Romans 2:17-24 When Much is Given, Much is Required

Romans 2:17-24 When Much is Given, Much is Required There is a lot of talk about security these days 1 - National security - Home security - Personal ID security - Economic security Great amounts of money are spent on these categories every year in an effort to make us feel secure Aside from these matters, there is the issue of spiritual security - This is, by far, the most important issue of security - Yet many are oblivious to its significance People place spiritual security in various things - Baptism - Church membership - Human lineage - Attempted obedience to the Ten Commandments But of all these are insufficient grounds for spiritual security - We can t trust in those things to provide eternal security The Sermon on the Mount is basically a message whereby Jesus states that it is impossible for a human, on his own, to achieve the righteousness of God - One would have to be perfect (cf. Mt 5:48) - None is perfect; we are all sinners We have to keep in mind that we are studying the book of Romans from a written perspective - The original audience understood this book from an auditory perspective This is my 14 th message in this series of Romans - We have been studying this book for over three months The original audience would have heard this same amount of information in about 3-4 minutes - They didn t have the privilege of going back and studying like we do - Everyone didn t possess a copy of this amazing book It is my belief that Paul began his initial accusations against the Jews in Romans 2:1 - There are others who would disagree with me But there can be no doubt that Paul has the Jew in mind here in Romans 2:17 - The Jew is explicitly mentioned by name In Romans 2, the apostle Paul continues to expose the false security of the Jews - In verses 17-20, Paul will list some of the benefits and blessings that the Jew possesses - In verses 21-24, he will show the inconsistency of the Jew in what he demands from others 1 John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary, Romans 1-8, 146. 1

Let s read Romans 2:17-24 In this passage, we will consider two dangers that we need to avoid - Avoid the danger of religious presumption (2:17-20) - Avoid the danger of religious hypocrisy (2:21-24) I. Avoid the danger of religious presumption (2:17-20) In this section, we will have two major divisions - Five spiritual privileges (2:17-18) - Four spiritual responsibilities (2:19-20) A. Five spiritual privileges (2:17-18) 17 But if you bear the name Jew, First, the Jew had the privilege of being the covenant family of God - He bore the name Jew The chosen people of God went by various names 2 - Hebrews because of the language they spoke - Israelites because of the land that God had promised to them in the covenant with Abraham The name Jew is derived from Judah, the fourth son born to Jacob - His name means praise or exalted 3 In its strictest definition, a Jew was a member of the tribe of Judah - But after the Babylonian Captivity, the term was used of all Israelites 4 The Jew, of course, was proud of that name - He thought that anyone who bore the name Jew was blessed by God - It was a badge of honor There was an attitude of pride in the Jew s nationality - The assumption was that the Jews were better than the non-jews 5 The Jews relied heavily on their physical descent from Abraham - They tried to use this as their get out of judgment free card 2 MacArthur, 148. 3 Alva J. McClain, Romans: The Gospel of God s Grace, 82. 4 Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, 120. 5 William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Romans, 101. 2

When a group of Pharisees and Sadducees came to John the Baptist, wanting to be baptized, John told them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father ; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Mt 3:7-9) - John saw right through their religious pride in being a descendant of Abraham The Jews didn t do well with Jesus, either - Some Jews told Jesus one day, We are Abraham s offspring (John 8:31) - Jesus replied to them, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him" (Jn 8:44) So the Jews couldn t be secure through their physical lineage and rely upon the Law, Second, the Jews had a false reliance on the Law of God You may be thinking, But wait a minute, Kevin! I thought that believers were supposed to rely upon the Law as the Word of God. It is great to be concerned with God s Law - It is great to desire to follow after the Law of God But the problem arises when someone thinks that he is favored simply because he is familiar with the Word of God - Almost as if God were indebted to this individual 6 For the Jew, the mere possession of the Word of God gave him security - In other words, just having the Law of God was sufficient for him 7 The Jew, however, trusted in the Law to save him - He thought that his failed attempts to keep the Law would somehow earn him favor with God Listen to the words of the minor prophet Micah, "Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD saying, Is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us " (Mic 3:11) - They really thought they were safe because of their national identity God has revealed Himself to Israel through Moses 8 - God had given the Law to Moses to give to the people - In the Law, God established His expectations for His people So you can see how there was a sense of pride that God has revealed His Law to the children of Israel - Not to the other nations 6 C.E.B. Cranfield, ICC, Romans, Vol 1, 164. 7 Hendriksen, 101. 8 Robert H. Mounce, NAC, Vol 27, 98. 3

It was very possible for the Jew to become more focused on honoring the Law than the God who gave the Law 9 - Their focus was on the written revelation instead of the eternal God and boast in God, Third, there was great arrogance on the part of the Jew as it related to God In Scripture, there is a good boasting - Boasting in the Lord (cf. 1 Cor 1:31) - Boasting in afflictions (cf. Rom 5:3) - Boasting in the cross of Christ (Gal 6:14) - Paul could boast in his weaknesses, realizing that Christ was his strength (cf. 2 Cor 12:9) But there is also a bad boasting as given in Scripture - The Corinthians boasted about following Paul or Peter or Apollos - Paul has to rebuke them and remind them that their trust had better be in the Lord! The Jews believed in monotheism there is only one god - The Jews thought that the one and true God had a special regard for the nation of Israel - Hence, the reason for their boasting 10 This knowledge of God s revelation should have created a heart attitude of humility - Instead, it fostered a heart of arrogance and pride 11 18 and know His will, Fourth, the Jews knew the will of God - They knew what God expected - After all, they had the written revelation of the Old Testament Although they knew the will of God, they failed to obey it - Listen to what James writes in his epistle, "Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin" (Jas 4:17) Therefore, the Jew was all the more accountable to God - He had no excuse when judgment came upon him The Gentile had only natural revelation around him - The witness of creation The Jew had the special, written revelation of the Old Testament 9 Everett F. Harrison, The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Romans, 33. 10 Morris, 131. 11 Donald Grey Barnhouse, God s Wrath, Vol 1, 116. 4

and approve the things that are essential, Fifth, the Jew could discern spiritual truth because of his familiarity with the Law of God - The Gentile couldn t do this, since he didn t have access to the OT Scriptures The Jew could know what pleases the Lord - He could know what displeases the Lord being instructed out of the Law, The Jews had access to the written Law of God - They had memorized huge portions of it - They were very familiar with it Many Jews were instructed by word of mouth - A teacher spoke what needed to be learned - The students echoed the content orally The verb being instructed is the basis for our English word, catechism - They were given oral instruction, having truths repeated over and over The synagogue was both a school and a place of worship - The Law was both the center of education and the heart of worship 12 The Jews were so learned in the Law that they could pass judgment on the conduct of others - However, these same Jews were not careful to live by those same standards 13 (cf. Rom 2:3) The Jew had failed to realize that these spiritual blessings brought about greater spiritual responsibility - To whom much is given, much is required (cf. Lk 12:48) Imagine these great privileges that the Jew possessed - They bore the name of the covenant family of God - They had the Law of God to rely on - They boasted in God - They knew His will - They could discern what was right and pleasing to God Yet, the Jew became stubbornly proud of his religious privileges - He became self-centered, self-focused, and self-sufficient Lest we become too hard on the Jews, Christians can certainly fall into this same trap - We have greater revelation than the Jews - We bear the name Christian - We know the will of God through the Scriptures - We can discern what is pleasing to Him 12 Morris, 132. 13 John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, 103. 5

Spiritual pride can creep up in any of our hearts - It is a constant temptation B. Four spiritual responsibilities (2:19-20) With a touch of sarcasm, the apostle Paul then proceeds to list four (4) roles that the Jew believed he carried out - Of course, the Jew had an attitude of superiority about him These four roles give us a sense of how the Jew thought of the Gentiles 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, First, the Jew thought of himself as a guide to the blind - The Jew was the guide - The Gentile was blind In Paul s day, physical blindness was a real deterrent - Blind individuals needed a guide if they wanted to get around During seminary, I worked part-time for a company specializing in products for the blind and visually impaired - Technology has increased so much that many blind individuals don t need a guide - But things were far different during Paul s day The Jew thought of himself as that guide and mentor - In his mind, the Jew needed to help the spiritually blind Gentiles understand the Law It must have hit hard for Jesus to refer to the religious leaders of His day as blind guides (Mt 15:14; 23:16, 24) - They who thought they were leading others were themselves blind - They needed a guide themselves! a light to those who are in darkness, Second, the Jew thought that he was a light to the world - The Jew was that light - The Gentile was in darkness In part, this is true - God appointed the Jews to be a witness to the nations around them The angel of the LORD told Abraham, in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Gen 22:18) - Even more clear is the reference from Isaiah 42:6, "I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations" (Is 42:6) God gave written revelation to the Jewish nation so that they could live in such a way to be protected from the influence of pagans around them - But in no way was the nation of Israel to avoid the pagan nations 6

- Instead, the Jews were to be a light to the Gentiles, showing them how they could have a relationship with God But instead of leading Gentiles to a saving knowledge of the Messiah, the Jews sought to proselytize Gentiles! - William Hendriksen stated it well, It was not so much the purpose of scribes and Pharisees to change a Gentile into a Jew; no, he must become a full-fledged, legalistic, ritualistic, hair-splitting Pharisee, one filled with fanatic zeal for his new salvation-by-works religion. 14 Jesus own words toward the scribes and Pharisees were scathing, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." (Mt 23:15) - Ouch! In the Old Testament, we have a clear example of a Jewish prophet who was sent to a group of Gentiles - Jonah didn t want to take the message of redemption to the Gentiles - Do you remember why? Jonah 4:2 utters these sad words, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity" (Jon 4:2) - In other words, Jonah confessed, Lord, I knew that you would show Your grace and compassion to those dirty Gentiles! What an attitude of spiritual superiority and snobbery is shown by Jonah - But that same attitude was being displayed by the Jews as well 20 a corrector of the foolish, Third, the Jew thought of himself as the one to correct others - The Jew was the one in a position of correcting others - The Gentile was foolish You can see the spiritual snobbery of the Jew as he sought to correct the Gentile - Not only was he their judge - Now he was their corrector! The idea behind the word for corrector (or instructor in many versions) was that of discipline - Like a parent corrects and chastises his child 15 a teacher of the immature, Fourth, the Jew saw himself as a teacher - The Jew was the professor - The Greek was the immature student 14 Hendriksen, 103. 15 Douglas J. Moo, NICNT, Romans, 162. 7

The word for immature was used of very little children infants! - This is how the Jews thought of the Gentiles! The immature had very little knowledge of the Law of God - So the Jew saw himself as the teacher of the Law having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, The Jews had access to the Old Testament Scriptures - They had the very content of knowledge and truth at their fingertips But the Jews didn t use the Word of God as medicine for the hurting - They used the Law as a hammer, inflicting further pain on those who needed comfort and salvation Spiritual pride drove the Jew to misunderstood his spiritual privileges - He became more and more arrogant As believers, we need to avoid the danger of religious presumption - The same dangers that faced the Jew in Paul s day face the believer in our day I pray that you understand just how blessed and privileged we are as NT believers - We have the entire, complete revelation of God in the Bible - We have the privilege of hearing Bible teaching on the radio, TV, Internet, as well as in book form But that knowledge and those privileges can easily sour - Instead of humbling us, they can lead to spiritual arrogance We need to avoid religious presumption! II. Avoid the danger of religious hypocrisy (2:21-24) In verses 21-22, the apostle Paul lists four rapid-fire questions - His goal is to show the Jew how much he has not lived up to the demands of the Law These questions are used by Paul to show the deep hypocrisy that ran through the lives of the Jews 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? These first two questions really strike at the heart of hypocrisy in the lives of the Jews - To borrow a popular idiom, the Jews didn t practice what they preached The Jews were so determined to teach the Law of God to others - Yet these same Jews were not determined to teach themselves Paul unveils the terrible spiritual inconsistency in the Jew - He shows how the Jew has failed to live up to the teaching of the Law 8

Remember, God intended that the Jews be a light to the nations - The Jews were to proclaim the saving knowledge of the Messiah But the Jews failed miserably - They didn t practice what they taught to others! Could I ask you to be honest with yourself this morning? - SS teachers, AWANA teachers, small group teachers, are you guilty of this? It is so easy to teach God s Word to others, yet neglect to apply it to our own lives - This is why we need accountability in our lives - We need to be involved in the lives of others, lest we become self-deceived 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Third, the Jew was questioned about his own sexual purity It is quite known that the Gentiles were sexually unfaithful and impure - We have already seen some of their sins in Romans 1 But the Jews were not the model of sexual faithfulness and fidelity - They fell short of the Divine standard as well Some of the Jews of Jesus day saw nothing wrong with divorcing his wife over trivial matters - These Jewish men would divorce their wives and remarry, without a second thought This string of unresolved divorces was equal to adultery in the mind of Jesus - "And it was said, Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce ; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Mt 5:31-32) The Jews were just as guilty as the Gentiles You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Fourth, the Jews were questioned as to their association with pagan temples - This one is hard to understand on first glance I don t think that Paul is insinuating that the Jews had a habit of stealing things from Gentile, pagan temples - It is entirely possible that a small group of Jews did this on occasion In the book of Deuteronomy, God told the Israelites to destroy all idols after conquering a certain city - Neither were they allowed to sell those idols to Gentiles In his teaching, the Jew hated idolatry - He believed in monotheism But in his practice, the Jew promoted idolatry - This was hypocrisy 9

23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? I trust that you can see how the Jew stood worthy of God s judgment - He had lofty aspirations in teaching others - But he failed to have those same goals for himself The Jew obviously failed to understand how his teaching and his personal conduct needed to be in alignment with one another - He was a religious hypocrite You can look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and see the kind of life that the believer was called to live - Not focusing on externals - But focusing instead on internals 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written. To give support to what Paul wrote in verse 23, the apostle cites Scripture - Specifically, Paul cites Isaiah 52:5 The nation of Israel went into captivity because of their sins - During their time of captivity, their captors made sport of their God who, in their mind, was unable to prevent their deportation - Thus, the name of God was being dishonored We know that the problem was never with God - The fault lay entirely with His people who refused to take His Law seriously 16 - Their sin brought dishonor to God and to His name God s name is oftentimes ridiculed when He disciplines His people for their sins - This is what happened in Isaiah 52 Other times, when God patiently withholds His discipline for a time, the watching world thinks that God is either impotent to effect change or that He approves of the sinful acts 17 - Both of these misconceptions arise because of the sins of His own people To bear the name of God is a sacred trust 18 Listen to the words from Psalm 50, "But to the wicked God says, What right have you to tell of My statutes, and to take My covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline, and you cast My words behind you. When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth loose in evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother s son. These things you have done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you, and state the case in order before your eyes " (Ps 50:16-21) 16 Harrison, 34. 17 MacArthur, 158. 18 Mounce, 100. 10

Is it any wonder that James writes in his epistle, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment" (Jas 3:1) - Those who teach God s Word are held to a higher standard - Let this be a warning to those among us who handle God s Word before others In the New Testament, Jesus repeatedly scolded the Pharisees for their hypocrisy - He uses the term hypocrites seventeen (17) times in the Gospels - Most often, this term was aimed at the religious teachers of the day We should not be surprised when an unbeliever acts like an unbeliever - He is simply acting like his nature But when a believer acts in sinful ways, the world responds with shock and amazement - They somehow believe that Christians live perfect lives It does bring disgrace and dishonor to the name of Christ when prominent Christians commit flagrant sins - Sexual immorality - Tax evasion - Drunk driving - The list is endless We think of Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker - But it isn t limited to big-time preachers The issue of spiritual hypocrisy can happen to any believer - Any of you here this morning could be guilty of bringing massive dishonor to the name of God through your hypocrisy I used to have one of the fish symbols on the back of my car - But I don t do that any longer I came to realize that the manner in which I drove could be taken as a poor reflection upon Jesus Christ - People could look at my driving methods, see the fish symbol and think, That guy drives worse than me! Why would I want to become a Christian? Many of us have seen individuals with crosses on their necklaces - Yet their speech was vulgar - Their dress was immoral In these common examples, there is the very real temptation to bring dishonor to the name of God That is what we must understand about this passage - It applies to each one of us We must be careful and cautious not to think, Oh, this could never happen to me! - That is the same attitude of the Jew who Paul is addressing Such a message as this one should drive us to our knees in humble dependence upon God - We should be broken over our sin, to the point of repentance - We should pray for one another, that we wouldn t bring dishonor and blasphemy to the name of God 11

This passage is both a warning and an encouragement 19 - It is a warning to those who have a false security in something other than Jesus Christ o The judgment of God will fall one day in the near future o Many will be surprised to see that the spiritual foundation of their lives was faulty - It is also an encouragement to those of us here who are trusting exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ o We are spared the wrath of God, since He took on Himself the penalty for our sins eternal, spiritual separation All the spiritual privileges in the world are meaningless if you are not responding in obedience - If God was looking merely for people who were familiar with God s Word, the Jews would have been welcomed with open arms - For that matter, the Devil and the demons would be welcomed since they are very familiar with the Scriptures (the Devil can even quote some verses) How has God s Word convicted you this morning? - The Word of God is a sharp, living, double-edged sword Perhaps you are here and God s Word has unveiled your false sense of eternal security - God has shown you that you are trusting in something other than Jesus Christ - If so, you need to repent of your sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of sins Perhaps you are here this morning as a Christian - God s Word has shown you that your life oftentimes manifests spiritual hypocrisy - If so, you need to repent of this and ask God for forgiveness, trusting Him to give you grace to lead a more consistent life Whatever God s Word has exposed in your life, make sure that you do business with God - Don t be merely a hearer of the Word - Be a hearer and a doer 19 Barnhouse, 120-21. 12