04 - The Jews not Superior

For the Audio Version of this study on Spotify, click here - Romans 2:17-3:8

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Romans 2:17-20

¹⁷Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, 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 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 

After addressing the Gentiles, Paul then turns his attention to the Jews. He begins by mentioning all the things that they based their confidence in. He knows that they pride themselves in being known as Jews – the chosen people of God, in whom the Lord had done many mighty wonders in times past. He mentions how they had put their trust in the law of Moses (as if that would make them righteous in God’s sight, and save them from the wrath of God), and how they bragged about the intimate relationship they possessed with God. He goes on to say that they claimed to know God’s will perfectly, meaning, that they know exactly what God desires of them, and that they live by it. They prided themselves in that they lived by and approved a lifestyle that was excellent and pleasing to God, since they were instructed by the law of God Himself. They were confident that they were guides to the blind; they considered themselves a light to those who lived in the darkness, because they considered themselves the enlightened ones. They thought that they were so wise that they felt that they were the ones who could instruct other people, whom they considered foolish, in comparison to them. They thought that they were so mature in their faith in God that they became teachers of those who were as immature as babes in comparison to them. They were like the embodiment of knowledge and of truth concerning all that was in the law. They were the ones that others had to look up to.

Romans 2:21-24

²¹ You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ²⁴ For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

Paul then goes on to ask them questions, based on the above presumptions they had of themselves. The first question he asks them is whether they who teach others first teach themselves. That’s a really good question for each of us to ask ourselves today as well. Before we teach someone else, do we practice what we teach, before we teach? The second question is similar in nature – only a little more specific. If you preach that a man should not steal, do you yourself steal? If you say that a man should not commit adultery, do you yourself commit adultery? They perhaps felt that if they preached against stealing and adultery, they were free from the requirement to live by that teaching themselves.

You who hate idols, do you rob temples of idols? Perhaps temples of other gods were being robbed of their idols for personal gain. So on one hand they were abhorring idolatry, and on the other, were stealing the idols from those temples to sell them for personal gain. They boasted in the law they believed in, and yet they also dishonoured God by breaking that very law they boasted in. Paul then quotes Isaiah 2:24, where he implies that on account of all this dichotomy of the Jews, the name of the Lord was being blasphemed among the Gentiles.

Romans 2:25-29

²⁵ For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ²⁷ And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code 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 of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Another thing that the Jews made their boast about was the fact that they were circumcised, as the Father of their faith, Abraham was, and who taught that every male child should also be circumcised. But Paul says that circumcision is only profitable if one obeys the law, but if one breaks the law, then their circumcision has lost its meaning, and they have become as if they were uncircumcised.

He then asks them to consider a scenario. If a man who does not have the law and therefore is not circumcised, but yet keeps the righteous requirements of the law on his own, will not he be considered circumcised, even though he were uncircumcised? He asks them yet another question. Won’t the non-Jew who has not been physically circumcised, but yet lives by the righteous requirements of the law on his own, judge the Jews, even though they possess the written law, and are circumcised, but are not living by it?

Paul goes on to make a very stunning statement that would have shocked his readers. He says that no one is a Jew just because they were circumcised physically, neither is circumcision something that was meant to be done only externally, but rather a Jew is a person who is committed to God on the inside; who’s heart is committed to living by God’s law, and the circumcision that God desires, is not just cutting off a piece of flesh, but rather cutting off sin from one’s life. When one’s desires are so changed, in that He seeks to live by God’s Word, that’s true circumcision. It’s not something that’s done to feign obedience, but is rather obedience that stems from one’s heart where he deeply desires to serve God and does not pretend to do so. He says that such a person will be praised, not by men, but by God Himself, because God sees the hearts or the desires, motives, intentions of all men, and He knows who’s genuine and who’s not.

Romans 3:1-4

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. ³ For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? ⁴ Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.”

After reading or listening to the above verses, it’s only natural if someone were to wonder along these lines. “If it’s so hard to be a Jew, and if non-Jews can please God better than Jews can, then what benefit is there in being a Jew in the first place?” The second question pertains to what benefit circumcision then has. Paul goes on to answer his own questions. He begins by saying that there is much significance to being a Jew, and to being circumcised. Firstly, because the law was committed to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles. He then asks a question which is related to his previous points on the Jews being disobedient to God. He asks, “What if Jews did not believe?” Will God stop being faithful to them because of their unbelief and unfaithfulness to God? He responds to this question with a vehement, “Certainly not.” He goes on to say that even if every man is a liar, God will remain faithful and never give up on His people. He then quotes from Psalm 51:4, where David, while confessing his sins to God says, that God is right in His words and clear and perfect in His judgments.

Romans 3:5-8

⁵ But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) ⁶ Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? ⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

Paul then realises that what he has said could cause for a misunderstanding about God’s faithfulness. He realises that there might be some who think, “If God is faithful to us no matter how we live, then why are we being penalised for our sins against God? Shouldn’t God just excuse us for our wrongdoing because He is so faithful?” He answers this question himself by saying, If God were that unjust to not punish sin, how could He then judge the world? A just God must punish sin and not pretend it does not exist.

Paul then addresses another probable thought his readers might have had. “If God is being seen as a lot more holy and just, on account of my sin, why am I then being condemned for my sin – after all I’m making God out to look a lot bigger, better and holier than me isn’t it?” To such people Pauls asks, “Why not say, ‘Let’s indulge in more sins so we can see the faithfulness and goodness of God a lot more.’” He goes on to say that there are certain people who have misunderstood his teaching about God’s faithfulness, and that he is saying, “Sin more to experience more of God’s faithfulness and goodness.” He says that such people who have both misunderstood God’s grace, goodness and patience, and Paul’s teaching about it, deserve to be condemned, and adds that it will certainly come upon them from God.

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Michael Collins