Rom 2:17-3:8 "Rules Kept & Broken"

Frequently people treat the Bible like it is a secret code book containing hidden meaning like the invisible ink on the U.S; Declaration of Independence in the 2004 movie National Treasure. If you haven’t seen the movie, this clip will help you understand what I am describing - https://youtu.be/LqVxaRiekac?si=lhwAl_LaM9rY5emZ

Our Mormon friends believe a device similar to this called a seer stone was given to Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni in 1830 to enable him to understand the tablets that became the Book of Mormon.

So the Word of God was read, studied, understood and taught for some 1800 years (and the Old Testament longer than that!) before the idea even appeared of a hidden message.

The Bible can be understood through plain reading as God’s Spirit gives illumination to His church. Simple observation like noticing the verbs and conjunctions can help us identify what the original human author was compelled to write and intended to communicate.

Today’s text is a perfect example of how each paragraph begins with a conjunction so that we can grasp the flow of thought from Paul to the Romans. The main ideas (paragraphs) begin with if, for, then and but.if.

TRANSITION: Let’s start with the first conjunction to notice the diatribe that Paul begins to identify some of his readers.

IF you identify, rely & boast(Rom 2:17-24)

Imagine if you are driving West on Highway 50. You see the sign for Saffordville Church, you notice Palenske’s on the South, and you notice the letters of the road are moving toward the beginning of the alphabet; then you crest the hill and you see Jacalito’s on the left and the Highway department on your right.

You put this evidence together and figure out, “I’m not any closer to Emporia than when I started; Hwy 50 West is not going to get me to my desired destination. I need to make a change.”

So you turn right (North on 177) and happily begin to travel past the Tallgrass Preserve, then you see the Hatcher ranch on your left and you merrily continue your drive, grateful that you are no longer on the road away from Emporia.

You encounter a Johnson County plate on a car stopped in the middle of the road with the flashers on and the driver waving his arms for you to stop. He says that he got turned around and needs to get to Emporia so he can jump back on I-35 for home.

You tell him that turning right (West) on Highway 50 is not the way to go, so whatever you do, don’t turn west. The JoCo car leaves headed south, you resume your trek on 177 and act as if you’ve done something noble.

The problem is that NOBODY is headed toward the desired destination!

Instruction of others

Rom 2:17 decribes the “local” who was wise enough to get off the wrong road, but did not complete the full U-turn necessary to get on the right road, but relies on 177 to get him where he wants to go and boasts that he pointed others away from the wrong way.

Ever since Eden, humans have been headed in the wrong direction. This wrong way traffic led to such debauchery that God sent a flood to get attention, punish wickedness and call people to turn the other way. Soon the rebellion of man’s heart turned back to that wrong-way direction of human effort.

Selfish ways of mankind led to God’s chosen people being mistreated as slaves in Egypt so God delivered his people and set them on a new direction. As they traveled East they began to want to turn back. God met Moses on a Mountain and said, “Here are 10 ways that mankind travels in the wrong direction. A direction that leads to death.

For centuries the Jewish people took pleasure in their possession of that list of 10 misdirections, and boasted that they were no longer on the path away from God

But they weren’t headed in the right direction either!

Transformation of self

Rom 2:23 – having the law (direction from God) isn’t enough. The law required 100% obedience and 50% obedience is NOT honoring to God.

Those who brag that they are not going west still don’t get them where they want to go unless they go 100% East.

Half right is still half wrong and half wrong dishonors (v.23) God and blasphemes his name (v.24).Instruction of others

For circumcision is (Rom 2:25-29)

Outward compliance

Circumcision was a minor medical procedure for boys meant to remind them that God’s people do not chase after other gods.

But there is a difference between “not wrong” and “right”

Inward renewal

1. Rom 2:29 states that “not following false gods is NOT the same as pursuing the true God.”

How many of you know a picky eater? Just because your grandson may not have a sweet tooth, does not guarantee that he consumes a healthy diet.

For a season, one of our children loved potatoes—baked, fried, mashed, whatever: Any potato was a good potato.

How healthy is a person who avoids sweets, but only eats potatoes?

2. [Those who don’t] is not the same as [those who do]. The person described in the end of Romans 2 is the person who avoids certain things, but that avoidance is NOT what God desires

TRANSITION: If the person who no longer goes the opposite direction does not get to his desired destination, then what advantage is there to getting off that path?

Then the advantage is (Rom 3:1-4)

Entrusted with truth (2-3a)

What is the advantage of the wrong way signs? The oracles of God are “where you are going is wrong, but there IS a way to get where you want to be!”

We don’t all wander off the end of the cliff. There IS a rewarder who longs for you to be with Him.

Although mankind repeatedly wanders away from God, He remains as the one who promised to make a way back to himself.

To those who sing along with U2’s lyrics “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” or Kansas’ despair that “all we are is dust in the wind”, the voice of God calls out that He exists and can be found.

Experienced God’s faithfulness (Rom 3:3b )

God shows Himself faithful, even when we prove faithless: Humanity abounds in wickedness, God tells Noah to build a boat and shuts him up safely inside; Sarah conceives after Abraham fathers Ishmael; Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery, God promotes him to a position to provide for the whole clan; Israelites worship a golden calf, God gives a second set of tablets; King Saul gets full of himself, God raises a shepherd boy; and there are dozens more examples of God being faithful to His covenant even when blatantly disregarded.

TRANSITION: If we brag that we are no longer on the opposite road, for we are traveling North instead of West, then the advantage is that we are closer to the right path than we could be and we recognize the good God calling us to the right path.

But if Our Unrighteousness shows(Rom 3:5-8)

a chasm exists

Our wrong direction demonstrates that there is a right destination!

Council Grove is Not Emporia! Some may say that Council Grove is better than Florence, but it is still inadequate.

The fact that Council Grove is different from Emporia does NOT mean that God is unrighteous by holding on to His holy wrath against all wickedness.

One of Ann’s favorite restaurants is on the corner of 6th and Merchant, a great destination for smoked meat. We have driven to Florence to eat, but never found good BBQ. We have driven to Cassidy to eat, but never found good BBQ. We have driven to Council Grove to eat, but never found good BBQ. There is something unique at 6th and Merchant that is different from the other 3 directions.

4.     God’s righteousness is different from all other imposters! Other directions may have a certain lure and provide a distinct comfort, but they are NOT ultimate rest, peace and reward.

no cheap grace

What does all this talk about traveling East, West, North and South have to do with good and evil, with sin and the Gospel?

Rom 3:8 looks back not only to today’s text, but goes all the way back to what was started in 1:18—what are we supposed to do with ungodliness and unrighteousness?

Some recognize evil in our world and conclude, you are the only one who can bring happiness, find happiness wherever you can.

Some recognize chaos in our world and conclude, you just need to find a good road, stay on it, and allow it to take you wherever you end up.

Some hear the voice of a good and a loving God whose volume is getting weaker. The stop running away from it, but don’t turn toward it and pursue it fully.

Rom 3:8 says that the idea that one can chase any of these 3 paths and somehow God is going to make everything good is an idea to be condemned

Conclusion:

Going back to the very first message in this series, the truth and power of the Gospel (1:16) is that it results in salvation.

Salvation is the loving, gracious, eternal and good gift to all who get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Those who are willing not only to turn FROM sin in repentance, but also to turn TO Christ in trusting faith.

Light & Lamp Application:

A Light for my Path

God’s commands require authentic change, not just outward compliance

A Lamp for my Steps

Your relationship with the PERSON is more important than the routine of the rules

The proper response to the Chasm is not refusal, but repentance.

The routine of rules we have seen today are the first half of a U-turn. The rules tell us how to turn from sin. The 2nd part of the complete reversal is placing trusting faith in the finished work of Christ.

This is what we celebrate in Communion. By using elements of bread and wine, we recount that there was a very real death that involved a body and blood broken on an old cross.

By taking these elements into us, we confess that righteousness does not exist within us. It is something that we must take in from outside. Our sinful condition requires an outside remedy, a merciful cure offered without cost.