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Reading Romans 2:17-24 where the Apostle Paul condemns the Jews, who have the Law and boast in the Law, or not keeping the Law. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Just because you have the word of God does not make you more righteous than somebody else. Because you're probably listening to it and not Following it. Even then keeping the law does not make you righteous.
It's Christ that makes you righteous when we understand the text.
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Utt calm. Here's our host pastor Gabe. Thank you Becky in our study of Romans chapter 2. We're picking up where we left off yesterday. So I'm gonna start reading here in verse 17. We'll go through verse 24 the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome 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 and To keep this in context.
I'm gonna go ahead and keep reading here verses 25 through 29. For circumcision indeed is a value if you obey the law but if you break the law your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. For if a man who is Uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision.
Then he who is physically Uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision outward and physical but a Jew is one inwardly and Circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit not by the letter.
His praise is not from man, but from God. Now that's a section verses 25 through 29. We're really not going to look at in greater detail until tomorrow. But continuing with that since we're talking about the law in this particular section we're exploring today verses 17 through 24, and that's where Paul goes from there talking about circumcision singling out that law in particular and we do have a few laws that are mentioned here even from the Ten Commandments as Paul is meaning to indict the Jews for their failure to keep the law.
They boast in the law, but they do not keep it. We talked about this a little bit yesterday. About not being a hearer of the law only but a doer of the law someone who merely hears the law. But doesn't do what it says.
James chapter 1 likens him to being a person who looks at his face in a mirror and then walks away and forgets what he Looks like when we look into the holy scriptures of God. It shows us who we are, you know.
Oftentimes you'll hear it said the Bible's not about you and that's true in the sense that all of the scriptures are meant to point us to Christ. But that doesn't mean you're not here and that doesn't mean that it Says something about you when we look into the scriptures we should see ourselves, but who we see is not the hero of the story and that is Unfortunately the way that a lot of the Bible gets taught today.
Most churches you go into the way that they're preaching the Bible. They're making you out to be the story, you know. The common analogy that goes with this you're David Goliath is your problems, right?
So with enough faith five smooth stones. You can tackle any kind of problem or you can bind it in Jesus name Satan. I bind you in Jesus name dadada. So so you would follow along with all the men and women in the Bible and you become the hero of the story.
But the Bible is not about you in that sense. We certainly have examples that are given to us and these persons who trusted in God and it was counted to them as as Righteousness. Paul is going to use Abraham as that example when we get to Romans chapter 4.
He believed in God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So we have examples that are given to us in that sense, but you are not the main character of this story. You are not the hero of the pages that you are reading who you are.
Who you should see when you look into the pages of Scripture is the sinful man who desperately needs a Savior. You are a fallen wretch Who is worthy of the judgment and wrath of God and it's only by faith in Jesus Christ that you are forgiven your sins.
And you will not perish under God's judgment, but you will have everlasting life with him in his forever kingdom in heaven that is above. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He shed his blood as an atoning sacrifice and there he took the wrath of God upon himself.
Taking our sins upon himself enduring God's wrath he has given us his righteousness that we may walk in his ways and be Careful to obey his statutes to keep his rules to love his precepts. This is the follower of Jesus Christ who loves the Word of God and his law.
The law when we read it shows us our sin. Just as Paul says when we get to Romans chapter 7 I didn't know what it was like to covet until I read in the law. Do not covet and then I realized I am a covetor and Paul is gonna say here when we get to Romans chapter 3 Verses 19 and 20 now, we know that whatever the law says It speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world May be held accountable to God for by works of the law.
No human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin. That's what we should understand when we look into the Word of God when we see ourselves in the Word of God.
We see the sinful wretch who's desperately in need of a Savior now. The Jews had forgotten about the use of the law. They didn't understand the use of the law. They thought by External keeping of these laws that they were righteous that they were saved.
They'll live forever in heaven with God because they kept the laws, but nobody keeps the law. Everybody breaks the law. Jesus when he was speaking in the Sermon on the Mount Confronted the fact that the Jews had forgotten the very use of the law when he gets to talking about murder and adultery in Matthew chapter 5 He says you have heard that it was said you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
Now that's true. That's exactly what the Old Testament says and then Jesus goes on to say but I say to you everyone who hates his brother is liable to judgment. So, why did Jesus quote the commandment as is you shall not murder but then go on to say but I say to you.
He wasn't rewriting the law. He wasn't saying something new about the law. He was pointing out to the Jews that they had forgotten the point of the law that it was not just about keeping some sort of External thing that they could do and therefore be righteous because no one could do that.
No one was righteous. The law was meant to go to the very matter of the heart when you read in the law about your About the righteousness of God because that's what's being exposed to us in the law. It's showing us the righteousness and the holiness of God his righteous character is being revealed In his law and when we look at the law and realize that we were unable to keep it not just externally.
But from the very heart we had no desire for it and could not keep it because coveting in particular The Tenth Commandment that's all about the heart. That's not just something that you can do externally.
That's going to the very heart of the matter and the whole law was meant to be understood in that way. It's not that do not murder was its own commandment. Do not commit adultery was another one and then do not covet was its own over here.
For James says that whoever is broken one part of the law is guilty of breaking the whole thing. So when Jesus points out murder and adultery in the Sermon on the Mount, he's showing the Jews That they've sinned from their very hearts from the heart.
They are wicked and sinful. They might think that they're not killing somebody else. And therefore I'm a righteous person or hey as long as I don't sleep with my neighbor's wife. Then I'm not committing adultery but Jesus says if you hate your brother you've committed murder in your heart if You lust after a woman and undress her with your eyes.
You have committed adultery with her in your heart. So before God you are not righteous. You do not possess the holiness of God and therefore as it says in Isaiah 64 6 Even your best deeds are as filthy rags before a holy God.
Your ability to not do certain things does not make you righteous. You must be transformed and changed from the very heart. So Paul is is kind of confronting that here with the Jews. He's coming at this in the same way that Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount.
They did not understand the use of the law and they thought by external keeping of the law that they were righteous people. But Paul points out not only were they wicked at heart, but they weren't really and even truly Keeping the law externally either there were certain things they would apply and say, you know.
As long as I'm not stealing this then I'm not guilty of theft. But I can take this over here and that's not actually stealing. That's not actually breaking the commandment. I'll explain that a little bit more as we go on here.
So once again verse 17. But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God. Now understand here. This is not Paul congratulating the Jews for giving glory to God because that's not what they're doing.
What they're doing is they're boasting the fact like Hey, we have God he is the God of the Hebrews. He is the God of the Israelites. So we have the true God all you other pagans. Haha. Yeah, he didn't have this kind of favor on you that he has upon us.
We were called out of slavery. We were given a promised land, but that's not you guys. He didn't call you. We're the special group of people. That's what it is that Paul is referring to here. So it's not this solely deo gloria kind of boasting in God.
It's not to God be the glory. It's boasting in themselves because God showed himself to them and gave the Jews his law so 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 now, there is somewhat of a Congratulatory statement in this somewhat of a of an I'm proud of you sort of an an heir to what Paul has just said there.
Because the Jews did indeed Study the law of God. So that's very commendable a by the age of 13 a boy had all Of the Pentateuch memorized Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers in Deuteronomy could quote it from heart.
Could you do that by heart? I can't do that by heart. I Know some people who have a great memory and they have huge chunks of Scripture memorized. Mine tends to be pretty selective. There are some days when I can recall Things like crazy.
It's it's pretty amazing what I'm able to call to mind and then there are other days where I feel like an Idiot and I need to go back to school. So that's. That's kind of the way my memory comes and goes.
Even when it comes to the scriptures that I've committed my life to studying. But this is how much a Jew understood the law like Paul knew the Bible way better than you ever did. It's not even close not even no.
None of the great scholars of today even hold a candle to what the Apostle Paul knew of the scriptures, of course because he was an apostle but even before that as a Pharisee he was a ridiculously smart man and There was just there was just no comparison to the knowledge that he had in his study of the Old Testament scriptures.
But his his eyes were blind. His ears were deaf. His mind was dumb because he was under a snare of Satan. So he didn't see that the law and the prophets were pointing to Christ but he still knew the Old Testament better than you did so many Jews knew the scriptures very very well and Because of their commitment and dedication to the scriptures there is somewhat of a pat on the back here when Paul says That if you know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed from the law.
You know that because you're reading the law because you're studying the law so you do know something About the will of God from the law. Good. It's good that you've committed yourself to that keep committing yourself to that.
But even though they would study the law they still didn't rightly apply it and that's where Paul is gonna bring them under Condemnation as we keep going so verse 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind a light to those who are in darkness.
Remember when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus that you cannot see the kingdom of heaven unless you are born again and Nicodemus had he didn't understand what it was.
Jesus was talking about was totally confused by this and Jesus said to him are you not the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things. Because Nicodemus was a Pharisee and it was his responsibility to teach the scriptures to Israel.
So Israel understood the the teachers. Understood their responsibility. Was to be instructors was to teach the Word of God to those who were young. You yourself are sure that you are a guide to the blind everybody who does not know the light.
The law of God is blind. So if you're teaching the law, then you believe that you yourself are a guide to the blind. You are a light to those who are in darkness. Jesus is the light who has come into the world.
We read that in John chapter 1, but even in Psalm 119 David says your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So the law of God shines a light shines a light in a dark place. We walked in darkness.
It is by the Word of God that we have seen the light. So you who teach the law shine a light to those who are in darkness. Verse 20 you are an instructor of the foolish a teacher of children having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
Proverbs 1 7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Isaiah 66 to this is the one to whom I will look he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. So it is in reading and studying the word that we have the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
Verse 21 you then who teach others. Do you not teach yourself? This is one of the reasons why James says in James 3 1 not many of you should aspire to be teachers my brothers because you know that teachers will be judged with greater strictness.
A Teacher has no excuse to say that they didn't know something because as a teacher. They put a great amount of study a greater amount of study into things then even the student does. So the teacher will be judged with greater strictness because the teacher should have known better.
So here you being a teacher of children you shining a light to those who are in darkness. You then who teach others do you not teach yourself? Before I preach on Sunday morning I run through the sermon on Saturday night and I preach the sermon to an empty sanctuary.
There there are a lot of pastors right now because of the corona virus. They're doing live stream online and stuff like that. Well, they're they're preaching to empty auditoriums empty sanctuaries there's not any people in there, but they're broadcasting this online and.
And then the members of the congregation are watching it at home because of the virus. We can't go anywhere. A lot of us have been given stay-at-home orders. So I've seen a lot of comments from pastors saying this is really weird preaching to an empty congregation.
I'm not all that shaken by it. I do it all the time I'm preaching to myself on a Saturday night before I preach it to my congregation on a Sunday morning. But even when I'm there alone by myself standing at the pulpit looking into empty seats, I'm still teaching myself.
Isaiah 55 the Lord says that his word will not return to him void. Without accomplishing the task that he sends it out to do. So even as I stand in the sanctuary and preach There's still somebody I'm preaching to and that is myself.
So here Paul is telling the teacher you who teaches you also teach yourself. While you preach against stealing. Do you steal? Now when Paul asked that question a lot of the Jews probably going no, but but hang on.
We're gonna get to that here as we keep going you who say that one must not commit adultery. Do you commit adultery. And this maybe even calls back to attention the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew?
Chapter 5 you who abhor idols. Do you rob? Temples, this was actually a very common thing in this particular day now. Not every Jew was guilty of this but there were Jews that were guilty of this. Temples were places with very Expensive artifacts in them but pagan temples were also places where pagan gods were worshipped.
So it was considered a defilement for a Jew to go into a pagan temple. Yet some of them were going into these pagan temples and robbing it and they were justifying as being fine. Like hey, this isn't true theft because I'm robbed.
I'm robbing a pagan temple. All right, I'm I'm doing everybody a favor. They don't need to be worshipping these artifacts and these items anyway, so therefore I'm not really stealing. I'm doing missional work, you know.
There were probably some Jews that thought that way but Paul is highlighting here that you're breaking the law and you're defiling yourself. And the fact that you are going into a pagan place. Verse 23 you who boast in the law?
Coming back to that again where Paul had said in in verse 17 you who boast in the law you dishonor God By breaking the law. For as it is written the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you and that's in Isaiah 52 6.
Where or 52 5 I guess it is now. Therefore what have I here declares the Lord seeing that my people are taken away for nothing their rulers wail Declares the Lord and continually all the day. My name is despised.
Why because the Jews do not honor the law of God and therefore the Gentiles? Despise the name of God since the Jews who have been given the law and are said to have had the favor of God. Do not worship God properly.
They do not pay attention to his law. They do not follow it. And so the Gentiles are looking at this going okay, must not be that great of God then if you're not so compelled to follow his law and then they blaspheme God because of The attitude of the Gentiles and we must be very careful of that as well as Christians.
We say we love God. But are we keeping his law? Got to be very very careful about the whole Antinomian thing that is so very common where a person will sin and just believe hey God is gracious and he's going to forgive me.
You must love righteousness and holiness. You must be holy as God is holy as it says in first Peter chapter 1 we must follow after Christ and keep his commandments because we love God and People will see this some of course are gonna malign us for it.
But there are others that are gonna recognize this person truly believes that God sits enthroned on high because they follow his law they keep his commandments and our Consistency in our message is going to be seen in the fact that we live Righteously, and we pursue the holiness of Jesus Christ.
So let us not fall into the same error of claiming we love God, but not following his law. Paul is bringing the Jews into condemnation here with these statements and then we're gonna go on and talk about this further tomorrow with the law of circumcision in verses 25 through 29.
So that everyone will see in the section that we're reading from Romans 1 18 through chapter 3 verse 20. That all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we all need a Savior and that Savior is Christ.
Let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this time in the word. We thank you for giving us your word that we may know Righteousness and holiness. We may know the will of God and what it means to live our lives in such a way.
That is pleasing to God now. We know that we cannot be saved by keeping the law for the scripture tells us. This is not how a person is saved. It is by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is is an even greater gift that you gave your son.
To die for our sins and rise from the grave that whoever believes in him will be saved. So teach us to walk in his ways. Forgive us our sins when we go astray, but but let us not make excuses for our sin.
Let us mourn over our sin and seek again the righteousness of God. Lead us in these things for your name's sake that many may see our good works that they are being carried out in God and They give glory to the Father who is in heaven in Jesus name.
We pray. Amen.
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