Jewish Privilege, Human Depravity, & Moral Inevitability

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, March 3, 2024.

Sermon text: Romans Romans 3:1-8

We live in a culture where everything is relative, little is objective, and we are (largely

through social media) encouraged to express all of our differing opinions on everything.

We’ve come to believe that we can all have our own versions of truth and somehow they

can all still remain true. However, today’s Text reminds us that God is not relative. God is

not subject to our personal feelings and tastes. There are not differing opinions on who

God is or what God is about that can all be good and true at the same time. 2 Corinthians 4

says that the god of this world wants to blind the minds of unbelievers from seeing the

glory of God in the face of Christ. One way to do that is to distort their view of God. Paul,

in Romans 3, is proclaiming truth, fielding objections, and reminding humanity about our

humanness and God’s Godness. This is a part of a larger portion of Scripture that

addresses the sometimes uncomfortable subject of human depravity. Usually, the ones most

opposed to the concept of human depravity are the humans. So Paul addresses them

accordingly.

Paul has just made the statement that “For no one is a Jew who 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.” The church in Rome is made up of converted Gentiles who now proclaim Christ and

Jews who also proclaim Christ have returned to the church in Rome and they are still

trying to figure out life together. As Paul levels the playing field, explaining that a

circumcised Jew is really no better off than a righteous Gentile, some objections arise. And

those 4 objections frame our outline this morning…

Objection # 1:

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value if circumcision?

One commentator explains the objection like this… “Jews everywhere were furious that

Paul appeared to dissolve their distinctive advantage. What was the point of being the

chosen people of God, marked off from the pagan world by the distinguishing mark of

circumcision, if in the end a faithful Gentile might fare better than a Jew?” - Seccombe

- This is a picture of Jewish Privilege… or perhaps religious privilege.

- “Romish” thoughts would have led them to put great stock in things like the

priesthood.

- Paul seems to be undermining God’s design…

Answer # 1:

Much in every way! To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of

God.

- Interestingly, Paul says, “To begin with” OR “First of all”, but here only mentions

the oracles of God. Later in chapter 9 he picks the list back up and goes into greater

details. But here, the advantage is “You have the Scriptures!”

- Don’t gloss over this! Consider what it means. In Romans 1 we saw that any human

being can step outside and look up to the stars and know that there is a God and we

are subject to Him. In Romans 2 we saw that any human can look inside and find a

law written on their heart and know that there is a God and we are subject to Him.

But it was only first to the Jews that God made Himself known!

- What advantage do you have? You learned from God about God. He gave you His

words when no one else had them. Through them you learned that He is a

compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and

faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and

sin. You learned that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty, a Good

Shepherd. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present. He is Sovereign. He is

sovereign. He is unchanging. He is holy. He is just. He is righteous. He created us

and has expectations for us. He has a plan for the world. He will judge. He will

create a new heavens and a new earth.

- None of us here today and no non-Jew in all of history would know those things if

they were not first entrusted to the Jews by God!

And at this point you might think they would respond “Good point Paul!” Instead, another

objection is raised.

Objection # 2:

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the

faithfulness of God?

Answer # 2:

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.”

- This argument is literally as old as mankind… So God gave His oracles… His

expectations for His creation… and creation blames God when it goes wrong. “The

woman that you gave me caused me to sin.” So often the argument for humans

caught in sin and facing judgment is “You made me like this”… “You made me to

think like this… You made me with these strong desires…” Paul is pointing out that

we compound our guilt when we misuse God’s good gifts. OR, to say it in a Romans

1 way, we compound our guilt when we trade the truth about God for a lie and

worship the creature rather than the Creator.

- Seccombe: “To carry back to God the blame for our abuse of these gifts is as

perverse as it is common.”

- To answer their objection, Paul goes to Psalm 51:4… where David has been caught

in the horrible sins of adultery and murder, rather than saying “Well God, you gave

me these impulses… you could have made her bathe inside… her husband could

have loved and appreciated her more…”, he says, “Against you and you only have I

sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your

words and blameless in your judgment.” There is a moral inevitability that David

has finally come to grips with and he realizes that there is nothing he can say in his

own defense. God is right. David is wrong.

And then the objections become even more evil…

Objection # 3:

But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what

shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?

- This is not a straw man that Paul is kicking. This is a real objection. Perhaps this is

Paul arguing with his old Pharisaical self…

- I sin. I am unrighteous. God gets glory for being a righteous Judge. Doesn’t that

make God unrighteous for inflicting wrath on us who are only showing how

righteous of a judge He is?

- Paul is embarrassed by such a suggestion. (I speak in a human way). It is almost like

he is saying, “I don’t even want to be associated with such an evil and heretical

statement about the Almighty.”

Answer # 3:

By no means! For then how could God judge the world?

- Meaning… If God cannot judge Jews for such behavior and the heart behind it, how

then can God judge the world?

- Because the one thing we can agree on is the undeniable truth that God will judge

the world! Right?!

Objection # 4:

But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being

condemned as a sinner. And why not do evil that good may come?

- As some slanderously charge us with saying…

- This is an off the rails, out of touch with reality, flatly evil argument.

Answer # 4: N/A

Or to be more specific: N/A… Their condemnation is just…

Application:

1.) Don’t assume religious privilege

2.) Don’t assume that God is subject to your feelings

3.) Don’t blame God for your sin

4.) Treasure the oracles of God

5.) Defend the oracles of God (You can’t manage what you don’t measure and you

can’t defend what you don’t treasure.) *Apologetics & Evangelism

6.) Consider your undeniable truths

Discipleship Questions:

1.) What are some objections that are raised against the church today?

2.) How can we Biblically defend truth and answer those objections?

3.) Put the phrase “You can’t defend what you don’t treasure” in your own words.

4.) What does religious privilege look like today? How might it play out in our lives

on a Tuesday?

5.) What are some examples of assuming that God is subject to our feelings?

I feel __________ so God must be __________.

6.) How have you been guilty of blaming God for your sin?

It’s your fault that I am ______________.

7.) What are some healthy disciplines that will help us to both treasure and defend

the oracles of God?

8.) What could possibly make us not treasure the oracles of God?

9.) What are your undeniable truths? Are you teaching them to your children?