#1621 Romans 3 Part 1 Advantage

 

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words,

And overcome when You are judged.” Romans 3: 1-4 LSB

Romans 3: 1-4 

But looking at the story of the Jew historically, it would seem that there was little advantage to being Jewish. They were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years under the bondage of Pharaoh, who were given the most menial tasks and also they were given circumstances which made those tasks even more difficult. When they were dispossessed from Egypt they wandered in the desert for 40 years until an entire generation of them died off in the wilderness without ever having a home. When they finally entered into the land of Canaan, they had to save themselves from the destruction of the surrounding peoples who constantly attacked them both religiously, morally and in warfare. They were slaughtered and taken captive finally by the Assyrians first and then the Babylonians. From the Assyrian captivity they never returned and from the Babylonian captivity it was 70 years before a remnant began to come back.

After returning from the captivity in Babylon, they set out to rebuild their land from the rubble and were mocked and harassed and hindered and unaided in their efforts. They were dominated by the Greek Antiochus Epiphanes when they were under Greek rule and he took liberties to desecrate their religion, desecrate their priesthood, desecrate their holy place, quell their rebellions by slaughtering many of them. Their babies were massacred by Herod.

Their land was oppressed by Roman legions. They were utterly devastated under the power of Rome. In 70 A.D. the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus Vespasian, the great general of the Roman army. One point one million, according to Josephus, were murdered, slaughtered. One hundred thousand bodies of the Jews were thrown over the wall in some kind of sport. Two years before that, the Gentiles of Caesarea slew twenty thousand Jews and sold thousands more of them into slavery. In a single day the inhabitants of Damascus cut the throats of ten thousand Jews. In the actual siege itself, there was devastation beyond description in the city of Jerusalem. One hundred thousand remaining fugitives from that sacking of the city were sold into slavery. Many more died in the gladiator games sponsored by Rome.

In 115 A.D. the Jews of Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus and Mesopotamia rose up against Rome and tried to defeat Rome and were unsuccessful, and so Hadrian, the emperor, destroyed 985 towns in Palestine and slew at least 600 thousand men. More perished through starvation, through disease and through fire. So many were sold as slaves that their price dropped to that of a horse. The legal code of Theodosius, who was the emperor of Rome around 380 A.D., contained ideas of Jewish inferiority and the ideas of Theodosius and Jewish inferiority permeated all of western society and western law in the centuries to follow.

For two centuries they were oppressed under the Byzantines. Heraclitus banished them from Jerusalem in 628 and endeavored to exterminate them again. Leo the Assyrian in around 723 A.D. gave them the choice between Christianity and banishment. When the first crusade was launched in 1096 to recapture the holy places from the Ottoman Turks, the crusaders entered the Jewish settlement of Anjon and Preton and trampled three thousand Jews to death under their horses' hooves. And they did it in the name of Christianity.

In 1254 Louis IX banished them from France. In 1306 Philip the Fair expelled 100 thousand of them from the same country. During the scourge of the Black Death in 1348 and 1349 the charge was made that the Black Death or the Great Plague was caused by the Jews who had poisoned the wells and they endeavored to slaughter the Jews and many of them fled to Poland and to Russia.

In 1492 the Jews were expelled from Spain as Columbus was heading to discover America. In 1496 they were expelled from Portugal. Soon after, all of Western Europe was closed to them except a few spots in northern Italy and Germany. Toward the middle of the seventeenth century in Poland, more persecution broke out. And though the French Revolution tended to emancipate some of the European Jews around 1789 or so, anti-Semitism continued in many areas, and particularly in the Ukraine early in the 1800s there were massacres of Jews.

I think we all remember the nineteenth century Dreyfus affair in which Dreyfus, a Jewish officer, was accused of treason. And an attempt began to oust the Jews from all the higher ranks of the French army. Their only hope for preservation really was the rebirth of Zionism. And it did happen and it rallied the Jewish people so that in 1897 they held their first Zionist congress in Basel. The first little colony of Zionists returned to the land in about 1873, and by 1914 there were ninety thousand Jews in their land, though it wasn't yet their land. Their identity had been miraculously preserved through this incredible series of massacres through all of the years of their existence.

And, of course, it all came to a horrifying climax in the 1940s when six million of them were systematically exterminated. And anti-Semitism was no longer racial as it had been in the Middle Ages, it was...rather no longer religious as it had been in the Middle Ages but it became racial. So that the legacy of all of that today in the world is not that we have a religious anti-Semitism but we still have what is left of a racial anti- Semitism. And Jewish people today find themselves in many cases to be hated, to be slandered, to be defamed, to be misunderstood, to be mocked.

And I give you all of that just to help answer that question, what advantage then hath the Jew? Frankly, historically there is little advantage at all, if any. From the historical perspective the answer would be no advantage. But Paul is not really dealing in terms of history. So take it to a second category, what about spiritual advantage? Do they have a spiritual advantage? Do they have an in with God that nobody else has? Do they have a security with God that no one else has? After all, they are the chosen people. - J Mac

V. 1 Then what advantage has the Jew - From our last post we saw a theme not restricted to the NT only. We saw that God judges His people regardless of their lineage. We also saw that God looks at the heart, so it wasn't a matter of ceremony or ritual, you could be circumcised outwardly and yet inwardly not a child of God. Let's be clear, it is the same for those who call themselves Christians today as well. I will ask people where they stand regarding God, and they will tell me, "I was baptized into Christianity, but I don't practice right now,' or, 'I was born into a Baptist home, a Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and or I walked forward and said the sinner's prayer when I was young, just in case." So regardless, they have a distorted view of the gospel which is also based upon a feeling, relation, a sacrament or act on their part, but there is no fruit to evidence a changed heart, a new creature, someone who has been born again. Just like the Jew who is unrepentant but banking on his relationship to Abraham or circumcision, so is the unrepentant "Christian" who is relying on baptism or an act of his own will, as though you found a loophole that God has to honor. You think God owes you because you acknowledge His existence, but the demons even do that yet tremble. When we think we have caught God and bound him by our free will, where we say, "I believe but I am going to live as I want", it is not God that we believe in, but our will which has become an idol to us. 

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2: 28-29

…11“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you— this trampling of My courts? 13Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.…

…14I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!… Isaiah 1:11-16

…22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.… Matthew 7: 22-24

…7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?… Hebrews 12: 7-9

V. 2 Great in every respect - Huh, but we just looked at their history from an earthly, material point of view, and it looks horrifying. Antisemitism has persisted somewhere in every age. Israel has become a tiny nation now, a place where one should be able to identify as a Jew, and have the freedom both in practice of their faith, but also the freedom of those who don't practice, yet should not be looked down upon for their ethnicity. That nation is so tiny, and surrounded by enemies on every side, yet their Muslim neighbors and a lot of poorly enlightened college students in the west, continue to chant, "from the River to the Sea, make Palestine free", meaning, eradicate the Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean and give it to those who were never a country. Israel is the only country that gets attacked, their women and children kidnapped and raped, and then has the rest of the world tell them to stand down, don't do what government is supposed to do, don't protect your people, don't seek justice. One tiny little bastion of not only Jewish, but also Muslim, atheist and Christian democracy.  

If you go back in the Old Testament, you will read repeatedly of the tremendous and consistent blessing of God upon that people. But I think it is best summed up in the ninth chapter of Romans, where Paul speaks about the same issue later on. Look over to chapter 9 verse 4. Paul's talking about Israel and Israel's need of Christ and how much he wishes they would know Christ. And then he begins to speak about their privileges. He says in verse 4, “Who are Israelites?” "To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. Whose are the fathers and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came." What advantage? Many advantages. You've been the ones who are adopted as God's special people. You've received the glory. What is that? The very Shekinah glory of God led them by day, led them by night, was in the midst of their holy places. You have received the covenants, Abrahamic, Davidic, Mosaic, Palestinian, all of those. You have been given the law. Yours has been the service of God through the priests and the prophets. You have received the promises. Yours are the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Joseph. And yours is the Christ. Much, much privilege.

They were marks of God's care, they were marks of God's concern, they were marks of God's love. They were aids to their deliverance from sin. They were instructions for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. God gave them all of these things and they just never really lived up to what they possessed. Great advantage, great privilege, great priority, great preeminence was given to the people of Israel but they wasted it. They had the privilege of proclaiming the true God. They had the privilege of revealing the Messiah. They had the privilege of blessing from God as they served faithfully. They had the privilege of a land. They had a privilege of an ultimate restoration and glory in the final kingdom. They had all of these privileges.

You see, Amos 3:2, I think, sums it up wonderfully. The prophet Amos said, listen carefully, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." That is a beautiful statement. It doesn't mean that the only people God knows about intellectually are Jews; He really knows about everybody. But the word "know" is a word of intimacy. For example, it says in the New Testament of the Lord and the church, "I know My sheep." What does He mean? Well, He means there is more than just an awareness; there's an intimacy. You see, Joseph was upset when Mary was with child because the Bible says he had never (What?) known her. It didn't mean he didn't know who she was. He had never entered into an intimate relationship physically with her.

You find it in the Old Testament where it talks about Cain knew his wife and she bore a child. It is the knowing of intimacy. And so Amos 3:2 says, you only have I entered into intimacy with of all the nations of the earth. That's privilege. But they never understood the rest of the verse. Same verse, Amos 3:2 says, "Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." See, high privilege, high responsibility. - J Mac

Vs. 3-4 What then, if some did not believe, does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God - The answer to that in verse 4, "May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar." That's pretty straightforward language, and harsh toward those who would try to say otherwise. God has put out His word to many people, and yes, some did not truly believe, did not bear fruit, in both Judaism and the church today. Some heard and then borrowed the vernacular, talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. Some said Christ but just like the Jews of Jesus day, they wanted a Messiah of their own design, one that overlooked their sin and accepted their ceremony. But guess what, God has a remnant still. 

Watch his answer in verse 5, or verse 4 rather. It says in the English "God forbid," but the Greek says me genoito, which is the strongest negative the Greek language knows. What it says simply in English is, "No, no, no, no, no way.” Could never be, utterly impossible, can't be. What can't be? God can't break His word. He can't break His promise. It's impossible. The unbelief of some does not bring to naught the faithfulness of God. And he just makes that statement: No, no, no, no, no, no. And he doesn't here go into explain how — listen to this — someday God is going to keep His covenants with Israel, He's going to do that. And don't you think for a minute He isn't. I believe that's the error of contemporary reformed covenant theology; they don't see any place for Israel. Listen, if there's no place for Israel then this argument is right, God did cancel all His promises. And I can't handle that, because Paul says, no, no, no, no, no. All God did was postpone their fulfillment until Israel finally gets their act together and believes. And Zechariah says someday “they will look on Him whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as an only son. And in that day God will open a fountain of salvation to Israel.” Their day is future. And by the way, that is Romans 9, 10 and 11, he'll get to that later. It will be postponed until faith comes.

In fact, in chapter 11, I could just read you one little section and you get the whole picture. Listen to this. "Hath God cast away His people?" Romans 11:1, "No, no, no, no, no, no.” He says, me genoito, same phrase. No. He's not going to cast them away, not at all. Verse 26: "All Israel shall be saved. There shall come out of Zion the deliverer and turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is My covenant." God will keep it but it will be future when they believe. It's just postponed.

National salvation, yes that’ll come to the people of Israel but these people missed personal salvation and so do all other Jews who will not believe in Christ. So Paul resists any suggestion at all that God's going to be unfaithful. In fact, he says — look at this in verse 4, I think it's interesting — "Let God be true and every man a liar." Listen. What does that mean? If every single person in the world said God is not true, He's still true. If every man in the world speaks evil about God, if every man in the world says God doesn't keep His Word, God is still true. God is true if every man in the world says He's not true. The integrity of God must be upheld.

Then he uses a marvelous illustration. It's a tremendous one. "As it is written," and he calls the Scripture to his support, Psalm 51:4: "that Thou (speaking to God, Thou, capital T) mightest be justified in Thy (capital T) sayings and mightest overcome when Thou art condemned, as it were." In other words, no matter who speaks against You, God, You will overcome no matter who wants to criticize or speak evil. You will be justified in everything You say. God will be vindicated. God will be justified. God's character will be upheld. And he quotes out of Psalm 51 verse 4.

Now that's an interesting passage. And I think I'll just refer to it and then we'll stop and do the rest next time. But listen carefully to that passage. And I want to spend just a few minutes on this. David was the king. And David was, of course, the greatest person in the history of Israel. And so he quotes David, because whenever you quote David you really pull a coup in terms of a debate with a Jew. And so he quotes David. And this is what happened in David's life.

David was up on his roof and he looked over on somebody else's roof and there was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, sunbathing. And he just hung around and kept looking. And he really liked what he saw. So he decided that he would commit adultery with her and when he committed adultery with her, he not only did that, but he impregnated her. And then he decided to marry her, but in order to marry her he had to get rid of her husband. So he worked out a way in which Uriah would be killed. So he was an adulterer and a murderer.

And in the midst of all of this the Lord sent Nathan the prophet. And then Nathan the prophet comes in and he says, "David, I want to tell you a story." He said there was a rich man who went to a poor man and the poor man only had one little ewe lamb. And the rich man took that ewe lamb away from the poor man. And David said, "Nathan, as the Lord lives, whatever man you're telling me about deserves to die." And Nathan looked him in the eye and said, "You're the man." And David said, "O, I have sinned against the Lord." And God punished David. That little baby that was born of that union died. There was death continually among David's other children. His Son Absalom over whom he cried, "Absalom, Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son, my son," turned to be a rebel and literally sought his own father's life to steal his throne. He lived a life of pain. He spent his time running and hiding from Absalom and his enemies, from bush to bush in the wilderness and crying out in the caves to God to deliver him.

But in all of that David would still say, "God, You are justified in everything You say and everything You do and when somebody tries to impugn You, or speak evil against You, You will triumph." In other words, he was simply saying no matter what God does, it is right, even if it is to punish the king. So don't you ever impugn God's Word. If God makes a promise, He'll keep it. If God appears to be unjust, He's being just because the punishment is deserved. God always is just. In other words, David upheld the character of God and that's why Paul quotes David. David would never so speak against God. David would never impugn the character of God. David will not say God is unfair or God is unkind, God is unjust. He would say, "God, I've deserved everything You've given me." Even David acknowledged that God was without flaw. In spite of David's sin, God will fulfill the Davidic Covenant. He did, in the coming of Messiah. In spite of Israel's sin, God will ultimately fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. God's Word is true. God's word is valid. God's character can always be upheld. - J Mac

5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen. 6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”… Romans 9: 5-7

…15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.… Romans 10: 15-17

1I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”?…

…4And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.…

…7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” 9And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them.…

10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.” 11I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. 12But if their trespass means riches for the world, and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!…

…13I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them. 15For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?…

…16If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root, 18do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.…

…19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.…

…22Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!…

25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. 27And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”… Romans 11: 1-27

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#1620 Romans 2 Part 2 What Is Your Boast

 

17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.

25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if the uncircumcised man observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the Law, will he not judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. Romans 2: 17-29 LSB

Romans 2: 17-29

Vs. 17-18 Know His will and approve the things that are essential - In the past posts we looked at Paul's explanation of how God could judge the Gentiles who were not brought up in the truth. They didn't acknowledge God, left off from the earliest knowledge of Him, that which should be transmitted from generation to generation, and they turned to worshiping nature, man and following after their sin. We saw that God still views them as being without excuse, for they didn't even live up to the light they had. Now Paul shifts his focus to the Jews, those who had the law and the prophets, the heritage of the temple, synagogue readings, much more light, yet did not walk in that light. 

1“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness— 2who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name. 3I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.… Isaiah 48: 1-3

…32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?” 34Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.… John 8: 32-34

…21To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.… 2 Corinthians 11: 21-23

John Piper sounds an important warning to us as we study this section, because a casual reading might tend to produce in us an anti-Semitic reaction. Piper cautions against such an occurrence "I want to begin this morning with a caution. Anti-Semitism has been a great sin in the world, acted out by Christians and non-Christians throughout the centuries. By this I mean that there has been terrible mistreatment of Jewish people for no reason other than their Jewishness. (The Effect of Hypocrisy, Part 1 Dishonoring God)

A hypocrite is one who says one thing and does another. In ancient Grecian plays, the actors wore mask to portray a character, but acting out of a part on stage behind a mask (that hid their real identity) was known as "hypokrites." The NT gives speaks of hypokrites only with a negative connotation referring to duplicity (the quality of being double - belying of one’s true intentions by deceptive words or action), insincerity, dissimulation (hiding under a false appearance; hiding or disguising one's thoughts or feelings - don't we all do this from time to time?!). The idea is to pretend, to act as something one is not and so to act deceitfully, pretending to manifest traits like godly or loving character. It means to create a public impression that is at odds with one’s real purposes or motivations, and thus is characterized by play-acting, pretense or outward show. It means to give an impression of having certain purposes or motivations, while in reality having quite different ones. This is an apt summarization of Paul's characterization of the religious Jews who knew the Law and gave feigned acquiescence to it (external), thus failing to practice the Law (internally, from their heart). - PA

Vs. 19-20 A light to those who are in darkness - Part of Israel's call was to be a light to the gentiles. They despised the gentiles instead, and thought they were in good standing, not only because they were related to Abraham genetically, but also because they had the law and the prophets. Now, don't twist what I am about to say, I am not saying that doctrine is unimportant like many today will falsely claim, but you can have sound doctrine and not be born again. The Pharisees studied the law, memorized large portions of Scripture, but they were hypocrites in not obeying God, not being beacons of light to all the other nations, and not recognizing their own need for repentance. There are many academic Christians today who love to memorize doctrine, which again, I don't condemn, but those that do it solely for the sake of debate, and without love for the lost, are committing the same error as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Our actions need to match our words and we need not be confident in our selves, our ability to regurgitate a Biblical vocabulary, but our confidence and hope is Christ, and we should give this message freely as we also freely received it. Israel's disobedience did not override God's plan, for through them the world learned that God is just, even punishing His own people, and they kept the God's word to pass down to future generations. It was through Abraham's seed that those who believed also received the benefit of the Messiah, Jesus, Who was born a Jew.   

…11As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. 12Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”… Proverbs 26: 11-13

…17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 18Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”… 1 Corinthians 3: 17-19

…17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.… Revelation 3: 17-19

Vs. 21-24 Do you not teach yourself - They had a knowledge of God's law, and we saw that gentiles, even atheist do as well, but if we go about breaking the same laws that we teach, we in turn bring dishonor upon God. The other nations looked at Israel, and thought they were nothing like the things they said. Your God says don't steal, yet you rob the widow and the orphan. Your God says don't commit adultery, yet they found every loophole possible to divorce their wives to be with another. Their own law told them not to even covet, which brings it to the level of thought. Jesus later says, if you look on a woman to lust after her then you have already committed adultery in your heart. In not putting the concerns of God first and foremost, in their rush to appear holy in their social bubble, they ended up causing the name of God to be mocked by the gentiles. 

…14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world 16as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.… Philippians 2: 14-16

…21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls. 22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,…

…24and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so— not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer— he will be blessed in what he does. 26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.… James 1: 21-26

…4For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause. 5And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long. 6Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!”… Isaiah 52: 4-6

…20And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ 21But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone. 22Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.…

…23I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes. 24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. 25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.… Ezekiel 36: 20-25

Vs. 25-27 Your circumcision has become uncircumcision - It was something that was even hidden beneath their clothes, but a reminder that they had been called out from the nations, set apart as a people unto God. They instead started to hold confidence in being circumcised, tithing, not eating pork, following certain laws, but being thieves and idolaters in their hearts. So if someone isn't circumcised but keeps the law, obeys God, loves his neighbor, isn't he living the life for which your circumcision was supposed to remind you to live? They heard, but they did not obey. They trusted more in the acts of circumcision, animal sacrifice, which pointed to the fact that sin brings death, and that you need to repent, and you can only do this through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

…6And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant— 7I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” 8Thus declares the Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will gather to them still others besides those already gathered.”… Isaiah 56: 6-8

…18Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts. 20Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.… 1 Corinthians 7: 18-20

…20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. 22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.…

…23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?… Amos 5: 20-25

Vs. 28-29 Circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit - You must be born again, a new creature, and this is only possible by the power of God, not by keeping ordinances, cutting off your foreskin, getting a Jesus tattoo. 

…16O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You. 17I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You. 18O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this desire forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You.… 1 Chronicles 29: 16-18

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#1619 Romans 2 Part 1 The Roman Road

 

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will repay to each according to his works: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Romans 2: 1-16 LSB

Romans 2: 1-16

It is easy to convince the "religious" person as well as the Jew of the unrighteousness of the idolatrous pagans in Romans 1 because the flagrant nature of their sins. On the other hand, convincing the "religious" person (eg, one who goes to church or is a member of a church) or the Jews of their innate unrighteousness is another matter as many of us who have shared our faith have experienced.

The Jews thought they had it made because of their good "genes" which gave them a good spiritual heritage. After all they were God's "chosen people", possessors of His Law and His covenant sign of circumcision.

Paul's objective in Romans is to convince the Jew and all "religious" persons of his or her need for genuine salvation which "brings forth fruit in keeping with repentance" and exhibits a radically changed lifestyle as expressed in rhyme…

Your best resolutions must wholly be waived,

Your highest ambitions be crossed;

You need never think you are going to be saved

Until you have learned you are lost. - Precept Austin

Vs. 1-3 For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself - Anyone who acknowledges the law, that there's right or wrong, or that others do wrong is also acknowledging that the law is good. We can't endorse the idea of penalties unless we include ourselves. This is like the favorite verse of most of us, "judge not lest ye be judged", which in the context of that great chapter we find it is our duty to judge but not hypocritically. The Jews judged the gentiles but committed the same sins as them. They were greedy, and by Christ definition, that you are a murderer if you harbor hatred in your heart for someone else, or an adulterer for looking upon a woman to lust after her, they were also guilty of the same deviant nature that they despised in the gentiles. The problem for some was that they didn't acknowledge sin, but the problem for others was that they acknowledged a thing as sin, but thought that though they were unrepentant in it, they could continue without fear because of their relationship to Abraham, their genetics, their circumcision, their outward keeping of the law. Does this not sound familiar to many churches today, "I'm a good person, I go to mass, my mom and dad raised us Christian, I cried at the story of Jesus, I walked the aisle and said a prayer, so I am secure as I continue in my sin."

…12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. … Matthew 23: 12-13

…32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. 33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell? 34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.… Matthew 23: 32-34

Vs. 4-6 Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance - "I know it says in the Bible not to do this, but I did it and it felt great. It says that people will die for doing this and well, I did that too, and look, I am still alive." Satan told Eve that, "you will not surely die". He said, not only that, but if you do this, you will be enlightened, your eyes opened, you will be like God. I will let you in on a little secret here, Adam and Eve didn't experience an immediate physical death, but they knew it was there, that things had changed, that they were naked and it was somehow awkward now. They gained the knowledge of evil not by listening to God, but by doing evil and becoming it's slave. Their perfect relationship with each other was also tainted. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed God for giving him Eve, but he also chose his wife over God. Here's the big secret, the beginning of every problem and the answer in full to every question, that the wages of sin was and is death, but that you live and breathe and it didn't end immediately in the garden is solely because of God's kindness, forbearance and patience. It is not that He has in any way changed His view on sin, or that He no longer plans to punish the wicked, but in His patience you are either headed for repentance or filling up the cup of His just wrath. He is either going to take you to your bottom, where He brings you to look up and grants you the gift of faith and repentance, or He is turning you over to your sin, where you will look lightly upon His grace and too highly upon your so called good works and reasoning. I should have been dead after my first sin, for it gave evidenced to my depraved heart. 

10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too is futile. 11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil. 12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.… Ecclesiastes 8: 10-12

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.… Ephesians 2: 1-3

…28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”… Hebrews 10: 28-30

Vs. 7-11 For there is no partiality with God - It doesn't matter that you were born in the line of Abraham, or that you walked an aisle as a kid, God looks at the heart, and verses 7 and 8 define what does matter, and look at the fruit. V. 7 After we hear in verse 6 that He will repay each according to their work, we see those first who persevere in doing good, not those who are circumcised or belong to a particular tribe. In V. 8 we see the contrast, they are selfishly ambitious, don't obey the truth, but do obey unrighteousness. It doesn't matter, Jew or Greek, sin is under judgment, but God saves sinners, yet He won't save those who say they have no sin. I have talked to a few women growing up who have had abortions and when the topic arises it is understandably difficult to confess this as sin; it's not how we want to see ourselves, and so they repeat what they believed from a culture nurtured by fallen mankind. They first tell me that it's not a human being, and use the world's wording to play it down, ie "clump of cells", like it's a parasite or a wart, or "it's my body", like the baby is a lower set of tonsils that can just be removed. Once they realize that this isn't scientifically accurate, that there is a human child in your womb, a person with their own identity, DNA, an individual, well then they move to the logic that it is moral because the state has declared it legal and compassionate. This doesn't work either because then we are saying that people can decide which lives hold value and which don't, which can be slaves, which can be killed for convenience. If you won't confess your sin then you are missing out on God's forgiveness. You have been lied to, come out of the lie and experience the wonder of God's immeasurable grace. 

…7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!… Romans 5: 7-9

…8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.… 1 John 1: 8-10

Vs. 12-13 Without the law...under the law - Either way you are going to die, sin is always accompanied by death. The advantage of the law was getting to see the trespass, finding out what God expected, but in not obeying the advantage becomes more loss. 

…49Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. 50Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen. 51Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous.… Ezekiel 16: 49-51

…22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”… Matthew 11: 22-24

Newell comments on "sinned" writing that "the tense of the verb sinned, in both cases is the aorist; and cannot refer to the mere fact that they committed sin; for "all have sinned." The word "sinned" must refer to the general choice of sin as against righteousness and holiness. Therefore have we translated it "life-choice of sin," because the whole life is here looked at as a unit, and that life was a choice of sin, whether by Gentiles without the Mosaic law, or "Jews under it"… Always remember that the contemplation of an especially heinous degree of iniquity and consequent judgment is accompanied in the deceitful human heart by the delusion that those not chiefly guilty shall somehow wholly escape. But Romans 2:12 distinctly says as many as chose sin, even though they be "without the law" (anomos, cf.1Co 9:21 without externally declared divine revelation), shall also perish. (Romans 2) (Bolding added)

Augustine wrote that "Sin comes when we take a perfectly natural desire or longing or ambition and try desperately to fulfill it without God. Not only is it sin, it is a perverse distortion of the image of the Creator in us. All these good things, and all our security, are rightly found only and completely in him.

Susannah Wesley defined “sin” to her young son, John Wesley declaring “If you would judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things—that to you is sin.”

According to sociologist Robert Bellah, “One of our current psychological gurus says that 98 percent of Americans are dysfunctional."

No doubt he is right. He has just discovered original sin, though he is mistaken if he thinks 2 percent are without sin. - PA

Vs. 14-16 When gentiles who do not have the law naturally do the things of the Law - Though they did not have the ten commandments, did not have the temple, nor the prophets, yet by nature they do attest to right and wrong, even taboo. Even those who hate the idea of God, Who is the only grounds for absolute morality, yet they do not like it when people steal from them, try to murder them, slander them, or lie to them. Many will not do these things to avoid the consequences, even those who do them try to avoid the consequence, and this bears witness to a law unto themselves. Oddly, though they don't accept God's law, because they love their sin and can't stand the thought of not being antonymous, yet they make up there own laws, even those that would call evil good and good evil. I was watching a report on television of a woman in the UK being arrested for quietly praying in front of an abortion clinic, how twisted can we be? You have a law that says it is okay to murder this sort of human being, and another law that says it's not okay to make people feel bad about themselves by quietly praying that they will not murder. 

Ray Stedman - Now, men are continually charging God with injustice because, they say, He condemns men to hell who have never heard of Jesus Christ. This is the most frequently voiced charge against the Christian gospel. We are always hearing somebody say, "Well, what about the heathen who never hear about Christ? How can a just God condemn them to hell without their hearing about Christ?" But, you see, God never condemns anybody on that basis. As we are told right here...That is, if you disobey the truth that you have, even though you have never heard of Moses or of Christ, you perish, not because you didn't hear of Moses or of Christ, but because you have disobeyed truth that you already know -- that is the whole point. If you know of Moses and of Christ, and you still disobey the truth, you perish also, because your condemnation is even greater -- because of the greater light involved. (Ed note: See above for discussion of the principle of judgment proportionate to light received) But, as it says here, even pagans have a form of basic law written on their hearts, and this is the basis of God's just condemnation of man. It is because they are not what they themselves know they ought to be. In other words, God judges you, not by some artificial standard of His, but by your own standard. (The Secrets of Men)

Stedman goes on to give an illustration of Paul's point - "Recently, I was down in Newport Beach, teaching a Bible Class in a home. Quite a number of non-Christians were there, and one of them was a man from just across the street. He was a very charming individual, but he had made it known in the neighborhood already that he had no use for Christianity. As he came in the door, the first thing he said was, "I have come to be the Devil's advocate. I think the Devil needs a representative here tonight." We welcomed him, and told him to curl his tail around a chair, and sit down. As I began to speak on the opening chapter of Genesis, dealing with God's word to man, I could see in his face that this man had let down his guard. I don't think he was aware of how much he was revealing, but in that man's eyes I saw hunger written like I had never seen it before. At the question time, he, of course, came up with the usual question: "How about those that God condemns who never hear about Christ?" I answered (to all in the room), "Let me ask you this: Which of you has lived up to your own ideals? -- because God won't judge you on the basis of something that you have never heard, but on the basis of what you already know. Now tell me: Who of you has lived up to his own ideals? Which of you has never deliberately done wrong? Which of you can say that you measure up to your own standard of what you ought to be?" You could just hear the silence in that room! You see, it is not by some artificial standard that we stand condemned before God; it is because of what we know in our hearts about ourselves. This indicates that God measures us by our own yardstick." (The Secrets of Men) - PA

…31Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Luke 5: 31-32

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