Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans.  Tonight is study #1 in Romans 3,  and we will read Romans 3:1-2:

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.

These questions are being asked because of the way that chapter 2 ended, so in order to understand the questions that were asked, we have to go back to the last couple of verses in Romans 2:28-29:

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

So we can definitely see why the questions would be asked as chapter 3 begins: “What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?”  After all, we just got done reading that “…he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh.”  Basically, it is saying that the physical descendant of Abraham who adheres to the rite of circumcision is not a true Jew.  A “true Jew” is one who is a Jew inwardly by being circumcised in his heart. 

So naturally speaking, it is a logical follow up question: “What good is it to be a Jew?  What benefit has it, and why should I get circumcised if circumcision does not make me a true Jew, and if it is the circumcision of the heart that makes me a true Jew?”  God answers that question in Romans 3:2:

Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Now we do not want to get too far ahead.  First, we are going to review this idea of being a Jew in heart and not in the flesh.  In the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy, God commanded the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 10:16:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Of course there was a previous command that was given to Abraham initially to be physically circumcised in the flesh of the foreskin.  Abraham was to circumcise all the males in his household, and from that point forward the descendants of Abraham performed circumcision on all their male descendants.

But here in Deuteronomy 10:16, it is not a different command, but it is instructing us as to what the former command to Abraham (and handed down through the centuries) really means.  That is, it was a ceremonial law given to the Jews.  The rite of circumcision was, indeed, to be performed on all males.  If they were not circumcised, they would be “cut off” from the nation of Israel, and God spelled that out.  But that is the same thing as God giving Israel the commands for sacrifices, and He gave Israel sacrifices to perform on a regular basis because the sacrifice was a sign.  It was a picture that pointed to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The sacrifices themselves never took away anyone’s sin, and the Bible makes that point clear.  Not once in history did a sacrifice take away the sin of the one who offered it, but it was still to be done.  It was to be followed rigorously according to the dictates and statutes of God’s Word, and they were to be done at the times indicated by God.  And yet it was always a “picture,” over and over again. 

The same question could be asked about sacrifices:  “What good was the sacrifice?”  The good was in the thing it pointed to, as the sacrifices pointed to the Lord Jesus who was declared to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Likewise, the good in the act of circumcision was in the thing it pointed to, which was that God would need to circumcise their hearts.  Here in Deuteronomy 10:16, He gives the command, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.”  And that is an impossible command for anyone to perform.  If anyone would try to do so, he would immediately die.  You cannot “cut off” the foreskin of your heart.  Actually, there is no “foreskin” of the heart.  You would perish if you tried to keep this command, and that is because God is issuing this command on the spiritual level.  It is pointing to the necessity for an individual to obtain a “new heart.”  It is also pointing to the fact that sin flows out of the heart, and the Bible speaks of this in Matthew 15:19-20:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts and all manner of iniquity and the filthiness of transgression against the Law of God, and that is why it is necessary that the “foreskin” of the heart – representing all this evil and sin – be cut off or circumcised.  That is what physical circumcision does with the foreskin.  It cuts it off.  That is the image that God is trying to get across, and it is what circumcision of the male reproductive organ typifies, which is the cutting off of the foreskin of the heart.

We also learn in Colossians 2 that this spiritual circumcision was accomplished in the Person of Christ Jesus.  It says in Colossians 2:9-11:

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands…

The “ye” refers to all the elect.  The word “ye” is the Old Testament plural for “you.”   The circumcision made without hands refers to spiritual circumcision.  When God speaks of the circumcision of the heart, He is not talking about the physical heart that is in the chest.  He is talking about the soul of man because “heart” and “soul” are synonyms.  So when God speaks of circumcising the foreskin of your heart, He means the soul or spirit of man.  In order to do that, it has to be done by God without hands, as it is not a physical thing but a spiritual thing.  It goes on to say in Colossians 2:11:

…in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

That is why it refers to Jesus because in Him we were “circumcised” by this circumcision made without hands through the putting off of the body of sins in the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.  He bore our sins in His body on the tree at the foundation of the world when He took upon Himself the sins of all those predestinated to receive it – all the elect whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Our sins were laid upon Him, and God smote Him and struck Him dead.  At that point, He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  What happened to the body of the sins of the flesh?  They were paid for as they were “circumcised” or “cut off.”  They were removed from Him on behalf of us.  We were spiritually circumcised in Christ at the foundation of the world. 

It is the same idea as baptism.  You know, we may have a clearer understanding of that because we are more accustomed to hearing these things spoken of in relationship to baptism,  Actually, circumcision and baptism are very similar, spiritually, and God speaks of the same thing here in Colossians after He tells us that we are circumcised in Christ.   It says in Colossians 2:12:

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

So that same atoning work of the Lord Jesus which we saw described as a “circumcision” is likewise said to be a “baptism” in which we were “buried with him.”  We were circumcised in Him and buried with Him in baptism.  Our sins were “cut away” or “washed away.”  They are the same idea.  The Old Testament picture was the rite of circumcision, and the New Testament picture was baptism, the washing away of sin.  It is the identical truth, but God is doing what He often does by saying the same thing in one way, and then saying it in another way, just in case it (the idea) is hard for someone to pick up with just one example.  “OK, here is another example for you.”  Once you have the understanding of baptism as the washing away of sin, then you can go back and look at circumcision, and it should be a little easier to see circumcision as the cutting away of sin. 

Both examples are teaching the removal of sin and the formation of the Jewish nation because all the elect whom God had predestinated were identified with Jacob, as it were.  “Jacob have I loved.”  Jacob was the father of Israel.  Actually, he even had his name changed to Israel (by God).  So he certainly identifies with the true Jews, and Jacob is a figurehead of all God’s elect as they were circumcised and baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ at the foundation of the world before they had done good or evil, just like Jacob.  And God determined to choose and love His elect people in a very real way in the spiritual realm, and He circumcised them, making them all spiritual Israel. 

Once time began and the Gospel was sent forth into the world, it was simply a matter of finding what people?  What did Jesus say?  “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  They were already “Israel,” and He was not referring to physical Jews, although some of the spiritual house of Israel were physical descendants of Abraham, but for the most part they were Gentiles, and yet they were spiritual Jews, as Romans 2 tells us in Romans 2:28-29:

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

So now we can understand as we start chapter 3, verse 1 regarding the question, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?”  What is the benefit?  Would it not have been better not to live as a Jew in the Old Testament?  You know, the Jews were the people of God in the Old Testament, and they were set apart, and they lived a life that was set apart, or sanctified, from the rest of the world.  God gave them many things to obey and do that the other nations did not have to do, so if those things did not result in them becoming a “true Jew” and part of spiritual Israel, was it worth it?  Was it really valuable, and did it benefit them?   God’s answer to that question is in Romans 3:2:

Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next study, we will look at the oracles of God.  That is the chief or main benefit that the nation of Israel received in their relationship to God.  They had the oracles committed to them.  But we should not overlook the first part of verse 2 that answered the questions, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?”  By the way, we could ask the same question of the New Testament Christian or New Testament church: “What advantage then hath the Christian?  Or what profit is there of baptism?”  It is saying the exact same thing, and it actually does apply to the New Testament church as well as to the Old Testament nation of Israel.  The answer for both is found in the first part of verse 2: “Much every way.”  That should not be overlooked.  That is telling us that the Christian life is a good life, and it is quite beneficial to the one who identifies with the God of the Bible.