Romans 2:17-25
Notes
Transcript
And so we continue in Romans this morning
Paul once again is going to call some people on the carpet
Paul is going to to show the Jew they are just as responsible for sin as anyone else
Church I know it sounds like we talk about sin all the time
But it is a real problem for the world for us
Sin separates us from God
Church I believe you can be saved and be in sin and church let me be clear that keeps you from enjoying the fullness of Gods blessing because God cannot be a part of sin
And what is even crazier today is that people do not think they are sinning
I read an article of a college that mixed glitter with ash for ash Wednesday
This group of college students continued to cite that we needed to love like Jesus and to be inclusive
All the while I am reading this new article I am thinking they have missed the rest of the story
Jesus did love people and church we should love people
Just like Jesus loved people
See Jesus loved people enough and so much that He did not allow them to remain where they were
Yes the Bible calls us to love but the Bible that calls us to love also says that Jesus is the only way and that you cannot remain in sin or a part of sin and walk with Jesus
I think the church struggles with evangelism because we don’t like to call sin sin
Because part of evangelism even relational evangelism where you are friends with the person and want to share Jesus with them
You still almost have to convince people that their lifestyle, and what they are doing is sin and now a days that is a hard sell
I believe that is what Paul is doing to the Jews in Rome
He is having to convince them that it is no longer about the law
Remember there is no partiality with Jesus
Just because you follow the law doesn’t get you a pass elsewhere
17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,
Paul sets up his argument once again with getting you the reader to agree with him
Yes of course I am a Jew they would agree
Yes of course I rely upon the Law because I am Jew
The Law is good
I know the Law
It was given to my people to my forefathers by God Himself
We know that God approved of the law since He gave them the law
Church Paul is speaking to Jews who thought they were saved because they were Jews
It would be translated today like speaking today to American’s thinking you are saved because you are an American
When we say it out loud It doesn’t sound very smart
Like we know that people who are American’s aren’t saved just because they are American’s
Let me be clear
Being a Jew doesn’t saved just like being an American doesn’t save you
Just like Adrian Rogers says standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Just like during our intro
Yes we are to love and understand
Salvation is only through Christ
You don’t get to do your own thing and expect God to be open to what you want to do
Church it is Gods’ way or the highway
Paul continues
19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?
Paul continues getting the Jews in Rome to agree with him
That of course you are a guide to the blind
Of course you are a light to the lost world
all because you are a Jew
As Paul is doing that notice that he slips vs 21 right in there
If you are teaching all these other people are you not teaching yourself
If you are teaching them the law dont you teach yourself the law
And as the Jews in Rome have been agreeing with Paul they almost sort of continuing agreeing with Paul without even knowing it
Paul continues with his argument
22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
Now He is getting the Jews in Rome to understand they are breaking the very law they believe will save them
Paul is essentially destroying their thought that the law will save them
Because they thought it was their status
Their history
Their genealogy
I know we have talked about the importance of the Gospel Message but that is the purpose of Pauls argument here
A lot of the Jews in Rome wouldn’t have thought they needed the Gospel Message because they were following the law
Church by using this argument he is getting them to agree with him that the only thing that saves you is the Gospel Message and they you have a need for the Gospel Message in your own life
We know that it is not the law that saves but Jesus
21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Paul shares this in another letter
If Salvation had come through the law then Jesus’s death on the cross was pointless
And that is just not true
Salvation comes only through Christ and not the Law
Paul is continuing to convince the Jews in Rome that is no longer about the law
It is no longer about your history, or your genealogy
It is not about your church membership, or even how much you have done
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. 25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
The Gentiles are blaspheming God because of the way the Jews lived their lives
They mocked God because the Jews in Rome only played like they were following after Christ
Paul ends this section with the idea that the outward expression of faith in Christ with no real faith in Christ on the inside is worthless
It is not about behavior modification but rather it is about a change of heart
That is what Paul is working with Jews to get them to understand
When they understand it is no longer about playing Christian or about how it looks but on the outside but what has happened on the inside
Church the heart change of a person brings about true change to a family
It brings about true change to a community
It brings about true change to a person
That is Paul is preaching to the Jews in Rome
IT is all about the Gospel Message
The Gospel Message does not change the outside of a man without first changing the heart
If all you are interested in is being nice and kind and acting good
Then it is called behavior modification
But if you are truly interested in walking from death to life
Then it is all about the Gospel message
getting the Gospel inside your heart and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the change inside you
When that happens it bursts out into action in your life
It is called producing fruit
Your not saved because you listen to Christian music, go to church, or even read your Bible
You are saved because you have repented of your sin
Which is to stop and turn from your sin and trust that Jesus is who He said He was which is the Son of God
and to trust that He did what He said He would Do, and did what He said He did
Then once you are saved it growing in Christ by reading your Bible, Praying, and putting to action what the Bible says
Just like the Jews in Rome you don’t get to play Christian, or act like you got it all together
Just like the Jews in Rome, we don’t get to continue in our own way or do what we want and expect God to go along with it because He is a God of love
It is all about the Gospel Message that saves us
CLOSING
So as we move into our time of invitation
It is just that an invitation to do business with God this morning
Maybe this morning you are here and do not have a personal relationship with Jesus and this morning right now God is inviting you to begin a personal relationship with Jesus
If that is you would you come to the front, we would love to speak with you and show you in scripture how you can do that this morning
Or maybe you have a relationship with Jesus and simply need to spend sometime in prayer at the altar
This is your opportunity to do business with Jesus this morning
The altar is open this morning