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let God be true
Let God Be True by Joe La Bianca
Romans 3:1-4
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 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.”
The Jews of old had a superior position. In a sense, they were beyond the rest of the world in preeminence. God chose those who belonged to Israel to benefit in every way. Israel was the most useful nation in the world because they were given the very words of God. Israel was God’s conduit into the world. God gave them the law of Moses, which prepared the world for Jesus.
This is so because the law identified us as sinners, and drove us to the grace of the cross.
God gave Israel the sacrificial system and Levitical priesthood. These were shadows of the true sacrifice of Jesus, and they trained our thinking in that, through the sacrifices, we became aware of vicarious substitutes.
Of course, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. They did, however, show us an inkling into the one true sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. The priesthood taught us about mediators or go-betweens. We need someone to settle the dispute between God and man. Now that Jesus has come, there is no longer any need for a priesthood.
Do you want Jesus to be your mediator, or some man? A mediator is someone who ends a dispute. Jesus ended the dispute at the cross. Now listen to these verses in 1 Timothy 2:5&6. “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time.”
Do you believe this timely testimony? Or will you hold to something else, not of Christ?
Israel was chosen to be the people through whom the Messiah would be born. The people, the time, the place, and the situation of Messiah’s birth would all be realized because of the election of Israel. If God would send Jesus into the world, He would have to choose a people, set apart a nation, and organize the details of His coming. This is because God wanted to prove to us who Jesus was, so He pinpointed Jesus through Israel. Otherwise Jesus could have just popped into this world instantly. But that wouldn’t have helped those who did not see the pop in. Because God brought Christ into the world through Israel, we can see all the wonderful prophecies, historic accounts, archeological evidences, and even extra-biblical statements that verify who Jesus was. We have 5000 extant versions of the complete New Testament, 15,000 partial copies. Compare this with only about ten documents proving the existence of Julius Caesar and the wealth of proof for Jesus Christ is staggering. No one questions the existence of Julius Caesar, even though there is little evidence. But they always attack the historicity of Jesus. Do you see how hypocritical this is?
In order for salvation to happen, we needed a real man to do the work of redemption. So God brought Jesus into the world as the last Adam.
All this He made possible when He chose Israel, through no praise of Israel. Jesus is what makes Israel special, not the other way around. People give Israel the preeminence, even if Israel disbelieves Jesus. But the reason there is an Israel is because of Jesus. If Jesus never came into the world, there would have never been an Israel. Israel was chosen because of Jesus. Israel was chosen to bless all the nations and families of the world. This promise to Abraham is only realized in Jesus Christ. How else does Israel bless the world, if not for Jesus? On the contrary, the world has a Satanic hatred for Israel. Only in Christ is the promise to Abraham fulfilled.
God chose to name His people after Jacob - a deceitful lying man, showing that it was not through the merits of men, but through the grace of God. Israel’s greatest point of prestige, being the people through whom the Savior came into the world, was disavowed when, for the most part, they declared Jesus to be untrue. When they disavowed Christ, they relinquished all the advantages they once had.
The Jews were to have faith in the Word, demonstrate that faith to the world, and in so doing, prepare the world for the blessing of Abraham’s seed. The utterances of God were given to the Jews. This did not mean that Israel had to believe, or was forced to believe by God. They still had free will and could choose to believe or disbelieve the message. If some did not have faith, this in no way would nullify God’s faithfulness in bringing the Messiah to the world. Nothing would ever stop Jesus from coming, not even the faithlessness of Israel. Would the unbelief of the nation Israel prevent Jesus from dying for us? Not at all! Even though the sheep were scattered when the Shepherd was struck, this did not stop the Shepherd from taking our sins upon Himself.
God would be proved right when He spoke of Messiah, and God’s decision to sacrifice Jesus would not be undermined.
As you can probably tell, I am applying everything Paul said to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said this, “I desire to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” If you interpret Paul’s writings in this way, you can’t go wrong. Bring everything to the cross, every teaching, every word, every thought, and you will never be deceived.
When someone moves away from the cross in their theology, it makes room for other ideas to come in and corrupt. The ideas of men, in their futile thinking, will change the good news into another gospel. If anyone preaches another gospel than the one Paul preached, he will be eternally condemned.
We are required to believe the report of the ancient events of Jesus, and nothing more. When someone believes what they hear, they receive the Spirit. When someone changes or adds to the simple and innocent message of Jesus’ cross, they lose salvation.
God gave the Jews the message, the hope, and the Offspring that would bless the world. A number of these blessed ones chose not to believe in Jesus. Their unbelief did not nullify God’s faithfulness to those who would believe the good message. They only nullified their own chances to be saved.
We have been given the opportunity to believe in Jesus. We must take this opportunity and make good use of it. If we will not, we will only hurt ourselves. God’s message will go on even without us, and God’s message is this: Believe in His Christ, and receive forgiveness for yourself and for all those you will lead to the Lord. So let God be true and every man a liar. If God said Jesus is the Savior, believe it. If a man says Jesus is only a good teacher, disbelieve it. Let God be true, for He cannot lie. Let man be false, for he can lie, and does so frequently.
Romans 3:1-4
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 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.”
The Jews of old had a superior position. In a sense, they were beyond the rest of the world in preeminence. God chose those who belonged to Israel to benefit in every way. Israel was the most useful nation in the world because they were given the very words of God. Israel was God’s conduit into the world. God gave them the law of Moses, which prepared the world for Jesus.
This is so because the law identified us as sinners, and drove us to the grace of the cross.
God gave Israel the sacrificial system and Levitical priesthood. These were shadows of the true sacrifice of Jesus, and they trained our thinking in that, through the sacrifices, we became aware of vicarious substitutes.
Of course, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. They did, however, show us an inkling into the one true sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. The priesthood taught us about mediators or go-betweens. We need someone to settle the dispute between God and man. Now that Jesus has come, there is no longer any need for a priesthood.
Do you want Jesus to be your mediator, or some man? A mediator is someone who ends a dispute. Jesus ended the dispute at the cross. Now listen to these verses in 1 Timothy 2:5&6. “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time.”
Do you believe this timely testimony? Or will you hold to something else, not of Christ?
Israel was chosen to be the people through whom the Messiah would be born. The people, the time, the place, and the situation of Messiah’s birth would all be realized because of the election of Israel. If God would send Jesus into the world, He would have to choose a people, set apart a nation, and organize the details of His coming. This is because God wanted to prove to us who Jesus was, so He pinpointed Jesus through Israel. Otherwise Jesus could have just popped into this world instantly. But that wouldn’t have helped those who did not see the pop in. Because God brought Christ into the world through Israel, we can see all the wonderful prophecies, historic accounts, archeological evidences, and even extra-biblical statements that verify who Jesus was. We have 5000 extant versions of the complete New Testament, 15,000 partial copies. Compare this with only about ten documents proving the existence of Julius Caesar and the wealth of proof for Jesus Christ is staggering. No one questions the existence of Julius Caesar, even though there is little evidence. But they always attack the historicity of Jesus. Do you see how hypocritical this is?
In order for salvation to happen, we needed a real man to do the work of redemption. So God brought Jesus into the world as the last Adam.
All this He made possible when He chose Israel, through no praise of Israel. Jesus is what makes Israel special, not the other way around. People give Israel the preeminence, even if Israel disbelieves Jesus. But the reason there is an Israel is because of Jesus. If Jesus never came into the world, there would have never been an Israel. Israel was chosen because of Jesus. Israel was chosen to bless all the nations and families of the world. This promise to Abraham is only realized in Jesus Christ. How else does Israel bless the world, if not for Jesus? On the contrary, the world has a Satanic hatred for Israel. Only in Christ is the promise to Abraham fulfilled.
God chose to name His people after Jacob - a deceitful lying man, showing that it was not through the merits of men, but through the grace of God. Israel’s greatest point of prestige, being the people through whom the Savior came into the world, was disavowed when, for the most part, they declared Jesus to be untrue. When they disavowed Christ, they relinquished all the advantages they once had.
The Jews were to have faith in the Word, demonstrate that faith to the world, and in so doing, prepare the world for the blessing of Abraham’s seed. The utterances of God were given to the Jews. This did not mean that Israel had to believe, or was forced to believe by God. They still had free will and could choose to believe or disbelieve the message. If some did not have faith, this in no way would nullify God’s faithfulness in bringing the Messiah to the world. Nothing would ever stop Jesus from coming, not even the faithlessness of Israel. Would the unbelief of the nation Israel prevent Jesus from dying for us? Not at all! Even though the sheep were scattered when the Shepherd was struck, this did not stop the Shepherd from taking our sins upon Himself.
God would be proved right when He spoke of Messiah, and God’s decision to sacrifice Jesus would not be undermined.
As you can probably tell, I am applying everything Paul said to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said this, “I desire to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” If you interpret Paul’s writings in this way, you can’t go wrong. Bring everything to the cross, every teaching, every word, every thought, and you will never be deceived.
When someone moves away from the cross in their theology, it makes room for other ideas to come in and corrupt. The ideas of men, in their futile thinking, will change the good news into another gospel. If anyone preaches another gospel than the one Paul preached, he will be eternally condemned.
We are required to believe the report of the ancient events of Jesus, and nothing more. When someone believes what they hear, they receive the Spirit. When someone changes or adds to the simple and innocent message of Jesus’ cross, they lose salvation.
God gave the Jews the message, the hope, and the Offspring that would bless the world. A number of these blessed ones chose not to believe in Jesus. Their unbelief did not nullify God’s faithfulness to those who would believe the good message. They only nullified their own chances to be saved.
We have been given the opportunity to believe in Jesus. We must take this opportunity and make good use of it. If we will not, we will only hurt ourselves. God’s message will go on even without us, and God’s message is this: Believe in His Christ, and receive forgiveness for yourself and for all those you will lead to the Lord. So let God be true and every man a liar. If God said Jesus is the Savior, believe it. If a man says Jesus is only a good teacher, disbelieve it. Let God be true, for He cannot lie. Let man be false, for he can lie, and does so frequently.
