Studying His Word and His Works

Listen here: Romans 2:17-29

Read here: Romans 2

• Review
  • Romans 2:1-16 is about all those sins described in Chapter 1, and how God shows no partiality(v. 11). Whether Jew like Paul or Gentile. God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (v. 4), not as an excuse for further sins. Our default, our inborn nature, is to behave like hoarders of unrighteousness goods. Storing them up like some kind of “unrighteous savings account,” which God will judge us for. And then, render to each one according to the size of our account (v. 6). Wrath and fury, tribulation and distress (v. 8-9) are for the unrepentant, hardened hearts of Ch. 1. Glory, honor, peace for the repentant, v 10.
• Verses 17-20
  • With all this talk about law keeping, Sproul notes in his commentary that we spend a lot of time measuring ourselves against the social customs of our culture. Those can become a “law” to us. We tend to use culture as our standard instead of God, and in so doing, fail to feel the weight of God’s law. Paul describes this in 2 Cor 10:12. The folly of comparing ourselves to others. But if we measure ourselves against God’s perfect righteousness, we find ourselves lacking and in need of a Savior. 
  • One problem though is that we would rather measure others, not ourselves. We are the hypocrites described in Romans 2:3. In Satan’s small playbook of deception, here are two questions he might tempt us with:
    • Doesn’t God want you to be conformed to other people, not Him?
    • Shouldn’t you be more focused on how everyone else is conforming to Him?
  • As we finish Chapter 2, I sense Paul is writing about himself, for before God saved him and he was known as Saul, he was a zealous Jew and keeper of the law. Imagine being so focused on rule keeping that you miss the point of the rules and the story behind them. It would be like a football coach that was so focused on rulekeeping that he forgot the point of the game was to win. That was Saul, he missed the point that, in the end, believers win. Victory is for the faithful and humble and repentant believer.
  • The law Paul describes here is more than the 10 commandments, or moral law. It is all the Jewish laws, known as the “holiness code.” It includes Old Testament case law, which Sproul says further reveals God’s character and how we fall short. The law is there to reveal the impossibility of our righteousness apart from God. 
    • No other nation had such a clear picture of who God was than the Jews.
      • All other nations form laws, some connected to their religion, like Islam and many pagan religions like the old kapu system in Hawaii. These are attempts to know God and follow his precepts, but only the God of the Bible is directing people towards the true God. Everything else is a facade, a false representation of truth.
    • As Christians today, we also have a “form of godliness” , but we tend to deny His power (2 Tim 3:5). We don’t want to be outward “doers” only. In fact Paul says “avoid such people” who prioritize outward appearances and checking off boxes and approval before men. Instead, we should make God’s priorities our priorities. Repent and believe (Mark 1:15). Love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Those are God’s priorities.
• Verses 21-23
  • Paul writes a list of questions regarding the 10 commandments as well as Jewish law. Paul is noting that Jews (and us) have the law, but what are we doing with it? Are we just using it to point out the faults of others? Is rule-keeping a Holy Spirit driven response to faithfulness, to Christ in us? In other words, what is the priority, faithfulness or rule-keeping?
• Verse 24
  • Paul is talking about how the Gentiles see the Jews who boast in the law but break it. In our day, think of hypocrites, or how the world says “The church is full of hypocrites.”
    • YES, the church is full of hypocrites, so what do we say to that?
      • Sproul has a great response: “yes it is, and there’s always room for one more.”
      • Also, “If you find a perfect church, don’t join it, you’ll ruin it.” 
      • People who say “the church is full of hypocrites” don’t realize they are hypocrites, too! By saying “the church is full of hypocrites”, that is their form of godliness, while denying its power (2 Tim 3:5). They don’t realize they are hypocrites too. It is like the weakest argument, ever, for not going to church. 
      • Sproul reminds that “being a sinner is the first qualification for joining a church.” 
    • Pray for a church that knows they are hypocrites, and with humility seeks forgiveness and repentance and sanctification.  
    • As sinners, it is good for us to not go along with the world, but walk in a way that the world knows Who we are ambassadors for. If that makes worldly people uncomfortable, that’s on them, but treat them with as much aloha as possible and do what you can to avoid assisting them in their blaspheming of God. And of course, “do what you can” means living out a John 3:30 “He must increase, I must decrease” mindset, letting go of yourself and letting Him lead.
• Verses 25-29
  • If there is one thing God could have people do to test their loyalty, circumcision would probably be it! One slip up, and the promise of offspring is over. Yikes. But, circumcision was the sign that God gave His people of His covenant promise. Perhaps, one point of using circumcision was to show us our inborn unrighteousness, and how we could turn even an extreme test of loyalty into mere ritual and rule-keeping. Doing it as a way to “fit in” with others, while missing the point of God’s faithfulness and it’s connection to their own faithfulness.
    • Sproul gives another explanation for the question of “why circumcision.” One time, while teaching on this passage, a student commented how “primitive and obscene” it is. Sproul responded “Yes! It is obscene. It is something for all people, something the most primitive and base society could relate to, and it is obscene because sin is obscene.” No better word to describe what sin is. 
  • Sproul wrote that when God called Abraham out of Mesopotamian paganism, God promised to be Abraham’s God and to make him father of a great nation (Gen 22:17). As part of the promise, God required circumcision, an outward sign of the covenant between God and his people, made for both adults and children. 
    • Today, we are in the new covenant, where baptism has replaced circumcision.  
    • To understand Romans 2:25-29, it helps to look deeper into history and to see that Genesis 15:6 is the first clear teaching of justification by faith alone: “And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
    • Paul reminds Roman Christians that the outward sign of circumcision, the thing they were boasting in as Jewish believers, is also the very thing that condemns them as covenant breakers. 
      • But, the same can be said of baptism. It doesn’t save anybody. Baptism is an outward sign, too. In baptism, we are acknowledging our trust in what God promises to do inwardly.
        • Sproul asks: “Do we possess the spiritual reality that the sign points to?” That is what Paul is saying to the Jew, who was circumcised. Think about it; the people who crucified Jesus were circumcised. Paul, who approved of murdering Christians before he was saved, was circumcised. Having the sign and having the faith are different things.
    • Reductionism is what philosophers and scientists do when they use general ideas or mechanisms to describe a more complicated reality. While reductionism has its uses, it can also be misused. Like when we would rather be lazy sinners than think critically about something.
      • In the context of Romans 2:25-29, we see reductionism in the lazy desire to do rituals without the inward change of a truly repentant heart. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Belief saved Abraham. The outward sign should be a reflection, not a replacement of such inward belief. Signs and symbols and washings don’t save us, Jesus saves. It is the outward representing the inward, not an “outward only” or “inward only” thing. Reductionism says “pick one or the other.” The gospel says it is “both/and”. Reductionism leads to facade. The gospel leads to faith.
• Looking forward: All of this talk of sin and our unrighteousness is hard, but we want to “embrace the pounding.” Take it, let it humble, shape, transform, and cleanse. More pounding to come in Chapter 3, but good news is coming!
• Click here for Romans 3:1-8.