Romans 2

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Romans and his Study guide. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

Principles of God’s Judgment - Part 1 ( 2:1-5 )

— After showing the immoral page his lostness apart from Christ, Paul proceeds to show the moralist that, before God, he is equally guilty and condemned

— Many commentators think that the moralist described here is Jewish throughout this chapter

— God uses six principles to judge men: knowledge ( v. 1 ), truth ( vv. 2-3 ), guilt ( vv. 4-5 ), deeds ( vv. 6-10), impartiality ( vv. 11-15 ), and motive ( v. 16 )

Knowledge ( 2:1 )

( 2: 1 ) Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

— Paul is addressing a new group of people as will become evident in ( 2:17 )

— He is speaking primarily to Jews who passed judgment on Gentiles thinking that they are spiritually superior

— Jews in Paul’s day believed that if you failed in earthly good works, they were still exempt from God’s judgment because they were Jewish

— They loved to say, “God loves Israel above all the nations” and “God will judge the Gentiles with one measure and the Jews with another”

( 2:1b ) for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself

— If you judge you also condemn yourself because you know what is right and wrong before God

— They are wrong about assessing the moral standard of others but also wrong about assessing their own moral standing

— They practice the same thing

— They underestimate God’s holiness which encompasses the inner and outer life ( the theme of the Sermon on the Mount)

— They underestimate the depth of their own sin

— It is a universal temptation to exaggerate the sins of others and minimize our sown ( c.f. Matt 7:1-3; Log in the eye )

Truth ( 2:2-3 )

( 2:2-3 ) But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

οἶδα oida know: awareness of that which is commonly known

— Even the pagans “knows” that “those who practice such things are worthy of death” ( 1:32 )

— The enlightened Jews must know that they will receive punishment for these things if they practice these things

Guilt ( 2:4-5 )

( 2:4-5 ) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

— Don’t think lightly of the riches of God’s goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering,

Matthew Henry wrote: “There is in every willful sin a contempt for the goodness of God”

— Paul’s rhetorical question is essentially asking, “Do you take the goodness of God lightly?” (Sproul)

— Every intentional sin takes lightly and presumes upon God’s kindness and forbearance and longsuffering

The Goodness of God

Boice

— Kindness (NASB, NIV), Goodness (KJV)

— Popularized “God is good all the time … and all the time God is good” (God’s not Dead)

— Of all of God’s attributes this one is probably most frequently ignored

— We take it for granted that God is good

— Our word God points in that direction

— It comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon speech where “God” originally meant “The Good”

— All the goodness there is originates in God

James 1:17 NASB95

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

— Paul is not referring primarily of the goodness of God but what he has done for us

Creation - The first place at which the goodness of God is seen

Providence - God causes his rain to fall on the evil and the good ( Matt 5:45 )

The Gospel Call - God’s goodness is seen in spiritual matters above all the gospel

The Tolerance of God

ἀνοχή (anochē) Forbearance: to hold back, as of judgement, cessation of hostilities between warring parties

— The idea is that we have offended God’s goodness and that should provoke an immediate outpouring of fierce judgment, but God actually endures it

— God told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the forbidden tree ( Gen 1:17 )

— When God confronted them He did not execute the sentence — they did not die physically at once although they died spiritually

— The irony is that we do not appreciate His tolerance of sin and turn this into an accusation

— Some Galileans were visiting the temple and some of Pilate’s soldiers killed them and mingled their blood with the blood of the sacrifice

— The people asked Jesus how this could happen

Luke 13:2–5 NASB95

And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

— His point is you are asking the wrong question

— The question is not why did God let you down, but why did he spare you?

— We are all going to die; we are living on borrowed time

The Patience of God

— God’s forbearance with mankind is a kind of temporary divine truce

— Until the inevitable moment of judgment God has extended forbearance and longsuffering (patience)

— Spurgeon “Forbearance has to do with the magnitude of sin; longsuffering with the multiplicity of it”

— God is patient so that, as Paul writes, it might lead us to to repentance ( 2 Cor 7:10 )

—If God is patient with you in spite of your many follies, it is because He is giving you an opportunity to be saved

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

( 2:5 ) But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath

— But a two-edged sword for those who do not repent

— The person who because of hardness, stubbornness and an impenitent unrepentant heart is storing up wrath for himself for the day of judgment

Spiritual hardness

σκληρότης (sklērotēs)

— The Eng. word “sclerosis” (as in arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries) comes from this Gr. word

— But here the danger is not physical, but spiritual hardness (Eze 36:26; Mt 19:8; Mk 3:5; 6:52; 8:17; Jn 12:40; Heb 3:8, 15; 4:7)

— The spiritual is much worse than the physical hardening; hardening of the spiritual heart will take a person to hell

Principles of God’s Judgment - Part 2 ( 2:6-16 )

( 2:6-16 ) who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

— Paul continues to talk about the day of judgment which he calls

— in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ( 2:5 )

— This is God’s final judgment of man

— Peter calls it “the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” ( 2 Pet 3:7 )

— Jude refers to it as “the judgment of the great day” ( Jude 6 )

— It will occur at the second coming of Jesus ( 2 Tim 4:1; 2 Thes 1:7-8; Rev 20:11-15 )

Deeds ( 2:6-10 )

( 2:6-10 ) who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

— In Revelation 20:11-15 and here Paul clearly states that men will be judged “according to their deeds”

— Clearly taught in the OT

— Is 3:10-11: “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him.”

— Jer 17:10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”

— Jesus taught the same thing in Matt 16:27 “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

— And Jesus twice said during the Sermon on the Mount, “you will know them by their fruits” ( Matt 7:6, 20 )

— Paul taught that judgment of believers and unbelievers is based on works ( 1 Cor 3:11-15; 2 Cor 5:10; Gal 6:7-9 )

The subjective criterion for salvation is faith alone, with nothing added. But the objective reality of that salvation is manifested in the subsequent godly works that the Holy Spirit leads and empowers believers to perform. For that reason, good deeds are a perfectly valid basis for God’s judgment.

It must be clear, or course, that although Scripture, both the OT and NT, teaches that judgment is by works, it nowhere teaches that salvation is by works.

— A person is truly saved there will be outward evidence of it in his life

— If he is not saved, there will be no evidence

Sproul

— Augustine said that in distributing rewards according to our level of obedience, God is crowning his own works in us

Boice

— The most important teaching of this verse is that the wrath of God is proportionate to our sin

— And some teach that the only sin that can send you to hell is rejecting Christ

Prominent Pastor Tim Keller when asked about homosexuality and sin

The bible has reservations. The bible says homosexuality is not God’s original design for sexuality… … You don’t go to hell for being a homosexual… heterosexuality does not get you to heaven… What sends you to hell is self-righteousness, thinking you can be your own saviour and lord. What sends you to heaven is getting a connection with Christ because you realize you are a sinner and you need intervention from outside. That’s why it is very misleading to even say homosexuality is a sin… because all kinds of things are sins. But what most Christians mean when they say that, and what non-Christians think they hear when they hear that is, if you’re gay your going to hell for being gay. It’s just not true

Boice comments on this line of thinking

But this is not correct. For one thing, even the basic premise is in error, for not everyone has a chance to hear of Jesus Christ, and therefore not all will be punished for refusing to believe on him. We saw this in our study of Romans 1, when we dealt with whether it is just for God to condemn those who, like the natives in a far-off island jungle, have never had a chance to hear the gospel. We saw there that God does not condemn people for failing to do what they did not even know they should do, but rather for failing to follow the revelation they do have. The native is condemned, not for failing to believe on Jesus, about whom he has never heard, but failing to seek God out on basis of the revelation of God found in nature

The Deeds of the Redeemed ( 2:7 )

( 2:7 ) eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;

— Our highest desire is God’s glory above all

— We also seek glory for ourselves when our salvation is perfected in Christ likeness ( Ro 8:21, 30; 2 Thess 2:14; cf. Ps 17:15; 2 Cor 4:17; Phil 3:10-14, 20, 21 )

— We seek the honor that comes from God, the honor of His saying “Well done, good and faithful servant” ( Matt 25:21 )

— We seek immorality, the day when this perishable body “must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality ( 1 Cor 15:53 )

The Deeds of the Unredeemed ( 2:8-9 )

( 2:8-9 ) but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

— Paul proves those who by their bad deeds do not belong to Christ

— They are self-seeking; everything he does is for the purpose of serving and pleasing self

— This unredeemed person does not obey the truth; disobedience of the truth is synonymous with rebellion

— The unredeemed are rebels by nature, the enemies of God ( Ro 8:7: cf. 5:10; Col 1:21 )

— Third, they obey unrighteousness

— We are either righteous or unrighteous; and when a man does not serve God all other masters lead him to sin ( Matt 6:24 )

— Serving God means obeying God’s will; serving another master means obeying sin

( 2:9 ) Jew first and also of the Greek;

— God had indeed chosen Israel above all other people to be His elect

— “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; ( Amos 2:2 a )

— But He immediately adds, “Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” ( Amos 2:2 b)

— Jew means being first in salvation opportunity and it also means being first in judgment responsibility

The righteous deeds that God requires and for which men will be judged are, of course, impossible even for a believer to produce in his own power. He is no more able to keep his salvation by good works than he was able to attain it by good works. Like salvation itself, the good works it produces are made possible by God’s sovereign grace alone and empowered by His Holy Spirit working within the life. The only way to produce righteous deeds is to possess the righteousness of Christ, which comes by trusting in Him as Lord and Savior, to possess the Holy Spirit who empowers those works, and to consciously seek to obey the Word of God!

Impartiality ( 2:11-15 )

( 2:11-15 ) For there is no partiality with God.

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

προσωπολημψία (prosōpolēmpsia) Impartiality - the opposite of impartiality is partiality and means “to receive a face”, that is, to give consideration to person based on who they are. The exact idea is seen in the popular symbolic status of justice as a women blindfolded, signifying that she is unable to see who is before her to be judged and therefore is not tempted to be partial for or against the accused

— There will be no partiality when God judges

— Because of His perfect knowledge of every detail and because of His perfect righteousness, it is not possible for His justice to be anything but perfectly impartial

Boice

Witnesses for the Prosecution

— There are three important witnesses against the natural man in these verses

The law of nature ( 2:14 )

Conscience ( 2:15 )

The Memory (2:15 )

( 2:12 a) For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law

— Paul makes two distinctions: those who had an opportunity to know the law and those that did not

— Those without the law are Gentiles

— It is not as if the Gentiles had no awareness of God or sense of right or wrong

— The Gentiles will be judged according to their limited knowledge of God; this includes the vast majority of humanity of all times

— They will also perish without the law

— The lost Gentile will just as surely perish as the lost Jew, but, as Paul has already intimated ( v.9 ), their eternal punishment will be less than that of the Jews, who had the immeasurable advantage of possessing God’s law

— Jesus illustrated the principle clearly using the illustration of the slaves of a master who returned after a long journey

Luke 12:47–48 NKJV

And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

( 2:12 b ) and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law

— It is the Jew that Paul addresses next

— The person who has not had the benefit of knowing God’s law will be judged according to his limited knowledge of God

— But the person who has access to God’s Law will be judged according to his greater knowledge about the Lord

— Think of the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum who not only knew the OT but witnessed Christ and His teaching

Matthew 11:20–23 NKJV

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

( 2:13 ) for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

— Paul and James are on the same page ( James 1:22-23 )

ἀκροατής (akroatēs) Hearer: Paul does not use the usual word for hearing (akouo) but the word akroatēs which means to listen, audit. In many synagogues during Paul’s time God’s Word was read without explanation. Most Jews, therefore, were simply “auditing the course,” hearers of the Law and nothing more.

— God recognizes no more “auditors” of the His Word

— The more a person hears the truth, the more he is responsible for believing and obeying it

— the doers of the law are those who come to God in repentance and faith, realizing that His Law is impossible for them to keep apart from Him

— The purpose of the law is to lead us to Christ ( Gal 3:24 )

— After we have come our obedient lives give evidence of a saving relationship ( justification only comes through faith ( Rom 3:24, 28 )

(2:14-15 ) for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

— Paul anticipates the argument about the Gentiles ( cf. 4:15; 5:13; 7:7 )

— Four reasons why the heathen are lost

( a ) Rejection of God available in creation

( b ) The law written on their hearts

— When they do good deeds and still never trust in God, their good deeds will witness against them

( c ) Because of conscience

— The conscience bears witness

— Men have a sense of right or wrong unless cauterized by persistent opposition to God and His truth ( 1 Tim 4:2 )

( d ) The heathen are lost because of their contemplation

— their thoughts accusing or else excusing them

— Closely related to conscience, we have the ability to know right and wrong

— Even without the bible, we know instinctively to help the poor, elderly and children

— The good news is that: The person who genuinely seeks to know and follow God is divinely assured he will succeed

Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Motive ( 2:16 )

( 2:16 ) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

— Motive is the sixth principle of God’s judgment

— Motive is valid because God is able to judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ

— David told his son Solomon, “serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts” ( 1 Chron 28:9 ) (cf. Ps 139:1-3 )

— Through Jeremiah God said, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” ( Jer 17:10 )

— Three times the Lord said during the Sermon on the Mount, “Your Father who sees in secret will repay you” ( Matt 6:4, 6, 18 )

Hebrews 4:13 NASB95

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

False Security ( 2:17-29 )

( 2:17-29 ) Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

— Paul shatters the idea of false security that most Jews had in their

( a ) Heritage (2-17 a)

( b ) Knowledge ( v. 17b -24 )

( c ) Ceremony ( v. 25 - 29 )

The False Security of Heritage ( 2:17 a)

( 2:17 a ) Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

— The chosen people of God took great pride in the name Jew

— In centuries past they were called Hebrews because of the language they spoke

—They had also been called Israelites, after the land God had promised and given them according to His covenant with Abraham

— By the time of Christ the most common name was Jew derived from Judah, the name of one of the twelve tribes as well as the name of the southern kingdom following the death of Solomon

— The root of Judah, and therefore of Jew, is “praised”

— After the Babylonian captivity it came to refer to the whole race that descended from Abraham through Isaac

Jews had long since lost sight of the purpose of their unique divine calling, however, which was to be a channel through which “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” ( Gen 12:3 ). They had no desire to share their God-given truths and blessings with the rest of the world, much less be used by the Lord as the means through which He would draw all nations to Himself. Jonah’s reluctance to preach in Nineveh because he feared they would believe in God and be spared judgment ( Jonah 4:2 ) typified the attitude of many Jews toward Gentiles

John Murray

such an attitude “demonstrates … how close lies the grosses vice to the highest privilege and how the best can be prostituted to the service of the worst”

— Instead of viewing these divine truths and blessings as a trust from God ( to be shared with the world ), they viewed them as their right by merit

— They believed they were specially blessed not because of God’s grace but because of their own goodness

— They felt superior and proud

Jesus undermined the Jew’s imagined security of racial and religious heritage

— Jesus told the religious leaders that if they were Abraham’s children they would not be seeking to kill him ( John 8:39-40 )

— Being Abraham’s descendants did not make them spiritual descendants

— If the Jewish leaders had been spiritual heirs of Abraham and true children of God, they woudl have received Christ as their Messiah ( John 8:40-42; 44, 56 )

John the Baptist did the same thing

— When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to the river to be baptized, he called them a “brood of vipers”

— “and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” ( Matt 3:7-9 )

— In a similar way people think of that they are safe from judgment because

— Grew up in a Christian home and were baptized or have a profession of faith

— In many European countries they are Christian because of heritage

— Born into a catholic family they are “cradle Catholics” and Catholics believe baptism confers salvation

According to Scripture, however, a person who is raised in a Christian home and trained in a Christian environment is not saved by such a heritage, valuable as it is. Nor does baptism, or any other Christian rite in itself, possess or bestow any spiritual benefit. Apart from true faith held by the person receiving it, no ritual or ceremony has any spiritual value whatsoever. Baptism is not a sacrament and, without faith, it become a sacrilege

The False Security of Knowledge ( 2:17 b - 24 )

( 2:17 b - 24 ) Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

— The Law includes the entire OT

— The Pentateuch, Psalms, Proverbs, etc

— In regard to the Jews’ knowledge of that divine revelation, the apostle mentions four aspects

— What they learned of the Law ( vv. 17b - 18 )

— What the Jews taught about it ( vv. 19-20 )

— What they did in light of it ( vv. 21-22 )

— And what they caused by breaking it ( vv. 23-24 )

What They Learned about the Law ( 2:17 b-18 )

( 2:17-18 ) Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

— Since it was not possible to perfectly keep the law, some rabbis began to teach that merely learning the facts of the Law was sufficient to please God

— Weakening it still further, others taught possessing the law ( in the form of written scrolls) was sufficient

— It is ironic that ancient Jews considered wisdom to consist of acting according to the what you know

— Ancient Greeks simply equated wisdom with knowledge

— By NT times, however, many Jews, especially the religious leaders, had, in practice, accepted the Greek view of wisdom

What they taught about the law ( 2:19-20 )

( 2:19 - 20 ) and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

— They thought of themselves to be the most competent of teachers of the spiritually unwise, names the Gentiles

— But Israel’s continued unfaithfulness to God and disobedience of His Word disqualified her as an example and teacher

— They thought that they were superior and a guide to the blind

— Jesus called them “blind guides” ( Matt 23:24-28 )

— They saw themselves as a light to those in darkness

— God intended for them to be a light to the world ( Is 42:6 ; Gen 12:3 )

— Jesus called His disciples to be a “light in the world” ( Matt 5:14-16 )

— They thought of themselves as an instructor of the foolish

— The foolish was the Gentiles

— But Jesus said that you travel about the sea an convert the Gentile and make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves ( Matt 23:15 )

— Fourth, they considered themselves teachers of babes

— Teaching small children the Jewish faith

— Or teaching Gentiles to rid themselves of pagan ideas and practices

What they did in relation to the law ( 2:21-22 )

( 2:21-22 ) You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

— Even when they taught the truth, they taught it hypocritically

— Even believers who are true believers are held especially accountable for living out what they teach ( cf. James 3:1 )

— Jesus said of them, “They say things, and do not do them” ( Matt 23:3 )

Paul mentions three areas of their spiritual and moral hypocrisy

( 2:21 ) You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

— Despite being one of the ten commandments, theft, then like today, was common

— Ezekiel denounced those who “have taken brides to shed blood; … taken interest and profits, and … and injured [their] neighbors for gain and oppression” ( Ezek 22:12 )

— Amos wrote of those who stole by making “the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger” and by cheating “with dishonest scales” ( Amos 8:5 )

— When Jesus cleaned the temple he accused the money changers of making His Father’s house “a robbers den” ( Matt 21:13; cf. John 2:16 )

( 2:22 a) You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery?

— Many men tried to circumvent the Mosaic command against adultery by divorcing their wives

— But Jesus declared that divorce on any ground other than infidelity results in adultery ( Matt 5:32; 19:9 )

— Adultery can even be committed with the physical act: “Everyone who looks on a women to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” ( Matt 5:28 )

( 2:22 b ) You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

— Prior to the Babylonian captivity Israel had falling into idolatry

— After the captivity they never practiced idolatry to any significant degree

— During the Roman occupation because some Caesars declared themselves gods, Jews even loathed handling Roman coins ( Matt 22:19-21 )

— By the NT Israel was no longer a conqueror of Gentile territories

— The statement from the clerk at Ephesus that Paul and his associates were not robbers of temples ( Acts 19:37 ) suggests that it was not uncommon for some mercenary Jews to be guilty of this offense

Sproul

Hypocrisy is a damnable thing, which is why our Lord was constantly rebuking the Pharisees, the masters of masquerading, who pretended to have a form of righteousness that they really did not possess. Christians do not pretend to be perfect. The church is filled with sinners, and being a sinner is the first qualification for joining a church. We have to be sinners to get in because it is not a place for perfect people. One reason people call us hypocrites is that they notice we are not perfect, but actually it is the hypocrite who claims to be more righteous than he is. That is a serious matter, and it is what Paul is talking about

What they caused by Breaking God’s Law ( 2:23-24 )

( 2:23-24 ) You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

— Verse 23 is clearly rhetorical

— Many Jews were breaking the law and boasting about it

— When a Christian sins his witness is ruined before the world

— The unbeliever has no reason to repent if he sees professed believers committing the same sins

The False Security of Ceremony ( 2:25-29 )

( 2:25-29 ) For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

— The institution of ceremony is in view here

— To the faithful obedient Jew circumcision was a symbol of God’s covenant

Boice

Jews really believed that circumcision, which made the Jew a member of the body, that salvation was certain

— The Jews really did believe this — just as many people today believe they are saved merely by being a member of a church!

Charles Hodges summary on this Jewish position

Rabbi Menachem in his Commentary on the Books of Moses (fol. 43, col.1 ) says, “Our Rabbins have said that no circumcised man shall see hell.” In the Jalkut Rubeni (num. 1 ) it is taught, “Circumcision saved from hell.” In the Medrasch Tillim (fol 7, col. 2 ) it is said, “God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell.” In the book of Akedath Jizehak (fol 54, col 2) it is taught that “Abraham sits before the gate of hell, and does not allow that any circumcised Israelite should enter there

— But if you are a law breaker your circumcision becomes uncircumcision and the ritual testified to their great knowledge of their sin

— Sincerely keeping the requirement of the Law because it is God’s will is of greater value, whereas circumcision without obedience is of absolutely no value

— The true mark of God’s child is not an outward symbol such as circumcision but a godly condition of the heart

Sproul

Paul continues to drag us before the law. The beginning of Romans 3 continues the bad news, but the good news is within striking distance. Law and gospel both have their place in the Christian life. By the deeds of the flesh, by the law, nobody is saved. Salvation comes only through the gospel, but if we ignore the law, we will never feel the weight of our need for the gospel

Boice

Summary of Romans

Knowledge alone, even knowledge of the highest spiritual and moral principles, does not win God’s approval

Membership in a religious society, whether the covenant nation of Israel or the visible church of Christendom, does not guarantee that we have obtained God’s favor

The sacraments, either of the Old Testament or the New Testament periods, save no one

God judges according to truth and performance, and by that standard every human being is condemned

If we are to be saved, it must be by the labor of Jesus Christ applied to us by the Father through the ministry of the Holy Spirit

Additional Resources

MacArthur, John. Romans 1-8. Moody Press, 1991.

MacArthur. John. GC-17. Principles of God’s judgment, Part 1.

MacArthur. John. GC-18. Principles of God’s judgment, Part 2.

MacArthur. John. GC-19. Principles of God’s judgment, Part 3.

MacArthur. John. GC-20. Principles of God’s judgment, Part 4.

MacArthur. John. GC 45-22. False Security, Part 1

MacArthur. John. GC 45-23. False Security, Part 2

William Hendriksen. Exposition of Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.

Keller, Tim. What do Christians have against homosexuality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFCB9sduxQ