Introduction
We have two paragraphs here as we come to the end of Rom 2 dealing with how the Jews are guilty before God and stand in need of God’s righteousness.
Up to this point, Paul did not specifically address the Jews; he used the second-person personal pronoun “you,” but now he would specifically address them: “But if you call yourself a Jew….” He is going to be making a direct confrontation against his own people who have not put their faith in Jesus the Messiah and His gospel.
Where are we now in the argument that Paul is making against his own people, the Jews?
Last week we saw that the Jews have the privilege of having the law, but while they know the law and have heard the law, they have not obeyed the law.
You are reading right now in the minor prophets and page after page God is indicting these people for the very fact that they have disobeyed Him. They have not been doers of the law and therefore they cannot be justified before God (2:13).
Paul’s point in this chapter is that the Jews will be judged on the same basis as the Gentiles; they cannot assume that they will escape the judgment of God.
God is impartial in His judgment.
But then, there is something that Paul has not addressed up to this point: God made a special covenant with the Jews which gives them an entirely different status than the Gentiles.
That certainly has to carry some weight before God.
And it is this particular matter that Paul will address in the remainder of this chapter.
In these last two paragraphs (Romans 2:17-29), he will address what came out of God’s covenant with the children of Israel: the Law and circumcision.
The point Paul will make in these two final paragraphs is that the Law and circumcision have no value without obedience to the Law.
Once again, it is the actual doing, putting into action that matters.
I. The Law Provides No Advantage Without Obedience (Romans 2:17-24)
A. The Jews Have A Distinct Privilege Regarding the Law (2:17-20)
Notice that in the following description in the following verses, this is the Jews’ self-perception.
These are the things that make the Jews a distinct people from other people in this world.
But these are also the Jews’ self-assessments.
1. Five Blessings Enjoyed by the Jews (Romans 2:17-18)
a. They are Jews
This term “Jews” was originally used to describe those who lived in the region who were descendants of Judah, but after the exile, it came to be a term used to refer to all Israelites since the territory they had by then encompassed not much more than the original Judah.
It suggests a special status shared by these covenant people of God, specially chosen by Him, and recipients of God’s favor.
This covenant was first made with the forefather of the Jews, Abraham. Read Gen 17:1-8.
The special choosing of Israel as a nation was expressed several times by God.
For example, Deut 7:6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
That is certainly an immense privilege!
b. They Rely on the Law
This is the heart of the issue.
These people depended on the Law thinking that it would exempt them from judgment.
It is very similar to the attitude that Micah was addressing in Micah 3:11 “yet they lean on the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.”
Now they lean on the law to save them from judgment.
c. They Boast in God
The Jews are not wrong in doing that.
Jer 9:23-24 says “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
So if they were to boast in anything, they should boast in the Lord.
This does speak of their special relationship with God.
d. They Know God’s Will
They can know God’s will only because God has made it known to them.
You have to consider yourself to be in a privileged position if the Prime Minister tells you what he is going to do and he doesn’t share that information with others.
Think about the God of the universe doing that.
e. They Approve What is Excellent
In other words, because the Jews know God’s will, they not only know what is good in the eyes of God, but they know what is best.
In other words, they have the knowledge to distinguish the things that really matter, like the weightier matters of the Law that our Lord talked about in Matt 23:23.
There are some things that are more important than others.
These are the things that these people fall back on, assured that they are genuine believers and right with God.
And all of that on the basis that they are instructed (catechized) from the law.
2. Four Ministries to the Gentiles Enjoyed by the Jews (Romans 2:19-20)
As a result of these privileges, the Jews have a ministry to the Gentiles, and Paul now discusses Jewish ministry to the Gentiles.
There is also a sense of superiority.
a. A Guide to the Blind
b. A Light to Those in Darkness
c. An Instructor of the Foolish
d. A Teacher of Children
Because of the Jews’ privileged position of having and knowing the law, they then have the responsibility to impart that to others.
In God’s covenant with Abraham, as a result of the Jews, all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).
They are to be a light to the nations, but we know how they did in carrying out their mission.
They failed to fulfil their calling.
The Jews have the responsibility to carry out this teaching ministry because they have the Law that is the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
Therefore, the Jews will be held to a greater account; if the Gentiles who do not have special revelation or the Law are without excuse, the Jews are doubly without excuse.
James writes in James 3:1, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Application
Before we move on, as Christians, we too bear a responsibility to the lost and dying world.
A passage like this gives us a good opportunity to examine ourselves to see how well we are doing in these ministries.
We are to be salt and light, we are to teach the truth of the gospel to illuminate darkened and lost and foolish minds.
We are to teach children. All of these ministries are given to us because we have the truth of God’s word.
But our security is not in the ministry that we do or the knowledge of God’s Word.
B. Yet They Have Failed to Live Up to These Privileges (2:21-24)
The Jews have such advantages and privileges and they have so much going for them.
You would think that they would do very well. But have they lived up to the privileges that they were given?
1. Four Probing Questions As To Whether The Jews Practice What They Preach (Romans 2:21-22)
Paul is going to ask four rhetorical questions that will probe the consciences of the Jews.
What we learn from Paul here is that it is always better to ask people questions rather than make blunt accusations.
People don’t take that very well.
But if you ask questions, they will have to ponder and make an assessment for themselves.
a. Do the Jews teach themselves?
This first question is a general one and the next three would be regarding specific teachings.
Paul does not object to their teaching, as it is their calling from God to do so.
Paul is pointing out their hypocrisy, which he has been charging them for since the beginning of this chapter.
They may be convinced intellectually of these things and may teach and promote these things, but the proof of whether they have truly embraced what they taught to others is, have they embraced this teaching for themselves?
b. Do they steal?
c. Do they commit adultery?
d. Do they rob temples?
Paul is not saying that every Jew is guilty of these sins, but that these sins are “representative of the contradiction between claim and conduct that does pervade Judaism” (Moo).
As such, these questions become very instructive for believers as well.
We may not be Jews, but we have a responsibility to teach God’s Word.
These three sins that Paul specifically mentions are three very common temptations: money, immorality, idolatry.
Paul would say in 1 Cor 9:27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
It is hypocrisy to condemn in others what we allow and excuse in ourselves.
2. The Jews Dishonor God’s Name by Breaking the Law (Romans 2:23-24)
The paragraph reaches its climactic conclusion in these two verses.
What is the result when a person’s profession does not match his practice?
Although the Jews boast in the law, they have also broken the law and as a result, dishonored God.
It would be a different case if they boasted in the Law and kept the Law.
The very reason why the Jews were given the Law was to honor and glorify God, but like the Gentiles who do not have the Law, they have failed to honor God or give thanks to Him (1:21).
The OT passage that Paul seems to allude to in v. 24 is the Greek translation of Isa 52:5 “On account of you, continually my name is blasphemed among the nations.”
It could also be an allusion to Eze 36:20 which says, “But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’”
In this context, the children of Israel were sold into slavery because of God’s judgment for their sin.
Paul is in effect saying, “Do you not see, you who call yourselves Jews, from your own history, that you have never been able to keep the law of God? And as a result, your failure to obey God has brought about judgment by God through taking you out of your land into exile in these Gentile lands. And these foreign rulers mock and blaspheme God’s name.
Not only through the Jews being entrusted with the Law is there a distinctive mark of God’s covenant with them. Read Gen 17:9-14.
II. Circumcision Provides No Advantage Without Obedience (Romans 2:25-29)
A. Obedience is More Important Than Ritual (2:25-27)
The first word “for” is a reply to a Jew who is expecting that he would be exempted from judgment because of his Jewish heritage, specifically in this case, because he has been circumcised.
We must not underestimate how important circumcision is to a Jew.
One Jewish teaching states that “no person who is circumcised will go down to Gehenna.”
Gen 17:14 states, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant”.
Circumcision is a big deal to the Jews.
It marks them as belonging to God’s chosen people.
However, in v. 25, Paul makes the point that circumcision is only of value if the Law is being kept.
Disobedience to the Law nullifies the act of circumcision, rendering a circumcised person as one who is uncircumcised.
Not only that, in v. 26, Paul goes further and states that if an uncircumcised person keeps the Law, that would actually render him to be circumcised.
In other words, what is more important than being circumcised is one’s obedience to God.
To be fair, Paul is going to answer the question, “What is the value of circumcision?” in 3:1 and he will say that circumcision is of value: Much in every way.
Is Paul contradicting himself?
For one, Paul never denies the value of circumcision, but its value is either enhanced or diminished by one’s obedience or disobedience to the law.
What he is doing in Romans 2:25-29 is removing circumcision from the altar in the Jewish mind of something that would automatically pardon him from God’s judgment.
The Jews held circumcision to be of such importance that the early Jewish Christians insisted that in order for the Gentiles to be truly saved, they had to be circumcised.
When Paul talks about the keeping of the Law, he is referring to a perfect conformity to the Law.
So who is able to do that?
No one.
Up to this point, there is an undertone of utter inability for a Jew to keep the law.
Their history has been one long account of their utter failure to do it.
Which Gentile can perfectly keep the law so much so that their uncircumcised status can be regarded as circumcised?
No one.
No such law-obeying Gentile exists. There is a need for a better way.
Nevertheless, Paul is assuming something that no Jew can comprehend, that people who are not circumcised can somehow keep the law.
Remember that circumcision is a mark of the covenant between God and His people.
Paul is giving to us a new understanding of what the covenant entails and God’s requirement for His people. That there is a way for an uncircumcised person to perfectly fulfill the law and be considered a full member of God’s people.
In v. 27, Paul says as a result, the obedient uncircumcised person will condemn the disobedient circumcised person.
The obedience of these uncircumcised ones will stand as accusatory evidence against the disobedient Jews.
It is as what our Lord said in Matt 12:41-42, “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
B. The Inner Reality of the Heart is What is Important (2:28-29)
With the “for” in v. 28, Paul is going to conclude this section by explaining why circumcision does not guarantee salvation and why uncircumcision does not exclude one from salvation.
He argues with two denials in v. 28 and ends with two assertions in v. 29.
1. The Denial of Externalism
No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision outward and external.
The denial here is regarding externalism.
It is quite easy to conform outwardly to the acceptable standards.
This is not necessarily wrong if the outward reflects the inward. That is, there must be consistency between what can be seen on the external and what is in the heart.
The truth is that the outward ought to reflect what is inward.
2. The Assertion of Inner Reality
Actually, the call to Inner circumcision was repeatedly called for in the OT.
For example in Deut 10:16, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.”
Jer 4:4, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
In other words, God has never meant circumcision to be merely external.
It ought to be an outward sign of an inward reality.
This is important to note because some people respond by swinging the pendulum to the other side and say that what is important is your inner heart but the outward is not important at all.
This is not what Scripture teaches.
But notice that this is something that only God can do:
Deut 30:6 “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”
Paul speaks of this coming about by the Spirit, not by the letter.
What is he talking about here?
The society at large has adopted this biblical term, “the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law.”
We get the impression that the letter is negative and the Spirit is positive.
But to what is Paul referring here?
The letter refers to the written code that he mentioned back in v. 27.
In fact, it is the same Greek word in both instances.
For example later in Rom 7:6, “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
So this refers to the written code of the law written on tablets of stone.
That is external.
And the purpose of the Law is to show our utter inability to keep it. The result is death.
What we need is the Law written on our hearts, and the way that comes about is when as believers we have the Spirit indwelling us.
Notice that the word “Spirit” is capitalized.
The Spirit at work in our hearts is what gives us the supernatural ability to obey God and that results in life. This understanding is reinforced in 2 Cor 3:6-8.
Therefore, what has been insufficient to bring about obedience was the old covenant that circumcision was part of.
It has resulted in nothing but disobedience, judgment and death. The entire history of Israel given in the OT is one long account of just that.
Similarly, your claim to some religious ritual, whether it is praying the sinner’s prayer, or church attendance, or baptism, or church membership, or even ministry for the Lord are hollow and empty unless there is an inner transformation.
What we need is this inner circumcision, supernaturally brought about by the Holy Spirit who enables us to obey.
We need the Law to be written in the heart and not merely on tablets of stone.
What we need is the New Covenant.
Who is to usher in the New Covenant?
Remember earlier on that God has called the Jews to be a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children.
And they have failed miserably.
However, there is one Jew who has perfectly fulfilled God’s calling.
In Isa 42:1 there is a Servant whom God has chosen, and in v. 6 and 7 “I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Who is this Servant?
He is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was sent from heaven to be a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out prisoners from sitting in darkness.
He alone is able to do what none of the other Jews were able to do. He alone has obeyed the Law. He seeks the praise of God the Father, not of man.
Man wanted to kill Him and they did.
But Christ alone perfectly sought to do the will of the Father.
We can so easily crave the praise of man, and it is right to offer praise, we probably don’t do it enough, but for the receivers of praise, we have to seek the praise of God and not of man for the simple fact that:
First
We ought to be God pleasers and not man pleasers.
Two
Ultimately we stand before God to give an account and it is what He thinks that matters, not what man thinks.
Third
If we are expecting and anticipating man’s praises, we will be sorely disappointed when man does give it, but God will never disappoint us.
Conclusion
Neither the Law nor circumcision can exempt the Jew from judgment.
But this certainly applies to people who know God’s Word, but are also tempted to be hypocritical about it.
People who claim to be Christians can claim that they have performed certain rituals, but there has been no inward transformation.
What we find is utter inability, other than to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who alone is able to perfectly fulfill God’s righteous decree.
For Personal Reflection
How does this passage help us know what it means to be a true believer?
Have you depended on certain rituals to justify yourself before God? Why are these false assurances?
What is the ultimate answer to these false claims and what is our ultimate assurance found in?
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