Religious Hypocrites
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
17 Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law, and boast in God, 18 and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law—21 you then, who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal? 22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
Romans 2:17-29 is all about Jews thinking they are better than every else because they are Jews.
They are the God’s Chosen people which is true but Peoples is Peoples
Paul lists eight advantages to being a Jew—eight “boasts” by which they thought God’s judgment of them would not be as harsh as the Gentiles (you can number them as we go through):
Verse 17:
1. They were the Jews! They were God ‘s chosen people, his only chosen people, the “apple of his eye” (Zech. 2:8). This must count for something!
2. They rely on the law. Had God chosen any other people to reveal his will to at Sinai? Their religious reverence for the law betrayed the hope they put in their possession of it.
3. They brag about their relationship to God. Different from idols of wood and stone, Israel’s God was their Father (Isa. 63:16; Mic. 3:11).
Verse 18:
4. They know his will. Israel could, it is true, say that they knew the will of God. They were the only ones with special revelation from him (Exod. 4:22).
5. They approve of what is superior. Dietary laws, lifestyle restrictions, worship instructions—the Jews had a narrower view of life than their neighbors; a view they deemed superior (Gal. 1:14).
6. They are instructed by the law. Psalm 119 extols the merits of God’s decrees as those which direct the steps of man. The Jews relished God’s instructions (so much so that they made up hundreds of decrees to go along with his, eventually preferring theirs over his; see Matt. 23).
Verses 19–20:
7. They are convinced they are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants. Indeed, they were called by God to be such to the nations of the world (Isa. 42:6; 49:6).
8. They have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth (see Ps. 19:7–9).
With all that Boast it makes since that they would be tempted to think of themselves as better than the rest of humanity.
But the Paul points out the the Jews Fail just as much as everybody else.
In Romans 2:21–24.
• They taught others, but did not teach themselves.
• They preached against stealing, yet stole.
• They preached against adultery, but committed adultery.
• They abhorred idols, but stole from pagan temples.
• They bragged about the law, yet dishonored God by breaking it.
And because of this behavior the Gospel which is supposed to be for everyone, isn’t reaching people. God’s name is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
Blasphemed is not a word we use very often. God’s name is being slandered, seen as evil, hated, seen as evil, disrespected and discarded.
All of this because of Hypocrisy. When you say you believe one thing and you do another.
Paul is taking the Jews back to (Isa. 52:5; Ezek. 36:22) from the most terrible period in Israel’s history, the exile and captivity of her people.
The name of God that was so holy to the Jews that they would not even pronounce it was being dragged through the dirty streets of the pagan world like a bad joke.
5 So now what have I here”— this is the Lord’s declaration— “that my people are taken away for nothing? Its rulers wail”— this is the Lord’s declaration— “and my name is continually blasphemed all day long.
9 But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations they were living among, in whose sight I had made myself known to Israel by bringing them out of Egypt.
Three different times, Ezekiel recounts, God had not judged Israel when they came out of Egypt to keep his name from being profaned in the eyes of the nation (Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22).
Though they deserved judgment, he withheld it and patiently tried to teach them his ways so that the surrounding nations would not ridicule his name because of his people.
Finally, however, his patience ran out, and he sent the nation into exile—which caused his name to be blasphemed (Ezek. 36:20–21).
But then, to redeem the glory of his name, God prophesied through Ezekiel that he would judge the nations that captured Israel, but not for Israel’s sake—“for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone” (Ezek. 36:22).
22 “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight.
But then note God’s ultimate, missionary purpose in judging Israel’s oppressors:
“I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD. declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes” (Ezek. 36:23)
For God, for Ezekiel, and now for Paul, there was a missionary purpose in keeping the name of God holy—that the nations will know that Yahweh, Israel’s God, is the LORD!
The late theologian-apologist Francis Schaeffer saw a worrisome connection between Paul’s words to the Jews and the contemporary American church:
Again we must admit, this is surely how God looks at much of Christendom today. Claiming to be under the umbrella of Christendom, claiming to have some sort of special blessing because the bells ring in the cathedrals, because in the United States great numbers of people go to church, and yet we commit blasphemy against God as we turn from the clear teaching of His Word. It is a sober truth and we must face it: if we have the Bible, if we enjoy all the blessings it brings, and yet by our lives bring shame upon God’s name, we are guilty of the greatest irreverence.… When the man with the Bible treats it as an external thing only, it causes the man without the Bible to dishonor the God of the Bible. Surely, then, the man with the Bible is justifiably under God’s wrath” (Schaeffer, p. 61).
Next Step
Next Step
The Gospel is for all. Are you the reason that someone doesn’t believe?
We are Gentiles but to often we are behaving like the fallen Jews.
Is God being blasphemed because of you. I am not talking about that time you messed up and you tried to make it right but you just can’t seem to. That’s because you are less than human.
I am talking about your life that doesn’t match up with what you say you believe.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Jackson W., Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019), 60–61.
Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 82–84.