In this chapter, Paul outlines how God is going to inflict judgment. And he raises the question again about circumcision. This was an important pillar of faith for the Jewish people -- maybe even the one significant difference between the Jews and the Gentiles.
But it wasn't the act of circumcision itself, but rather, the significance of that act. Circumcision meant that the Jewish person had a covenant relationship with God that went all the way back to antiquity.
Paul opens this chapter with instructions about how God judges people -- and it doesn't have much to do with whether or not they are circumcised either.
Paul says that people ought not to judge others. When they do this, they are also condemning themselves because humanness brings with it this inability to lead lives free of sin. That is an important criteria God uses when he judges us. Paul brings a warning here that we condemn ourselves when we accuse other people of sin, because we, too, are sinners.
So unless we're perfect, we should just be quiet about what other people are doing wrong. Useless tattling is annoying. It's annoying to us as earthly parents, and apparently it's hugely annoying to God. Listen to verse 3: So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?
Then, in verse 4, Paul tells the Jews to not misconstrue God's kindness and patience because these kindnesses are meant to bring people to redemption. My Concordia Study Bible has a footnote that explains it this way: The Jews had misconstrued [God's] patience to be a lack of intent to judge. (p. 1718)
Paul, having the authority to speak about such matters, wants the believers in Rome -- Jews and Gentiles alike -- to just stop it!
He says they are stubborn and have an unrepentant heart and because they are apparently keeping score of the wrongs that other people are doing, they are storing up God's wrath that will come down on their heads when the day of judgment comes for all people.
In verse 6, Paul warns: God will give to each person according to what he has done.
Wow! What happened to the God who paved the way to salvation by his grace?
Well folks, just because God is a gracious God, it doesn't mean you can sin on purpose and pray for forgiveness in advance of sinning.
No indeed. If you are a true believer and have faith in your heart, you are going to lead a life that resists sin. Not that you can ever be perfect, but you can be as good as you can be. And God is not in any mood to be all that gracious to lazy Christians, it seems to me.
So even though you aren't ever going to buy your way into heaven with your good behavior, your faith will lead you to God's grace because you will always be trying to resist sin.God notices such things.
Don't think for one minute that he isn't paying attention to each and every thing that we do as we go through our days. Take a look at what the Holy Spirit -- through Paul -- says in verses 9-11: There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
Okay -- so put that gun away. You aren't going to rob anybody! And cancel that date with your lover. Stay home with your spouse instead. And for crying out loud, quit all that gossiping. You know that God doesn't want to hear you talking about other people. While you're at it, go through your purses or pockets and put all those pens back in your desk where they belong. The company you work for is not in the business of supplying you with pens, however cheap they are.
Think about these words from verse 13: For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Just in case the Jews might have thought they were okay in feeling their self-righteousness, Paul goes after that way of thinking. Oh, for sure, he knew exactly how that mind-logic got wrapped around their heads because he had been a self-righteous Jew himself at one time, back in the old days.
In our present day, we would say something like "pot can't call the kettle black."
The monologue in verses 17-24 clearly is aimed at this kind of self-righteous thinking. Paul takes dead aim at how the Jews had wrapped their self-righteousness around their "uppitiness."
Paul puts the Jews on notice that it isn't going to fly with him, and it isn't going to fly with God either: Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law th embodiment of knowledge and truth -- you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? you who preach against stealing, doyou steal?You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
Uh oh! Now Paul is saying that the Jews are leading the Gentiles into a really big sin against the Holy Spirit: blasphemy. That would be big trouble, indeed.
They can just forget all about this big deal they're making about circumcision. See, the Jews had been holding onto circumcision because it represented a covenant relationship with God.
It meant that they, as a Jew, had sealed this covenant and because of this, had received a pledge from God. This pledge was a blessing, they thought, that guaranteed God's kindness and favor with them. Now, here comes Paul who's telling them they've got it all wrong. Can you see where the Jews would have been very upset with Paul? Paul is telling the Jews that they'd better be really careful because circumcision doesn't mean a thing unless they are living their lives by the law of Moses.
If they aren't, then it doesn't matter if they're circumcised or not. They're the same kind of lawbreakers that the pagans, otherwise known as Gentiles, are.
Well, how dare Paul tell them that! Just who does Paul think he is, anyway?
Paul is about to tell them in verse 29: No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
So that's who Paul is -- God's spokesperson. And Paul was not about the let the Jews forget it.
Discussion: Paul has never met the people in Rome as of this writing. So, as a stranger and as a missionary, what are some other common grounds that he might have used as a strong point in his meeting of the minds with the Jewish believers in Rome?
Keep in mind that these probably were the same Jews who had been present at Pentecost and had witnessed the mighty visuals that God brought to earth during those Pentecostal moments of wonder.
This is not the first time that Paul has argued against circumcision for the Jewish believers.
Why do you think that this seems to be Paul's first confrontation of Jewish beliefs?
We pray: Oh, Spirit of the Living God, I pray that you will fill my heart with your love and joy so that I will be able to resist Satan and all the sin that he desires I fall into. I pray that you will keep me strong.Help me to remember that you have your eyes on me when you look toward the earth, and I pray that you will lift my eyes to the heavens to behold your kindness.
I thank you for all your blessings in Quint's and my life. I pray that you will show us how best to use those blessings to grow your kingdom here on earth.
I pray for all the men and women who serve in our armed forces. Please keep them strong and safe until they are home again reunited with their loved ones.
I pray for my sister, "Cookie," who is in the final days and weeks of her life here on earth from the cancer that has invaded her body. I pray that she will continue to embrace her excitement of coming home to you and also being reunited with our mother and brothers and father. I pray that you will remove the fear of her journey from this earth from her.
I pray for peace for her daughters and her grandchildren. I especially pray for safe travels for her daughter Karen who is making the long journey from Kuwait to be with her mother.
I pray for strength for her daughter Robin who has been lovingly ministering to Cookie's needs for months and months.
I pray for all who are experiencing marital strife. Please fill the hearts of these couples with love so that they can be reunited within the framework of a Christian marriage and bring them to your house where they can worship and praise you as they ought to.
I ask all these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.##
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