Theological objections to condemnation, Romans 3:1-8

It’s evident from the way Paul has written the book of Romans, that Paul expects Christians to be interested in learning theology. Theology is the study of God. And  so I hope you are prepared to put on your thinking caps this morning as we study the nature of God and His gospel of salvation. I make no apology for the fact that it is somewhat heavy lifting for so early in the morning. But God calls us to reason together, to study His word, so that we might know Him and come to be known by Him. It may be difficult study, but I hope it will prove beneficial to your faith.

As Peter said at the close of his second epistle,  “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord [as] salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all [his] letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as [they do] also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  (2Peter 3:14)

Now in Rom. chapter 1, vs 16, Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Salvation is available to all men, regardless of race, religion or nationality.  But the caveat to salvation is that one must first come to realize that he is lost, that he is a sinner, and that he is under the condemnation of death and the judgment of God, BEFORE he is able to come to salvation. 

It’s as if you were swimming in the ocean during the summer time, just enjoying the water, and the lifeguard swam out to you yelling for you to grab hold of the buoy so that you might be saved.  You would probably not appreciate his efforts, and would in fact think he was being embarrassing and insulting, by insinuating that you were drowning, when in fact you thought you were doing a pretty good backstroke. But if in fact you realized that you were caught in a  riptide and helpless to swim against the current, and the lifeguard swam out to save you, you would be grateful and grab hold of his buoy without hesitation.

And so to that end, Paul has been arguing that all men are lost, all men are sinners, and all men are condemned to death under the judgment of God and in need of salvation.  He has shown that the pagan is a sinner and under the judgment of God, he has shown that the moral man is a sinner and under the judgment, and finally he is in the process of showing that the religious man, as exemplified by the Jew, is a sinner and under condemnation as well.

But Paul’s point is not just to condemn men, but to bring them to salvation, which only can come when man recognizes that he is a sinner, and repents of his sin.  I would point out to you that in the next vs, 1:17, Paul says that faith is the means of salvation; the just shall live by faith.  But in the next two chapters, Paul is teaching that repentance is the other leg of salvation.  Faith and repentance are the two legs of salvation, and it is of the utmost importance that we stand on both of them in order to stand fast in our salvation. 

So the whole purpose of this long argument regarding the sin nature of all men, is to make us cry out in repentance, “what must I do to be saved?” in order that we may be justified by faith in what Christ has done for us.

Now there are a few rhetorical theological questions that Paul wants to address regarding the objections of the religious man, particularly as illustrated here by the Jews. These questions are theological objections to Paul’s assertion that they also were sinners, and an attempt to vindicate themselves and say that they really were not in need of salvation, they were somehow better off than the pagans. And though talking about the Jews religion may seem irrelevant to some of you, I believe there attitude illustrated here which is also typical of the church age. I believe there are parallels to the modern Christian church and ancient Judaism, which was in effect, the first church of God. The  Jews were the first “eklesia” the “called out” ones.  We, as the New Testament church, are the second “called out” people of God.  And there are many similarities and parallels between the two groups.

So the first question that the Jews might ask of Paul, as a way of defense against his charge of being a sinner is, isn’t there an advantage to being a Jew? Isn’t there a privilege that is given to God’s chosen people?  So Paul writes, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?" Is there any spiritual advantage to being a Jew, or to being circumcised, which was the physical mark of the promise of God’s blessing upon their nation. 

And Paul answers that question in vs 2; “Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”  The primary privilege that was afforded the Jews, was that they had been given the scriptures.  All of the writers of scripture up to this point were Jews.  God had personally dictated the law to Moses, and had written it on tablets of stone with His finger. So the advantage in being a Jew is not that you're saved by being Jewish or by circumcision but that as part of the Jewish nation you have received the Scriptures which are able to lead you to salvation. 

And I also want to point out that the word “Logia” in the Greek, translated as “oracles” in the NASB, is very important to the doctrines of  inerrancy, inspiration and authority of the scriptures.  It literally means unto them were committed the words of God.  So we should be confident that though the words of God were penned by man, yet they wrote down the words that the Spirit of God was speaking through them. That’s one of the main reasons that we should come to church, to hear the word of God spoken to us, to be in the presence of the Spirit of God, and to be a part of the body of Christ.  

Now as I said in my introduction, I believe that there are many parallels between Judaism and Christianity today. And though I don’t normally like to call out other churches by name, yet in light of the many misconceptions out there, I am going to do so today.  Because the predominant church in the Christian religion in the world for the last 2000 years has been the Roman Catholic Church.  And like the Jews, they claim to worship the same God as we do.  They purport to teach Jesus Christ.  They observe the same ordinances as we do, such as baptism and communion. They have the same Bible, for the most part, with the addition of the Apocrypha.  And yet, like the Jews, even though they hold to many of the same beliefs, in actuality they teach a righteousness that comes on the basis of works.  They teach that salvation is found in the church, just as the Jews taught salvation was of the Jews. The Catholics teach that righteousness is applied through baptism at infancy, just as the Jews believed righteousness was acquired through circumcision eight days after birth. The Catholics believe that righteousness is granted in communion, that is is acquired through various ceremonies and rituals such as catechism, or mass, or confession.  And of course the Jews had their own rituals and ceremonies which they believed were good works which were credited as righteousness.

But the one advantage that Paul zeros in on here, is that the Jews were the custodians of scripture. The Jews mindset was that simply their possession of the scriptures ensured them that they would escape judgment.  And I believe there is a parallel to the Catholic Church, and to even many Protestant churches as well. The Catholic Church in particular were responsible for translating the Greek Bible to the Latin, but though they possessed the scriptures, they kept the scriptures from being translated to other languages from the 4th century through the Reformation.  In fact, they were guilty of burning at the stake such men as William Tyndale, who had translated the scriptures to English.  So their great advantage was that they had the scriptures, but like the Jews, they put to death those that taught it contrary to their traditions. 

So the Jews (as well as the Catholics and many Protestant churches) had the scriptures, but they did not read it.  They did not read it with understanding. In Mark 12:24, Jesus said, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?” They practiced the law, they kept the ceremonies and rituals, but they failed to understand what the law and the sacrifices were teaching. And so do many churches today in their observation of communion or Lent or Advent, or baptism fail to actually appropriate the salvation that such ceremonies are meant to illustrate. If I might make a weak comparison, it’s like watching a video about a how to swim, or actually learning how to swim and becoming a swimmer. Merely being in possession of God’s word and even hearing God’s word is useless without appropriation and application.  That’s what faith means. Not just hearers of the word but doers.

The advantage then of the Jews is not that being Jewish made them exempt from God's judgment but rather that they had the Word to lead them to salvation.  That was their advantage.  And if a Jew in that age, or the church in this age, rejects or ignores the Scripture that God has given him, then he loses his advantage and in fact he is at greater disadvantage for having ignored that which God provided. In fact, he is even more culpable in the sight of God because he did not take advantage of his privilege.

Then Paul builds on that argument, and says in vs 3, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” The rhetorical question that Paul asks is “what if some of the Jews were unfaithful?  What if some of them did not believe the scriptures? Their unfaithfulness doesn’t nullify the faithfulness of God, does it?” See, the Jews didn’t see faithfulness or belief or obedience as something contingent for God’s blessing.  They were counting on the fact that they were the chosen people of God, and that God’s promises concerning them over rode any consequences to sinfulness.  And so while they might realize that they had been unfaithful, yet they were counting on God keeping His promises concerning them so that they didn’t have anything to worry about.

So Paul answers that question of God’s faithfulness by saying, “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, that Thou might be justified in Thy words, and might prevail when Thou are judged.”

Now Paul is not saying that in spite of their unfaithfulness God will still give the Jews a glorious future, just on the basis that they are Jews. But he is saying that since God is faithful, those Jews that are faithful to Him will receive the fulfillment of the promises.  And I would add to that the promises of God have been kept in regards to the Jews.  The promise to Abraham that from his seed would come a great nation, and that one would come forth in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah. So God was faithful to keep His promises to the Jews.

The fact is that God is faithful. In 2Tim. 2:13 Paul says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” But His faithfulness to perform His promises of blessing is also counterbalanced by His promises to curse.  When God reminded Israel of all the blessings that He had promised concerning the land that they were entering, He also reminded them of the consequences of unbelief.  Deut. 11:26-28  "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:  the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.” So while it may be a comforting thing to consider the faithfulness of God in regards to blessings, it should also be a frightening thing to consider God’s faithfulness to execute His word in regards to judgment.

What Paul is saying in effect, is that the unfaithfulness of the Jews, contrasted with the faithfulness of God, makes God’s truthfulness stand out in sharp relief.  Even if every man  on earth were to say the same thing, if it was against the word of God, then all men are liars, and God is true.  Paul quotes from the prayer of David in Psalm 51, David’s great prayer of repentance after he had sinned with Bathsheba and had been rebuked by Nathan the prophet.  David said, “I confess that I have sinned against You,  “THAT YOU MAY BE PROVED RIGHT IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL IN YOUR JUDGING.”  

David wanted to make his confession and repentance as unconditional as possible, in order that his own unrighteousness might be greater contrasted with the righteousness of God as His judge.  And that is the way we should repent.  Not by making excuses for our sin, but taking full responsibility for it as an affront to God.  Repentance is actually agreeing with God, that I have sinned against God’s word, and I am guilty as charged and worthy of God’s judgment upon me. That’s an important principle to remember; repentance is agreeing with God.  Agreeing that His law is good, and I have transgressed against it and am a sinner, worthy of the punishment that I am due.

But there is yet another extension of that argument that Paul wants to address.  And that is the perverse objection that some men might make,  that as David said if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, then isn’t God being unrighteous for judging me as a sinner?  Listen how Paul phrases it.  Vs 5 “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)” In other words, he is speaking as a man.

We have already determined that man’s unrighteousness contrasts like darkness against the brightness of God’s righteousness.  An example of that may be found at a jewelry store.  They place the diamond ring on a background of black velvet so that the jewelry stands out more brightly in contrast. And that is what Paul is saying here. That man’s unrighteousness causes God’s righteousness to stand out more clearly, and so given that, doesn’t that mean that God is acting unjustly when He judges me for my unrighteousness?  After all, my sin makes His mercy and grace look even better.  

So theological rationalization might say, “I sin because when I sin God forgives and when God forgives He gets glory because forgiveness manifests His glory.  So when I sin it gives God a marvelous opportunity to demonstrate His grace.  When I sin it gives God a marvelous opportunity to show His love and His mercy, therefore my sin does not warrant judgment from God, and any God who would judge me for that sin, is Himself being unloving and unmerciful.” 

Now though that type of thinking actually goes on today in some churches under the guise of antinomianism, it’s a diabolical reasoning which in reality impugns the character of God. And Paul’s objection to that line of reasoning is more than a little indignant.  He says, “May it never be! For otherwise how will God judge the world?”  It’s as if Paul said, “What?  God forbid! God unfair? Shall not the Judge over all the earth deal justly?” Even the Jews must recognize that God will judge the world.  They just wanted to exempt themselves of that judgment.  But as Paul has said, God is true, God is just, and God is holy.  And so His judgment is true, and just, and holy. And God will judge the actions and the motives of all men, according to chapter 2 vs 6, “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

The next set of theological questions that Paul proposes are also the type that a religious man might ask as he tries to vindicate himself before God. Someone might ask in vs 7 “But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? And why not [say] (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? 

Notice that this question is very similar to the previous question in vs 5, “if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?” And vs 7, if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory…” In both cases there is an attack on God’s character and justice. It’s not that dissimilar to the question often asked today, “How could a loving God allow this or that to happen in the world?”  The unspoken assumption is that either He is not a loving God, or He is unjust, unloving, and uncaring. And I’m afraid that proposition is inferred more often than we might like to admit.  We live in an age when we have fabricated a God out of our own imagination.  We have ascribed God’s blessings and benevolence upon ourselves when we have a good day, or when we get a raise, or when we get some material thing we want.  We say, “God blessed me with so and so.”  When in actuality, it’s quite possible that God had nothing to do with it.  

But then conversely, when our prosperity doctrine runs afoul of the reality of life, when people get sick and die, when tragedy strikes, when we lose our job, etc, etc, then don’t we often call into question the goodness and justice and mercy of God?  Don’t we often by implication impugn the character of God when He doesn’t respond to our beck and call?  I suggest we are not much better than these Jews who sought to extricate themselves from the judgment of God by calling God’s justice into question.

The religious man, Paul says, asks, “why am I still being condemned as a sinner?” In fact, he says, why shouldn’t we do evil that good may result?  Why not do evil that good may come? They are presuming upon the grace of God. And notice that Paul indicates that they accuse his gospel of grace as taking advantage of God’s mercy.  So in their argument they are presuming upon God’s mercy and love. They are taking advantage of God.  The only advantage that they actually had was the word of God, the scriptures, the law of God.  That should have been sufficient to call them to repentance so that they may be justified by faith unto salvation.  But they have tried to gain a further advantage.  They have mistaken the mercy of God for leniency. That God shouldn’t really care about sin. And to add further insult, they have insulted His character, by saying that if God were to judge our sin, then He is himself unjust.

In fact, the opposite is true.  Paul says because of their attitude towards their sin, that their condemnation is just.  Their condemnation is deserved, and it is the righteous act of a holy God to judge their sin and condemn them. Their sin is deserving of God’s just judgment, because they have not repented of their sin, but instead want to make excuses for it.  Like the Jews were guilty of doing, It’s a common excuse when we are confronted by our sin to want to compare ourselves with others.  And we seek to find some validation for ourselves by pointing out that others are worse than us.  We’re not as bad as so and so.  We may not be all that righteous, but we still aren’t as bad as those people.  And the Jews, as the prototypical religious person, were good at doing that.  He had the Gentile world living all around him with their blatant idolatry and immorality.  And so he thought that compared to them, he looked pretty good.  

But what Paul reveals about the religious man is that he is actually more in rebellion against God than even the Gentile. Because he had the word of God, and because in his heart he wants to somehow implicate God in his sin. It’s not bad enough that he is a sinner, but he wants to somehow blame God for it, or get God to overlook it, based on the threat that if He doesn’t then God is unrighteous. And as Paul says, for such a religious person, their condemnation is just, it is doubly deserved.

And I think along with that thought is the objection that is heard far too often today when people are confronted with their sin.  And that is to say, “Well, God made me the way I am.”  And I think that this attitude is reflected in Paul’s argument as well. But that too is a lie.  Let God be true, though every man be a liar.  When God made man He said it was good.  Everything that God made was good. But man chose sin and thus incurred upon himself the condemnation of sin, and the judgment of sin which is death.  One instance of rebellion opened up a Pandora’s box of every conceivable sin that progressively corrupts a man until he is totally corrupted.  So God didn’t make you the way you are, sin made you the way you are.  And sin deserves the judgment of God, that we may agree with God, “You are justified in your words, that you might prevail in your judging.”

But man’s unrighteousness does not annul the faithfulness of God.  God’s mercy triumphs over judgment.  God has provided an antidote for sin and for the condemnation that all men are under.  And that antidote is appropriated by first recognizing that you are a sinner, that you deserve the judgment of God, and by faith to trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that He has taken your place under God’s judgement for your sin.  He took the lashes that were due to you.  He took the suffering of the cross that was due for you.  He died the death that was due to you so that you might be given the mercy and grace of God.  That you might be saved. 

Today the Lifeguard is calling out to you to take the buoy of salvation which He is offering to you. Do you recognize that you are perishing?  If so, then I urge you to take it and receive Him as your Savior and Lord. 

Condemning false security, Romans 2:17-29

Romans 2:17 to 29 deals with the subject of false security. The idea of false security is illustrated by the attitude of the people who set sail on the Titanic.  They believed that the ship was unsinkable. And yet history shows that their security was ill founded. The sinking of the Titanic was the greatest maritime disaster because they failed to recognize that they had a false security.  And so even though telling someone that they have a false security may not always be welcome news, yet it actually can be the means of their salvation. 

Now Paul has been addressing up to this point the fact that all men are guilty as sinners before God, and will be condemned at the day of judgment.  He has shown in chapter 1 that the pagan is guilty of sin, and in chapter 2 that the moral man is guilty of sin.  And now he is going to show that the religious man, as exemplified by the Jews, is guilty before God.  But ironically, the Jews considered themselves spiritually secure. They considered themselves the chosen people of God, and in that false security they thought they were exempt from the coming judgment.

So the kind of security that Paul is referencing here in this passage is spiritual security; having confidence in your eternal destiny, especially in light of what he has just said about the judgment which is to come.  And I think that spiritual security is considered important in our age as well.  Even though a commitment to organized Christianity may be on a downward trend, yet there is still an intrinsic desire on the part of many people for some sort of spiritual security; either through religion, or through one of the many varieties of new age spiritualism that is out there.

However, to be more precise, the kind of false security that Paul is talking about in this section was typified by the Jews of his day. They claimed spiritual security because of three things; they were dependents of Abraham, they were the possessors of the law, and they had the sign or seal of circumcision.  And while it’s important for us to understand the spiritual dynamic of these people that Paul was writing about, it’s by extension applicable to the church today as well.  Many people in our country claim spiritual security by nature of three things which correlate with those of the Jews.  Many people claim security on the basis of their nationality.  America claims to be a Christian nation under God.  They believe that God has chosen America to be the beneficiary of His blessings and benevolence.  

Secondly, just as Israel believed it was privileged by virtue of the fact that it possessed the law, the scriptures, so Americans feel that they are entitled to spiritual security due to the fact that the Bible has played such a vital part in our history, and we literally have a church on almost every street corner.  Though any real basis for it is debatable, we believe that our constitution and our founding as a country is based on the Bible and on the tenets of Christianity.   

And thirdly, just as the Jews depended upon the sign of circumcision as proof of their belonging to God, so do many people today rely upon baptism or Communion as evidence of being a Christian.  And in the same way, many churches teach that observing these “sacraments” is a means of obtaining righteousness.

So what Paul does here in this passage is debunk these strongholds of Jewish faith in order to show that there is none that are righteous, not even the Jews.  And by extension we may see that today as well, there is none that are righteous on the basis of religion, or nationality, or ceremony.

Another thing that Paul illustrates here is the principle espoused earlier in this epistle, which is that those who have been entrusted with greater revelation will be judged with a stricter judgment.  And the fact that the Jews had been entrusted with the traditions of the patriarchs, and had been entrusted with the Law and the Prophets, only served to condemn them even more, rather than being the source of their escape from judgment.

So he begins in vs 17 by attacking them on the basis of their heritage as a Jew.  And for the first time, Paul uses the word Jew.  Interestingly, the word Jew is derived from the name Judah, who was the son of Jacob.  And literally, Jew meant “praised.”  But rather than seeing their heritage, having been chosen by God, as something for which to praise God, they had turned it around to praising or glorifying themselves as something special.  As if they had some special characteristic that enamored them to God, rather than humbled by the fact that God had chosen them as the beneficiaries of His grace. 

So in vs 17 Paul begins by saying, “But if you bear the name "Jew" and rely upon the Law and boast in God…”  The name Jew indicates their nationality. It’s comparable to us calling ourselves Americans. Their boasting was not from the perspective of biology, or even race.  After all, all men have descended from one human family, which was Adam and Eve, and then from Noah after the flood. And even Abraham fathered different nationalities.  The Jews though claimed a special heritage from the fact that God promised Abraham to make from his seed a chosen people of God, who would be blessed in a special way from God, but who would also end up blessing the nations of the earth.  So they are not claiming racial superiority per se, but they were claiming preferential treatment as a result of God’s grace to Abraham and His promises to Abraham.

But Paul is addressing the fact that they boasted in the name Jew because they thought they were better than everyone else.  They felt they were superior.  And you can see that evidenced in verse 17, where it says they make their boast of God.  They were boasting that they were superior because God had chosen them.

And I think a lot of people in America today have the same attitude.  Many think that God gives us as Americans a greater portion of His grace because we live in the United States.  That being Americans makes us special in God’s eyes. And you can see this illustrated in the prosperity gospel prevalent in many churches.  They think that Christians can claim a high paying job, a luxurious  house,  new cars in the driveway and all the trappings of American prosperity.  But they fail to recognize that the God of America is also the same God of China.  And Chinese Christians can’t claim the same prosperity that Americans can claim, can they?  Why is that?  Because we deserve it, because we live in America?  I tell you no, but rather we are worthy of a greater condemnation, because we have been privileged with the truth for so long, and yet we have not been obedient to the truth.

The second security the Jews had was their possession of the law. Vs. 17 says that you rely on the law.  And their confidence was that they were secure because they had that knowledge of the scriptures. But as I said earlier, that knowledge of the law just made them more culpable.  Now there are four points that Paul makes here, what they learned, what they taught, what they did, and what they caused with that knowledge of the law. 

First, what did they learn? The law refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, what we call the Pentateuch.  That represents the law in it’s entirety. But the fact is, they rested in their possession of it, rather than in their keeping of it.  So even though they didn’t keep it, nevertheless they had a sense of security because they possessed it. They were privileged to be the custodians of God’s word.

And then they also went a step further.  Verse 18, “and know [His] will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law.”  They were boasting about resting in the law and about knowing God's will.  But to know God's will doesn't mean anything except you’re more responsible if you don't do it.  They knew what God approved of, and what He didn’t approve of.  They knew what God commanded us to do, and what He commanded us not to do.  But knowing His will just made them more accountable to God.

Third, he says they approved the things that are essential. This has the sense of being an arbiter of right and wrong.  That kind of goes back to vs 1, where they are someone who judges those who sin, but in fact they are guilty of doing the same things.

Fourth, their security relied upon “being instructed out of the law.” This word instructed is the word from which we get “catechism.”  It’s a series of questions and answers for the purpose of learning.  We read from the Westminster Shorter Catechism last week.  And while such things can be helpful as a tool for learning, they can also be a means of false security. There are a lot of ministers of churches that rest upon their seminary degrees, but fail to rest upon the truth of the gospel.  So it’s one thing to say you believe something, it’s another thing to act upon that belief. The Jews relied upon the fact that they had been catechized in the law, in their oral traditions, in attending the regular synagogue services.  But that knowledge did not affect the way that they lived.  It was a head knowledge that didn’t reach their heart.

So they felt secure in their knowledge of the law.  But Paul says that there is no security in that, just a greater condemnation.  And for the church today, you may know the tenets of the gospel, you may know the facts concerning Jesus’s death and resurrection, but it’s what you do about it that is what matters.  I want to emphasize the point that we are called to be followers of Jesus Christ.  We are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  We are called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  It’s not just a head knowledge, but an obedience to the truth that is the basis for our faith.

The second means of their security is not just a knowledge of the law, but the fact that they considered themselves teachers of the law.  Vs.19 and 20, “and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,  a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.” 

So there are four ways in which they thought that their teaching of the law was a means of spiritual security. First he says they were confident that they were a guide to the blind.  Blindness in the scripture has often symbolized spiritual blindness.  And what Paul indicates here is that the Jews were blind guides for the blind. In Matthew 15, the Pharisees were trying to instruct the disciples about how they needed to wash their hands, which was a ceremonial type of washing, before eating.  And Jesus said concerning them in vs14 "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” So they thought they could see well enough to lead the blind, but in fact they were blind themselves.

Secondly, Paul says that they considered themselves a light to those in the darkness. Now that was supposed to be something that the Jews were to do.  It says in Isaiah 42:6 that “I have appointed you as a light to the Gentiles.” But though they sought out and tried to convert those in darkness, they failed to provide the light of truth that would truly set men free.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:15, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

The third thing about their teaching was they considered themselves a teacher of the foolish. I think in that reprimand Paul is indicating their arrogance.  They thought they were wise and everyone else was fools.  They were proud and condescending because of what had been entrusted to them.

Fourthly, he says they considered themselves as a teacher of the immature. This would refer to the teaching of recent converts to Judaism.  But as James says, let not many of you become teachers, for as such you will incur a stricter judgment upon yourselves.  The fact that they thought they were teachers was only adding judgment upon themselves.

Then starting in vs21, Paul gives a series of rebuttals to their arrogance and security they had because they were teachers of the law.  “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?  You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?  You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” I think that the implication here is that they were breaking the law in covert ways, all the while appearing to be a teacher of the law.  For instance, the law said that it was wrong to divorce, yet the Jews in teaching that law made so many allowances for it, that according to Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, they were causing people to commit adultery by allowing them to remarry.

The simple summary of what Paul is saying here is “don’t you practice what you preach?” I think this is the classic criticism of Christianity by the world.  The world’s greatest criticism of the church is that we don’t practice what we preach.  Now I cannot judge the teaching and actions of every church, or every Christian.  But it certainly seems a valid criticism.  And it goes back to what I mentioned while ago in regards to the principle that we are to not just know the truth, or teach the truth, but we are to be obedient to the truth.  We are to be followers of the truth.  Not just purveyors of it.  And that is what Paul is rebuking the Jews for doing. 

So rather than their life and teaching bringing people to God, Paul says that their lifestyle caused God to be blasphemed among the Gentiles. Vs.24: “For ‘THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,’ just as it is written.”  Paul is loosely quoting from Isaiah 52:4 in this statement.  And what that refers to is that their lifestyle was such that rather than causing people to come to their God, they instead blasphemed God because of their actions.  And this is the ultimate indictment against disobedience.  Because it puts a stumbling block in the way of others who might follow you in the way of truth to salvation in Christ.  But instead, as they watch your life, they find themselves despising your hypocrisy, to the point of not wanting anything to do with Christianity if that’s the sort of people that populate the church.

Another aspect of that is the Jews caused the world to blaspheme God because they saw a people oppressed and chastened by the Lord because of their sin.  The Jews were a people that were to be praised.  They were the chosen people of God.  They had the promises of their father Abraham as their heritage.  And yet they repeatedly despised the covenant of God.  They repeatedly turned to foreign gods, to love foreign wives, to take after the customs of the world. And so God had to repeatedly chastise them.  Eventually, God chastised them to the point that the 10 tribes were lost, and only Judah and Benjamin remained.  And even then, they lived under subjugation to the Romans.  They certainly lost the glory that should have been theirs because of their disobedience.  And so in deriding the state of Israel, the Gentiles blasphemed their God, because they associated a nation’s power with their gods, and it was apparent to the Gentile world that Israel was powerless against it’s enemies.  And so by extension, they assume that the Jewish God was powerless.  And in that way they blasphemed God.  They brought shame on their God by their disobedient lives.

In a similar way, the church can bring shame upon the name of Christ if we are not obedient to His will.  If our lifestyles deny our Lord, then that causes the world to blaspheme the name of Christ, because they see Him as powerless to affect our lives or our circumstances.  When in fact, all power for godly living has been given to us in salvation.  As the scripture says in Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  We that have been saved have been given the power of God, the Spirit of God, to live within us, that we might be able to walk in His statues, and observe His ordinances.  In other words, the Spirit of God within us gives us the power over sin, and to live a godly life that glorifies God.  But it requires a willingness to be obedient and a desire to be obedient and to follow Him, carrying the cross upon which our flesh is crucified. But when we live for the flesh, we deny that power, and we bring shame upon the name of Christ.

There is one last security which the Jews depended upon, and that was the security they found in ceremony. Vs.25-27, Paul says, “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.  So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter [of the Law] and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?”  Paul is arguing here that the Jews cannot make the case for their spiritual security on the basis of circumcision.  Paul says that the ritual or ceremony of circumcision  without obedience to God’s law is of no value to them.  The same can be said of baptism or of communion if we were to compare the Jews situation to the modern church. As signs and seals of God’s covenant these things have value, but only when accompanied by obedience.

Paul is saying that the circumcision which for the Jew was thought to be a deciding factor in his spiritual condition was the same as being uncircumcised if there was no obedience to the law. There is no righteousness given on the basis of a ritual or ceremony. And in a similar respect, Paul says that an uncircumcised man who keeps the law is the same in God’s sight as a circumcised man. And rather than the circumcised Jew being the arbiter of law and the judge, Paul says that the uncircumcised man who keeps the law will condemn the Jew, who though they are the custodians of the law, yet they do not keep it.

Rituals and ceremonies are not a means of salvation, and neither are they a security of your eternal destiny.  All of these are merely outward symbols of what must be accomplished on the inside - in the heart.  The Jews taught that father Abraham stood at the gates of Hades to make sure that no circumcised man entered into hell.  But Paul here states that circumcision is nothing without obedience to the law and in fact says he will be judged by the uncircumcised man.

And that leads us to his last statement in this argument, found in vs 28, 29. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  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.”  This statement must have been such a stinging rebuke to the proud Jew who took his stand on the possession of the law.  To hear that he was not a real Jew, but the uncircumcised man who was obedient from the heart was the real Jew in the sight of God must have been a hard thing for him to hear.

Paul is saying that your spiritual security is not based on your nationality, or on your race, or your biology.  But it’s a matter of your heart. The heart refers to the seat of your emotions, will, and intellect.  It’s the origin of your desires.  So secondly he says that it is not outward ceremony that matters, or external things, but being circumcised in the heart, by the Spirit of God.  And Paul makes the same point that Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount, which is that it is the spirit of the law that is important, not just the letter of the law.

And for that Jew that is circumcised in heart, Paul says, there will be praise.  That is a play on words.  As I mentioned earlier, the name Jew means praise.  And so these circumcised Jews that desired praise from men because of their self righteousness, because of their arrogant possession of the law, would instead see the praise from God go to those who were circumcised in their hearts.  

To be circumcised in the heart means a cutting away of the flesh so that you might live in the Spirit. That is what was promised in Ezekiel 36. God says, ”Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  I would ask you today to examine yourselves in light of this passage Paul wrote to the Jews.  Examine yourself to see if you are staking your eternal security on things like national heritage, or ceremony, or church attendance. The real test is whether or not the Spirit of God has removed the dead flesh which is sin within your heart, so that you have a desire to do the things of God.  If that is not your experience, then I urge you today to call out to the Lord the prayer of David, “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.” 

The Judgment of God, Romans 2:11-16

In Hebrews chapter one the author quotes a Psalm concerning the nature of the Messiah, who is Jesus Christ. And at the beginning of that book, he states that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His nature.  So then what the Psalmist says about Jesus is also true of God.  The Psalmist says in Psalm 45:6-7 “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness (or justice) is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.”

Justice is a primary aspect of God’s character, and thus judgment is a primary extension of His character.  Justice, or the judgment of God is not a character trait that we like to focus on.  We would much rather focus on the more benevolent aspects of God’s character like love and mercy. But understanding that God is a holy God of justice and righteousness is paramount for a true knowledge of God, and to be able to worship God in spirit and in truth.  Our faith must be informed through the truth about God and founded on the  knowledge of God as revealed in His word. 

So, God’s justice and righteousness results in HIs judgment against sin.  This subject of God’s judgment is something that Paul is addressing here in the first three chapters particularly, and he wants us to fully understand this doctrine of human sin and God’s judgment against it.  He wants to make sure that when it is all said and done, we will take refuge in nothing other than the mercy of God and the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is applied to our account by grace through faith.  He wants to make sure that we do not hold on to some measure of self righteousness or assurance due to what we think are our own merits, but will fully trust in the righteousness of our Savior.

The principle of justice reminds me of the story from many years ago of the very fashionable lady who went to a photographer to have her picture taken. She thought she was very good looking, but she really was not. She struck her best pose and said to the photographer, "Now, young man, I want you to do me justice." And he said, "Lady, what you need is not justice, but mercy." And so also in this passage, what Paul shows us is that we are all deserving of God’s justice, but thank God that mercy has triumphed over judgment, because if we got what we deserved, we would all receive the condemnation of death.

God’s justice and His mercy must both be satisfied.  And justice and mercy are satisfied in Jesus Christ.  As the Psalmist says in Ps.85:10, “Mercy and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed together.” God’s justice against sin was poured out on Jesus Christ, that He might show mercy towards sinners.

Now we have already seen in the first chapter that man in his human nature is born in sin, and sin totally corrupts, and thus men are totally depraved and deserving of the judgment of God. To summarize the end of the first chapter, Paul says starting in vs28 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,  being filled with all unrighteousness,(he then goes on to describe that unrighteousness) and then concludes in vs 32 saying, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”  So Paul says that they are worthy of God’s judgment against their sin, and that judgment is death.

Then in chapter 2,  Paul includes in that judgement those who judge others as sinners while they themselves are guilty of doing the same things. Rom 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.  And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.” So he is saying that even those who recognize sin and  think they are morally superior to those who blatantly sin, are guilty of doing the same things themselves.  And so all men are sinners.

However, even though Paul wants to deal with man’s condemnation and God’s righteous judgment against sin, yet he cannot help but give a brief glimpse of God’s mercy which is salvation.  Paul says in ch.2 vs 4 that God gives time for the sinner to repent.  And we spent a lot of time last Sunday talking about the fact that the kindness of God is expressed as patience - intended to produce in sinners repentance so that they will escape the judgment that is coming upon the world.  

Then Paul goes on to reemphasize that the judgment is coming and that it is the due penalty  of God’s justice against sin. He says in vs5 “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, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.” 

And in that statement, that God will render to each person according to His deeds, Paul changes gears in his argument.  He now begins to delineate God’s judgment on the deeds of the unrighteous as opposed to the deeds of the righteous.  Those who do good, he says get eternal life.  Those who do evil, get wrath.  And Paul adds, there is no partiality with God.  He doesn’t judge on the basis of race, or religion or position, or prestige, but he bases His judgment on their deeds.

In John 5 verse 28, Jesus said, “Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice and shall come forth.  They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life.  And they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”  Jesus is saying exactly what Paul says here, that judgment will be made on the basis of their works. 

Now good works are not the means of salvation. Salvation is a gift of God, not on the basis of our works but on the basis of God’s mercy.  But good works are the evidence of salvation for in Eph.2:9 where it says “not by works lest any man should boast,” the next verse says, “we were created for good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”  So our works are the evidence of our faith by which God will judge. Romans 3:23 says, the wages of sin is death.  And in Romans 1:17 it says, the just shall live by faith (obedience to faith).  So you have two outcomes, one for works of sin, resulting in damnation, and one for works of righteousness, resulting in life.

What Paul then is going to show here in the remaining verses of chapter 2, is that the people that considered themselves righteous, namely the Jews, because they had the law and they had been taught the law, they were in fact guilty of sin.  This argument is going to conclude in chapter 3 vs 10, that “there is none righteous, no not one.”  Both the Jew and the Gentile are sinners.  Both the religious and the pagan are sinners.  Both the moral man and the unmoral are sinners.  And so all men are sinners, all are lost, all are going to be held accountable for their sins, and they will be judged at the last judgment, and that judgment is eternal death.

Now, notice in verse 12, then, we have two distinct groups of people.  First of all, “As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law.” What law is he talking about?  The law of God, the Mosaic law.  He is describing Gentiles who did not have the written Scripture. Most people who have lived on this earth have not had the law of God.  They have not had the written Scripture.  And so the question is, what about them?  Will God judge them when they never had the law?  Yes, Paul says, but He’ll judge them as those who have never had the law. Vs 12, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law.”  So the punishment for sin is still the same, death is the wages of sin.  And he has already made it clear that they knew that they were guilty of sin even though they did not have the written law.

But there is another group in vs 12, and that is those who had the law. “And all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.”  This refers to those who had the Word of God, particularly referencing Israel who knew the truth of God.  But it also can be related to people today who sit in the church, people who know the truth, people who are in a Christian society.  They will be judged according to the greater light that they received. 

Someone came to Charles Haddon Spurgeon one time and said, "The Bible is the light of the world." Mr. Spurgeon objected. He said, "No; how can the Bible be the light of the world when the world never reads the Bible?" "The Bible," he said, "is the light of the church. The Christian is the light of the world. The world reads the Christian, not the Bible." 

So the argument with Paul’s reasoning then that might have been made, in fact, it still may be made today, is;  “We who have been the custodians of the scriptures, we should have the higher honor, not the greater condemnation.  We who have possessed the law should be protected from God’s wrath.”  And today someone might say, “I’ve gone to church all my life, I’ve been  religious, I possess a Bible. Why should I be condemned along with the pagan?”  

And Paul gives the answer in vs 13,  “for [it is] not the hearers of the Law [who] are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”  James says something similar in James 1:22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” God’s law doesn’t protect hearers from judgment.  No, in fact the more they hear, the greater the judgment. 

Jesus said in Luke 12:48 “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”  So the principle is that the more you know of God’s law, the more it intensifies the judgment unless it is obeyed.

But here’s the conundrum: you can’t obey the law in your own strength.  And so Paul’s argument literally backs them into a corner. He says, you’re constantly hearing the law but you don’t do it.  And so there is a judgment against you.  As verse 13 says,  the doer of the law shall be justified, not the hearer. 

So the righteousness and justice of God requires perfect obedience.  God requires a manifestation of righteousness but no one can do that.  Thus, the law is meant to drive us to a recognition of our need for a Savior, and to cause us to recognize our hopelessness so that we turn to God for the power to do what we otherwise couldn’t do.  To see our need to be born again, to be made into a new creation whereby we have the power within us to do works of righteousness.

So Paul says the Jew, or the person who possessed the law is under condemnation because though they knew the law, they couldn’t keep it.  Then what about that pagan?  What about that the person who never read the law of God, never read Scripture, never heard the gospel?  Can you condemn them for not obeying the written word? 

Paul answers that objection as well in vs 14. “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,  in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”  What Paul is saying is simply this:  You do not have to have the written law to be responsible because you have a law within you manifest in your behavior, manifest in your conscience, and manifest in your thinking patterns.

Paul has given us four reasons why the pagan is lost.  Reason #1, creation. Rom 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” 

Reason #2 the pagan is lost is because of conduct.  Ch.2 vs 14, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves.”  In other words, they don’t have an outside law, but they have an internal law that makes them a law unto themselves and it is manifest in their conduct.  Pagans naturally recognize certain things which are in the law.  Their conduct shows that they recognize right and wrong.

For instance, unbelievers recognize it is right to pay their debts. They know that children should honor their parents.  Unbelievers may love their wives, or husbands and they love and care for their children. They recognize that it’s wrong to kill.  There are many unbelievers who know it’s good to feed the hungry, who would help a man who was sick or a woman who was sick.  Pagans recognize that it’s right to tell the truth.  They may seek after justice.  They may struggle for fairness. All of these things, their conduct,  reveal an internal human code of ethics that is the law within them.

There is a third reason why the heathen are lost and that is conscience. Vs15, “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Conscience means co-knowledge. 

And conscience is something in you that recognizes what’s right.  It refers to a person’s inner sense of right and wrong, the moral consciousness that pronounces judgment on thoughts and attitudes and speech and deeds. I read a quote by an 19th century theologian by the name of William Arnot the other day.  And though he was speaking of the difference between a believer and an unbeliever, I think that there is a principle in his statement that applies to conscience as well.  He said, “The difference between an unconverted man and a converted man is not that one has sins and the other has none, but that the one takes [sides] with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes [sides] with a reconciled God against his hated sins.”  Now what he is getting at is this agreement with God, this recognition that we have about our sins which is in agreement with God.  

And I suppose that principle is applicable to the idea of conscience as well.  It is something within us that is given by God, which recognizes wrong doing and thus is in agreement with God in regards to it as sin. There’s a thought process in you that knows right and knows wrong and deals with you when you violate it. And that inner law is in agreement with the law of God. 

So the unbelievers are lost because of creation, conduct, conscience, and lastly, they are lost because of contemplation. Paul says in vs 14, “their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” In other words, there is in us the capacity to contemplate or to reason and to determine what someone does is right or wrong.

That’s why we have a system of justice in our country, and in fact, all civilized countries have a justice system.  Because we have the capacity to accuse or excuse behavior on the basis of law. They know that there should be, or needs to be punishment to fit the crime. So all of these four reasons, creation, conduct, conscience and contemplation all show that the law of God has been instilled within them. And so they have no excuse.  Because if they would just respond to the light that they are given, then God would give them more light, even to the point of receiving the full light of Jesus Christ so that they would be saved from their condemnaton.

Now there is a final aspect of God’s judgment that we will look at this morning briefly, and that is found in vs.16.  God will not only judge on the basis of men’s deeds, but on the basis of their motives.  God will judge on the basis not only of what a man’s deeds are but what his reasons were. And at this point, I’m afraid, is where most of our works of righteousness which we think we can claim become undone - on the basis of our motives. Even our works of righteousness are as filthy rags because we do them with impure motives.  Paul says in vs.16 “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

So the secrets of a man are bound up in his heart.  But God sees the heart.  He knows our motivations.  Jesus said in Matt. 15:18-19 "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”  

Jeremiah 17:10 puts it this way:  “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind even to give to each according to his ways, according to the result of his deeds.”  Yes, God judges deeds.  Yes, He judges ways.  But He judges the motive behind them as well. 

James says in chapter 4 vs 3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend [it] on your pleasures.”  God knows the motives of our hearts, and He will judge us according to our motives.  You either do what you do for the glory of God or you do it for the glory of man. 

I believe that what Paul is indicating here is that it’s possible to do good deeds with bad motives.  I think we see that in Christendom all the time.  That was the recurring sin of the Pharisee in Jesus’s day.  And it’s the prototypical sin of the church today.  It’s hypocrisy. The sin of impure motives.  Someone said once, that the the sin of hypocrisy is failing to live up to the truth that you claim to have.  And that seems to be true.

Paul reemphasizes in vs 16, that there is going to be a day of judgment.  “On the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”  Jesus said in Luke 8:17 "For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor [anything] secret that will not be known and come to light.”   God will judge all men, and all deeds, on that day of judgment.  All things will be revealed, even the thoughts and motives of men’s hearts. 

2Cor. 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

If your sin hasn’t been dealt with before that day by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, if you haven’t confessed Jesus as Lord and accepted His sacrifice on your behalf and His payment for your sin, then you are storing up wrath against the day of wrath.  There’s going to be a judgment from God that will cause you to be cast out of His presence forever into the Lake of Fire. And no one will escape that judgment unless they can claim Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  He alone has satisfied the justice and righteousness of God, that He might show mercy to those who are under judgment. I pray that you have claimed His righteousness and His sacrifice on your behalf that you might not be condemned with the world.