Romans 2:17-24
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Exodus 20:7, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
Paul has clearly stated the case that everyone has the idea of right and wrong so that not having the Law of Moses or The Bible is no excuse. Now he turns to those who have the Scripture and shows that they are likewise under sin.
Paul says Jew, not Israelite because he is speaking to the Jews in Rome. Jew from Judah, which signifies that remnant of the nation God took out of Egypt that went into Babylon and then returned. Judah and Benjamin and some of Levi and not much else of the original twelve tribes returned to Canaan, historically speaking. But in Rome many were probably gentile converts to Judaism that have become Christians, so we’re talking about religious/ideological Judaism more than historic or genealogical. This is identification/ alignment with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is taking the name of the LORD. The same applies to Christians.
The Law is excellent but it tells us in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Their faith was misplaced upon the letter of the law instead of the Spirit who wrote the law. Knowing what the Bible says does not save us. Knowing the savior saves us.
If you know all about all the wonderful things God has done and are proud of your identification with Him without knowing him, it’s like taking a lot of pride in a sports team but never playing the sport. Vicarious engagement is not real engagement.
If you know that God wants to save everyone that knowledge cannot save. Approving of right things won’t save you, God doesn’t need your approval. Knowing all the ins and outs of religion can’t save you.
A man may be well skilled in the controversies of religion, and yet a stranger to the power of godliness. –M. Henry. Knowledge or education won’t save you. Even knowledge of God’s word won’t save you.
Confidence is another synonym for trust or faith. This is another accusation of misplaced faith. Confidence is only as good as its object.
1Corinthians 8:1b, “knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”
Philippians 3:3, “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh”
Self-confidence, self-faith, making oneself one’s own idol is not the way.
Matthew 15:14, “Leave them; they are blind guides.If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
A guide without a destination is a worthless guide. A teacher with no real relationship with Christ has no destination anyone ought to follow them to.
We are not the light, Jesus is the light.
John 8:12, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Isaiah 9:2, “The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
We cannot offer to correct sinners when we are ourselves helpless against sin. Apart from Christ we are helplessly enslaved to sin and death.
Matthew 7:5, “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
If we are self-assured that we are wise, we are in danger.
Proverbs 26:12, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
While ignorance of the law is no excuse, possession of the law is no guarantee of righteousness.
Romans 7:10-11, “And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.”
The law had become an idol. The Bible does not save us by itself. Just having a Bible earns no merit. We must have Jesus himself because Jesus is the embodiment of knowledge and the whole of the truth.
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Here comes the application.You know, even if only by example, we are all teachers. Nobody likes a hypocrite, especially hypocrites. Preaching that is not followed up by practice is just noise. If Paul’s point is that everyone is a sinner then he is sealing off all the exits here.
Do not steal is one of the Ten Commandments. Stealing need not be bank robbing it can be overcharging or laziness. It can be failure to give God the glory due His name.
Do not commit adultery is another one of the Ten Commandments. About this Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The overt action is sin but the sin begins in the heart.
There’s an irony to shunning all the obvious things but falling into a trap of idolizing self.
Using the trappings of religion for self-aggrandizement.
1Corinthians 4:7, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
The fact of lawbreaking has been established. Boasting in having the Law but breaking that same Law dishonors God. It’s an odd kind of boasting that dishonors the object of the boast. Not that anything can impugn the honor of God but when people look for answers to life’s questions do they look to us?
Ezekiel 36:23, “And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.”
brotherpayne 