Entrusted

DEVOTION

ROMANS

ENTRUSTED

Rom 3:1-4

3:1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:

"So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."  

NIV

In some sense it is difficult to take any one section, or couple of verses and make any complete understanding because this is a whole letter which follows a whole complete thought and was meant to be read out loud to the local body of believers to whom it was written. Not everyone could read or write, although in Rome there might have been more able to read this letter then in more remote villages. Nevertheless it was meant to be read in whole at one time. However as we have been taking small bits at a time there are still some truths we can garner. We have just been seeing the discussion about the circumcision of the heart which makes a man a Jew rather than simply of the flesh. So now Paul asks if there is any advantage of being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision. The question: is he talking about being a Jew because of physical circumcision or of circumcision of the heart, spiritual circumcision? If he is speaking about being a Jew by birth then they did in fact receive the words of God, in fact they received the Word of God, Jesus, as he came into the world as a Jew. This could be the argument Paul is making. Also the fact that they were descendants of the people whom received all the law through Moses and all the prophets who were all Israelites or Jews. Everything that is written down, the whole of the bible we have today is the result of Jews being inspired to write. Although none of the New Testament had been assembled when Paul, a Jew by birth, was writing this letter to those in Rome. Still, we could also say that God’s word is entrusted to all who have been circumcised of the heart. This could imply those who have their hearts circumcised by the Spirit have the understanding of the word of God, they know the truth. Just because someone is born into the line of Abraham and is circumcised in the flesh does not mean they understand the truth of the word of God. This might also apply to those who are born into a family of believers, who have their hearts spiritually circumcised. Just because of a physical birthright, it does not make us able to be entrusted with the word of God. But the real argument here is about whether our unfaithfulness nullifies the faithfulness of God. Even if some do not have faith, do not believe in God, or trust him with their lives, it still does not nullify the faithfulness of God. God does not exist because we believe he does, and he does not exist because some believe he does not exist. God is God whether we believe he is or not. God is true no matter what man says about him. All who do not have faith, saying there is no God to have faith in, are liars. Because God is true, everything he has to say is truth and therefore he is the only one worthy to judge all men. Because some men, well maybe all men are liars, which is no one is one hundred percent truthful about everything they have every thought or said, but God is. Therefor it is up to us who have been circumcised of the heart to garner the truth of God’s word for our lives. Because it is the Spirit who circumcises our heart, he then can lead us into all truth. All the darkness which covered our heart has been stripped away and now the light shines into it, or our heart is exposed to the light. The fact is we are entrusted with the words of God.