Introduction

Imagine with me that there are three people who are trying to swim from Hawaii to Japan.

The first swimmer is not a very good swimmer at all.  He hits the beach, gets just past the waves.  About 500 yards from the shore, he sinks into the water and drowns.

The second swimmer is much stronger in the water.  He easily swims past the first 500 yards and then past the first mile, but after he reaches the mile mark, he is overtaken by a cramp and also sinks under the waves.

The third swimmer is a woman who is a championship athlete.  She is the most elite swimmer in the entire world.  She flies past the first 10 miles, then passes the 25 mile mark.  Still swimming strong she continues 40 miles… 50 miles… 60 miles…  She passes the world record distance of 70 miles.  At 100 miles, she is getting tired, but pushes forward.  The next 20 miles are reached with great difficulty.  Another 5 miles, her body is starting to succumb to totally exhaustion.  125 miles into the swim, she finally gives up and drowns.

Is one of these swimmers more drowned than the other swimmers? No!  It might be true that the championship athlete had an advantage over the recreational athlete, but in the end, they are all equally drowned.  Whether the swimmer made it 500 yards or 500 miles, the fact remains that all three swimmers needed rescue.  There is no degree of drownedness.  Just like there is not a degree of lostness.  Either you are alive or you aren’t.  Either you are lost or you are found.  It doesn’t really make much difference who swam further.  Japan is more than 4000 miles from Hawaii and none of them were even close.

When it comes to salvation, there is also no degree of lostness.  Some people might behave better than others.  Some people might have more training or education than others.  BUT…all people, no matter who they are or their family background or how much education they have in religious matters, are sinking in sin and need rescued.  Paul has been leading us up to the conclusion that all people need a savior ever since the beginning of the book.  In Romans 1:16 he wrote:

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Verse 16 is like his thesis statement for the whole book.  Paul went on to show us in Chapter 1 that non-religious people desperately needs the Savior.  They cannot make the excuse that they did not know better.  God has revealed himself to every person through nature and through their own conscience.

In Chapter 2 he says that God has written His law on the heart of every person.  People who are not religiously trained or skilled are still under the wrath of God.  They are still drowning and need rescue.  People who are skilled in false religions are also still under the wrath of God.  They are also drowning and need rescue.  No other any religious belief system can serve as a substitute for a belief in Jesus.    He argued that Jesus alone gives us the power for salvation

Then he turned his sights on the religious people – God’s chosen people – the Jews.  We learned a few weeks ago that many Jews believed that God would spare them from the coming judgment because they were Jews – because they were God’s chosen people. Some Jews believed that circumcision was their golden ticket to heaven (just like some people in the church think that saying the “sinner’s prayer” or baptism is the golden ticket to heaven now)

Some believed that God’s wrath would never touch a circumcised Jewish man.  In Chapter 2, Paul was painfully direct and honest in order to help religious people understand that religious knowledge or ceremonies or rituals or prayers is not what covers sin.  God’s chosen people are still drowning and need rescue.  – even though they are His chosen people.

However, Paul is excited about the power of God for salvation.  He is eager to tell both Jews and gentiles that the gospel frees every man from the bondage and from the judgment of Sin.  That is why he started out by saying:  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  Throughout chapter 2 and 3, he continues his bold defense of that powerful thesis statement.

In chapter 2:25-29, Paul had been teaching that circumcision does not save anybody and that, as a result, there is fundamentally no difference between a Jew and a Gentile. Without the gospel of Jesus, both are drowning in sin and need rescue. Verse 28 says,

²⁸ For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. ²⁹ 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.

This statement would have raised huge objections in the minds of his Jewish readers. The religious people would have protested by saying:

• Paul have you not read the Old Testament?  We are God’s chosen people.  We have inborn special privileges.
• What about the promises God made to Moses and Abraham and the prophets in regard to Israel and the Jews?  You can’t read the Old Testament and then say the Jewish people don’t have spiritual advantages over the Gentiles.  You can’t read the Old Testament and say that God is not going to fulfill his promises through the Jews.

And they would be accurate.  All of those statement are absolutely true.  Paul is not teaching that Jewish heritage and Mosaic ceremonies were unimportant or insignificant.

He was not saying that the law and traditions were without purpose.  He was not calling into question God’s promises and covenants to Israel.  The Old Testament was given to the Jewish people by God.  The Jewish people had been entrusted with the oracles of God and their scriptures have TREMENDOUS importance.  So, while not downplaying the value of Israel’s heritage, Paul is pointing out that religious practices do not save.

Consider this question:  What is more valuable – a lifeboat or a pot of gold?  A pot of gold is far more valuable, unless you are drowning.

Think back to our opening illustration.  If you came across a swimmer who was struggling to stay afloat, would it be helpful to offer them a pot of gold?  Of course not.  A pot of gold would do nothing to save them.  In fact, it would only cause them to sink to the bottom faster.  A drowning swimmer needs a rescue.  They need a lifeboat.

If we come across a person who is a slave to sin, is it helpful to offer them religious rituals or traditions?  In the same way, religious practices might be more valuable than gold to a believer, but they are of no value to a person who is in dire need of salvation… to a person who needs rescue not rituals.  People who are slaves to sin need basic, solid, Biblical truth.  Lost people need the gospel!  The best place for an unsaved person to be in where they can hear basic, solid, Biblical truth.

Now, that does not mean Christian religious practices like bible studies and worship services and baptism and communion are without value.  By no means.  Once a person knows Jesus, they are like gold for their spiritual development.

In fact, whereas the salvation of your soul may not depend on these observations, your spiritual growth will be hindered and even stunted without them.  God uses church services and Bible studies and fellowship and other means and mechanisms to assist in the spiritual growth of His people.  Wise men and wise women never leave Christian gatherings and observances out of their lives.  Why would they?  Christian observances are like gold to them.

Every person should frequently sit under the teaching of God’s Word.  (Whether they are saved or not)  There is power in the preaching of the gospel.  We all need to hear:

• Holiness lifted up
• Christ exalted
• Satan and his evil works denounced
• The kingdom of heaven described
• The world and it’s empty promises exposed

Regular exposure to Biblical teaching is a priceless treasure to every soul.  Weekly gatherings for teaching and fellowship are an especially precious time in the life of a believer.  Forsaking the gathering together with God’s people for something as replaceable as sleep (for example) can seriously hinder a believer’s spiritual growth.

BUT… “going to church” is not a means of salvation.
AND…The possession of the Old Testament was not a means of salvation for the Jews…
AND… owning a Bible is not a means of salvation now.

People who attend church services and Bible studies have a spiritual advantage over those who do not attend.  The Jewish people, who were frequently worshipping in the synagogue, had spiritual advantages over those who did not, but those advantages did not in themselves provide salvation either.

Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (John 5:39)  Everything in the Old Testament is pointing to the fact that “power of God for salvation” rests in Jesus alone in the “Gospel” was first intended for the caretakers of the law, the Jews – that’s why it says, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  With those truths in mind, look at chapter 3 verse 1-2

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ² Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Being Jewish is of great value – v. 1-2

Being God’s chosen people brought with it special honors and privileges.  To discount the special role the Jewish people have held in caring for God’s law, would have been directly against the teaching of the Old Testament.  Dozens of examples could be cited, but let me just mention a few.

• God had entrusted the nation of Israel with the 10 commandments and then He said to them in Exodus 19:6, “you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
• Moses wrote these words about Israel in Deut. 10:14-15, “¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.”
• A few chapters later, Moses said this about Israel, “² For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” (Deut. 14:2)
• The psalmist wrote, “⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.” (Ps 135:4)
• The prophet Isaiah exclaimed that the Israelites are, “the people whom I formed for myselfthat they might declare my praise.” (Is 32:21)

There are many other examples of God’s special relationship with the nation of Israel and the special spiritual privileges they enjoyed as a result of being God’s chosen people. But, being God’s chosen people and being saved from God’s wrath are not the same thing.  They had been entrusted with all the known scripture up to that point in history. BUT, having the Old Testament did not let them off the hook.  They knew more of God’s law and more of God’s expectations that any other people group alive on the planet…

• They have the incredible opportunity to know God’s will and to carefully choose to follow God’s commands and {as a result} reap all of God’s blessings.  They were not stumbling around in the dark.  They clearly knew God’s expectations and could enjoy all the benefits of following hard after Him
• On the other hand, with great privilege comes greater responsibility.  The possession of God’s law also made them more aware of their sin and more accountable to take care of it.

All people need the gospel

As far as God is concerned, a religious person who is internally rebellious is absolutely no different as a person living in open, outright depravity.  Skip down with me to verse 9. Whereas it is a tremendous advantage to be a Jew, it does not mean that they are better off on judgment day.

⁹ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

The Greek word for “under” means “to be under the authority, power and control of something or someone.”  Without Jesus, both Jews and Greeks are under sin.  Without Jesus, everyone is bound to the slavery of sin.  That implies that a person who is not under the power of Christ for salvation has no choice but to sin.  He is a slave to sin.  He is compelled to follow sin and pursuing righteousness is in direct opposition to the instructions of his master.

We should never be surprised that those under the power of sin do sinful things.  It should not be news to us that those under the power and authority of sin obey the commands of sin all the time.  Privileges or no privileges, both the Jew and the gentile, who is under the power of sin, needs the power of God unto salvation.  Both need rescue.  Both stand equally in need of God’s grace.

That truth would have been dissonance in the ears of the Jewish people.  They would turn to Paul and say,  “Prove it… Prove it from our scriptures that God does not esteem us any higher than a gentile.”  So Paul introduces a series of related verses from the Old Testament that show the sinfulness of all of mankind.

Paul uses a common rabbinical technique of stringing scriptures together from all over the Old Testament to illustrate a truth.  He is painting a picture of mankind’s depravity before God – regardless of their nationality.  These are all passages taken from the Hebrew scripture that prove Jews and gentiles are both in desperate need of the Savior. Look at verse 10:

¹⁰ as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹     no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.” (From Ps 14 and 53)
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.” (From Psalm 5)
“The venom of asps is under their lips.” (From Psalm 140)
¹⁴     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” (From Psalm 10)
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶     in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.” (From Isaiah 59)
¹⁸     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Psalm 36)

This string is scriptures is the great equalizer.  In the sight of God, all men are totally equal:

• Men and women need the gospel
• Adults and children need the gospel
• Slave and free men need the gospel
• Rich and poor need the gospel
• Americans and Syrians need the gospel
• Sick people and healthy people need the gospel
• Young people and old people need the gospel
• AND  both Jews and gentiles need the gospel.

So the religious person might ask: what value does scriptural knowledge have if it does not in itself lead to salvation?  Verse 19 and 20 answer that question:

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Knowing the Word of God carries both privilege and responsibility

Being entrusted with God’s written Word, the Jewish people had tremendous privileges. The nation of Israel has always been special in God’s eyes.  God’s chosen people have been blessed, protected and delivered like no other nation in the history of the World.

But there is also an accountability associated with being entrusted with spiritual truth. Amos 3:2, speaking of Israel, God says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth;”  and then He immediately went on to say, “therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

The Jewish people had more privileges than the gentile people because they knew the Word of God.  But God also held them more accountable for their actions.  The law gives us the knowledge of what is righteous and what receives God’s blessing.  Spiritual knowledge is of tremendous value.  It is also true that “through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  With the great privilege of knowing God’s law also comes the great responsibility of acting upon what you know.

When Romans was written, the Jews only had access to half of the Bible and only the wealthiest families actually owned a copy of it.  We, on the other hand, have all of God’s word.  All of us have a complete copy of it and some of us have dozens of Bibles.  On my shelf in my office I currently have over a dozen different translations and more than 40 more English translations at my fingertips on my computer.  If the Jews had a great responsibility to God’s law (and they only had the Old Testament) then how much more responsible does the church have today?

Life Application

I’m afraid, though, that sometimes the church is too lighthearted and nonchalant about the incredible responsibility we have in handling God’s Word.  We have been entrusted with this incredible book and together we have the responsibility to protect it.

At one point in the history of Israel, they lost all their scrolls.  2 Chronicles 24 gives an historical account of Hilkiah, the high priest, finding the scrolls again during the restoration of the Temple.  Immediately I think, “What did the high priest do if he did not know where his bible went? What were the services like?  How is he supposed to lead the people spiritually is he can’t find the scrolls?”

Unfortunately, I think I can see that answer all around me when I see:

• Families in the church that never open the Word of God together.  How are we supposed to lead our families or love our spouses if we never open up God’s Word?  …If we never follow God’s instructions?
• Even more sadly, when churches begin to move further and further away from teaching from this powerful book and replace scripture in church with movie clips or funny skits.  The American church hasn’t lost their Bibles all together, but sometimes we leave them too long on the shelves, don’t we?

Know God’s guidance and instructions for yourself

Canyon is a church that believes in open Bibles.  The only way you can be transformed by the Word is to be in the Word yourself and then apply it to your own life.  God has now entrusted this book into our care and it’s our job to know what it says.  So let me ask you this, do you have a plan for getting into God’s Word this week?  All the studies show that people who do not have a plan are far more likely to skip or ignore regular time in the Word than those who do have a plan.

You might think, “Caring for God’s Word is something only for pastors and elders and theologians… not for a guy like me.”  To that I say, “I can’t live for Christ in your home.  I can’t live for Christ with your co-workers.  I can’t grow in the Lord for You.  You have to be a person of the Word.  God has entrusted His word to your care.  Are you acting responsibly with it?  You need to know God’s guidance and instructions for yourself.”

Whole-heatedly pursue the commands Jesus Christ.

I was working for a boss selling a product that I really could not get behind.  I was working on commission and I really did not like my job.  My boss often asked me to say things and do things that I did not totally agree with.

Then one day, another boss called me.  He asked me if I wanted to work for him instead. The boss was better.  The job was better.  The pay was better.  The product was better, so I left and got a new boss.

Sometimes when I was working for the new boss, I would do things that were in line with the old bosses expectations.  My new boss would pull me into his office and ask me, “Mark, why did you do that?”  I explained I did it because that’s what my old boss would expect me to do.  My new boss said, “well, you work for me now and you no longer need to do the things he expects you to do.”

When you and I accepted Jesus as our savior, we got a new boss….we got a new king. Previously, we have been following the commands of sin.  The Bible says that we were a slave to sin.  We were at the mercy of sins commands and the salary we were paid was a little momentary pleasure along with eternal condemnation.  Sin was a terrible boss.

Then Jesus steps into the scene of our lives.  He calls out to us and offers to be our new boss.. our new Lord.  His rules are different.  His pay is much better.  Romans 6:22 says,

²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sometimes what He tells us to do is counterintuitive.  It is directly against the commands of our old boss, but in the end his ways lead to eternal life.  His commands keep us from the bondage of sin.   His instructions are good and holy and pure.

Sometimes, I’ll try to obey the instructions of my former boss – sin.  I’ll follow the commands of sin and in those moments I feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction.  He’ll ask, “Do you that love sin more than you love your new King, Jesus?”  and I’m reminded, I don’t work for sin any longer.  I’m free from sin so that I can whole-heatedly pursue the commands of my new Lord, Jesus Christ.

God’s Word is precious and valuable and worthy of our careful attention.

It is an unbelievable privilege to follow Jesus and to be counted among those who are Jesus’ disciples.  The gospel is a free gift that is open to all people.  It doesn’t matter where we came from or who we are, all people have access to the saving power of the gospel.  The gospel is a free gift.  There is no standard you and I need to live up to before God will accept us.  The truth is that all men need the gospel and no one is worthy of it.

For those who reach out and receive this incredible gift by faith, it comes with unbelievable privileges but it also carries with it a responsibility.  You and I are now caretakers of God’s Word.  Store it in your heart.  Teach it to your kids.  Share it with others.  Treasure it.  Guard it carefully.  Live it out.  God’s Word is precious and valuable and worthy of our careful attention.

Teaching Outline

Being Jewish is of great value – v. 1-2, Ex 19:6, Deut. 10:14-15; 14:2, Ps. 135:4, Is 32:21

All people need the gospel – v.9-20

Knowing the Word of God carries both privilege and responsibility – Amos 3:2

Application

Know God’s guidance and instructions for yourself

Whole-heatedly pursue the commands Jesus Christ.

God’s Word is precious and valuable and worthy of our careful attention