Romans 2:17-29 Chosen
The Jews were chosen by God to be the people through whom would come the savior. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then the patriarchs led to Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt by Moses and led them into the promised land by Joshua. The nation was split into northern and southern kingdoms. The ten tribes of the north were taken away and never really returned. The northern tribes of Judah and Benjamin along with Levi were taken into captivity in Babylon. A tiny remnant of that nation returned to Jerusalem seventy years later. The nation Jesus was born into was Jewish by the finest thread; it’s existence truly a miracle of God’s providence.
If, by hard work and genius a person creates something they may have reason to boast but not before God who gave them all the parts they employed. The Jews had carved themselves a niche in the world that was unique to them but it was done by the special revelation accorded them, to the end that they would play their part in the story of redemption.
They had received the law, a special revelation from God, that if followed carefully would give them a leg up in developing civilization. By direct intervention they had the tools to avoid hundreds of years of trial and error in trying to establish a societal equilibrium. They had a lot but nothing to be boastful about. As Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 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?” or in the NLT, “What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?”
The Pharisees had developed the art of keeping the letter of the law by defining and redefining until they convinced themselves they were keeping the law while breaking it. One man who knew that the law and the prophets all amounted to love God and love your neighbor yet wanted to define neighbor more closely so that he only had to love those he wanted to. Jesus, in Luke 10:25-37, told him to be a good neighbor thus making everyone the object of love.
Jesus often rebuked religious hypocrisy. Matthew 23:14, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” The point of the law was to demonstrate our need for a savior so that pretending to keep the law while actually breaking it violated both the spirit and the letter of the law. The Pharisees had convinced themselves that they were good at doing the law but they were worse off than if they had never had the law.
The special mark of circumcision was supposed to be an outward reflection of an inward condition of honest responsiveness before God. In Deuteronomy 10:12-22 and Jeremiah 4:4 the people are told to circumcise their hearts. An outward show of religion with a hard heart inside prevents grace from having its way in our lives. Psalm 18:27, Proverbs 3:34 and James 4:6 all tell us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Hebrews 4:9-16 Tells us that working hard to be good is not the way. One hard way is the way of sin without regard to God. Another hard road is trying to earn salvation by works. Both end in a bad way. Instead of striving we can rest in the assurance of God’s love because Jesus came and died and rose again for us.
Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
brotherpayne 