Let God Be True

Reading:  Romans 3:1-8
    
    Paul anticipates some objections here to the arguments he has been making.  Surely some of his Jewish readers are baffled at his claim that circumcision doesn’t seem to matter (Rom 2:25-29).  “Then what advantage has the Jew?  Or what is the value of circumcision?  Much in every way.  To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God”(Rom 3:1-2).  Is Paul arguing that Jewishness is worthless?  Of course not.  The Jews know God and have a special connection with him, including his revelation in Scripture.  This is not his point, as we will see.  But is Paul saying, then, that the unfaithful Jews of chapter 2 have made God’s promises to Israel void?  “What if some were unfaithful?  Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?  By no means!  Let God be true though every one were a liar”(Rom 3:3-4).  God will still keep his word, even when Israel sins against him.  This is also not his point.

     There is one more (rather challenging) objection he wants to head off:  “But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?  That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?  (I speak in a human way.)  By no means!  For then how could God judge the world?”(Rom 3:5-6).  If our evil shows God’s goodness, is God somehow unjust to punish us for the thing that shows his goodness?  Paul again defends God’s right to judge the world even if it means doom for us (Rom 3:7).   Paul’s actual point is not to demean the Jews, to argue that God has thrown out his promises, or to encourage sin.  His point is that our sin has caused the need for a new way to be made righteous—fulfilling God’s promises and eliminating national distinctions.

    “Let God be true though every one were a liar” reminds us that God does not change his will based on majority opinion.  There is no “safety in numbers” with God.  He is also not impressed that sometimes he can make our sin into something good, as if it makes our rebellion acceptable.  God will be right even if the whole world is condemned by his righteous standards.  My job is to acknowledge where I stand in this and flee to Jesus for safety from this judgment.

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One Thing to Think About:  Why is it hard for us to believe that many people could be wrong?

One Thing to Pray For:  Deeper appreciation for the righteousness and faithfulness of God 
 

Circumcision of the Heart

Reading:  Romans 2:25-29
    
    Paul’s words here were likely revolutionary and controversial to many of his Jewish readers, despite the fact that they have clear Old Testament precedent.  Having challenged the Jews to live by the Law they teach others, he goes a step farther.  “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision”(Rom 2:25).  Circumcision does not make up for sin and disobedience; in fact, it is intended to signal our desire to obey God (Gen 17:1-2).  Meanwhile, what about the opposite combination, the righteous Gentile?  “So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law”(Rom 2:26-27).  This man’s lack of circumcision will not overrule his obedience to God; he will instead condemn the Jew who disobeys.

     What should we conclude from this?  “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the letter.  His praise is not from man but from God”(Rom 2:28-29).  Jewishness—the deep connection between God and his people—is not merely a matter of birth or cutting the flesh.  Following God is a heart matter.  This is a truth God spoke to Israel repeatedly (Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16, 30:6; Jer 4:4; Acts 7:51).  When our hearts are given over fully to obeying God, we become part of God’s people—whatever nation we hail from.

    True devotion to God is an inward matter in which we turn our hearts toward obedience and surrender our lives to him.  We do not rely on our parentage or the faith of others for our standing before God.  We refuse to be stubborn any longer.  We seek to please him rather than ourselves.  We then are circumcised as “a matter of the heart,” a part of God’s new covenant and people.

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One Thing to Think About:  What is the posture of my heart toward God?

One Thing to Pray For:  The praise of God, not man
 

Teach Yourself First

Reading:  Romans 2:17-24
    
    Paul continues to take aim at the deep hypocrisy of Jews who condescend to Gentiles while being guilty of the same sins.  Paul speaks as an insider here who has witnessed (and probably experienced) the spirit he ridicules.  “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth”(Rom 2:17-20).  Before Paul issues the rebuke, he details the superiority in Jewish thinking.  Others are blind, in darkness, children, while they are guides, full of light and wisdom.  While there is truth in their assessment of themselves, the arrogance seeps through.

    Yet the deeper flaw is that the differences between teacher and student don’t really exist.  “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?  While you preach against stealing, do you steal?”(Rom 2:21).  Convinced of their racial, cultural, and religious superiority, they brush past the most important issue:  do you do what you tell others they must do?  Do you live by what you teach?  Ironically, by praising the Law yet not keeping it, they dishonor the God they claim to serve.  “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law”(Rom 2:23), even causing the Gentiles to blaspheme God’s name by their hypocrisy (Rom 2:24).  Unbelievers may not be able to track with all our arguments or expose our logical errors, but they can smell hypocrisy.

    These verses should make for uneasy reading for Christians.  Whether we are Jewish or not, it is easy for us to adopt a condescending mindset because of what we know about the Bible and bypass applying it to ourselves. “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”  The solution is to teach yourself first—to do the hard work of introspection, life change, and slow growth on ourselves before we purport to teach others.

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One Thing to Think About:  Do I ever condemn others for things I struggle with myself?

One Thing to Pray For:  Deeper awareness that my sin is not different from others’
 

Written on Their Hearts

Reading:  Romans 2:12-16
    
    Paul is challenging the hypocrisy of the Jews who condemn Gentile misbehavior while guilty themselves.  He wants them to remember that “God shows no partiality”(Rom 2:11) but judges all nations fairly.  “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law”(Rom 2:12).  The Jews in his audience evidently think that the Law is proof that they are superior; Paul pushes back.  While Gentiles, not having law, will perish due to their sin, so Jews will also be judged by the very law they do not fully obey.  First he addresses the Jewish part of the equation:  “For it is not hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified”(Rom 2:13).  Just because Jews hear and know the law does not mean they fully do it.  When they break the law, it becomes a witness against them rather than a blessing.

    But what does Paul mean that Gentiles have “sinned without the law”(Rom 2:12)?  How is this possible?  He argues that Gentiles at times “by nature do what the law requires” and “are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law”(Rom 2:14).  “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them”(Rom 2:15).  All people have a general sense of moral behavior which often coincides with the precepts of the Law of Moses.  All people try to live by it, with mixed results.  All people have consciences which guide us in this quest.  So what happens when Gentiles inevitably fail to do what they know?  They also find themselves guilty.  Paul continues to build toward the conclusion that all people have sinned (Rom 3:23).   

    Even people who have not been formally taught about God “by nature do what the law requires” and “show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.”  These statements remind us that God has always been at work among all kinds of peoples.  He has placed within us a deeply ingrained moral sense, but it needs direction and clarity which his revelation provides.  It is this sense that pushes us toward him for righteousness, order, and forgiveness—and is also one basis of appealing to others with the gospel.

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One Thing to Think About:  How do I respond when my conscience accuses me?

One Thing to Pray For:  Awareness that I am just as guilty of sin as anyone else
 

Judging or Repenting?

Reading:  Romans 2:1-11
    
    Paul’s letter takes a fascinating turn here.  Where he has been discussing the Gentiles’ descent into widespread sin (Rom 1:18-31), he now changes his focus to the Jews who were looking down on those sinners.  “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.  For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things”(Rom 2:1).  His Jewish audience has set themselves in the judge’s seat but will only end up condemning themselves.  Just as the Gentiles are “without excuse”(Rom 1:20), so the Jews "have no excuse”(Rom 2:1) because they know God will judge sin (Rom 2:2), including their own.  “Do you suppose…that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”(Rom 2:4).  If we sin, we too will be judged; we cannot “presume on” God’s grace and think our sins will be forgiven just because we’re us.

    So Paul loudly reaffirms that God’s judgment is impartial.  “He will render to each according to his works…There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.  For God shows no partiality”(Rom 2:6, 9-11).  This is different from human courts.  God cannot be bought off.  There is no separate line for the rich or intelligent or successful.  Jew and Greek are equal before him.  The world’s inequities are ignored at God’s judgment.  This means that my sin is a far more pressing issue for me than someone else’s sin—no matter who I am.

    I believe that Paul’s words are directed at Jews (perhaps even Jewish Christians) who look at the sin in the world and judge others.  They cluck their tongues and shake their heads, scandalized by the depravity of others—yet they steadfastly ignore their own sins.  God’s grace is not intended to lead us to judgment, but repentance (Rom 2:4).  We can take warning from the mistakes of others, search our own hearts for similarities, and beg God for pardon lest we fall into their errors.  But if we are only judging and never repenting, a fearful doom awaits us.

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One Thing to Think About:  Why are we quicker to point out guilt in others rather than ourselves?

One Thing to Pray For:  God’s kindness to lead me to sincere repentance