Romans 2-3

Romans 2-4

[SLIDE GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS]

Give thanks for people who serve.

[SLIDE HAYYEI SARAH] Torah parasha summary.

In the words of the late R’ Johnathan Sacks… Our parsha contains the most serene description of old age and dying anywhere in the Torah:

Then Avraham breathed his last, dying at a ripe old age, an old man full of years; and he was gathered to his people. (Gen 25:8)

Avraham was very blessed, as was Sarah too as she also passes in this weeks parsha. In chapter 24:1 we read that:

Adonai had blessed Avraham in everything. (Gen 24:1)

Blessed indeed, but their lives were a long journey full of sometimes treacherous paths. They were commanded to leave their homeland, they experienced famine, Avraham’s life was at risk a couple times when they were driven into exile… remember local rulers sought to make Sarah (his sister) a wife.

There was no children for many years, then when they did finally get kids, There was family strife, between Sarah and Hagar, he had to send Hagar and his son Ishmael away. That had to be heart wrenching.

Life isn’t always easy, but he remained faithful. In this week’s parsha Avraham secures a cave to bury Sarah and arranges for a marriage for his son. With this, his life is drawing to a close, and he can die in peace.

He doesn’t live long enough to see his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, he doesn’t see them enter the promised land, but he does see the first steps on that long family journey that was promised to him by Adoani.

L’dor Vador, from generation to generation. We place our faith in Adonai, we accept the challenges in life as part of the overall cosmic plan, and we do what we can to setup the next generation to continue that work. That’s a life of peace, a faithful life of peace.

What a great example… gives me much to think about… on how to be a better father and husband to better secure my very small, very humble legacy.

Amen and Amen.

[SLIDE ROMANS 2-4]

This week I am continuing in the book of Romans, going for chapters 2 and 3. We are going to start out in the shallow end, and wade into deeper and deeper waters. I put a lot of work into this message because we are going to tackle some difficult things, understandings of our faith that are contrary to what many of us grew up learning. I want to be able to give a testimony clearly and reasonably, for how and why we live this Torah oriented life.

[SLIDE THINGS TO REMEMBER]

2 Peter/Acts foundation for understanding Paul summary.

Rav Shaul, or the good apostle Paul, continues in chapter 2 addressing sin, and continues as well in the area of Jewish and Gentile identities. People are too fixated on the flesh, and neglectful of the heart, the inside of the vessel, so Shaul has to try and make sure we all understand our unique roles and mission in this world.

We are all unique, we all have a mission to do, and confusion and distraction gets in the way of completing our mission. The mission is simple, walk in the ways of Adonai, love Adonai, love your neighbor. However life isn’t always so simple – life happens - and we get sidetracked, it’s because we are human, so from time to time – we need course corrections.

Romans 2:1-16

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:1-16]

Romans chapter 2, opens with Shaul telling the Romans that Adonai is impartial when it comes to judgement. Lets begin in verse 6.

[Read Rom 2:6-16]

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:1-16 ADONAI IS 1.2.3…]

God is impartial, merciful, and just. That is the picture painted here.

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:15 QUESTION]

There is an old philosophical question that we often hear. How can God condemn a primitive tribesman who had never heard of the bible? R’ David Stern addresses this question in his commentary on Romans.

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:15 ANSWER]

Isn’t that unfair? Yes it is. But, this is usually a sly way of arguing for salvation without Messiah. Stern concludes that God is a just God – Gen 18:25:

Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Adonai impresses into every human being moral virtues. The primitive tribesman knows that murder is wrong, that helping someone in need is a good thing… these good virtues are part of our humanity. The Torah in a sense… is instilled in our humanity.

So, is the primitive man doomed because he does not know Yeshua?

I would say no, that wouldn’t be just. But none of us have that luxury because we know about Yeshua, either we follow Him or we reject Him. The primitive caveman had no suck knowledge, and a just, merciful, loving God will judge him based on his own deeds – see verse 6.

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:17-3:2]

Romans 2:17-3:2

Verses 17-29 contain the first real theological landmines we encounter when reading through this book. We are going to examine circumcision and then the “Inward Jew”. First, lets read the text in question.

[Read Romans 2:17-3:2]

In the coming weeks and months, as we progress through the different letters of Shaul (or Paul) we will be enthusiastically discussing circumcision.

[SLIDE CIRCUMCISION]

Circumcision

For thousands of years, circumcision has been a sign of Jewish identity. This goes back to Genesis.

God said to Avraham, “As for you, you are to keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation. 10 Here is my covenant, which you are to keep, between me and you, along with your descendants after you: every male among you is to be circumcised.

[SLIDE CIRCUMCISION/ISHMAEL]

Note – Avraham’s other children were not transmitters of the covenant but were circumcised. Ishmael was circumcised but was not a transmitter of the covenant. He did receive blessings by being attached to the house and family of Avraham but was not a transmitter of the covenant.

The covenant was passed down through Avraham’s descendants, Yitzchak and Yakov, and Yakov’s 12 sons, B’nei Yisrael.

But there are blessings for those who draw near to the house of Avraham.

The question I often get: Is circumcision for gentiles? Understand that “circumcision is code for “conversion”… I will unpack that a little later. Given that… we affirm this:

[SLIDE CIRCUMCISION FOR BOTH]

[read slide]

Notice a couple points to consider at this point. Jew and gentile, yes we have been beating this subject up but I am going somewhere with it a little later in a way that you may not have considered before… that’s the heretic portion of this teaching. But first, lets sum up a couple points.

1. Jewish and Gentile identity is affirmed.

2. Circumcision has value, but pales in comparison to faith and religious integrity.

Often when discussing circumcision, people will default to the polemical arguments found in the book of Galatians. I don’t think that is helpful, the issues that Shaul was dealing with in Galatia were not the same as in Rome. A better example to cross reference this subject comes from the book of 1 Corinthians, where we see a correlation of these 2 points.

1. 1 Cor 7:17 - Only let each person live the life the Lord has assigned him and live it in the condition he was in when God called him. (Jews remain Jews, gentiles need not convert.)

2. 1 Cor 7:19 - Being circumcised means nothing, and being uncircumcised means nothing; what does mean something is keeping God’s commandments. (Focus on inward change, not ethnic change).

Again, the focus is on inward change and moral integrity, things that transcend (but not eliminate) ethnicity. Paul doesn’t charge gentiles to convert, he charges them to dedication to follow God’s will in the way a circumcised person should be. Dedication starts with the heart, not the flesh.

[SLIDE ROMANS 2:25-29]

Focus on Romans 2:25-29 The Inward Jew

[read Rom 2:25-29]

Over-spiritualization has led to the view that Paul replaces physical circumcision with spiritual circumcision – its not either/or, its both. See the next couple verses for context. Paul just spent a lot of time delineating between Jews and gentiles, and he doesn’t throw it out here.

[SLIDE FIRST THOUGHT]

Rav Shaul or Paul is trying to make sure his fellow countrymen are practicing what they preach. Man cannot rely on the outward displays of faith if the heart is not following along.

[SLIDE SECOND THOUGHT]

Before I expand on this statement, I need to properly set it up, so I will circle back in a minute.

Its is clear from the following verses and previous verses that Shaul does fine much value in circumcision, but circumcision of the heart (faithfulness) is the foundation for spiritual life. Drawing conclusions beyond the point Shaul is trying to make does a disservice to his message and removes important identity boundaries.

Moving on to chapter 3, most of the chapter deals again with the shortcomings of mankind, both Jew and gentile. For our purposes we are going to focus near the end in verses 27-28.

[SLIDE ROMANS 3:27-28]

Romans 3:27-28

[read Rom 3:27-28]

Now Stern paraphrases some in his translation, here is how these verses are rendered in the NASB, which is closer to what you will see in most translations.

[SLIDE ROMANS 3:27-28 NASB]

Stern emphasizes the “legalistic” view of “works of the law.” This is a common and traditional interpretation for “works of the law” but I am going to offer another perspective.

One thing that has always bothered me about this passage is that it seems to completely in opposition to another verse from James:

[WORKS SLIDE]

How do we reconcile that?

[SLIDE TRADITIONAL VIEWS]

[SLIDE IS THIS A…]

The “”New Perspective on Paul” is a movement of religious thought that tries to see the scriptures as how the 1st century Jews would have understood it, not 16th century reformers who had more interest in establishing their own thing apart from Catholicism than being true to the 2nd Temple Yeshua followers.

[SLIDE E.P SANDERS]

Most of academia credits E.P. Sanders as starting the modern “New Paul Perspective”, although some others in the last century helped plant some seeds. He inspired the contemporary thinkers that are at work today.

[SLIDE DUNN/WRIGHT]

Dunn passed away in June of this year.

The “New Paul Perspective” can be summed up many ways, viewing 1st cebtury texts through 1st century eyes is one way, here’s another angle:

[SLIDE NNP SUMMARY]

Most NPP are works friendly. This causes quite the controversy in protestant circles as you can imagine… but there are still a lot of traditional Christian elements that remain in this theology. So, lets take this a step further…

[NANOS SLIDE]

Where Sanders, Dunn, and Wright left off with the “New Perspective on Paul”, Nanos picks up and dives deeper into the 1st century contexts and engages the 1st century theology in a shockingly clear and honest manner.

[NANOS 2 SLIDE]

“Works of the Law” is not trying to earn salvation by works, its conversion. This means that we interpret many passages radically different that the traditional way, so you can see the source of controversy. For a full treatment on this view, see his book:

[SLIDE NANOS BOOK]

So, with this understanding, 1st century religious practice might be a little more “works friendly” than we all thought. Jews remain following Torah just like Yeshua, the apostles, and Paul did… but where does this leave the gentiles?

Consider how Nanos conceives the 1st century synagogue.

An excerpt from Nano’s book, Reading Paul Within Judaism is a long one, but it gives good real life application:

“Paul’s opposition to these non-Jews undertaking proselyte conversion to become Jews ethnically… should not be mistaken as opposition to these non-Jews beginning to observe Judaism, which he actually promotes. His letters consist precisely of instruction in the Jewish way of life for non-Jews who turn to Israel’s God as the One God of all the nations; he enculturates them into God’s Guidance (Torah)… They are non-Jews who are learning, by way of Paul’s instructions, to practice Judaism!” – Nanos, Reading Paul Within Judaism.

The only way they are going to learn how to practice Judaism is at the synagogue, where Jews are practicing Judaism! (Acts 15:21) That was the vision then, and I like to think that is our vision, or at least something close.

Circle Back to “Works of the Law”

[WORKS SLIDE]

I believe using this biblical worldview is consistent with all of scripture. As we progress through Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and other letters this year, we will see continuity in this message, and will be able to make common sense out of passages that have been traditionally understood as anti-law or anti-Torah.

All of this to say:

[LAST SLIDE]

We want to be able to give reasonable answers to people who inquire of our unusual faith walk. If we want to be good witnesses for Yeshua, we must have reasonable answers. This is why I am embarking on these studies. Not just for our own sake, but to have an affect on those we love, friends, family. I want my children to have an appreciation and to connect with this faith… they’re not stupid, I need reasonable and logical answers for them. To keep this going from generation to generation.

Like Avraham and Sarah, who had a tough journey but did their part in raising up the next generation, we too need to do raise them up, doing work that is sometimes hard, work that goes against the grain, conventional wisdom… but we see Paul doing that as well. Rav Shaul or Paul encouraged his people to lead their communities with grace and love, and encouraged those from the nations to engage their faith in a way that resembles the Kingdom of God… nations streaming to the Mountain of the Lord… imagery you read in the prophets… Paul was trying to make those prophesies become a reality.

… what we do does go against conventional wisdom. But if I didn’t see good fruit coming out of this faith walk we are in, then I wouldn’t be able to stand before you and say these things. It is because of the Spirit that I am able to push forward in this, and its because of you that I receive encouragement and confirmation that we are seeking Adonai’s face in a way pleasing to Him.

Shabbat Shalom.