The Heart Of The Matter

Children’s Bible Page 1224

Introduction: Repetition Leads To Retention

I’ve heard it said that the letter to the Romans is the Magna Carta of the Christian gospel.

And as we walk through this letter, its allowing us little seasons in the life of the church to think over and over again about the core truths of God’s word.

What I mean is, as we are walking through the sections of Romans 1:18-3:20, we are in a season of dwelling on the bad news of human sinfulness.

And while I know that does not sound pleasant, we must keep the truth in front of us that the more we grasp the bad news of our sin against the Holy Creator God, the more we will grasp the unmatched beauty of the gospel of grace as we come to those doctrines later on in the book.

Remember back in 1:16-17, we read a summary statement of the good news of the gospel:

Romans 1:16–17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Then, we jumped into the truth of all humanity’s sinfulness represented in worshipping and serving created things instead of the Creator God.

As anyone who knows the Bible knows, the Jewish people of Israel were God’s chosen people of the Old Testament, to whom God gave His word and his promises.

And now, as Paul is writing to the church in Rome, it is made up of Jews and Gentiles,

And the Jews would have been tempted to read about people worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator and said, “Yep! You are right Paul. Those Gentiles sure are sinners!”

So, last week, we saw in chapter 2, Paul turn the tables and warn the Jewish people to not judge the Gentile people because they too are sinners and are in great need of the kindness, forbearance, and patience of God to come to repentance and salvation.

He was clear with them that God will judge in perfect justice with no partiality toward them being Jewish.

And that knowing the law of God was not enough to save the Jews because even those who know it have not perfectly practiced it.

Now, today’s sermon as well as next week’s sermon passages are going to continue to dive into the nature of Jewish sinfulness.

And this is so important to understand because it is not just secular pagan people in need of salvation in Christ, but it is also self-righteous religious people in great need of salvation in Christ,

But, I want to make one thing very clear,

While Paul argues here and other places in the New Testament about Jewish sinfulness and their need for salvation in Christ like everyone else,

In no way does the Bible ever lead anyone to be anti-Jewish people.

Anti-semitism is a hatred of the Jewish religion and a hatred of the Jewish people, and it has shown itself in many forms throughout the history of the world, and I want you to understand in crystal clear terms, the Bible would never lead anyone to hate Jews just like it would never lead us to hate any other people.

Paul was a Jew. All the apostles of Jesus were Jews. Jesus was a Jew.

When we get to Romans 9, we will read of Paul’s great love and passion for the Jewish people, and we will read of all the great blessings and advantages that the Jewish people have experienced from God in their history,

But it is imperative of Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God to establish Jewish sinfulness in order to place all humanity on the same playing field as sinners, rightly judged by God, and rightly under His just wrath, by which repentance of sin and faith in the gospel is the only means of salvation.

Would you follow along as I read?

Romans 2:17–20

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

1. The Blessings Of The Jews

As you begin reading the Bible in the book of Genesis, you read that after all mankind fell into sin and rebellion against God, things went from bad to worse.

There was great evil in the earth to the point where God sent the great flood in His wrath against evil, yet He saved one family to continue on with mankind.

And as that family grew, they tried to build what is now known as the tower of Babel so that they could establish their own mighty kingdom and stay there forever instead of spreading out and filling the world with worshippers as God had intended.

So, God came to one man named Abram and promised Abram that He would be the father of a great nation.

And through the great nation, all the nations of the earth would end up being blessed.

And Abram’s family became the people of Israel, the Jewish people.

And God saved His chosen people out of slavery, and He gave them his law represented by the ten commandments so that they would know what God was like and have relationship with Him, and Israel’s purpose was to teach the other nations about the one true God through the practice of the law they had been given, and even more importantly, the presence of God with them.

And so, the Jews bring this rich heritage now into the New Testament church filled with Jews and Gentiles, and Paul now lists for us the blessings of the Jews throughout their history:

If you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God - which was a good thing.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read that the law of God and the word of God was to be a lamp to their feet and a light to their path.

And whereas other nations boasted in their horses, chariots, and standings armies, the Jews boasted in the Lord their God!

Verse 18, the Jews knew God’s will and were able to approve what is excellent, because they grew up from childhood being diligently taught God’s law.

The Jews understood themselves to be guides to the blind, who would have been the other nations who did not know the law of God.

They were to be a light to those who were in darkness.

They were to instruct the foolish, again speaking of Gentile sinners who did not know the law of God.

They were to teach the children for they had God’s law, the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

This is the role the Jews were meant to play on the earth.

They were to know and follow the law of God that He had given them and then instruct the other nations of the world to do the same, and so spread the glory of the knowledge of God to all nations.

It was a massive privilege and blessing that God gave to the Jewish people.

Now, we read throughout the history of the Old Testament and will soon read from Paul, that the Jews were never successful at actually fulfilling their role to show off God’s glory to the world, but it was a massive privilege nonetheless.

It was the kind of heritage that they could be tempted to think: surely I will never be judged by God and surely I am in right relationship with God, just look at the family heritage I am a part of.

And for some of us here today, it should cause us to consider whether we too have come from a blessed heritage.

Now, no doubt, some of you have been saved straight out of a family heritage like the one described in chapter 1.

No religious background. No acknowledgement of God. And praise God for your salvation!

For others of us, we have been privileged to grow up in the faith.

Our parents were Christian, their parents were Christians.

You have attended church service since before you could walk.

You know the Bible stories, you are accustomed to the practices of Sunday worship, and sitting under the preaching of God’s word.

You have been kept from some of the evils in the world by parents who knew how to guard you from it.

You’ve memorized Bible verses and learned the books of the Bible since you were young.

Maybe you’ve been on mission trips and had missionaries in your home.

Just a beautiful and wonderfully rich family Christian heritage.

And just like the Jews, it is a blessing. It is something to be thankful for.

But, as we are about to see, it is nothing to trust in when it comes to salvation and right standing before God.

It does not matter if your father was a pastor and your mother never missed a Sunday of playing the church piano,

The blessings of your spiritual heritage will only ultimately be a blessing to you if you repent of your sin and trust in Jesus as your Savior.

Your family heritage cannot save you.

Let’s continue:

Romans 2:21–24

21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

2. The Hypocrisy Of The Jews

You see, the Jews saw it as their heritage to be teachers and instructors of God’s word and God’s law, but the problem was, they were hypocrites!

A hypocrite is one who teaches one thing but lives a different thing.

They talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk.

We have already read in:

Romans 2:13

13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Back to our passage today:

While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

Jesus had spoken harshly against the Pharisees who plundered widows houses.

You see, when a Jewish man would come near death, many times it was the Jewish religious leaders who would become the executor the widow’s estate, and Jesus called the Jewish leaders out for taking advantage of the situation and taking money for themselves.

In the famous story of the widow giving her last two coins she had to the temple, Jesus was not just pointing out to his apostles an extreme example of giving to the Lord,

He was even more so pointing out a corrupt Jewish religious system that demanded the last two coins from a old widow instead of the religious leaders using some of the temple money to serve and benefit the widow like they should have.

Sure, they may stand before crowds on the Sabbath and preach against stealing, but they were stealing all the same.

You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

Jesus had taught the Jews that everyone who even looks at a woman with lustful intent has has committed adultery with her in their heart.

Going further than that, Jesus spoke against the lax position the Jewish leaders took on divorce, where men could simply write up a certificate of divorce and give it to their wife, which would relieve them of the marital duty and allow them to marry someone else,

Making it easy to technically not commit adultery, while in truth, they were committing adultery over and over by divorcing one to marry another.

You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

The Jews were so clear in their teachings about their hatred of idols.

They would speak against idolatry and condemn the Gentiles for their idol worship.

Yet, at the same time, Jews would go and rob idols from the pagan temples and sell them off to make money from them.

They would probably justify themselves in saying that at least people weren’t worshipping it anymore.

But Deuteronomy 7 strictly forbid this practice.

Deuteronomy 7:25

25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

In the book of Acts 19, when Paul was being condemned by the crowd in Ephesus, the town clerk tried to calm the crowd down by arguing that Paul had not stolen any of their idols,

Which alluded to the fact that many Jews were known for being idol stealers.

Verse 23 gives us the summary statement - the heart of the matter:

Romans 2:23

23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

They are hypocrites. They do the very things that teach people not to do, and condemn others who do the very things they too do.

What is so bad about the bad news of sin: well, you can trace chapter 1 verse 23, chapter 2 verse 23, and chapter 3:23:

Romans 1:23

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Romans 2:23

23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Our sin is about the great dishonor of God.

For we were created to honor God, to bask in His glory, to find all our value, worth, purpose, and meaning in our relationship with God and worship of Him as we honored Him with our very being.

But, hypocrites dishonor God when they preach against sin and condemn those who sin while all along are sinning in the very same ways.

I have found that some of the most hard lined, fundamental, have a rule against absolutely everything kind of legalistic religious people many times also have the most grievous sin, because legalism has no power in overcoming sin in a person’s life.

But, you see, the legalistic religious person thinks they are right with God because they know all the rules and they teach them boldly and unashamedly to others.

But, it is not those who know or those who teach others the law who are justified.

It is the doers of the law who will be justified.

And the great news of the gospel, that we read back in 1:16-17, and will be fleshed out through the rest of the letter is:

God’s son, Jesus Christ, was a perfect doer of the law, yet he died on the cross as a condemned law breaker though he had always obeyed because he was taking the punishment of our law breaking onto himself, and He rose three days later defeating our sin, so that we might be forgiven and gifted his perfect record of obedience to God’s law.

And when we turn from our sinful life and place our faith in Jesus, we no longer live as hypocrites as long as we walk in a spirit of repentance.

By the Spirit of God, we actually begin to obey God, honor Him, and do good,

And when we do sin, we confess our sin to God and others, that’s not hypocrisy, because you are not condemning others and hiding your own sin, you are confessing your sin and walking alongside others in the struggle against sin as well.

But, this text would challenge you today: are you a hypocrite?

Are you quick to speak against other peoples’ sin while you are unwilling to admit your own?

Remember, it is not the knowledge of right and wrong or the courage to speak against sin that justifies you.

It is the willingness to repent of sin yourself, then to pursue obedience by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 2:25–29

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 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.

3. The Heart Of The Matter

Not only should you not trust in your family heritage for salvation,

And not only should you not trust in your knowing of the law or your courage to point out sin in others for salvation,

You finally should not trust in any religious signs or rituals for your salvation.

And that’s something I want you to consider for a moment, because a lot of people in our culture bring up a religious sign or ritual when you ask them if they believe they are saved.

When you ask them, they will say something like: oh yeah, I prayed a prayer.

I got baptized. I joined the membership of a church.

You could go down to that church over there and check the membership roll, my name is on it.

But none of those religious signs or rituals are to be trusted in for salvation.

Praying a prayer, getting baptized, and joining a church are all outward signs that should point to the inward reality of what can only happen in the heart when you respond to the gospel through repentance and faith.

Circumcision was an ancient sign of the covenant God made with the Jewish people all the way back in Genesis 17.

The right way to speak of making a covenant promise to say you “cut a covenant.”

God cut a covenant with the people of Israel, and the outward physical sign and reminder of the covenant was the cutting of all the Jewish males in circumcision.

It was the sign of an agreement signed in blood if you will.

And since that time, all Jews would circumcise their baby boys on the eighth day after their birth, symbolizing the covenant God had made to set the Jews apart for His purposes.

Yet, many Jews not only thought they were right with God because of their family heritage and their knowledge and courage to stand up for God’s law though they broke it themselves,

They also trusted that they were right with God because they bore on their body the sign of circumcision.

But, what does verse 25 say?

Romans 2:25

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

Why? Because it is not those who have the sign of circumcision who will be justified,

It is those who through Christ have an account of obedience to the law.

This would have been wild for the Jews to hear, because they had codified in their traditional writings and teachings that all who bore the sign of circumcision would enter into heaven.

Even crazier than that

Romans 2:26–27

26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.

What? Now Paul is saying that circumcision is not even required for salvation?

Now, we know that God is the judge, but when we read that those who are physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn those who have the written code and circumcision but break the law,

He means that Gentiles who had never been circumcised, but repented of their sins and trusted Christ and received the perfect righteousness of God’s law to their account.

They will stand to witness against Jews who were circumcised but disobeyed the law and never repented or trusted in Jesus.

Romans 2:28–29

28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 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, of course, Paul has adjusted his term a bit as he now says that no one is a Jew who is merely on outwardly.

He obviously is not speaking of being ethnically Jewish here.

He is speaking of being spiritually Jewish.

He is speaking of being part of the true chosen people of God, forgiven, adopted into God’s family - the church.

For a true chosen one of God is a Jew inwardly and circumcision is the matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.

It was clear even in the Old Testament that while the outward sign of circumcision marked Jews out as ethnically part of the nation of Isreal, it took a circumcision of the heart in order to be right with God.

Jeremiah 4:1–4

1 “If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,

to me you should return.

If you remove your detestable things from my presence,

and do not waver,

2 and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then nations shall bless themselves in him,

and in him shall they glory.”

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Break up your fallow ground,

and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

lest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

because of the evil of your deeds.”

Outward circumcision was done by a man on the eighth day to a baby.

Inward circumcision of the heart could only be carried out by the Spirit of God when a person falls under the conviction of their sin against a Holy God and repents of their sin and believes on the Lord Jesus who died taking the punishment that they deserve.

Remember I told you that the true form of covenant making is to “cut a covenant.”

Well, someone who has been truly chosen of God, saved from sin, and granted eternal life, is one who has been “cut to the heart” over their sin and placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

And the final verse ends, His praise is not from man but from God.

Jews gained praise from one another through their heritage, their knowledge of God’s law, and their religious rituals such as circumcision,

But the praise of God would only come through an inward repentance of sin and trust in Jesus for salvation.

And that is true for you as well.

It is possible to walk an aisle, pray a prayer, get baptized, join a church, go on a mission trip, read your Bible, and so many other outward religious rituals for all the wrong reasons.

Maybe you had people in your life that you knew would praise you if you did those things.

Maybe you felt you had to in order to be accepted in your family or amongst Christian peers.

But if that is the case, this text would warn you, you cannot trust in outward religious rituals in order to convince you that you are right with God!

You know your faith is genuine and from the heart only when you are cut to the heart over your sin and you choose to worship Jesus and you do it to the praise and glory of God, not to please any man.

This is again why we try to be so careful not to decorate with a bunch of ornate religious icons and pictures, and why we limit our signs in the worship service to only those Jesus prescribed to us which are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Yet, even in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, one should only ever follow in obedience to these signs as a genuine act from the heart because you know and believe it is what God asks of you, and it is to the glory and praise of God and no one else.

For trusting the gospel of God for salvation is a matter of the heart.

I’ll be honest, again this week as I prepared this message, I considered that I would be preaching to moms and dads, coworkers and managers, students and athletes, and the temptation is to preach to you some earthly wisdom on 3 ways to be a better parent or 5 ways to be a successful student,

But I am convinced time and time again, the most important thing we need, whether we are parents or students, whether it be for our marriages or our work,

The most important thing we need is a mind that knows the word of God and a heart that while being cut over it’s sin is fully trusting in the savior and nothing and no one else for salvation, for light, and for life.

If you need to talk to someone today, an elder at the couch.

Let’s pray.