“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."  

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? ut if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not say(as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just.

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

"THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "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 PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Rom. 3:1-20NASB)

Now, if you recall in chapter one Paul’s focus was on the Gentiles, non-Jewish people. In that chapter we discovered that they didn’t have an excuse for living their life outside the will of God.

In chapter 2, the thing I want us to remember is we must keep our focus. There is a huge danger to forget what we have been called to do and that is to serve and worship Jesus.

Here in chapter three Paul begins with a question, “What advantage has the Jew?” He points out that the Jews have advantages because they are God’s chosen people but even that does not exempt them from God’s judgment.

Even Christians are sometimes tempted to think that God saved us because we are somehow more deserving of salvation than others. Do you think like this? Do you think that God will save you because there is something in you that makes you worth saving?

Back in 2003, a product called "Disposable Guilt Bags" came on the market. (I don't make these stories up.) Guilt bags were ordinary brown bags on which these instructions were printed: "Place the bag securely over your mouth, take a deep breath and blow all your guilt out, then dispose of the bag immediately." Silly idea? The Associated Press reported that 2500 kits quickly sold at $2.50 per kit.

What we must understand there is a “World Wide Epidemic” called ‘guilt.’ We do not like to admit that our sinfulness and rebellion are at the heart of our problems. We’re much more comfortable discussing imperfections, weaknesses, mistakes, and errors in judgment. These terms are socially acceptable, and almost everyone identifies with them. But an outright acknowledgment of guilt before a holy God runs against the grain.

Paul wanted his readers to understand they may have an advantage because they were God’s chosen people, but with every advantage there is responsibility.

When Queen Victoria was a child, she didn’t know she was in line for the throne of England. Her instructors, trying to prepare her for the future, were frustrated because they couldn’t motivate her. She just didn’t take her studies seriously. Finally, her teachers decided to tell her that one day she would become the queen of England. Upon hearing this, Victoria quietly said, "Then I will be good." The realization that she had inherited this high calling gave her a sense of responsibility that profoundly affected her conduct from then on.

Paul wanted his readers to understand that they have inherited a higher calling because they had been. . .

 

I.              Entrusted with the Oracles of God.

These oracles were the laws that were given to Moses to pass on to the Hebrew people. Not only were there laws or rules in which they were to follow, but there were also promises that came from the mouth of God. These words that Moses received give us a description of the eternal nature of God. They also help us understand the nature of man and his purpose.  

Being the people God chose to receive divine revelation was certainly an honor and a privilege but with that carried a serious responsibility. To be entrusted with the very words of God was a huge task.

The word “entrusted” means to have absolute confidence or trust in what has been committed to you for safe keeping. When you deposit money in the bank you entrust that money to the bank for safe keeping and you even expect that you will make a little interest from the bank for using your money.

God expected the Jewish people not only to take care of His word but to pass it on so that others may come into the fold. Today, God has entrusted the Church with His word. “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2NASU)

We are not to keep it for ourselves, but to share His word with the whole world. It is in God’s Word that people will discover the way of salvation. God has entrusted His word to you, what are you doing with it?

If we are faithfully handling the Word of God, He will accomplish His will. You see the remedy for this world wide epidemic is not based upon us, but is based upon God. . .

 

II.            Because He is dependable.

There is something interesting here in our test. We discover that some of these Jews did not believe that Jesus was the coming Messiah.  Paul states that God is true even if everyone else is a liar. God’s truthfulness, His faithfulness isn’t contingent upon man.

Paul informs us that even if we are faithless, God remains faithful. He uses a contrast here so that things can be seen more clearly. Our unrighteousness and sin magnifies God’s righteousness. Paul is building toward his conclusion that we are all guilty in God’s sight.

When Frederick II, an eighteenth-century King of Prussia, went on an inspection tour of a Berlin prison, he was greeted with the cries of prisoners hoping and praying for leniency. They fell on their knees, pleading their cases, asserting their innocence and declaring their unjust imprisonment. While listening to these mournful pleas of innocence, Frederick's eye was caught by a solitary figure in the corner, a prisoner sitting quietly and all alone. "Why are you here?" Frederick asked him. "I am here for armed robbery, Your Majesty." "Are you guilty?" the king asked. "Oh yes, Your Majesty. I entirely deserve my punishment," the prisoner replied. Frederick called the jailer. "Release this guilty man at once," he instructed. "I will not have him kept in this prison where he will undoubtedly corrupt all of these innocent people."

There doesn’t need to be a worldwide epidemic because we have the Word of life and God is dependable.

However, there is because of our basic sinfulness and rebellion against God because there is a lack. . .

 

III.           Of the fear of God

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” is how Paul puts it. Today people’s ears are tuned to the lies of sin rather than to the truth of righteousness. We have an inadequate concern about and no fear of God.

The fear of God has both positive and negative elements. In a positive way, every true Christian has a reverential fear of God. We think of Proverbs 1:7, which says that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” which indicates the proper reverential fear of the true Christian. The fear of God is an awesome awareness of his glory, his holiness, and his sovereignty. Proper worship of God, for example, always includes a reverential fear of God.

The negative aspect of the fear of God has to do with dread and terror. Even Christians should have a measure of that kind of fear, which acts as a protection against sinning. The writer of Proverbs observed in Proverbs 16:6 that “by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.”

Non-Christians should have a fear of God in its most intense and terrifying sense. The Old Testament is full of stories of the Lord working destruction and death as punishment for all kinds of sin. Yet, today many preachers and teachers teach there is no punishment for the wicked. There are many who have stated time and time again there is no place called hell.

There is another reason as to why do people not fear God and that is because we have such a highly elevated views of ourselves and dangerously diminished view of God. And because there is no fear of God before our eyes we have fallen under the power, authority and control of sin.

If you have no proper fear of God, then you are living under sin. A proper fear of God is when you have a high view of God and a humble view of yourself.  It is when you recognize that the Bible’s description of God is unquestionably true—that he alone is supremely sovereign, and that if you are to come into a right relationship with God, it must be on his terms—and his terms alone.

Conclusion; here in our text Paul wanted his readers to know that because they were God’s chosen people they had been given His living oracle and it was their responsibility to share that with the world based upon His dependability. However, they weren’t fulfilling His desire because there was a lack of fear for the Lord.

Today, the church has been called by God to depend upon Him and to share His message of salvation to a lost and dying world. There is a worldwide epidemic that is taking place called guilt, but we can be part of the solution by sharing the whole counsel of God’s Word, including a pronouncement of the fear of the Lord.

Until 1885, the dreaded disease, rabies, was unchecked by man. But that year an experiment by Louis Pasteur gave to the world the rabies vaccination.

Pasteur began in 1882 to study the disease, a disease that destroys the nerve cells of part of the brain. He had worked many hours in the laboratory seeking a vaccine to prevent the disease. His long hours in the laboratory were slowly wearing down his health, yet he labored on.

Then in July 1885, a peasant boy, Joseph Meister, was bitten by a mad dog. The boy was brought to Pasteur by his parents. They begged Pasteur to save their son. Pasteur hesitated to use his new vaccine on the boy because it had never been used on a human. Finally, he gave in. After several weeks of treatment, the vaccine proved successful and the boy’s life was saved. (Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations)

The vaccine for guilt is the blood of Jesus Christ!
 

Amen