Romans 2:1-16—Guilt & Hypocrisy of the Religious
1. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever you art that judges: for wherein you judges another, thou condemns yourself; for you that judges do the same things.
2. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3. And you think this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and do the same, that you shalt escape the judgment of God?
4. Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance?
5. But after your hardness and impenitent heart treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:
8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10. But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11. For there is no respect of persons with God.
12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15. Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
I. The Jews are condemned (Romans 2:1-3; 17-24)
a. As Paul turns to show further the depraved sin of humanity, he is going to shift from showing the spiral downward that those ignorant of God descend.
b. Paul is now going to show the inner depravity of men is so pervasive, that we can take the good things from God and twist them into sinful outcomes
i. Think how the holiness of God revealed in the laws of scripture lead to pride and legalism
ii. Think how the institutions of worship become twisted into organizations of politics, greed and corruption
iii. Think how the teachers of truth are often shockingly enslaved by the power of sin
c. So Paul is going to show that it is not the law, or God’s good gifts that is the problem here
i. But it is the sinful nature that we bring to our encounter with God’s gifts that drives us to evil ends
ii. God’s word is perfectly pure, but we are so sinful that we find ways to interpret it to justify sin
iii. God’s law is loving and righteous, but we are so depraved that we fill our hearts with pride and judgmentalism when we obey it
iv. God’s worship is so transforming, but we bring our inclinations of idolatry and refuse to worship God in the way He demands
d. So with the purity of God’s word and His ways, we should constantly be encountering conviction of sin and calling to a higher purity in word, deed, and attitude if we are letting Him speak to us His truth
i. We should recognize our tendency to justify ourselves and our prideful inclination to see others need of grace before our own as part of our depraved nature
e. We are so tainted by sin that we cannot trust our mind or emotions, but must only trust the Word of God
i. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction
ii. Only Grace and the Power of the Holy Spirit can break this sinful bondage off of us
f. Romans 2:1 -- there is a controversy as to who Paul is addressing here: some think that it is moral Gentiles, while most feel that it is Jews
i. Paul doesn't say Jews here but he is addressing them:
1. The major point in chapter 2 is the universal sinfulness of humankind
2. Paul's point is that we are all involved in the solidarity of sin which embraces the entire human race
3. Paul's argument addresses all who practice (prasso -- relates to lifestyle, behavioral pattern)
ii. Jews are not exempt from judgment because of practice
1. Because of the Jews' place in the economy of God (to the Jew first), they are more acutely accountable to God
2. Unfortunately, many Jews had a false superiority in the face of the Gentiles and hence did not feel that they were they objects of judgment
iii. Paul attacks & destroys this false elitism (that salvation is racially determined)
1. Esdras 3:34-35, "What nation has kept your commandments as well as we"
2. Sanhedrin 0:1, "All Israelites have a share in the world to come"
3. Salvation is racially determined
iv. Paul's method here is diatribe ("drive through") -- he has an imaginary opponent, a self-righteous Jew, whom he argues with to destroy these notions
1. Just as the Gentiles are, the Jews are also condemned
g. Romans 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."
i. How do we know that Paul is actually addressing Jews here?
1. The Jews are being addressed here, cf. Romans 2:17, "Indeed you are called a Jew"
2. On what basis did the Jew seek a secure relationship with God?
3. The Jews believed their relationship and acceptance with God was secure because they were descendants of Abraham
4. Grounds of their elitism:
a. descendants of Abraham
b. heir of the covenant
c. they were given the law
d. rite of circumcision
ii. To the Jews, the word Gentile was synonymous with sinner
1. These false premises of elitism were compounded with their condemnation of others
2. For what way did the Jew also become guilty of idolatry?
3. Why did the Jews become guilty of hypocrisy?
a. Judging others is condemning self
b. They usurped the Divine prerogative (only the Judge can judge)
c. Hypocrisy (hupo-under, + krisis-cry, speak out)-- they practiced what they condemned -- a term from the Greek theater than denoted incongruity between what in on the inside and what is on the outside
d. There is an incongruity between the Jews' moralizing toward the Gentiles, and their own immorality
4. Paul starts arguing by using the premise of his opponents
a. Their premise: we are not judged individually, but as part of the covenant community
b. Paul argues: the community has to be flawless (which it isn't), so you are condemned
h. Romans 2:2, "But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things."
i. Were the Jews expecting to be judged on the basis of their personal behavior?
1. God's judgment is not based on any of your premises for elitism
2. The Jews weren't expecting judgment based on personal behavior
3. Rather God's judgment is based on the objective, unadulterated truth
ii. Paul has pointed to a common denominator that both the Jews and the Gentiles are accountable to -- the truth
1. What does it mean that God "is no respecter of persons"?
2. God is no respecter of persons -- your identity has nothing to do with God's judgment
3. Romans 2:11, "prosopolempsia" (face + receive) -- God does not receive the face of man
4. Personal identity is irrelevant to God
i. Romans 2:3, "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?"
i. What is the significance of the word "practices" in 2:1,2,3?
1. The general principle of verse 2 becomes more specific in verse 3
2. Prassontes (practices) -- is a habitual lifestyle, not a one-time occurrence
3. Paul is talking about a spiritual attitude
ii. How does Paul use a rhetorical question here?
1. Paul's rhetorical question is a part of his diatribe
2. This rhetorical question leads to a negative answer
3. Do you think? is in the middle voice and has a reflexive quality -- "Do you think with regard to yourself. . ."
j. Romans 2:17, "Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,"
i. How can the word "Jew" be understood as a title of honor?
1. Jew is from Judah which means "praise" -- thus a title of honor
2. What did the possession of the law mean to many of the Jews?
3. Rabbi said, "the mere hearing of the law brings salvation"
4. The Jews bragged about their relationship to God -- "God is our peculiar possession" and not the Gentiles
ii. We must remember that God has us, we do not have Him
k. Romans 2:18, "And know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law."
i. What advantage was there in possessing God's special revelation?
ii. The Jews could distinguish between right and wrong with accuracy
1. Leviticus 10:11 “And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.”
2. Deuteronomy 24:8 “Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.”
iii. Is "knowing" and "doing" the same thing?
1. Knowing and doing are not the same thing; Perception doesn't = performance
2. Paul agrees with the premises of the people he argues against
3. Increased knowing mandates increased responsibility for doing
l. Romans 2:19, "And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness."
i. Were the Jews really superior in this regard?
1. The Jews viewed themselves as a guide to the blind
2. They had a spiritual arrogance that was not a part of the original blessing
3. How did the Jews understand their role in "enlightening" the Gentiles?
4. The Jews were very denigrating and condescending to the Gentiles in allowing them to come to God
m. Romans 2:20, "An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law."
i. How did the Jews understand themselves as "tutors"?
1. They were spiritual tutors--superiors leading about inferiors
2. What is the special word for instruction here?
3. Teacher -- Paideuo -- to lead children, a hired tutor to drill children in grammar school
4. The Paideuo used negative, oppressive approach to elementary learning
5. This is how the Jews viewed themselves
n. Romans 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?
i. Did the Jew actually practice what he professed?
1. They didn't practice the law as a people that they professed as a nation
2. But didn't the Jew thoroughly practice the Ten Commandments?
3. Paul condemns their breaking the Ten Commandments, not some minor part of the law
ii. In what way did they rob temples?
1. Robbing temples (hierosuleis) -- some of the self-righteous Jews would execute raids on pagan temples and keep the gold and silver from these temple raids
iii. Acts 19:37 “For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.”
1. The Gentiles blaspheme God because of your breaking the law
o. Romans 2:23, "You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?"
i. What is the special meaning of the word "transgress" here?
1. Transgress (parabaino -- move beyond, go along) -- to go beyond a clearly defined demarcation line
2. How does the nature of God relate to His law?
ii. The relationship between God and the law is so close that to infract one is to do so to the other
p. Romans 2:24, "For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,' as it is written."
i. How did the testimony of the Jews effect the Gentiles?
ii. Isaiah 52:5 “Now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, that my people is taken away for naught? They that rule over them make them to howl, says the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.”
iii. Ezekiel 36:20-23 – And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
iv. You are to be a light to the Gentiles
v. God is blasphemed among the Gentiles by the Jews' being captive, and because of their poor morality
1. Blasphemeo -- slander, question the character of someone, insult
vi. Is this a recent phenomenon?
1. The Jews' sin caused the Gentiles to question the character of God
