The Chief Advantage

In our previous study, we looked at some of the advantages of the Jews that Paul touches on in Romans 9. It is significant, however, that in his discussion in these early chapters of Romans of the identical lostness and need of Jews and Gentiles, Paul chooses to identify only one advantage of the Jews, the one he calls the “chief” advantage—the “oracles of God.” What are these “oracles” and why does Paul place such importance on them?

An “oracle” is simply a revelation from deity. Thus, Paul is speaking here of a communication from God. But whereas he already has spoken of God’s revelation in nature (1:19–21), he has something else entirely in view here. The Greek word here translated as “oracles” is logia, which refers to “an utterance of God.” It is related to the Greek logos, which means “word” or, specifically, “something said.” Simply put, Paul is referring here to the things God has said, His Word, the Scriptures, which in Paul’s time comprise the Old Testament. By assigning such a nature to the Old Testament books, Paul shows that he regards them as of inestimable value. Like no other race of people on the face of the earth, the Jews are privileged to have been given the direct, specific revelation of God.

The true advantage of the Scriptures to the Jews (and the Gentiles, as well) has to do with their power in God’s hand. God declares that His Word is “living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12), and He is pleased to work through it to accomplish His purposes—He sends it forth and promises that “ ‘it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please’ ” (Isa. 55:11). Dr. James M. Boice points out that when the Scriptures are faithfully and accurately preached, taught, and applied, people are brought to faith in Christ, and believers are convicted of sin, sanctified, and shown how to live for God. “If the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, as Paul affirms by the use of the word logia in Romans 3:2, then they inevitably bear within themselves the truth, authority, and power of God,” he writes. “And where they are known, studied, and believed, there God is and will be powerfully at work.” To the extent that the Scriptures entrusted to the Jews are so used, Paul is indeed correct to speak of them as a great advantage.