.”

Paul also was brought to see that whatever righteousness he thought he had was worthless, compared to the righteousness of Christ.  Phil 3:7 – “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”

So if we look back in Romans just a few verses, we see that Paul came to understand that a true Jew, the true nation of “Israel” was a matter of the heart, not of physical birth or a physical nation.  Romans 2:28-29 – “For no one is a Jewwho is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

So now, as a physical and spiritual Jew, Paul is answering the question for other physical Jews – has God forgotten them?  What benefit was God’s leading them out of Egypt? What benefit was covenanting with Abraham, Moses, and David?  Paul tells us that God’s revelation to Israel was of great value in every respect.  Yes, it’s true that God has revealed himself generally to all men; enough that all men know about Him and are accountable for their turning away from God in their sin, but God has given special revelation of Himself to Israel.  Here the sinfulness of the physical nation of Israel was exposed.  These people did not have any true affection for God, they only were concerned with obtaining salvation and with what God could give them.  Does that sound familiar to what we see in many churches today?  If God’s love extends such that we have the opportunity to know more about Him through special revelation, be it from the law of Moses, or any other scripture, and our response is anything less than delight, what does that tell us?  In Israel’s case, it simply went to show how despite the outward pretenses, the physical nation of Israel didn’t love God anymore than the person in the jungle who didn’t have the law of Moses or any other special revelation of God.

Again, I want to take this opportunity to show, that it doesn’t matter whether or not someone is indocrinated with scripture, has the gospel preached to them daily, or even sees Jesus Christ Himself with their physical eyes, as many in the nation of Israel had… unless God unveils their eyes, they will never turn to Him.  God is the alpha and the omega of salvation.  I realize that we all have an experience daily of “choosing” God – that is a good thing, but God has given us special revelation in His word to see that really, we are hopeless unless God first shows mercy on us to unveil our eyes.  Put another way, even the faith to believe God doesn’t come from within us – it is a gift of God through grace.  (Eph 2:8-9)  For those who are truly “saved”, that salvation is more than salvation from judgment for sin, but it is a salvation of the heart, whereby one’s heart was previously inclined towards sin, and now has been given new affections for God that are growing as they see more and more of Him.  This is why the law of Moses should have been a great delight to the Jews, it gave a picture of Jesus Christ.

Here is my question for us all as Christians – is your primary goal of your own salvation escape from hell or is it to know the risen Lord Jesus Christ in intimate fellowship?  Every one of has enough sin in us that if we’re honest with ourselves simply wants to be free from judgment without really delighting in the character of God and pursuing Him in our own lives.  That is what we need to flee from.  We need to plead for a right understanding of salvation, that God would extend grace to us through His revelation in His Word and give us new great affections for Him.  My prayer daily is that God would continually reveal Himself to me in His Word and incline my heart to Him.  If your goal every day is to pursue joy in knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, you’ll find most of your questions about how to live as a Christian work themselves out naturally.  We live in a time of literally unlimited resources to know Jesus Christ through our churches, books, and online resources.  We have money and time to invest for the Kingdom of God – to pursue treasure that will not fade – to be fishers of men – to overcome bondage to the world and delight ourselves in God.  Don’t be content to assume salvation from judgment (your may assume too much), but earnestly seek to make your heart happy in God each hour of every day.  God Himself is a fountain of joy that is without equal and without end.

Psalm 16:5-11 – “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.  I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.  I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.  For you will not abandon my soul toSheol, or let your holy one see corruption.  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” 

Grace and Peace,

Adam