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.”
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