Equal Rights - Week 3

Hypocrisy and Holiness: The Battle Within

Bible Passage: Romans 2:17-24

Summary: In Romans 2:17-24, Paul addresses the Jewish believers who rely on the law while failing to live out its demands. This passage reveals the disparity between outward appearances of righteousness and the reality of inner corruption, showcasing the hypocrisy that can lead to blasphemy against God’s name among the nations.

Application: This message calls Christians to examine their lives for consistency between their claims of faith and their actions. By doing so, we are challenged to live out our righteousness authentically, creating a more profound witness to others and avoiding the pitfalls of hypocrisy. - To live out our righteousness authentically doesn’t mean that we try harder to be holy, but we are more willing to admit when we’re not. We can strive for holiness and righteousness.

Teaching: This sermon teaches that true righteousness is not merely about external conformity to rules but about the transformation of the heart. It emphasizes that our actions must align with our professed beliefs to avoid misrepresenting God to the world. - again… doesn’t meant that we’re completely perfect, but we’re admitting.

How this passage could point to Christ: In the context of the Bible, this theme reflects the need for a genuine relationship with Christ, who fulfills the law perfectly and empowers believers to live righteously. He is the ultimate embodiment of righteousness, and through Him, we can overcome our internal struggles.

Big Idea: The big idea of this sermon communicates that true righteousness must stem from a transformed heart, not mere outward compliance, to avoid the blasphemy that comes from hypocritical living.

Recommended Study: As you prepare your sermon, consider utilizing the Logos library to explore the historical context of Jewish reliance on the law and examine commentaries that delve into the concept of hypocrisy in the early church. Pay special attention to the original Greek terms Paul uses, as understanding their nuances could lead to deeper insights into the passage's implications for modern believers.

Intro

1. Confidence in Compliance?

Romans 2:17-20

The Jews were given the Law by God when Moses recieved the 10 commandments.

They had confidence in themselves and their own capability to lead others. They claimed to be guides for those who were lost because they had the law, but not because they kept it.

Did you ever work with someone who was really bad at following the rules and then all of a sudden got promoted and had no mercy for anyone who would break the rules and still themselves were breaking the rules?

If you’re that person… and we all can be that person…. your hypocrisy is evident. Its seen.

If we come at our faith and leading others to the faith in this same way, then we’ll never get anyone.

We’re not meant to lead others by showing them how good of a Christian we are, but by showing them how bad of a person we were and what Christ’s redemption has done to save us. That we deserve judgement, but Jesus’ mercy has spared us.

The Jews believed that because they were of the Law, they would be exempt from the final judgement. They thought that it gave them some sort of status before God.

They were given the Law and the promises… but they weren’t given exemption from judgement.

Have you ever been around someone who name drops but when it comes time to have pull in that supposed relationship, it turns out its one sided?

Its a dangerous game to play when you say you have a relationship with the Father and the day of judgement comes and He says, “I never knew you.”

Theres conditions here that he sets. Its almost like a job description that lay out qualifications that need to be met.

He says all these things that most people would align themselves with and then turns the tables on them.

He makes their qualifications meaningless if they don’t do what they teach others.

2. Practice What You Preach

Romans 2:21-22

I used to teach piano. I had to stop because when I got the kids to a certain point, they were better than me.

I could’ve tried to continue to teach them, but my lack of ability to do what I was teaching would’ve been exposed.

This is something you can’t fake until you make it.

We should go about teaching from our experience, not from a place where we pretend to sit at perfection.

This is good news, because we don’t need to become scholars, but instead, share from our humble experience.

We’re to live out an authentic righteous life to be an example to others.

That doesn’t look like projecting perfection, but instead, showing where we fall short and pointing toward Christ’s perfect righteousness.

The only way to do this is to have a relationship with Christ, to really know Christ and His righteousness.

In our relationship with Christ, He fulfills the Law and empowers us to live righteously through Him.

Only in this relationship - not a striving for perfect - but a relationship with Christ can we overcome our internal struggle and avoid living a hypocritical life.

A life where we’re real is just the life that we live and don’t want people to know about…. you might not want to be too vulnerable because what will people think??

This is what a hypocritical life looks like:

Are You an Oxymoron?

3. Consequences of Contradiction

Romans 2:23-24

If we project ourselves as Christ like, but we don’t represent Christ likeness, then we will tarnish the view of God that the people we’re trying to reach will have.

Does this mean we’re perfect? NO. But it means that when we act in our selfish nature, we don’t pretend like we didn’t. We don’t come up with excuses or act like we have it all together when we don’t.

There isn’t a rule that says when you come go to church you have to make sure you are Christ like.

When you come to church, you could be not teaching yourself, stealing, committing adultery, dishonoring God and when you come into His presence like this and ask Him for a change, you will not walk out of here the same person.

That is a creative force for change. That is transformation.

Our life should show a transformation that reflects the power of Christ that changed us.

Sincere living is not perfect living, but is a authentic living. We show where we fall short and give God the glory for the places He’s raising us up.

To do the opposite is not just bad, its blasphemy.

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“God cannot be fooled. We can claim to live a righteous life and even do righteous things, but that cannot offset our sinful behavior. Ignoring our sin is not just wrong, it is a form of blasphemy. It’s letting our actions say that God’s judgment is somehow wrong.1”

1 Steven E. Runge, High Definition Commentary: Romans (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014), 49.

Closing

When you come to the altar today. Come with whatever burdens you have.

Theres not one of us who can be a Christian without submitting ourselves to Christ.

If you’ve been trying it on your own and you’re failing, just remember that its because you’re trying it in your own strength.

Come and humble yourself before God. He will lift you up. He will make your burdens light. He will give you peace.