"The Advantages of the Jew" -- A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast! (Romans 3:1-8) + Bonus Material

Episode Synopsis:

In the opening eight verses of Romans chapter 3, Paul continues to address the matter of Jewish hypocrisy by asking a series of rhetorical questions that have obvious answers. The Jews were given many blessings by God as beneficiaries of the national covenant he made with Israel at Mount Sinai—especially the covenant sign and seal of circumcision. Yet the Jews mistakenly assumed that the mere possession of these blessings protected them from the wrath of God that was coming upon the Gentiles. The Jews condemned the Gentiles for their godless conduct but, as it turns out, were doing many of the same things themselves.

To expose such hypocrisy, Paul now takes up a role in which the apostle speaks as a former Jew, who is then answered by “Paul the apostle.” Each of these questions and answers is designed not only to expose Jewish hypocrisy but also to remind his Jewish readers of God’s right to judge his disobedient people. God alone tells the truth and does not lie. And those who claim to be spared from judgment by the mere possession of covenant blessings will find themselves exposed to the covenant curses and will realize that God is just and righteous when he punishes the disobedient—especially the hypocritical.

But Paul also addresses an objection he has heard that reveals the depths of misunderstanding regarding the judgment of God. Someone is claiming that since God judges sin and evil, then sin and evil are good things, since through them God reveals his righteousness. So why not sin if it serves God’s purposes? Paul quickly and forcefully rebukes those teaching such things. As he says in verse 8, their condemnation is just.

Show Notes:

Romans 3:1-8 presented me with a dilemma. I could have tagged this discussion on to the end of episode ten (Romans 2:17-29) which would make the episode run well over an hour, or I could have added it to the beginning of the next episode (Romans 3:9-20), which would have the same effect. Since it is best to cover Romans 3:9-20 in a single episode, I decided to treat verses 1-8 of Romans 3 separately, but since this meant a short run time (about about twenty-two minutes), I thought that this would be a good time to include bonus material on resources on Paul’s letters.

It was a difficult recording session—a technical issue took me a bit to figure out, it was very hot, and there was a bunch of outside noise to edit out.

Recommended Resources:

As mentioned, here’s a look at the Behind the Scenes at the Blessed Hope Podcast

Select Resources for the Study of Romans

B. B. Warfield: God Inspired Scripture

Connecting Scripture is a CSV (Christian Standard Version) New Testament which does something no other New Testament does. The biblical text has blue and green color coding to indicate when a biblical saying is either a direct citation from the New Testament (blue) or an allusion to something in the Old Testament (green). This enables the reader to see where a New Testament writer quotes from or draws allusion to something in the Old Testament—the thought world of New Testament writers.

Guy Manuell, The People in Paul’s Letters: A Compendium of Characters. This is a great aid to reading Paul’s letters. Manuell gives a biographical account of every person mentioned by Paul. Some entries are brief (if there’s nothing known of the person), some are extensive (such as Timothy and Titus).

Frank Thielman’s book, Paul, the Apostle of Grace is the new standard for Pauline biography. In the manner of F. F. Bruce’s magisterial, Paul the Apostle of the Heart Set Free, which looks broadly at Paul’s life and times, Thielman has given us a modern, scholarly, and readable biography of Paul. This is not a theology of Paul in the manner of Ridderbos, Vos, Gaffin, or Beale. This is a remarkable effort to consider Paul’s life and ministry from his birth to his death, based upon the mass of available data, and very skillfully woven into a compelling narrative.

Trevin Wax: The Letters of Paul in 30 Days. A great devotional!

Paul Barnett, A Short Book About Paul. A solid and useful introduction to Paul’s life and thought

Music:

(Shutterstock): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op 92m, second movement, Allegret