Romans Chapter Two Lesson 31
Review:
At this point Paul takes off the gloves, and begins the
indictment of the
religious Jew; Paul knocks the props right out from under them!
Paul’s point here is that there is a great gulf between
what they teach others as the will of God and their own manner of life.
2:21a “You, therefore, who teach another,
do you not teach yourself?”
His point! How can
you teach one thing and practice something else??
2:21b “You who preach that one should not
steal, do you steal?”
They came up with many gimmicks to acquire what was not
theirs; actually
amounted to theft
2:22a “You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit
adultery?”
But external laws cannot cure
lasciviousness; Must
deal with the root cause!
2:22b “You
who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”
Not only were they to make no graven images, no idols for
worship; but in Dt 7:25 they were told how to deal with the idols of
the pagans;
Vs:23
summarizes the indictment of their hypocrisy does so by asking some very
pointed questions
You boast in God, you say you rely on the Law, His
revelation; all the while your living a lie.
*** Rem: We don’t live in a
vacuum; how we live has impact, consequences;
that is beyond our own situation; to the cause of Jesus Christ!
*** Rem: Your actions speak so
loudly they can’t hear what your saying when you attempt to witness for Christ as you ought to as
a believer!
In vs:24 Notice that Paul does not condemn their
hypocrisy on the basis of his own authority; he goes to Isa
52:5;
Note: Most all people have a perception of what a
Christian is supposed to be; not always is it a correct or complete one; forgiveness for sin and a change in one's
life as one grows and matures spiritually often is not taken into account by
them.
The
reasoning of Gentile here as they observe the religious Jew goes this way;
Why
should we honor God, and follow Him when those who are His chosen people, who have all these
special privileges they don’t even follow Him??
2:25-29
Symbolism without substance!
If the
M/L was a major distinctive of the Jew, a close second was circumcision.
** What’s
the idea with circumcision? What’s basis
for it?
God made a covenant with Abraham in Gen 12:1-3;
There was to be a sign of this covenant; 17:9-11
It was to be an indication that they were one of those to
whom God had made this covenant! Look at
Rom 4:6-12
Paul is emphasizing here that they may have the physical
sign of the covenant but know nothing of the spiritual reality; they have no
personal relationship with YHWH.
When they evidenced by their breaking of God’s law, His
teaching and instruction, that the reality was not there, God invalidated the
sealing significance of circumstances.
As used here circumcision extends the argument to more
than just circumcision; anything of the same character as circumcision,
therefore to any external observance that man counts as gaining for him
acceptance or approval before God!
Illustration: wedding ring; sign/seal of the love and commitment;
that seal is meaningless to the adulterer; its lost its significance.
What about the uncircumcised pagan? 2:26-27
Paul points out that the Gentiles had substance without
the symbol
Prin: the lack of circumcision could
not condemn the Gentile anymore than the presence of circumcision saved the
Jew.
V.28-29 Points out having substance with symbol!
-
What’s real is internal not external!
The real significance or importance of being a Jew, phrase
“he is a Jew” lies in his relationship with God not in his nationality
or religious heritage.
“not by the letter”; not accomplished by the legalistic external
observance; which they counted on; along with physical lineage; but the work of
the Holy Spirit in the life as a result of faith!
Also
Col. 2:11