Romans 2.18-Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Jewish Privileges
Prairie View Christian Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday August 30, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:18-Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Jewish Privileges
Lesson # 58
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:17.
Last evening we began to study the twelfth and final principle of divine judgment, which is contained in Romans 2:17-29, namely, that God judges according to reality and without regard of racial background or religious profession.
The Jews erroneously, presumptuously and arrogantly thought that they would enter the kingdom of heaven because of their racial background as Jews and circumcision as well as the privileges that God had given to them such as possessing the Law given to Moses.
In Romans 2:17-29, Paul destroys their false security, which was based upon six privileges God had given to them: (1) Security in their Racial Heritage: “Jew” (Romans 2:17) (2) Security in Being the Recipients of the Law: “Rely upon the Law” (Romans 2:17) (3) Security in their Relationship with God Obtained through the Covenant Promises to the Patriarchs: “Boast in God” (Romans 2:17). (4) Security in their Knowledge of the Will of God Obtained through the Law: “Know His will” (Romans 2:18). (5) Security in their Awareness of Spiritual Essentials that they Obtained through the Law: “Approve the things that are essential” (Romans 2:18). (6) Security in Being Instructed out of the Law: “Being instructed out of the Law” (Romans 2:18).
These privileges did not produce obedience in the Jews but rather arrogance towards their relationship with the Gentiles.
This arrogance was manifested in four pretensions according to Paul in Romans 2:19-20.
A “pretension” is the laying of a claim to something, a claim to dignity, importance or merit.
In Romans 2:19-20, the apostle Paul lists four Jewish pretensions that were in response to the privileges listed in Romans 2:17-18: (1) They believed they were a guide to the spiritually blind Gentiles: “Are confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind” (Romans 2:19). (2) They believed they were a light to the Gentiles who were in spiritual darkness: “A light to those who are in darkness” (Romans 2:19). (3) They believed they were instructors of the foolish Gentiles: “A corrector of the foolish” (Romans 2:20). (4) They believed they were teachers of the spiritually immature: “A teacher of the immature” (Romans 2:20).
In Romans 2:20c, Paul teaches that this arrogance is based upon “having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
Last evening we will begin our study of Romans 2:17-29 by noting Romans 2:17, in which the apostle Paul presents the first three privileges that produced Jewish arrogance and self-righteousness.
This evening we will study Romans 2:18, which presents to us the fourth, fifth and sixth of these Jewish privileges that produced arrogance and self-righteousness in them.
Let’s read Romans 2:17-29 and then concentrate on Romans 2:18.
Romans 2:17-29, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, 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, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For ‘THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,’ just as it is written. For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law 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 which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
Now, let’s look at in detail Romans 2:18.
Romans 2:18, “and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law.”
“Know” is verb ginosko (ginwvskw) (ghin-oce-ko), which in context means, “to come to a knowledge of something or someone through learning or instruction with the implication of being an expert on a person or thing.”
In Romans 2:18, the verb ginosko means, “to acquire information through the process of instruction” regarding the will of God as it was revealed to the Jews through 613 commands (365 prohibitions and 248 commands) that appear in the Mosaic Law, which was another great privilege that the Jews possessed.
Deuteronomy 4:7-8, “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”
The Jews would learn through instruction the will of God from their parents in their homes and their rabbis in their synagogues in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner.
However, they did not apply what they learned about the will of God since they did not obey the commands and prohibitions of the Old Testament Scriptures, which was reflected in that they committed the same sins that the unregenerate Gentiles committed according to Romans 2:1.
“His will” is the noun thelema (qevlhma) (the-lay-mah), which refers to what God directly required of the citizens of Israel, which was revealed through 613 commands (365 prohibitions and 248 commands) of the Mosaic Law.
These 613 commands were summarized by the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself.
Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”
“Approve” is the verb dokimazo (dokimavzw) (dok-im-ad-zo), which means, “to discern,” which means, “to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect, to recognize, apprehend clearly, to distinguish mentally, recognize as distinct or different, discriminate.”
Therefore, in Romans 2:18, the verb dokimazo refers to the fact that the unregenerate, self-righteous Jew claimed to be able to “discern” the essentials, which refers to the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself.
They claimed to “discern” the essentials in the sense that they perceived by their intellect and recognized, apprehended clearly and could distinguish mentally what they were after being instructed orally in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner in their homes from their parents and synagogues from their rabbis.
“The things that are essential” is composed of the articular accusative neuter plural present active participle form of the verb diaphero (diafevrw), which referred to the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself and summarized the teaching of the Old Testament.
“The essentials” and the will of God are directly related to each other since obeying the former constitutes obeying the latter since these commands reveal God’s will.
When speaking to an unsaved Jew, the Lord Jesus Christ taught that “the essentials” were the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself since these two commands summed up the teaching of the Old Testament, which was designated by the expression “the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:34-36, “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’”
The scribes had determined that the Jews were obligated to obey 613 precepts in the Mosaic Law, 365 negative precepts and 248 positive.
Regarding these 613 precepts, there was constant debate over which was the most important.
Some claimed it was the positive commands and others said the negative prohibitions were more important and as a result, the Pharisees were always describing the law in terms of light and heavy, and small and great.
The idea was that if your good deeds outweighed the bad, God would accept you, but if not, well, there was no way to get rid of the bad, no way to truly experience God’s forgiveness.
Consequently, they taught that people needed to keep the weightier commandments because with obedience to these they would get more points with God.
Matthew 22:37-40, “And He said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Notice that the Lord teaches unregenerate Jews that the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself summarizes the teaching of the Law and the Prophets, which is a reference to the Old Testament Scriptures.
Now, in Romans 2:18, Paul is also addressing unregenerate self-righteous Jews as the Lord Jesus did in Matthew 22:34-40.
Therefore, this expression ta diapheronta, “the essentials” pertains to the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself, which summarizes the teaching of the Old Testament or Torah, “Law.”
Further supporting this interpretation is that Paul is speaking within the context of the Jews boasting of their possession of the Mosaic Law.
They presumptuously thought that they had received the Law because they merited it and arrogantly thought that God gave them the Law through Moses because they were better than the other Gentile nations.
However, they failed to see that it was by the grace of God that they received it through Moses.
Further indicating that “the essentials” are the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself is that in Romans 2:21-23, Paul asks five rhetorical questions to his Jewish audience regarding their relationship to God and their fellow human being.
Romans 2:21-23, “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?”
The fact that “the essentials” refer to the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself is further supported by the context of the book of Romans, whose theme is the righteousness of God.
As we noted in our studies of Romans chapter one, the noun dikaiosune, “righteousness” refers to fulfilling one’s obligations to love both God and men, doing right to both God and men, which demands obedience to the commands to love God with one’s entire being and one’s neighbor as oneself.
In Romans 2:1-3:8, Paul teaches that the unregenerate Jews do not possess the righteousness of God as manifested in that they do not love God with their entire being and their neighbor as themselves.
Therefore, these unsaved, self-righteous Jews needed the righteousness of God since they did not love God with their entire being and their neighbor as themselves since they did not obey these commands as noted in Romans 2:21-23.
In John 14:15, the Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples that if they loved Him, they would obey His commands.
John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Therefore, these unsaved, self-righteous Jews that Paul is addressing in Romans chapter two, did not love God with their entire being and their neighbor as themselves as they were commanded in the Law to do and this is pointed out to them by Paul in Romans 2:21-23.
Romans 2:18, “and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law.”
“Being instructed” is the verb katecheo (kathxevw) (kat-ay-kheh-o), which conveys the idea of teaching by word of mouth, to teach in systematic or detailed manner, to indoctrinate and denotes drilling teaching into another, which as alluded to can imply learning by repetition.
In Romans 2:18, the verb katecheo refers to the fact that the Jews were instructed orally in a systematic detailed manner by their rabbis in their synagogues and their homes by their parents concerning the essentials of the Mosaic Law.
Both at home and in the synagogues, Jewish boys in particular were systematically and thoroughly orally instructed out of the Law.
The Law was read and explained every Sabbath.
The word is a “causal” participle meaning that the Jews claimed they possessed knowledge of the will of God and could discern the essentials “because” they received oral instruction in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner in their homes from their parents and in their synagogues from their rabbis.
“Out of” is the preposition ek (e)k), which functions with the genitive form of the noun nomos, “Law” as a marker of means constituting a source.
“The Law” is the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which is a reference to the Mosaic Law and is a “genitive of means.”
A “genitive of means” is where the genitive substantive indicates the means or instrumentality by which the verbal action implicit in the head noun or adjective or explicit in the verb is accomplished and answers the question, “How?”
Therefore, as a “genitive of means,” the noun nomos indicates that the Law was “the means by which” the self-righteous unregenerate Jews claimed to have been instructed orally in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner concerning the will of God and the essentials.