In Romans 3, Paul anticipated a question that his Jewish audience might ask him because of the gospel that he was preaching.  The gospel makes salvation equally accessible for all, both Jew and Gentile.  The Jews, of course, were God’s original chosen people, and they thought that if Gentiles could be saved on the same basis as them, they had no advantage as God’s people.  This is how Paul asked and answered their anticipated question. 

Romans 3:1-2 (ESV)
¹  Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? ²  Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

When the Jews were God’s special people, separated by Him from the rest of the world (Exodus 19:5-6), they had a distinct advantage over all other people, and that advantage was the oracles of God.  Today, God’s people enjoy the same advantage.  This week, I want us to focus on the Word of God, and specifically the power of it.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
¹²  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The first thing I will look at this week is the saving power of God’s Word.  Paul called the gospel the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).  He was not ashamed to preach it anywhere, not even in a city as important as Rome.  Paul knew that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for man’s sin, and the gospel is the story that tells all about it.  He knew that obeying the gospel was the only way that man could take advantage of the sacrifice of Christ.

This is a good place to point out that while the Word of God has the power to save, it will only save those who obey it.  This is why James tells us that the implanted Word is only able to save, not that it saves anyone automatically (James 1:21).  One must be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only (vers. 22-25).  When were the saints at Rome saved?  It was not when they first heard the gospel of Christ, but when they obeyed it.

Romans 6:17 (ESV)
¹⁷  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

Have you obeyed the saving message of Christ from your heart?  The Word of God can and will save you, but you have to respond to it.  The Jews on the day of Pentecost were saved only after they gladly received the Word by obeying it (Acts 2:41).  Such is the case with us all.

The Word will not only save us from our past sins, it has the power to sustain us in Christ as well.  It is through the knowledge of His Word that God gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  Thank God for His Word.  It instructs us in the ways of righteousness, helping us to live the way God demands (Titus 2:11-12).  This is what I will be writing about the rest of the week.  The benefits of continuing in Christ are immense, and only the Word can tell us how to do it.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.