Advantages of the Jews

Paul has placed Jews and Gentiles on an equal plane in terms of their standing before God. This is the logical conclusion of his argument that everyone, Jew or Gentile, who does evil will face “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” on the Day of Judgment (Rom. 2:8–9), but that everyone, Jew or Gentile, who exhibits “patient continuance in doing good” (2:7) will receive “glory, honor, and peace” (2:10) on that day. But here again Paul anticipates an objection. Our commentator, Dr. James M. Boice, sums up the problem this way: “If God treats Jews and Gentiles alike, not showing favoritism, and if the only thing that makes one truly Jewish is an inward transformation by the Holy Spirit, then what advantage is there in being a Jew? Or, to put it in other terms, what is the Old Testament all about?” This is an excellent question, for Paul does seem to be throwing the whole of redemptive history onto the garbage heap.

Paul replies to this objection by affirming that being a Jew is highly advantageous and that circumcision is very profitable. Indeed, as The New Geneva Study Bible notes, Paul has never said that the Jews have no advantages, only that their disobedience “nullifies” those advantages. But as Boice carefully points out, the benefits of the advantages Paul has in mind will not accrue to the Jews at the judgment. The Jews are simply incorrect in thinking that their advantages bring salvation.

What are the Jews’ advantages? In tomorrow’s study, we will examine the one Paul sees as “chief”—the “oracles of God.” But while Paul does not mention other Jewish advantages here, he lists several in 9:4–5. These include “the adoption” (God’s drawing of the Jews into a special family relationship with Him), “the glory” (God’s self-revelation in glory on Sinai, according to Boice), “the covenants” (God’s binding commitments to Israel), “the giving of the law” (the same as “the oracles”), “the service of God” (the Jews’ temple worship), “the promises” (God’s sure word to His people), “the fathers” (the godly heritage of the great early ancestors of the Jews), and the fact that Christ came from their race, that He was their countryman. All these advantages—while not conveying salvation—give the Jews a fuller, richer understanding of God than any Gentile possesses. Thus, His way of salvation should be that much more plain to them.