◄ What Does Romans 3:2 Mean? ►

Paul spent the first couple of chapters in his epistle to the Romans explaining that all people, both Jew and Gentile alike, are unrighteous sinners who fall short of the glory of God, that none are good or deserve preferential treatment in the eyes of God, and that all need a Saviour. He warned that we are all under God's righteous condemnation and that we all need to be redeemed by the blood of God's only begotten Son Whose shed blood alone is the only acceptable price for sin, and is gained through faith in Him.

He lays emphasis on the truth that there is none that do good, not even one, and that despite being God's chosen people who enjoy a unique covenanted relationship with Him, Israel are not exempt from the consequences of sin and are equally in need of salvation as the Gentile nations.

It must have been hard to be a Jew listening to Paul declaring that a real Jew is not one that is descended from Abraham, but one who manifests a godly life, and that true circumcision is a matter of the heart and not in the cutting of the flesh on the 8th day.

And Paul anticipates the different Jewish objections in his Roman letter and proceeds to address the first set of questions they wanted to understand: "If as you say, Paul, that Israel can't rest their salvation on our Jewish heritage, what advantage is there in being Jewish and what value is there in being circumcised?"

"A considerable advantage," was Paul's initial reply. There are many great benefits in being a Jew, and the first and most important one was that as a nation they were entrusted with the holy Scriptures: "First of all, Israel was entrusted with the oracles of God." Only Israel was called by God to be His chosen people. Only they had been rescued from slavery in Egypt, and only they had a covenant with God. Only they had been given the precious promises of God, for only Israel had holy men of God who were inspired by Him to write the holy Scriptures. It was Jewish prophets, Jewish priests, or Jewish kings who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, became the human authors of the inspired Scriptures: "The oracles of God."

And for eight verses, Paul anticipates and answers all the objections that his Jewish audience might have in response to his warning that all people, both Jew and Gentile alike, are unrighteous sinners who fall short of the glory of God, that none are good or deserve preferential treatment in the eyes of God, that all need a Saviour to pay the price for their sins, and that all need to be redeemed by the blood of God's only begotten Son.

Heavenly Father, thank You that despite being dead in my sins, separated from God and without hope in the world, You sent Jesus to die on the Cross to pay the price for my sins and to break the power of sin and death in the lives of all who by faith, trust in Christ Jesus for salvation. Thank You for the Jewish nation, through whom was given the holy Scriptures and the promised Saviour of the world. I pray that many will come to faith in Jesus as their Messiah. To His praise and glory, AMEN.