Will you go back there with me
in Romans 2, verse 28, in which Paul says, He is not a Jew which
is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. In other words, he's saying a
man is not a child of God. He is not of the kingdom of God. He is not of the family of God
by mere name. nationality, religion, background,
or ceremony. That doesn't make him a child
of God. And circumcision is not that
which takes away the foreskin of the flesh and leaves the carnality
of the heart. True circumcision is not a mark
on the flesh which makes no impression on the heart. But true circumcision
is that which rends or tears or operates on the heart. That's
true circumcision. Now verse 29, But he is a Jew,
he is a child of God, he is the people of God, which is one inwardly,
which is one inwardly. Not only the name he has, but
the nature. Not only the law of God in his
hand, but he's got the law of God written on his heart. He read on, and circumcision
is that of the heart. It is a godless sorrow for sin. It is a renouncing of our own
righteousness. It is a clinging to God's righteousness. And it's in the spirit and not
in the letter. And it's that whose praise is
of God and not of me. Now then, so here comes the question.
Then what advantage hath the Jew? What good does it do a fellow
to be born a Jew? Why a man, someone says, a man
may as well be brought up and heathen as a Jew. A man may as well be a total
stranger to the covenant. If the uncircumcised Gentile
can partake of the covenant mercies while the Jew is cast out, then
what advantage does a Jew have? What advantage does a man have
as a Bible that is in the Church if those
who are without are brought in? Well, read on. Paul says, much
every way. The Jew has many advantages,
many of them. Chiefly, here's the chief advantage. Because that unto them, that
is, unto the Jew, were committed the utterances of God. This is
the great advantage right here. This is the supreme, the chief
advantage right here. The Word of God. The Word of
God. The Jew has the Law of Moses.
The Jew has the writing of the prophets. The Jew has the sacrifices
which point to Christ. The Jew has the prophecies of
the Messiah. The Jew has all of the promises
of all of the prophets which give witness to Christ. And how
does faith come? Well, faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. That's how faith comes. Faith
comes by hearing and receiving the Word of God. So the man who
has the Word of God is blessed far above the man who does not
have the Word of God. That's the advantage of having
your children in the Lord's house on the Lord's day. That's the
advantage of bringing children up under the sound of the Word
of God. Just the same as these Jews. Somebody said, well, if
circumcision is of the heart and not the flesh, If a man is
a Jew, he is one inwardly and not outwardly. If a man knows
God, who has not the law of God in his hand, but in his heart,
then what advantage is there to being a Jew, being brought
up in the church, being brought up under the covenant, being
brought up under the law, being brought up under all these things?
Well, the chief advantage is having the Word of God. Let me
show you two verses. Turn to James chapter 1. James
1, verse 18. Now watch this. While you're
turning there, let me quote one. The Apostle Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. Just as a plant, and when they
built the Astrodome out in Houston, they planted grass on the floor
of the Astrodome, and then they started playing ball. But the
grass died. The grass couldn't live without
sunshine. It had to have sunshine, and it just wouldn't live. They
had glass up there, hoping they could let enough through, but
it wouldn't live. It just totally died. It had to have rain, and
it had to have sunshine, or it couldn't live. And if a person
is going to come to a true conviction of sin, and a true knowledge
of his need, and a true faith in Jesus Christ, and a true knowledge
of the Son of God, he's got to hear the gospel. The gospel is
as essential to salvation as the sunshine is to life. And
James 1 verse 18 says, "...of his own will," by God's own will,
not according to the will of the flesh or the will of man,
but "...of his own will begat he us." Now, the word begat means
to conceive or give life. And of his own will, he gave
us life with the word of truth. With the word of truth. That's
how life came. It came with the word. Now turn
to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 23. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible seed. being
born again by the Word of God. How are we born again? By the
Word of God. But I thought you, preacher,
you preach that we're born of the Spirit. We are born of the
Spirit, but we're born of the Word. We're born of the Holy
Spirit, the agent, using the instrument, the Word. It's just
like a child is begotten by a father, but that father must put a seed
in order for that child to be begotten, and the Holy Spirit,
while he's the agent, And while he's the one who begets, the
incorruptible seed of the Word of God is planted in the heart,
or there can be no life. And that's the advantage of having
the Word, that's the advantage of these boys hearing the Word
right here tonight. Because without the Word of God,
without the gospel, they'll never be converted, they'll never be
saved. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. And that's the reason why the
cities of Capernaum and Bethsaida turn to Matthew 11. That's why
those cities have a greater responsibility in the judgment, because they
had the Word. What advantage hath the Jew?
He's got the Word of God. What advantage do you have? You've
got the Word of God. Matthew 11, verse 20. Then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they
repented not. Warned to thee, Chorazin, warned
to thee, Bethsaida, if the mighty works had been done in you, which
had been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. Judgment will be based upon responsibility. Now let's look at verse 3. So
the question is asked, what advantage then hath the Jew? Well, chiefly,
he's got the Word of God. Unto them are given the utterances
of God. Now verse 3. What if some did
not believe, and many did not believe? They didn't believe.
What didn't they believe? They didn't believe the Messiah
when he came. That's what he's talking about. They didn't believe
the Messiah. They despised and rejected Him.
What if some did not believe? Now this is important here. Shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? What if some did not believe?
The Messiah came, they rejected Him. The Messiah came, they despised
Him. But this is no objection to having
that advantage. They had the advantage. This
is no objection to that at all. Their unbelief was not owing
to the lack of evidence. That's not why they didn't believe.
It's not because God's Word is not sufficient to reveal sin
and to reveal Christ. That's not why they didn't believe.
That's not why they didn't believe. You see what the objection is
here? He asked the question, what advantage does the Jew have?
And what profit is there of circumcision? And Paul said much every way.
Unto them hath been given the prophecies, the promises, the
types, the sacrifices, all of these things, but chiefly the
Word of God. But they didn't believe. They
didn't believe, somebody said. Well, what if they didn't believe?
That doesn't make the Word of God of non-effect. That does
not say that they didn't have enough evidence. It simply says
they didn't believe because of the darkness and evil of their
hearts. That's the reason they didn't
believe. There's enough evidence here
to bring a man to salvation if his heart is open. Their unbelief
cannot destroy the purpose and plan of God concerning the Messiah.
Turn to Romans 9. Here's something I want you to
read here. Romans chapter 9. Their unbelief does not destroy
the purpose of God. God's purpose is going to be
unfolded and accomplished whether they believe or don't believe.
Paul says in Romans 9, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not,
my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. I could wish that
myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren. my kinsmen according
to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service
of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, of whom as concerning
the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God bless forever.
Amen. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect. You say, well, they didn't believe.
That doesn't mean the purpose of God is not being accomplished.
That doesn't mean the word of God has taken no effect. Watch
it. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. Now let's go back here and see
Paul's answer to that. What if some did not believe?
Shall their unbelief make the purpose of God, the faith of
God, the promise of God, without effect? Watch it now. in mankind. That's what he's
saying. Let not any person think that the faith of God and the
purpose of God can be sidetracked, can be made of no effect, can
be interrupted by the failure and unbelief of any human being. Now, one other verse I want to
read before I go on here, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 2. And I may disturb
some of you in the next two or three minutes, things I'm going
to say, but I want you to stay with me. 2 Timothy 2.13. If we
believe not, yet he abided faithful, he cannot deny himself. God's
going to do what he said. God's going to accomplish his
purpose. God's going to glorify His Son. God's going to have
a people. God's going to redeem and elect.
God's going to do what He set out to do. It doesn't matter
whether the Jew or the Gentile or who does not believe it. Their
unbelief does not make God's Word of no effect and God's faithfulness
to fail. As it is written, now watch this.
This came from Psalms 51. as it is written, that thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou
judgest." Now, here's what David is saying. God is always true
to His Word and His promises and His purposes. Christ said,
"'Of all that my Father giveth me, I'll lose He didn't say no
one, that's true. He didn't say no person, that's
true. He said, I'll lose nothing, no
part of it. No part of it. Christ redeemed
us body, Christ redeemed us body and soul. Christ redeemed us
body and soul and estate. Christ redeemed every part of
every believer, and of those given him by the Father, he'll
lose nothing. And my failures are not going
to make God fail. Now here's what David's saying.
He made a promise, God made a promise to David, that the fruit of his body would
sit on an eternal throne. God made a promise to David that
the fruit of his body would sit on an eternal throne and that
the Messiah would come from him. Now David utterly failed. David's great fall would have
interrupted our plans and our purposes and our programs, but
God Almighty God Almighty's faithfulness and purpose and promise was not
disturbed by David's fall. But God was true. Actually, and
here's what Paul is saying, actually, man's failures only establish
God's success. Man's failure only establishes
God's righteousness. and magnifies it even more. The blacker the background, the
more the jewel of grace sparkles. That's what he's saying. My failure
only magnifies the holiness and righteousness and grace of a
holy God. Now here comes the objections.
And I know immediately they're already cropping up in your mind.
And that's exactly what Paul deals with. Watch how human objections,
just as I said what I did a moment ago, the blacker the background,
the more the jewel of grace sparkles, somebody takes that and runs
with it immediately. When I said that our failures
only magnify God's faithfulness, somebody grabs hold of that and
runs with it. And we'll show you the three objections that
natural man always raises. And I'll bet you, if Barney just
said, dollar and a half and a count of cash, those very objections
were raised in your mind while I was reading that right there
and when I made those statements. But they're true now. Let every
man, let God be true and everybody a liar. That God might be justified
in his saying. God's not dependent on David.
David's dependent on God. God's not dependent on David's
faithfulness, but David's sure dependent on God's faithfulness.
David's going to fail. David's going to fall. David's
going to falter. God's going right on. Never veering
to the right or to the left, and accomplishing all that he
set out to accomplish through this man. And even this man's
failures are going to magnify God's purposes. That's right. Even the wrath of man will praise
the Lord. All right, here they come, here
they come. Then follows the carnal reasoning
of a natural man, because in verse 5, when Paul offered the
first one, he says, I speak as a man, a natural man, without
spiritual light, without divine revelation, without the Holy
Spirit to teach us. These verses that I have read
Just before this statement will lead a man to talk this way,
and so here's the natural Jew speaking. First in verse 5, he
says, if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of
God, and it does, it does, no question about it, to whom much is forgiven he'll
love much. The darker the background, the
brighter the jewel. The harder the fall, the more
thankful the sinner. The deeper the fall, the more
glory God gets for His grace. That's right. Now, no question
about being right or wrong. It's right. So here they say,
if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what
shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh
vengeance? In other words, here's what they're
saying. If our failure magnifies and establishes and exhibits
the righteousness of God and the grace of God, then God's
unjust punish us for our sins, since they accomplish His ultimate
purpose. That's natural reason. But God
forbid, Paul says, How then would he judge the world? How would
he judge anybody? Because even the rebellion of
the Gentiles, even the crucifixion of Christ by the hands of wicked
men served God's purpose. That's what Peter said to that
crowd after they crucified the Lord. They said, you with wicked
hands have crucified and slain the Lord of glory, but he was
delivered into your hands by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. So these men If their wickedness
and their evil commends the grace of God, then why punish them,
Lord? That's carnal reasoning. Or what's
the second one? Verse 7, "...if the truth of
God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory." Can you
buy that? Did that stick in your throat?
It's so. It's so. The truth of God, the
truth of God is more, hath more abounded through my lie unto
his glory. That's right. Then why am I judged
as a sinner? The natural man, the natural
Jew says, if through my falsehood and my weakness God's integrity
and God's truth is advertised and glorified, Why am I judged
as a sinner? That's the natural man. And the
natural man can't understand that. He can't save his life. He can't understand how that
if God, when God reaches down on the dunghill and lifts a sinner,
a liar, and all men are liars, and a thief, and a murderer,
and an adulterer, and a blasphemer, and as far down as Saul of Tarsus
was, and lifts it. And by lifting that unreconstructed
rebel, God's truth and glory and grace gets more praise. But then why in the world am
I judged to sin? Why does God find fault with
me? All right, here's the third carnal reasoning. The natural
Jew speaks. And he says, and not rather,
as we be slanderously reported, and this is what people are saying,
and this is what some affirm that we teach, if the grace and
mercy of God is magnified and praised through my sin, then
let's do evil that God might get more glory. Let's do evil. that good may
come. That's the next carnal reason.
Why, if I believe that the glory and the grace of God and the
salvation which Christ hath wrought is glorified and magnified and
enlarged and exalted through my failure, through my weakness,
through my sin, then I say, let's do evil. And the more evil we
do, the more glory he'll get. Well, as I said, Paul, back in
verse 5, the last line, says, I speak as a man. And that's
the way a man speaks. That's the way a natural man
reasons. Now, let me tell you something.
If that's the way you reason, then you're a natural person.
You're not regenerated. You're not spiritual, and you're
not saved. If that's the way you reason, right there. If that's
your reasoning, because Paul said that, I didn't. He says
this is man speaking. This is natural man speaking.
This is unregenerate man speaking. This is carnal man speaking,
who takes the grace of God and turns it into licentiousness
and the liberty of Christ and turns it into lewdness. That's
the natural man speaking. The spiritual man understands
this. He understands perfectly how
his life can rebound to the glory of God's truth. He understands
perfectly how his weakness is made perfect in God's strength.
He understands perfectly how God gets the glory by washing
his filth, and clothing his nakedness, and supplying his want. He sees
that perfectly. And it doesn't drive him to the
other pole of sin and rebellion that God may get more glory,
but rather he wants to come closer to his God. the bent of his will
and the tenor of his life, his holiness unto the Lord, and glory
unto his name." But if God picks out a child
and picks out a redeemed person and decrees through that person's
life a purpose and a program and a plan and glory for Christ,
He's going to do it. And that person may be a stumbler
and a fumbler and a failure, but Almighty God's purpose and
truth is going to be accomplished. And you will find when it's all
over, when it's all over, though God's not the author of sin,
when it's all over, that very failure was what God ordained
for His glory. And that very trial was what
God Almighty permitted in the life of that individual to accomplish
his truth. Now, we don't have time to figure
that out for everybody, and you can't explain it anyhow. Somebody
said, Brother Barnett, explain that. He said, I ain't explaining
business. I'm in the preaching business.
And that you can't explain it, God has to reveal it. Now, right,
you can't explain that. If God hadn't revealed it to
you, why don't you ask Him to? All right, verse 9, Verse 9,
what then? Are we better than they? It's
the Jew still talking. Are we better than the Gentile?
Are we Jew superior? Are we better off than the Gentile?
Is it possible that our place in the divine purpose will alter
the judgment of God on our sins? Is it possible? Are we better
off than the Gentiles? The man in the church, the man
who's got the Bible, the man who's got the profession, is
he better off without Christ than the man in the street without
Christ? That's what this Jew is saying. Are we Jews, because
we have the utterances of God and because we have the law of
God, are we better off than the Gentiles? Will our having these
things somehow lighten judgment?" Watch him. No. No, Paul said,
in no wise. In no wise, for we have before
proved that both Jews and Gentiles, they are all under sin, or under
condemnation for sin. For, as it is written, And the
following verses, verses 10 through 18, is the Old Testament description
of the center. Every one of these phrases are
taken from the Old Testament. It says, as it is written, as
it is written, there's none righteous, Jew or Gentile, no, not one.
There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of ashes of snakes
is under their lips. Their mouth, whose mouth is full
of cursing and bitterness, Jew and Gentile, their feet are swift
to shed blood. destruction and misery in their
ways, the way of peace have they not known? And there's no reverential
fear or awe of God before their eyes." Now then, we know that
what things soever the law said, what the law said, now not the
law of nature, not the ceremonial law, not the civil law. We're talking about the moral
law. What the law said, what the moral law of God said, it
said to them who are under the law. And that's every human being
under obligation to obey the law. Under the law means under
obligation to obey it. And it says to everyone who is
under the law that every mouth may be stopped, Stop talking
about our works. Stop talking about our morality.
Stop talking about our advantage or disadvantage. Stop talking
about our nationality. Stop talking about whether we're
Jew or Gentile. Stop talking about whether God
is righteous to judge. Just stop. And Paul, what? Guilty before God. Guilty. Guilty. Paul says, Stop talking
about it. We Jews, better than they. Gentiles better than they,
all these things, let every mouth be stopped, be hushed, and every
person become guilty. Now verse 20, by the deeds of
the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, no
person is going to be justified by observing the works prescribed
by the law, because no man ever kept the law. That's a certainty. Therefore, because we're under
this charge of condemnation, therefore because we're guilty,
therefore because this is the story of our being, our character,
no flesh is going to be justified in his sight by the law. No person. Now watch this. By the law is
the knowledge of sin, the real function of the law. is to make
men recognize and be conscious of sin. The law only defines
what God doesn't like. The law only defines and makes
us conscious of sin. The law cannot emancipate. The
law cannot save. The law cannot cleanse. The law cannot make atonement.
The law cannot do these things. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. But now, what's this next verse?
But now, and it has been prophesied, but now it's manifested. It has
been foretold, but now it's manifested. It has been promised, but now
it's manifested. It has been typified, but now
it's manifested. It has been in the program of
God, but now it's manifested. It has been symbolized and pictured. Why? Oh boy, if we can't have
a righteousness by the law, then we've got to have one how? Without
the law. If I can't have a righteousness
by keeping the law, and in order to get to heaven, I've got to
have a righteousness And Christ said it's got to be better than
the scribes and the Pharisees. It's got to be better than the
most moral, wholesome, religious person who ever lived on this
earth outside of Christ. So if the law can't give me a
righteousness, by the law is the knowledge of sin. And I can't
produce one by obedience to the law. I've got to have one. Where
am I going to get one? the righteousness of God. Thank God, without the law, without
the law, totally without the law, totally without any consideration
of the law, independently and altogether apart from the law,
there's a righteousness manifested. That's right, that's what the
Bible says, without Now the righteousness of God without the law—without
the law—is manifested. It's manifested. It's made known. It's revealed. It's unveiled. It's put on display. It's right
out there in front of you. Not a righteousness that measures
me. Did you do this? Did you do that?
Did you do the other? I got that kind of righteousness
no good because I did. And I didn't. That righteousness,
though, is no good because the law can't give a righteousness.
It can only reveal my sin. It can only make me sin conscious
and failure conscious. But he says, now there is a righteousness,
and it's God's righteousness that is revealed, that is manifested
totally independently of, independent of, and totally altogether apart
from the law. Get away, law! We're talking
about something else now. And what's this next line? being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, as I said, it's been
preached by the Prophets, it's been preached in the Word of
God, it's been foretold all these years, right here in the Old
Testament. Right here in the Old Testament. But it's just
now been revealed. Right here, it's just now been
revealed. It's been there, been witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets. What is this righteousness without
the Law? Watch verse 22. It is the righteousness
of God which is by my holiness and my obedience and my morality
and my faithfulness. Uh-uh. It's the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. The faithfulness, the
obedience of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all, and upon all
them that work for it, and all them that pay for it, and all
them that strive for it and all, it's upon all them that believe." He is saying here, the righteousness
of God which comes to every believer who trusts and leans upon the
Lord Jesus is the righteousness of God worked out, fulfilled,
supplied, purchased by Christ. And it comes to a man without
money and without price just by believing, just by believing. I believe in justification by
faith apart from work so much that I don't believe that the
slightest turn of the hand enters any way into a sinner's legal
justification before God. There's no difference, he says,
verse 22, no difference between Jew and Gentile. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But we are justified, and
the word justified means as if I had never sinned, totally free
from all sin, having never offended, totally innocent, I am justified
freely. All who believe on Christ, all
who receive Him as Lord and Savior, are made upright, declared holy,
in right standing with God, freely and without price, through the
redemption that is in, not the law, not the church, not in the
baptismal pool, not in the Lord's table, not in the sacrament,
in Christ. You are complete in Him. in him. Read it, verse 25, "...whom God
hath set forth," that is, God hath foreordained is the word,
"...whom God hath put forward before the eyes of all, whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation." That is, God made him a sin offering,
God made him a sacrifice, God made him an atonement, God made
him a covering for sin by his blood. to declare His righteousness,
God's righteousness, to declare the righteousness of God for
remission of sins that are past. That's talking about my sins
before I was baptized? No. That's talking about the
sins of Old Testament believers through the forbearance of God.
Now let me offer you something here. the forbearance of God
in deferring execution of his justice on Old Testament people
till his Son comes. That's the forbearance of God.
In other words, Christ came here, and all prior to his coming,
But all this time, while they were sinning, the forbearance
of God held back the execution of judgment until His Son came.
And when His Son came, Christ paid for all the sins of the
past and all the sins that are ahead through the forbearance
of God. This reveals and magnifies the
patience of God, the patience of God. Watch verse 26, "...to
declare, I say at this time, his righteousness." His righteousness,
the obedience of Christ as a man, the death of Christ on the cross,
the intercession of our Lord in glory, demonstrates, proves
at this time, that the Father in heaven is righteous and holy
and just. and will not forgive the sinner
apart from suitable sacrifice, and will not pardon and receive
the sinner without a perfect obedience, that God might be
just, and at the same time justify them that believe on Christ. And Christ's death and Christ's
obedience and Christ's sacrifice demonstrates and declares that
justice and the mercy of God, the truth and the grace of God,
the holiness and the love of God. He demonstrates both. All right, in the face of all
this, that God's going to make my failures rebound to His glory,
that God Almighty is going to override my lies with His matchless
truth. that God Almighty is going to
get glory from saving the chief of sinners, and that there's no none that
doeth good, Jew or Gentile, they're all corrupt and filthy and vile
and under the law guilty. But God Almighty has sent His
Son to give unto us a perfect righteousness. All right, in
the face of all that that comes to us freely by faith, kept by
faith, glorified by His grace. Where is boasting? Boy, you talk about taking all
the starch out of a fellow's collar, this chapter does it.
Where is boasting? You talk about taking all the
porosity out of a fellow's profession, this chapter does it. You talk
about whittling us down. knocking our foundations out
from under us, removing all bragging, boasting. Where is your boasting? It is excluded. How was it excluded? Did the law do it? Did works
do it? No, faith did it. Faith in Christ. When I saw Him, it buried my
pride. When I looked to Him, it buried
my self-conscious. self-confidence. When I looked
to his righteousness, it buried my self-righteousness. It was
all locked out. Is he the God? Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Now is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God
of the Gentiles? Seeing then, it is one God which
shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision
by faith. Do we make void the law through
faith? Do we discard and do away with
the law of God? No, sir. It's the rule of life
for the believer. A man who knows that he has broken
the law, that he has violated the law,
that he's sinned against the law, that he's not redeemed by
law, that he has a righteousness which is perfect without the
law in Christ, that doesn't mean he has less regard for the law.
He has a deeper respect for the law and a deeper desire to obey
the law of God. We don't make void the law by
faith, we establish the law. When Jesus Christ the Lord died
under the justice of God and came into this world to honor
the law, it didn't make void