Romans - Week 2

Romans 2:25–29 NIV

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

The Gospel shifts the focus from the outside to the inside

STORY - Ever noticed how in general, we tend to judge others one way, and ourselves the other? Either we’re critical of someone else’s actions, but supportive of our intentions despite our actions - or the reverse. At some point, we hold up a checklist to someone else’s actions, and we start evaluating.

The problem is, when we stop at outside expectations - either with ourselves or others - all we get are outside results.

Having an inside-focused Gospel is an easy thing and a hard thing.

It’s an easy thing because

The Gospel is about the power of the Spirit shaping us from the inside out

And the outside comes as a fruit of that labour.

Matthew 23:25–26 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

STORY - When I was a kid, WWJD bracelets were all the rage. You knew another kid was a churchgoer when you saw the bracelet. With the Gospel - God’s putting a WWJD bracelet around each of our hearts. And that character and heart change is supposed to actually be the marker.

So Paul says, if you’re only judging and focusing on the outside, when you fail one of those checkboxes - and you will - the rest aren’t going to keep you afloat.

But if we allow the Spirit into our lives and our hearts, and allow Him space and time to start doing His work - in God’s eyes, we’ll measure up. We may lack some of the traditional ‘outside markers’ that we’re so used to seeing. But God’s fashioning us a set of inside markers.

And the great thing is - the things we’re HOPING to see on the outside, we can still find on the inside. Because really, what’s the point of the outside markers - like dressing nice on a sunday? It’s the message it conveys. This person is respectable. They care. They’re putting in effort. They’re trying to be the best version of themselves.

So with the Gospel - we just look at the inside. At the heart and the character. You can see those outside markers - respectability, care, effort, self improvement - on the inside now.

The Gospel being about our inside health is a hard thing because

There’s no aspect of our character or area of our lives that’s off limits

STORY - Kids fight. I tell them to stop the way they’re fighting. They just find another way.

The thing with focusing purely on the outside - is that it’s really easy to check that box and still be a not great person.

Matthew 23:27 NIV

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

Funny thing. Whitewashing (EXPLAIN WHAT IT WAS) at the time (means something TOTALLY different now) wasn’t a way to bring beauty. It was a way to tell people, hey, avoid these things. And yknow what? That still holds true to us.

When we find people who wash the outside, but the inside is still full of unclean things - that’s a warning. We should steer clear.

When we allow the Spirit into our hearts to start working - we can’t hold back.

We need to go all in with the Spirit’s heart work for two reasons:

We’re not really working until we’re giving up things

STORY - Ever noticed there’s two types of cleaning. There’s ‘i’m going to polish every surface of this place until I could eat off the floor’. And then there’s ‘I’m going to take this pile, and go move it into the office, so THIS room looks clean’. The first one involves a lot of garbage bags. But with the second form of cleaning - your place never actually gets clean.

When all you do is just rearrange, all the same junk is there. Nothing’s actually been cleaned, it’s just been hidden. It’s been made presentable to the person who doesn’t open too many doors.

But God’s not going for presentable. he’s going for changed. He doesn’t want it to be about whether another person can see the junk. He wants you to not have the junk to begin with.

Luke 9:23 NIV

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Deny themselves. That working process begins not when we say ‘hey, i’ll just shift this aspect of myself to another room. so I can still have it, it just won’t be readily apparent’.

But the second reason we need to go all in with the Holy Spirit is this:

We haven’t started the job until we’ve gotten to the heart

STORY - I had a fridge die once. And we naievely decided to just keep it closed until we were ready to throw it out. After a couple weeks - it was horrendous. The outside honestly wasn’t that bad. But the second you cracked open the door - watch out.

When you powerwash the exterior siding of your soul, you can maybe become a friendlier looking person, at least at first glance. When people first set eyes on you, they see cleanliness, order.

But here’s the thing - when we interact with the world in any fashion, when we speak, or help, or act, or move. We’re not showing off siding anymore.

Matthew 12:34–35 NIV

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

Jesus says, the second you open your mouth - you’re drawing from that well of things stored up right on the very inside of your heart. The fridge might look good, but the second you try to make anything, or feed anyone, or do ANYTHING - all you have to offer is moldy food.

Ever met someone like that? They seem nice, they seem upright and respectful. But spend time with them, and you’re like, wow, this person is just…the worst.

How do we do it?

How can we start it? How do we know we’re doing it well?

Ask the Holy Spirit to do it for you - and regularly

It’s a trick answer! How do i do it - ask the Spirit to do it.

Psalm 139:23–24 NIV

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

This is the first and most important question in every circumstance. You have a fight with someone - Search my heart, Lord. You struggle with a problem - heart. You aren’t sure how to react to someone - heart. You want to get better at something - heart.

It’s not the ONLY area, but it is the first, and needs to be the most regular. This isn’t a one time thing.

STORY - I’m not a huge fan of mowing the lawn, because I feel like it’s not ‘cleaning’ so much as it’s ‘trying to fight nature from taking back my house’. I could put hours of work in, and a week later, it’s like I did sweet nothing at all.

Our day to day life, we let bad seed in. We start growing weeds. Or we make a bad decision, and get some dirt on our souls. We need to be engaged with the Spirit in terms of heart work all the time.

And this is the wonder and joy of salvation. What Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. We can come to God even with this and have no fear. We can bare our souls to God, and say, please search me, even the bad parts, and help me. And know that God won’t judge us - he’ll work with us.

Make Character Work Your Baseline Expectation

When we approach God, what do we ask for? Do we ask for prosperity, security? Riches? Health?

STORY OF SOLOMON - God told him to ask for whatever he wanted, he asked for wisdom to do the job God had for him well.

If you’re constantly praying for finances or security - also start praying for peace despite your circumstances. If you’re praying for health - also pray for joy through the storm. Take every opportunity to work in a heart piece.

Look for God’s Approval - Not Man’s

Paul says in our scripture from today - the person who looks for that circumcision of the heart, their approval is from God - not men.

Now, we often take this one too far, and say ‘who cares about what people think! This is about just me and God’. That’s not what this means.

Matthew 6:21 NIV

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This one takes some deep heart searching. But if you find yourself saying, ‘I’m gonna do this thing because I really need these people to tell me I’m good’ or ‘I’m gonna act this way because if these people don’t approve of me, I’ll lose standing and that’s really important’, then you’re in it for the treasure that people give.

We can CARE about how we affect people. And other people often see things in ourselves that we can’t see, and God’s designed the church to be a place where we can safely help sharpen each other.

But ask yourself - what reward am I aiming for? Is it good enough if I get a pat on the back from a specific person or group of people? Am I satisfied when I see the changes the Bible talks about - or am I only satisfied when other people praise me for the changes? Do I consider it a loss if I don’t achieve a big milestone in the bible - or do I consider it a loss if specific people look down on me? If God calls you to give a lot of money to the church, are you happy when you give, or are you happy when you get recognized for the giving?

Your line needs to be at ‘I’m moving forward in what God has for my life’ or ‘God has challenged me on something, and I see that thing changing’ or ‘God wanted me to mend this relationship, and I spoke to that person.’