Romans 3_1-4： How Covenantal Thinking Will Change Your Relationship With God
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In this episode of Real Christianity, I begin Romans 3 and teach why covenantal thinking will change the way you view your relationship with God, the church, and your family. All that and more coming up right now on Real Christianity.
Transcript
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In this episode of Real Christianity, I begin Romans chapter 3 and teach why covenantal thinking
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will change the way you view your relationship with God, the church, and your family.
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Welcome to Real Christianity. My name is Dale Partridge. Today's episode is titled Romans 3,
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1 through 4, How Covenantal Thinking Will Change Your Relationship with God.
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Now, as you know, this show is an audio and video ministry of relearn.org. If you're watching the
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forward slash relearn okay let's get started uh we just ended romans chapter 2 which was a
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systematic stripping away of the redemptive hope that the jews had in three things it was in who
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they were it was in what they had and it was how they were marked so they had this redemptive hope
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really anchored down in those three things now remember paul's intention from romans chapter 1
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verses 18 all the way to romans chapter 3 verse 20 is to dismantle religious practice as a way to
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justify yourself before god now he's building this coordinated case that leaves a legalist
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with a sense of hopelessness and that's the aim here and he's speaking to the jews who were
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absolutely religious legalists now this is important for us to grasp and i'll tell you why
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because the the good news of the gospel is only good if the bad news is bad you guys
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guys might hear me say this often, we need a bad news, good news gospel. If you have just a good
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news gospel, it's not good news, it's just news. And it's like telling someone that you have a cure
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for their cancer, but they don't believe that they're sick. You need the bad news before you
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have the good news. And it's why we have to commit to presenting a biblical gospel the same way that
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Paul does here in Romans. Now, I want to give you just a quick summary and take me maybe 30 seconds
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or so to get through kind of that presentation structure that we need to be having when we
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present the gospel. And this is how Paul does it here in Romans. Number one, we have to first
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make people aware of their sin. Number two, they have to feel the wrath of God that is coming for
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them for their sin. Number three is they have to see that no amount of religious practice
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will be able to make them righteous and appease God's judgment that's coming for them.
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Number four, they have to come to a place of utter fear and hopelessness.
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Now that fear is like Proverbs 1, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
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Number five is they have to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
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Number six, they have to repent of their sin, to turn away of their sin
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in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sin
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They have to hope in the righteousness of Jesus Christ
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That's essentially what Paul's getting across here
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And I just wanted to give you guys that background.
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Now, chapter three is broken down into three sections.
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The first is verses 1 through 8, the second is 9 through 20, and the third is 21 through 31.
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Now, in chapter 3, we are actually going to finally see the sum of this great argument that I mentioned just a few minutes ago,
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that he's going to actually talk about Jesus Christ being the solution to the Jews' problem having redemptive hope in religious practice,
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which is empty and unable to save, unable to justify them before God.
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And Paul is anticipating a response and the obvious pressing questions
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that a Jewish person would ask after reading chapter 2.
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You know, if it doesn't matter that we're Jews, it doesn't matter who we are,
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that we're God's chosen people through Abraham.
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If it doesn't matter that we have God's law and that we know the moral righteousness of God, and it doesn't matter that we have the mark of circumcision as God's covenant people, the Jews are wondering, what is the advantage that a Jew even has then?
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and this is the cultural context you need to really understand the historical posture and
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the religious posture of a Jew that they they really anchored themselves hopeful for justification
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in those things and so this is why in verse 1 of chapter 3 and I'm going to read through verse 4
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it says this then what advantage has the Jew and again this is Paul's anticipation so he's writing
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this. What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect.
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First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not
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believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be.
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Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, that you may
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be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged, end quote. So verses one through two,
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let's break this down. Let's get through it. Help you have an understanding of Romans so you can
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grasp the gospel message, the historical cultural context, the theological significance of this
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beautiful epistle. And so the first two questions that Paul asks, they're foreseen questions. They're
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expected, anticipated questions. He asked, what advantage has the Jew? And what is the benefit
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of circumcision? Because he just dismantled those things in chapter two. And now he's moving in
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chapter three, and he's anticipating these questions. So these questions come from a Jewish
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perspective that are always viewing themselves as having some sort of superiority over the Gentiles
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because of who they were, what they had, and how they were marked. And so since Paul claimed that
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everyone is equally condemned by the law of God,
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they're equally standing guilty before God's law,
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then what was the advantage of being in covenant with God
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So it's a really, one of these questions that you go,
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and none of these things really made a difference
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what is it? And so Paul answers this question with a passionate and clear, yes, there is a
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major advantage. And this should absolutely perk the interest of those that are reading along
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in a Jewish culture. Okay, tell me what they are. So the point Paul wants to make sure they
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understand is that their justification was not secured in who they were, what they had,
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and how they were marked that's what he's really aiming at now those were outward administrations
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of the covenant who they were what they had the law and how they were marked these were
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outward administrations of the covenant they were related covenantal blessings that gave
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the jewish people hope it gave them wisdom it prevented sin it granted them as a nation many
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material blessings uh like land and influence and power and most importantly it foreshadowed
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and prepared the jewish people for the promise of that covenant which is that god will redeem
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his people through a promised savior a serpent crusher uh coming through the line of abraham
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more more uh clarified through the line of david and uh in the the the tribe of judah
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uh born of a virgin jesus christ the savior and so there is really a beautiful preparation that
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they received in a looking for and awaiting and anticipating the coming savior but covenantal
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inclusion does not equal justification now you need to grasp what i just said right there
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Covenantal inclusion does not equal justification.
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Now, this is incredibly difficult for a Jewish culture to understand
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if they spent their entire life being God's chosen people.
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And you're saying that covenantal inclusion doesn't mean that I'm justified before God.
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Well, then what is, what does need to happen for me to be justified?
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So just because you're in the visible community of the church,
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or just because you're in the visible community of God's people in the old covenant does not mean
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that you are redeemed, does not mean that you've been saved by grace through faith,
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does not mean that you are even elect. And so this has not changed under the new covenant.
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You might carry the sign of a new covenant believer. You might be baptized,
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individual where you receive the blessings because you're in the covenant community
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and you're hearing God's word, you're receiving prayer, you're experiencing the blessing of God's
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people, you're obtaining guidance towards righteousness in your life, you have the
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relational support from God's people, you're partaking of these things, maybe the Lord's
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supper, baptism, you're experiencing covenant life. And these things don't necessarily mean
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that you're justified. You could be in the church, the visible church, but not actually a member of
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the born again, invisible church, the true people of God. And so there's only one path for
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justification in the old covenant and the new covenant, which is you're saved by grace through
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faith in jesus christ alone now the old covenant saints uh they were saved by grace through faith
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in the promise of the messiah to come and we are on the other side of the cross so we're saved by
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grace uh through faith in christ which we have seen come and in the same way that we anticipate
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the second coming they were really anticipating the first coming and so this is just a central
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uh understanding that you need to have when you look at the old covenant and the new covenant
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but the central point that the apostle is trying to make in this section is that covenantal inclusion
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regardless of justification is a great advantage and blessing in and of itself so i want you to
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hear that one more time he's saying that that covenantal inclusion while it doesn't equal
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justification is still a blessing in and of itself to be a part of God's people, to be a part of the
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church, to be a part of Israel was still a blessing. And he's going to tell us why, but I want you to
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grasp that reality. I mean, we even see unbelieving parents will send their kids to be a part of a
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church. Why? Because they can even see the visible blessing about being in God's covenant community
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of people. And so there are very real, tangible, spiritual, relational benefits of being in God's
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covenant people that doesn't mean you're necessarily justified. And so there are lots
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of people who came to the church, but never came to Christ. I say that often. And we all can see
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that. We know that 31% of the world professes to believe in Christ. What's the real number? We
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don't know. That's the difference between the visible and invisible church. So Paul explains
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why uh the jews had uh an advantage and it was a blessing to be a covenantal member of the old
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covenant so paul explains in verse 2b so the second half of verse 2 he says first of all that
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they were entrusted with the oracles of god now paul qualifies the advantage he denotes that the
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primary advantage of being in the covenantal community of god again regardless of salvation
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was their privilege of receiving and retaining the communications of god so when you hear the word
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oracles of god it's really holding the chronicles of the communications of god it's having that
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they were a people that were basically holding god's words and that was a huge blessing
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not only to themselves but to the world and that included the law it included the wisdom
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literature it included the prophecies including the foreshadowing of the gospel
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and this this was actually first delivered to the jews uh before and i'll even say this
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they didn't just receive those old testament realities they were also the first individuals
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to receive the gospel we know that jesus's ministry is overwhelmingly and i would even
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say completely focused on the jewish people it wasn't until paul was commissioned to
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go out and preach the gospel to the gentiles and when we start seeing you know peter shocked when
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when the Gentiles start coming to faith. And so even the gospel, it's not just the law and the
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wisdom and the Old Testament prophecies, but even John the Baptist's work, as well as Jesus's
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ministry is all first coming to the Jews before it's going out to the rest of the world. And so
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we have to remember that this privilege was exclusive to the Jews. God elected to show mercy
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And so Psalm 147, 19 through 20 records that they knew this.
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It says, he declares his words to Jacob, right?
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And as for his ordinances, they have not known them.
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thank God that we have been given the oracles of God.
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He's shown us things that he's not shown other people.
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And not just election, covenantal inclusion has its benefits
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who were not regenerate, who were not born again.
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And so Paul wants the Jews to recognize this covenantal mercy.
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So he's saying, hey, you got to see the value of what this is at the very minimum.
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Now, there are many, many more covenantal benefits, even in the Old Covenant, but his focus is here.
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He wants them to see that the possession of God's word still doesn't equal justification, but it's a huge benefit.
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Now, as the Gentiles, we also should see the Jews as a blessing to the world.
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They became the witness by which the whole world would know God.
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They also became the witness that the creator of the world didn't forsake the earth and
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They were holding the oracles of God that gave hope, not just to the Jews, but eventually
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And so the Jews, in a very real way, are our root for the church.
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they're they're the root to god's spiritual family tree too often we think of christianity as a
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fairly new religion when in reality christianity is the fulfillment of the world's first and only
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true religion and so we as gentiles have been grafted into an established faith there is a long
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history and a long spiritual tree here. And this is why church history shouldn't begin not only at
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Pentecost. I mean, when I studied church history at seminary, you don't just start at Pentecost
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where you would naturally think that's the beginning of the church. You actually should
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start all the way back into the first Christians. Now, I believe personally that Adam and Eve were
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the first Christians. I believe they trusted and believed God and had faith and were regenerate
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and believe the promise that was given to them and the curse that Eve will bear a son
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down her family line, that the serpent crusher will come and restore them back to God and cover
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their sin and redeem them and reconcile them to God and bring them back to a garden-like state,
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which is like heaven. We know that Genesis 4-1, which is already after they have been removed
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from the garden. Genesis 4-1 says, now the man had relations with his wife, Eve, and she conceived
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and gave birth to Cain, and she said, quote, I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord.
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She's already showing a demonstration of trust in God's providence in her life. Genesis 4, 25-26
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says, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son called his name Seth, for she said,
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God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel for Cain killed him. To Seth
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also a son was born and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name
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of the Lord. So that passage right there at the end of Genesis chapter 4 is the very first time
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we see people praying. It's people calling upon the name of the Lord and what are they calling
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on him to do they're calling on him to fulfill his promise his covenantal promise that he has with
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uh what he made with adam and eve he said that there will be a serpent crusher and you better
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believe that eve thought that it would be abel and then cain killed abel and then she had seth
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and then seth um was born a son named enosh and they're wondering when are we going to have this
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son that's going to bring us back and crush the serpent and restore us back to god and they start
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calling out upon the name of the lord to fulfill the promises that he has made and so this is
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the first experience we have in the old testament of prayer so the jews covenantal privileges were
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great uh with both israel uh and the world and paul wants the jews and the gentiles to see this
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so we move into verse three and four it says what then if some did not believe that is if some in
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the covenant did not believe their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of god will it may
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it never be rather let god be found true though every man be found a liar as it is written that
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you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged okay what's paul saying here
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we want to figure that out. Paul is pointing out that even though there is unbelief in God's
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people in Israel, even though there is unbelief, even mass unbelief among those in the visible
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covenant, it doesn't diminish God's faithfulness to his people. It doesn't diminish God's faithfulness
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to the covenant with Abraham. He's saying, hey, I know that lots of people that are in the
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covenant are rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah, this doesn't mean that God is unfaithful to
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fulfilling his covenant promises. This is that these people in Israel were unfaithful and are
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receiving the covenantal curses. And so God did send his promised Messiah as he promised in the
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covenant. However, the number of covenant people was smaller than those within the visible covenant
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community. And so God is a covenant keeping God. And Paul is essentially defending God's integrity
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here, saying, don't think that just because people didn't believe that God wasn't faithful
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to the covenant. No, he was. They weren't. And so we have to remember that not all of the Jewish
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people had rejected the Messiah. I mean, Paul even demonstrates that in his own story. But in this
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verse by implication that some did believe if we read here in uh chapter or verse three it says
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what them if some did not believe by that he's saying that some did believe and some didn't
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so there are people that did believe we know also in john chapter 1 verse 45 philip
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uh it says philip found nathaniel and said to him we have found him of whom moses in the law
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and also the prophets wrote jesus of nazareth the son of joseph so we we do have a historical
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biblical record of jews coming to faith we know that but it was absolutely far less than what we
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had expected we know in john chapter 1 verse 11 i don't have it pulled up right here but it's
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this talking of um he was rejected from his own people we know in matthew 7 13 through 14 talking
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about the way is wide and the road is narrow uh you know and and few find it this is in the middle
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of jesus's sermon on the mount i've exposited this passage of scripture and look at this passage not
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as a universal statement about the gospel but really about showing that not many people in
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the jewish culture are going to come to the gospel the way is wide that leads to destruction and the
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road is narrow and very few find it very few jews are going to find it and we know that this is
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recorded in matthew's gospel um matthew's gospel is the jewish gospel the context is that jesus
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ministry is to the jews and so even by his own demonstration there's not a lot of jews that come
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and we know that even the opening up of the covenant to the gentiles is really a way to make
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the jews jealous and so there's lots of theological understanding required here to see this covenant
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relationship and we can't go deeply there but paul's making the point that god's faithfulness
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to his covenant people is not to be measured by the unfaithfulness of those in the covenant
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and so again being in the covenant community does not equal justification or election
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or regeneration it just means that you get to be in the blessing of being around god's people
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understanding the things of god and it doesn't necessarily mean that god is going to regenerate
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that individual so even today many people say uh they know god who don't many people say they love
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god who don't many people are in the church and we can sense those who have been born again and
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those who are not we have people that call themselves christian when in reality they've
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never actually came through a biblical repentance and trusting in christ they've only heard a good
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news gospel in america and that's that's a big reason why so many people are in the church but
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never came to christ because they've never actually heard the biblical gospel now paul
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is saying that these people who are in the church that think they believe or who are in god's
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covenant people and think they've been regenerated and trust in god they're actually liars they're
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not god is faithful to the covenant but these individuals are liars and uh their unfaithfulness
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does not and should not be representative of God's faithfulness. So then he closes his argument by
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justifying his point by citing a passage of scripture from Psalm 51 verse 4, which reads,
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against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are justified
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when you speak and blameless when you judge. Now this is David and he's basically repenting for
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his sinfulness with Bathsheba. And he's repenting and saying against you, you only I have sinned
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and done what is evil in your sight so that you're justified when you speak and blameless when you
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judge. If you want to judge me and you want to just, you're justified in condemning me. And so
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Paul, again, takes this passage of scripture in its context, applies it to a Jewish understanding,
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reminding these Jews who think that they should be saved
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because they've kept these covenantal things
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like they're God's people, they've been circumcised,
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He's reminding them, no, have this humble posture
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is that again, he's defending God's character here.
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he's saying to not ever think that our unfaithfulness is due to God. It's not God,
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it's our unfaithfulness. And this is obviously intertwining with the doctrine of man's
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responsibility and God's sovereignty of salvation, which we're not going to discuss. But if you're
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thinking that, I understand where you're coming from. Now, many people today also do the same
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thing. They blame their unbelief. They say that they're atheists because if God was truly here,
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then he would have revealed himself in a more sufficient manner.
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And this is, again, already dealt with in Romans chapter 1,
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what is it, 16, 17, 18, somewhere around there, 17 or 18.
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God has revealed himself in the things that are made
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There is enough revelation of God's existence for us to believe.
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In addition to the fact that the gospel is here now,
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it's being preached and God is saving people. But there is no reason, no justification for
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atheism according to Romans chapter 1. And we know that our sin is never because of God. Our unbelief
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is never because of God. James 1.3 says, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted
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by God. For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. And so these are just
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important theological truths that you can kind of place in your mosaic of your theological
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art piece that you're building in your own mind and heart. And so ultimately, this passage is
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about a couple of things. It's about Paul distinguishing between covenantal inclusion
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by outward administrations of the flesh and justification by inward administrations of the
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spirit, the regeneration of the heart. This is the point that he's trying to make here. If you've
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been following along since Romans chapter two, he's trying to draw a difference between the
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outward administrations of the flesh, that they're not sufficient to bring about justification.
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And the only way to bring about inward administrations of the spirit, that need for
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that, you need a deeper, you need not just a circumcised flesh is what he says in Romans two,
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but a circumcised heart. And so this is the point that he's making there. So he's doing what we
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often need to do here in America. And he's preaching to people who think they're saved by
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what they do, when in reality, something needs to be done on the inside and not the outside.
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We know that spiritual activity doesn't equal spiritual security. We know that there's lots
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of people who are religious. We know that lots of people who practice moralism. We know lots of
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people who think that they're justified by works. These aren't people who understand the grace and
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mercy of God. And so this is what Paul is doing to the Jews. He's explaining to not have hope in
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these things. We often need to do this here in the church. But the pressing question that came to me
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even after reading this passage, and I think is probably coming to you, is why would a Jew
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want to be part of the covenant if it didn't result in salvation, right? I'm just, I was
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sitting there thinking, you know, why would you want to be part of God's covenant people if it
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didn't result in redemption? You know, why would a parent in the Jewish time, why would a parent
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want their child to be in covenant through circumcision if it didn't guarantee them to be
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saved. And even more, why would a modern believer desire to be in the covenant community of the
00:32:29.560
church if that didn't necessarily promise conversion? I mean, this is something that
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we need to separate in our minds, that being a part of the church doesn't mean that you're saved.
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Coming to church and praying a prayer doesn't equal salvation. Salvation is a work of God's
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sovereignty. We hear the gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
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It is a sovereign work of God through the repentance and trusting in Christ alone.
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We cannot born ourselves again. It's something that we have to have done to us. God is the one
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that is sovereign over salvation, not us. So what advantage is there to be a member of the covenant
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community of God? And more specifically for us, the covenant community of the church,
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And more specifically for us as parents, why would we want our children to be a part of the covenant community of the church if it didn't necessarily end in conversion?
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The answer is simple, and I want you guys to grasp what I'm about to say.
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the normative path for god's blessings including salvation flow to those and through those who are
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in covenant with him okay the normative path for god's blessings including salvation flow
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through the church in fact i would even argue that every blessing that we see in the world
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comes through the church comes through the church now meaning even if somebody hears the gospel
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it's coming through somebody else who's a member of the church that presented the gospel to them
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so that person's redemption while god does the saving faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
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word of christ how are they going to believe if they're not sent a preacher romans uh is it chapter
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9 chapter 10 says and so we have to remember that god's covenant people are really the
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we are the means to blessing the world because we are the ones like the jews who hold the oracles
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of god the church is the pillar and ground of the truth as paul writes in timothy and we uphold
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god's gospel in the world we uphold the scriptures we are god's covenant people by which
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the world will be blessed uh and anybody who comes to faith will come through god's body
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uh christ's body the church and so there's some deep stuff here and so god always blesses his
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people through his covenant now so being inside the covenant not speaking about the blessings
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that come out of the covenant people to the world,
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but also the blessings that are inside of the church.
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they are going to be a part of the community of God
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1 Corinthians 7.14 talks about them being even holy
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And so there's some covenantal inclusion and blessing there.
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This is also a discussion between the Presbyterians
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And so I'll leave you guys with your own research
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to discuss there i'll have a further discussion on covenantalism later but for that reason um
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we should desire that our families remain in covenant with god we should we should think
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covenantally about our family that we have a covenant relationship with god to uphold
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our jesus is obviously holding the covenant together but to um maintain the blessings
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and receive the blessings of the covenant it doesn't matter our disobedience doesn't mean
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covenantal removal. It means that we might not inherit some of the covenant blessings
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that we could have. It's the same thing is that I spoke about a couple episodes ago.
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We don't obey because disobedience means that we lose our justification. We obey because it
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pleases God. We're justified by the works of Christ alone. We're in covenant because
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And so when we forsake the covenant people of God,
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that comes with the covenant community of the church,
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we forsake the channel of God's blessings in our life.
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who sit at home on Sunday and watch church on Sunday
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and aren't part of God's covenant community of people,
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for God's flowing out his blessings of admonishment
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and correction and encouragement and accountability
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and wisdom and the preaching of scripture and communion.
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there is so much there that we should not want to remove ourselves in any capacity from the
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covenant community of God's people. And so for that reason, we should also desire
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others to be around us in our real life so that they can see the beautiful covenant blessings
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and promises that are being fulfilled and the nature of our relationships and obviously our
00:38:40.880
savior uh through um their their observation of our covenant life and so first peter 2 9 says
00:38:50.320
but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession
00:38:58.240
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
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light so the purpose of god putting together a people for his own possession again we don't
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collect ourselves to god god collects us god selects and brings us to himself we are a people
00:39:19.840
of his own possession and the purpose is that we would proclaim the excellencies of him who called
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us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. And so I think about the Old Testament relationship
00:39:35.320
of the Jews. God constantly reminded them, I'm the God who pulled you out of Egypt and brought
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you into the promised land. And so there's this constant regular reminder of what God has done
00:39:46.880
so that they would be a holy people set apart to show the world how they behave differently as
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they're in relationship with a holy God. And so, yes, the gospel is the spearhead of salvation,
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but the gospel is heard most often within the covenant community of God's people.
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And so therefore the church, like Israel, becomes the means of grace to the world.
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And we're a city on a hill. We are a place where God's blessing rests, and we will bless the world
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through the church, through the great commission
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and convert those through gospel proclamation
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who created the heavens and stretched them out,
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who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
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I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will take you by the hand and keep you.
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I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes
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that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who
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So the covenant community of God's people have a mission, and it is the great commission
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to go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
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and to teach them all that Christ has commanded us.
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to remain in covenant, to receive those blessings,
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to be in the channel and the pathway of God's blessing,
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in understanding some of the basics of covenantal thinking.
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But thank you guys for listening to this episode.
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So on that note, thanks for joining me on this episode of Going Through Romans 3.
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I'll see you guys next week to go through the next section of Romans chapter 3.
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This is Real Christianity, and we'll see you next time.
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