Romans Chapter 2
Originally posted Thursday, June 12, 2008
General Comment: In the first chapter
Paul established the guilt of all humanity. God's wrath against
all humanity's ungodliness and wickedness, of which all humanity is
guilty, has been revealed in Jesus' appearance (1). Representative human offenses have been cataloged. All of
them are rooted in the fundamental sin of idolatry. The practice of
Idolatry is the ungodly and wicked suppression of the truth that
there is but one God, invisible and the author of
creation. Now Paul will develop his argument for
God's final, righteous judgment of all humanity.
It
is important to understand Paul's literary style. He uses a standard Greek form
of argument in which the one addressed is a fictitious opponent and the
audience (recipients of the letter) is listening in on the debate. The
style is called a diatribe which means to wear away. Paul is wearing away the
opponent's positions and objections with a logical point by
point argument. The first fictitious opponent is a Jewish Christian who is
self righteously critical of pagan culture, including idolatry. We should
keep in mind chapter one's catalog of "wickedness (= injustice)" as
we follow the dialog. Because Paul builds his arguments one block at a time his
conclusions can be elusive. By the time we reach the end of the argument we may
have forgotten how he got there. Many commentaries on his work cite the
"denseness" of his presentation, with one layer of thought laid upon
another. The comments below may need added clarification so do not hesitate to
send your questions.
Romans Chapter 2:1-16 The
Righteous Judgment of God
Paul
begins by suggesting that there is no room for smugness as
if "whoever you are" has
the right to judge others while doing the very same things you are judging. To do so invites your own condemnation because you cannot escape God's judgment.
To judge the other is to disregard God's kindness and patience which are meant
to lead you to repentance.
Not to understand this and to continue to judge others is a sign of your uncontrite, hardened heart
which invites God's wrath upon you on
the day of wrath which is God's final judgment.
At
the end of the age God will judge according to one's deeds (Ps. 62:12). Those doing good
works and who seek glory,
honor and peace, God will give eternal life; those who are
"self-seeking"and
obey injustice will receive God's wrath and fury (Isa. 3:11), "the Jew first and then the Greek (a collective
term for all Gentiles)." You should
know the truth of God which says "God shows no partiality" between
Jew and Greek. (Italicized words refer to the fictitious person Paul is
debating)
The
first word of vs. 12 is
"for" but it has mistakenly been omitted from the Greek to
English translation. The word signals a continuation and explanation of vs. 11 regarding God's
impartiality in judgment.
Whether you have sinned (as a Gentile
Christian) apart from the law or sinned (as a Jewish Christian) under the
law, you will perish
because God's impartiality is based upon the distinction between hearers
and doers of the law. It is not in the hearing of the law that one is
righteous. Gentile Christians, who are not under the law but do good works
because it is the right thing to do, show that the law they have never
heard is being obeyed in the
very doing of the law. It is the "doers" who will be justified,
whether they have heard the law or not.
In
that case, we can say that the Gentiles have the requirements of the law
"written on their hearts (see Jer. 31:33; Ps. 40:8)." They are acting according to their conscience as
those who have been "informed" through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit." Even so, the Gentile Christians who have not heard the
law but have done it may still have doubts, worrying whether they
have or have not been faithful to the law "written on the heart." Such doubts
might accuse them or excuse them on the day God judges the secret thoughts of
all.
Romans Chapter 2:17-29 The
Jews and the Law
Paul
now turns to the fictitious Jew, a hearer of the law and therefore judged by
the law. The question he poses to this fictitious Jew relates to the same point
previously considered, "Does your being
a hearer of the law result in your doing the law?" He rhetorically asks if
"while knowing the will of God and being sure of what is best to be
done in following the law, you guide
the [spiritually] blind, are a light to those in darkness (Gentiles), are
a corrector and teacher of others, will you not teach yourself? Will you teach others not to break the
law while you are doing that very thing?" These descriptive
attributes are at the heart of God's call to Israel to be the chosen
nation which brings all nations to God. It is Israel's calling.
Paul
suggests, as he reflects on his own pre-Christian life as a Jew who did
terrible things to Christians, that they have failed to fulfill there calling.
Even if they were proper guides for the blind, a light to those in darkness,
and teachers of the children, they have failed in all of these by
otherwise breaking the law. In their former lives in Israel and now
among the Gentiles they have broken the law. They have dishonored God by
not acting according to full extent of God's will. They have caused the name of
God to be "blasphemed among the Gentiles." While we may think such
finality is too harsh a judgment, we should know that for Paul, to break one law
is to break the entire law. We will have to read on to learn there is yet
a remedy to be offered.
So,
as a Jew who is set apart by God through circumcision, what good is it to you if you are circumcised? Its value rests in obedience
to the entirety of the law. If you break
the law you might as well not be circumcised for all the good it will do you. But if the Gentiles, those who are
not circumcised, obey the law, they will be to God as if they were
circumcised. As for you, those
who are physically circumcised and keep
the law will condemn you because
you have betrayed your circumcision. The
point is, my fellow Jew, your Jewishness
is not what can be seen on the outside. True circumcision, that which makes you
a true Jew, is inward. It is "a matter of the heart; it is
spiritual and not literal. (2)"
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Notes
(1) Jesus' appearance does
not mean he appeared from heaven as in John's incarnation of the Word. It means
his appearance in Galilee as a preacher of God's righteousness requiring
baptism and repentance for forgiveness.
(2) In one of John
Wesley's Standard Sermons, he outlines the meaning of circumcision of the
heart. He likens it to striving for perfection through holiness of heart. The
circumcised of heart have humility, having Christ as our example. They also
have true faith, a faith of assurance that God is with them in all things
high and low. Another attribute of the circumcised heart is the practice of
"Godly love," the true practice of and devotion to love of God and
love of neighbor, recognizing that if we cannot love our neighbor in the
broadest sense of that term, we cannot in any way love God.
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