From the middle of chapter 1 Paul has been talking about the sins of mankind. That is that they know God, but not only don’t they worship God as not God, but they aren’t thankful, and to make matters worse they are disappointed. Their ignorant hearts became darkened. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (1:18)
On the other hand, the Jews looked down on such Gentiles and judged them, but in reality while they were judging them, them were doing the same things. They thought it was good that they were God’s chosen people, and because of their special relationship to God and grace they thought that God would overlook their problems and sins. Paul is saying towards these Jews that this is not so, “For God does not show favoritism.” He said that in the last day they will be judged for all that they have done.
Today’s passage is the continuation of this, but here the sins of the Jews are revealed. Up until now Paul talks about the Jew’s sins, but he didn’t clearly write “The Jews are…”, but used “you who pass judgment on someone else…” (2:1) or “first for the Jew, then for the Gentile…” (2:9) However, from now on we can see clearly that Paul is talking about the Jews. He calls them by name and points out their sin, and shows us the points that the Jews were wrong at. In other words, they thought that they were God’s chosen Jews, but they were not really Jews. Then what is a real Jew? Today let’s look at three aspects of what Paul is saying.
I. The bragging of the Jews (vs. 17-20)
First let’s look at the bragging Jews. Let’s look at verses 17 to 20. Here is tells about the Jews. They had many assets to brag about.
1. They had the law. God gave them the Word of God, and were given the commission to witness to the will of God to all peoples.
2. According to verse 18, they were taught by the law so they knew the will of God, and what they should do. Not only were they given the Word of God, but by the Word of God they were taught. From the time they were little they were brought up in the Word of God. By the time they became adult at age 12, they had memorized the first five books of Moses. They were taught by the Word of God, they learned to make decisions by the Word of God from the time they were small. 23% of all Nobel recipients are Jews, but this is a blessing that comes from being trained by the Word of God from the time they are a child. To be trained by the Word of God from the time we are small is actually a wonderful thing. The Jews were brought up in the Word of God so they know what the will of God is and what they should do and as a result they thought that they were a guide to the spiritually blind, a light in the dark, and a guide to the foolish and a teacher to children.
Probably among all people in this world, the Jews have the most pride of all. They think that they are a special people chosen by God, always in the center of world history. They thought they were a special people, a chosen people so they looked down on the Gentiles.
Every person has some kind of pride. There is no one that doesn’t have pride. Having healthy pride is necessary for our life. Such pride at times gives us confidence, and a feeling of belonging. I’m a probation officer. I have a badge and a card of proof, but I have never used either one. The reason that we are given such things is because it gives us a feeling of belonging. It causes us to realize that we’re probation officers and causes us to fulfill our responsibilities as probation officers. That’s why companies put their emblem on their uniforms. There are times like this when pride has a positive effect on our lives. However, sometimes pride goes beyond its purpose and ruins our future.
For example, if we have too much pride in our education and work experience, then at work we take it out on the others below us and show off as being superior. When we talk about others that are succeeding, we put them down.
Such pride is vanity and it isn’t an advantage to our lives, and instead it kills us. When pride becomes too strong then we fall into unhealthy bragging. Such pride does not help us, but ruins us. The Jewish pride was in vain and rotten. Let’s next look at in what ways it was rotten.
II. The problem of the Jews (vs. 21-24)
Here it says, “you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you 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.’” (21-24)
Their problem was that God had given them the law and they knew what they should do, but they didn’t do it. They taught not to steal, but they stole. They said not to commit adultery, but they committed adultery. They said they hated idols, but they robbed temples. They prided in the law, but they didn’t follow it.
This is also a problem among Christians who have believed in Jesus for a long time. There are even some people who have never made a personal decision for Christ, but just base their faith on the pride that their parents were dedicated Christians. No matter how great a faith the parents had, it is only by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ that a person can be saved.
The Jews had great pride in the fact that they were the sons of Abraham, but Jesus said in Luke 3:8, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
This means not to believe in your blood line, believe in God from your heart. It is important that we don’t put our faith in our parent’s faith, but that we individually believe in Jesus.
John 1:13
Until a person is born of God through the Holy Spirit he can never be saved. Salvation is not the result of natural birth or a parent’s faith. The Jews taught not to steal, but they stole. They said not to commit adultery, but they committed adultery. They said they hated idols, but they robbed temples. This was because there was no meat in their faith. Their faith was just an outer performance.
One day a father said to his son who never studied, “Why don’t you study a little more? When Lincoln was your age he studied by himself and became a lawyer.” The son answered, “Dad, When Lincoln was your age he was already president.” The father was trying to teach his son, but the son answered that way. The problem was the father’s life, itself had no meat. He just says things without being serious about his own life. Therefore, his own words had no power. That’s true not only of parents, but school teachers or anyone who is in the position of leading others. You can tell children a hundred times that the word of God is important, but if you aren’t living by the Word of God then your words will have no power. Children see through their parents. For example, when the child tells his parents that he was number one in the Sunday school quiz, there was little reaction. However when he brings home an A on a test from school, the parents are overjoyed and they have a huge party. Therefore, the son thinks that more important in knowing the Bible is getting a good grade in school so he begins to put all his effort into studying and looses interest in the Bible and spiritual things. Not what we say, but what we are in our daily lives influences our children.
What is important is not how much of the Bible we know. What is important is how much we are following the Bible. It is the way we live. The Jews were given the law, they knew what the will of God was, and what they should do. They taught the Bible to others, but they themselves did not follow it. This was their problem. Therefore, it became like it is written about the Jews in verse 24 “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
III. What a real Jew is like (vs. 25-29)
Here Paul is talking about the problem of circumcision. Circumcision was the symbol the being a Jew and of being saved. The Jewish rabbis taught that those who are uncircumcised will go to hell. Circumcision was that important to the Jews. However, Paul says here that whether you are circumcised or not is not important. What is important is whether you are following the law or not. In other words, it is not important that you look like a Jew on the outsides, that you have been circumcised on the outside. “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.” (29) The true sign of belonging to God is not an outward mark on the physical body, but the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit within which is what Paul mean by “circumcision of the heart”. When our faith declines, it becomes outward, and ritualistic. However, what is needed in our faith is inward, by the Holy Spirit we need to believe in God from our heart and live a life of following God.
However, this isn’t just Jews. We also are apt to be in danger off falling in the same direction as the Jews. For example, thinking that if you are baptized them you will be saved. Being baptized is important because that is the will of God. However, just because you are baptized isn’t insurance that you will be saved. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Believing is important. It is necessary that we continue to believe. No matter what happens we need to abide in Christ. We need to make a decision to follow Christ no matter what. In other words faith is an inner thing. We need to stand before God who can see through to the center of our hearts and humble ourselves before God, and have a heart that seeks to live doing the will of God Then we will not be praised by men, “but from God.” (29)
II Cor. 5:17
“If anyone is in Christ” means united with Christ through faith in him and commitment to him. In other words, even is you are a Christian, if you aren’t united with Christ through faith, or you have forgotten to depend on him you can’t be a new creation. To be a “new Creation” you need to believe in Jesus Christ who was crucified, and be born again as a child of God and by the Holy Spirit be united personally with God. No matter how much of the Bible you know and how much you have memorized it has no meaning unless you believe in Christ, follow the Holy Spirit and humbly follow Christ.
What is important is being a new creation. This is a real Israelite. We need to throw away our own knowledge, experience, and abilities, and such outside pride, and believe in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, daily follow God. Then God will work in unbelievable ways. This type of person is God’s Israel, the real Jew. God is seeking for such people.