Religious But Lost
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Romans 2:17-29
Romans 2:17-29
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 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? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 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.
Perhaps there has been no greater tool of the Devil than that of organized religion. For centuries people have placed their trust in the ritualistic traditions of men under the the concept of being religious.
Religion has done some good things, even moral things but religion has never saved anyone. While religion maybe socially accepted and promoted, it will never be accepted for entrance to Heaven.
One any given Sunday or even other days people assemble together under the prospect of religion and making futile attempts at reaching God. What if religion could save you? Which religion out of the thousand of religions would it be? There are literally thousands of religions and each one differs in approach. No wonder the world is confused. But remember God is not the author of confusion.
Paul begins this portion, turning to the religious crowd and including them in condemnation. These self righteous people were looking at the Pagans and the moralists with eyes of prejudice. Boasting of what God had given them. Surely if God were to favor one religion over another it would be the Jews., God’s chosen people.
Paul lowers the boom on them by showing that religion cannot and will never be able to save you, and if you one that depends on religion for your salvation, you are lost. You are condemned.
The one who depends on religion for salvation is lost!
This morning I want to share four facts regarding religious people and their condition. There are four things religion promotes and emphasizes.
I. Religion always emphasizes overconfidence. (vs17-20)
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.
There are two primary ways in which they are overconfident.
Who they are. (Vs 17)
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,
There are three names when speaking of Jews. The first is Hebrew and that is the racial ethnical name, Israel is the national name and Jew is the religious name. So clearly Paul is speaking to religious people.
The Jews believed that because of who they were they would be saved. But just because one is a Jew doesn’t mean he is going to heaven. Its not about who you are, but what He (Jesus) has done for you.
2. What they do. (Vs17-18)
17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
Paul lists some of the things Jews did which made them overconfident in what they did. There are a lot of religions that teach they will go to heaven based on what they do. Many promote because they have gone through a class or ritualistic procedure they are going to heaven. The same people look at others who have not done those things and say they are not going to heaven.
If religion was the benchmark then don’t you think the Jews would have it wrapped up? I mean Jesus was a Jew. That is exactly why Paul turns to them directly to show them that it is not religion or what you have done but it is Jesus Christ. No one can get to heaven on the basis of what he does.
19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.
Because of who they were and what they did they were convinced that had the right to assume four roles:
A guide to the blind. (Those who were not Jews)
A light to them who are in darkness (Gentiles)
An Instructor to the foolish (Those who did not know law)
A teacher of babes (A Gentile was immature)
All three assumptions arise out of their being Jews and Gentiles not being Jews.
II. Religion is full of hypocrisy. (Vs21-24)
21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
The religious could not keep the law. Paul shows this by asking rhetorical questions. Obviously this proved to the religious people that they were holding the the pagans or Gentiles to a standard they themselves could not keep.
And as a result the Gentiles were observing their behavior and it caused them to blaspheme God’s name. It was the hypocrisy that the Gentiles observed in the Jews that caused them to blaspheme God’s name. Remember actions speak louder than words.
III. Religion is full of legalism (Vs 25-27)
25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 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?
Legalism is any kind of rule or law one must do to gain favor with God. The Jews thought they were something because
they were circumcised. But there is only one problem with this. Paul says it’s only profitable if you keep the law.
Far too many religious people depend on rituals and traditions of their religions. Religious activity no matter how good it does is not good enough to save you. If you are going to depend on any work to get you to heaven then you must keep the whole law. It ain’t going to happen?
Religious people do this all the time, you must wear this , you must do this or that, you can’t do this or that. That is legalism and it doesn’t work.
IV. Religious people need their hearts changed. (2:28-29)
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 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.
Religious like unreligious people need their hearts changed. They have to come the same way. They must be born again. No amount of religious activity can accomplish this. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ for you eternal salvation can one’s heart be changed.
What Paul is doing is he understands before someone truly understands salvation he or she must understand that he or she is a sinner in need of God.
How’s your heart? Are you relying on something you do to be saved? Remember no amount of religious activity will save you. Are you depending on religion to save you? If you are you religious but lost.