19 | Romans | Romans 2:17–24 | Teach Yourself

CG Questions

Observe the outline of Romans 2:17-24. There are two sets of four claims by the Jew each founded on a knowledge of the law. The first set of four are personal and the second set are relational. Then Paul asks three questions that end in an accusation of hypocrisy: You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

How does this passage move Paul’s reasoning forward in Romans 2 that God is just to judge both the Jew and the Gentile?

On Sunday, Jeremiah closed the message asking the congregation not to ignore Paul’s instruction to “teach yourself,” especially if you have any prick of conscience regarding hypocrisy. Share the remainder of your time together considering how you can preach the gospel to yourself, so that you will not only have confidence in the grace and righteousness of Christ, but also grow in God-honoring holiness.

INTRODUCTION

We are now a month into our study of Romans 2.

In Romans, Paul has broken humanity into two basic categories

The Gentiles who practice evil and give approval to other who do the same.

The Jews who condemn evil yet practice the very things they condemn

Paul is establishing this point.

The Lord will render judgement not based on our approval or condemnation of evil …

… but on the basis of our practice.

Romans 2:12 (ESV) For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

The point is that there are none who will escape judgement.

This morning we consider Romans 2:17-24.

There is a weighty warning for those of us here who are religiously initiated …

… who know the Lord and the righteous way he has revealed.

But even more importantly …

… Paul presses forward the reality of

… Longman - Human inadequacy in light of divine standards.

PRAY

3:00

Paul lays out two sets of four claims by the self-proclaimed Jew.

That is, the one who knows that he himself is the religiously initiated.

He knows he has the knowledge of God and the commission to make him known in the world.

These two sets of four claims are broken into the Personal and the Relational.

Let us begin with the personal.

4:00

YOU CALL YOURSELF A JEW

PERSONAL: Love God and his way

If you call yourself a Jew …

By calling oneself a Jew, one is making an explicit acknowledgement of the four statements that follow.

These four statements are the essence of the Jewish identity.

rely on law

To be a Jew is to rely on the law.

One’s knowledge of God and his righteous way is through the law.

For the Jew, there is a deep and confident reliance upon what God has revealed in the law.

boast in God

The Jew knows God!

He doesn’t philosophise or theorize about God.

God himself has spoken.

And so, his boast is in God.

The Jew does not wander off after the many and diverse gods of the pagans

He knows the one true God.

His boast is in God.

know his will

It is one thing to know the eternal power and divine nature of God.

It is another thing to have been given by God access to the mysteries of his purposes in creation.

The Jew has revealed in the law the mysteries of God for his will for man.

approve what is excellent

The law gives the Jew not only a knowledge of commands.

It gives instruction for what is good.

The Jew knows what is divine and what is worldly.

(because instructed from law)

All this he knows because he is instructed by the law.

8:00

APPLY

I wonder if there is a manner in which we could apply verse v17 to ourselves in this way:

If you call yourself a Christian …

On the one hand, if we are going to hear the actual reasoning Paul is moving forward by our passage today …

… the answer is no.

1. Paul says “if you call yourself a Jew” because he is talking to Jews.

Remember, Paul has addressed this letter to the church in Rome.

They have the proclamation of the gospel.

In fact, their faith is proclaimed throughout the world.

He could have said, Jewish believers.

He could have said all believers, Jew and Gentile, who have the benefit of a knowledge of the law in scripture.

But he didn’t.

He is driving his point toward the explicit issue of hypocrisy among the Jews, who know themselves to be possessors of the law.

10:00

2. Paul is speaking to those whose main concern is reliance upon the law.

This is not presented negatively.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The Jew’s boast is in the Lord.

He is blessed to know both his will and his way.

All this is because he has been instructed from the law.

But there are two ways to receive the law of God.

God gave his law that the people would know God’s own holiness …

… and have our own sinful desires laid bare.

For many, this leads either to further rebellion against God in the pursuit of evil desires.

Or to a self-righteous effort to prove to God, self and others that you yourself can be holy by the keeping of the law.

But the correct way to receive the law of God is with faith.

To confess that the way of the Lord revealed in his law is good …

… And that, on your own you would perish under the law.

And that, according to God’s covenant revealed in temple worship and the sacrificial system …

… the Lord will provide a way to cleanse even the one who falls short of the glory of God as revealed in the law.

Paul is speaking to the Jew who has the law …

… which ought to have been received with faith

… but fails to be humbled by a knowledge of God.

13:00

So, if we are going to hear Paul’s main point, which is to demonstrate how …

… though the Jew has been given God’s good gift of the law

… he is not righteous just because he possesses this gift.

Righteousness does not come by a possession of the law …

… as can be demonstrated by the hypocrisy of many who do possess the law.

Righteousness comes by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

3. The temptation toward self-righteous moralism and the hypocrisy that so often accompanies a knowledge of God according to the law is not exclusive to Judaism.

There are Christians whose moralism demonstrates their reliance on the law rather than grace.

And we should not presume ourselves to be without this error.

Where it could be said of the Jew that righteousness does not come merely by hearing the law.

It could be said of all who have heard the gospel that righteousness does not come by hearing, but by hearing with faith.

Anti-semitism

Therefore, we are left without excuse the equally hypocritical moralism of anti-semitism.

We too have access to the law of God.

In fact, we have the even greater revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ …

… the righteousness of God that has appeared in the gospel apart from the law.

Neither the Jew nor Judaism is the error being exposed in this passage.

As we will see, the error Paul is continuing to expose is presumption and hypocrisy …

… which is in no way unique to the Jew

… but is common to man.

17:00

Remember the structure of Paul’s argument in this passage:

Paul lays out two sets of four claims by the self-proclaimed Jew.

That is, the one who knows that he himself is the religiously initiated.

He knows he has the knowledge of God and the commission to make him known in the world.

These two sets of four claims are broken into the Personal and the Relational.

Let us continue with the relational.

18:00

YOU ARE A GUIDE TO THE BLIND

RELATIONAL: Love others with a knowledge of God and his way

Again, what is presented here is not presented negatively.

guide to blind

Matthew 15:14 (ESV) And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.

The bible admits that there are those who are blind.

And admits the category of those who lead the blind.

This issue is that those who are a guide to the blind do not realize that they themselves are blind.

light to those in darkness

Proverbs 6:23 (ESV) For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

The word of the Lord is light.

It is profitable when used to discipline or instruct others.

21:00

instructor of foolish

The book of proverbs is the great wisdom book of the scriptures.

It’s wisdom has the law of God itself as its foundation.

But, note that the one who instructs presumes that he himself has been made wise.

James 3:1 (ESV) Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

teacher of children

Again, in order to teach or instruct, one presumes to be himself mature in some way.

This in and of itself is not an error.

If one is mature, if one has been instructed by God’s word and has been made wise …

… one ought to be a counsel and a teacher to his neighbor.

This is love.

This is the role given by God to the Jewish people as a light to the Gentiles and a city on a hill.

But, as we will see, the caution is for those who teach, but themselves have not submitted to the instruction.

23:00

(having in the law embodiment of knowledge and truth)

Again, this is the foundational statement upon which the previous four statements stand.

The Jew has the very embodiment of knowledge and truth in the law.

In fact, after repeatedly calling the Pharisees blind guides, Jesus has this exchange with them.

John 9:39–41 (ESV) Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Do you see it?

They aren’t actually blind. They aren’t actually ignorant of the truth.

They do have access to the law of God.

And that is what makes their hypocrisy all the worse!

Though ought to know, and yet they walk in foolishness, in self-righteousness and in hypocrisy …

… as if they were themselves blind and ignorant of the truth.

26:00

APPLY

Again, Paul is pressing forward his argument …

… begun in chapter one

… that neither the Jew nor the Gentile are without excuse for their sin.

The Gentile suppresses the truth in open debauchery.

The Jew suppresses the truth in hypocrisy.

27:00

DO YOU NOT TEACH YOURSELF

HYPOCRITICAL: No love of God or his way

Let me summarize: Paul is saying to the Jew …

You know God …

… his will and his way.

You presume to instruct others …

… with the open claim that you have access in the law to the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

Do you not see that, because of your hypocrisy, this is a self-accusation.

Just like the Pharisees, you are right. You are not blind!

Which leaves only one possibility for your failure to walk in the way of the Lord in humility.

You are not blind. You are evil.

And God is just to judge.

29:00

Paul quickly gives three examples.

against stealing, steal

Do you maintain honesty in all your dealings?

not commit adultery, commit adultery

Sexual sin is often publically preached against, but quietly indulged in.

abhor idols, rob temples

Either, 1) Some manner of dealing with idol worship, whether through dealing in gold and silver and making exchange with idol worshipers, though not personally worshiping idols himself

Or, 2) Withholding from God praise and contribution.

(boast in law, dishonor God by breaking law)

Why would I convert to the God you worship on Sunday when I already follow the gods you worship all the other days of the week?

You steal, Commit Adultery, and Rob Temples

No I don’t!

Yes, you know you actually do.

No I don’t!

Let’s look a little closer.

Jesus has a sermon he’d like you to listen to called, “The Sermon on the Mount.”

Matthew 5:27–28 (ESV) You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

You’re right, you don’t, let me go further down the list?

Maybe, by some miracle you feel you can escape the judgement of this short list Paul rattles off.

But what about anger? Or lies? Or covetousness?

33:00

APPLY

We will come back to this next week, because Paul is going to press this home in v25-29.

It is true that the Jew has this glorious blessing: the very words of God by which he knows God, his will and his way.

But in reality the hypocrite, though a Jew according to the flesh, has not taken hold of this great blessing by conforming his life to the hope he has in God.

Remember that Paul is building the argument that none …

… neither Jew nor Gentile are righteous before God.

None will escape impending judgement.

And where Paul is going is to clearly proclaim that all, Jew and Gentile, are in need of the gospel.

34:00

YOU DISHONOR GOD

Read v23-24.

The accusation is this:

You use these benefits as religious weapons against others, rather than a tutor for your own soul.

Thus you dishonor God in the eyes of the world, rather than honor God by loving his righteous way.

This pressing issue is not the righteousness or hypocrisy any man.

The most pressing issue is the honor of God for both Jew and Gentile.

The Jew does have the knowledge of God.

With his words he instructs others as to how to demonstrate that God is worthy and his way is good.

And yet, by his hypocrisy he actually proclaims that God is not good and that his way does not satisfy.

Hypocrisy not only dishonors God because of the hypocrisy itself …

… but because for the very one who ought to know that God alone is worthy and God’s way alone will satisfy the soul

… in his disregard for the law of God he says the God is not worthy and that his way does not satisfy.

In this way, the name of God is dishonored among the very ones that were supposed to look in on the life of the Jewish people and see light and life of the Lord and his way.

Instead, even those who have access to the glorious way of God …

… exchange his truth for a lie.

Gentile — Romans 1:21 — For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him

Jew — Romans 2:23 — You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

The Gentile denies God the worship due him.

The Jew denies God the obedience due him.

In both of these, they set themselves up in opposition to God and his way.

Romans 3:22–23 — For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

38:00

IMPLICATIONS

1. You Too Know God

You have access to God, his will and his excellent way.

The danger and gravity of hypocrisy in the church of God …

… in light of our access to and proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ

… is even greater than hypocrisy in view of the law of God only.

39:00

2. It is Good, Not Evil to Instruct Others

If you know God. If you know his way. If you know his gospel.

It is a right impulse to make him known.

Paul’s warning is not against teaching others, but against failing to teach yourself.

When we instruct others in the way of God …

… we do so as a people situated under the knowledge of God, not above it.

As we see in 2 Timothy 2 — It is the pattern of the one who has been strengthened by grace …

… to entrust this grace to faithful men

… who themselves will be able to teach others.

40:00

3. It is Evil to Dishonor God with Hypocrisy

Those who know the truth about God must be warned when then consider themselves righteous like God.

Hypocrisy is lurking in the evil desires of our hearts.

And it will ultimately be found out in the behavior of our lives.

41:00

4. Teach Yourself

If you have a prick of conscience, listen!

Be situated under the teaching.

God’s honor is at stake.

I’ve often said that the hardest thing about preparation to preach is that I am the first to hear the application of the scripture.

I’ve found myself numerous times and in numerous ways this past week confronted by hypocrisy …

… much of which is tucked away in hidden corners of my heart.

It is the gracious conviction of the Holy Spirit that I am aware of this failure at all.

I am teaching myself right now, this morning …

… even as I am warning you.

If there is any prick of conscience, teach yourself.

42:00

After all has been said this morning …

… it would be easy to think that the main application

… is that we need to pursue moral purity

… and than when we think we’ve achieved some arbitrary standard or percentage of self-righteousness

… then we can begin to teach others the same self-righteous moralisms that we ourselves have conquered.

But that is neither the message of the God’s law, which includes his covenant purpose of atonement …

… nor is it the purpose Romans.

Remember, our passage this morning exists, not in a vacuum …

… but in the flow of a well-reasoned argument.

Paul is simply knocking the self-righteous legs out from under the legalistic hypocrite.

And he does this as he moves forward to the proclamation of the one hope for both Jew and Gentile …

… which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

44:00

Love God and Trust His Way

The true knowledge of God comes neither by knowing the law, nor by teaching others …

… but by faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21–22 (ESV) But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

The Law and the Prophets are not silent.

The greatest value that they have to teach us is too look forward to atonement …

… finally revealed in the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:27–28 (ESV) Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

In the end, neither Jew nor Gentile has any boast …

… neither in our knowledge of the law

… nor in any excuse because of our ignorance.

Because we are all sinners. Because we all dishonor God …

… we may be justified only through faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross.

Philippians 1:9–11 (ESV) And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Do you see the beauty of redeeming grace?

It is not by our knowledge of the law that we are made righteous.

As a people who are partakers of grace we are granted a new affection.

It is by a love for the things of God …

… not a mere moralistic conformity

… neither by pretending nor performing

… but by love abounding more and more

… that we come approve what is excellent.

It is the work of Jesus Christ …

… his cleansing forgiveness

… and his transforming grace

… that we will be filled with the fruit of righteousness.

All this comes through Jesus …

… a righteousness revealed apart from the law.

And all this is to the glory and praise of God.

John Flavel It is true, orthodoxy in itself is not sufficient to any man’s salvation; but the conjunction of an orthodox head, with an honest sincere heart, does always constitute an excellent Christian. Happy is the man that hath an head so hearted, and an heart so headed.

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