“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” (Ro 3:1-2 AV)
I will not
get into the deep doctrinal issues at hand.
The only point to be pondered is the privilege to have the word of God committed
to us. The Jewish people had a great
privilege. Outside of Job, all other human
agents by which the word of God came were Jewish. This includes the New Testament. All New Testament agents were Jewish. Not only were they used of the Holy Spirit to
scribe the scriptures, but they also had the privilege of possessing them and
publishing them. No other people or nation
had this privilege. When Paul asked the rhetorical
question for the Jew above, they were seeking some advantageous difference
between themselves and the Gentiles. To
be endowed with the word of God should suffice!
Regardless of how the Gentiles treated them, they had the word of
God. No matter how much of the short end
of the stick they received, they had the word of God. No matter what view the rest of the world
took of them, they had the written word of God.
In retrospect, they had the greatest of all possession. They had the word of God.
In the
movie, Princess Bride, a grandfather comes to sit with his ill grandson
while his parents are away for the day.
The grandson is not impressed. He
wants to play video games all day.
Grandpa has a different idea. He
brings over a copy of Princess Bride. As
they read the book, the story unfolds in movie form. The thing is, when the book is first
presented, the grandson is taken aback.
What does he want with a dumb old book, anyway? How fun could that be? He resists the gift. As Grandpa explains the book belonged to his son
or the grandson’s father, and Grandpa used to read it to his son, the sick child’s
father, this young man begin to let his animosity cool. The story starts out and again, the patient
voices his displeasure. As it
progresses, displeasure changes to indifference. Then the storyline begins to increase in
dramatic tension. The young man is hooked. On the story goes, and the only objection he
has is to the kissing. Grandpa suggests at
one point they take a break. The
infirmed is getting too emotionally involved in the story and his anxiety begins
to concern Grandpa. After the young man
takes a breath, they continue. There are
sword fights, swamp monsters, an evil prince, and a giant. There is murder, a pirate, and sea
monsters. All those things a boy would
be interested in. There is a castle to
storm and a princess to rescue. One
started again, the do not stop. The book
is read in one sitting and it takes the better part of a whole day. When Grandpa is all done, his precious
grandson suggests he come again the next day to read the story a second time.
We live in a unique time in history. Never have they been as much Bible light as there is today. The word of God is the voice of God. It is the plan of God. The word of God is His revelation of Himself to mankind. Because we are saved, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit has illuminated the word of God to our hearts. We have so much. To us, the church has been committed the oracles of God. This transference of the word of God from the nation of Israel to the church should be seen as a great blessing. It is easy to get discouraged over what seems to be the world’s profit. As things continue as they are, the saints will lose ground and the world will gain ground. If we are not careful, we will resent the world for what they have and forget the privilege of possessing the word of God. I have often asked believers this question: if you were stranded on an island and among food, water, and shelter could have only one possession, what would it be? It is amazing what believers would choose. How many would choose their Bibles? We simply do not understand how good we have it. The word of God is a precious possession that should be valued above all others. There is an advantage to being a saint. That advantage is possession and comprehension of the perfect word of God.
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