Introduction
A lot of people were missing last week because of the marathon and because of the Bank Holiday. So, let me remind you of what Paul has been saying in his letter to the Romans.
In the early part of chapter 1 he wrote about his desire to visit the believers in Rome and how he was eager to preach the gospel in Rome. And he was eager to preach the gospel in Rome, because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile.
In other words, the gospel is for everyone. It’s for Jews and it’s for Gentiles. It’s for everyone. And everyone needs the gospel because all of us are sinners who are justly liable to God’s wrath and curse. All of us, by nature, reject God and his will for us, which is to bring us into his presence in the new creation to come. And by rejecting God and his will for us, we put ourselves on the road that leads to death and destruction. And so, we need the gospel, because through the gospel God takes us from the road leading to death and destruction and he puts us on the road leading to everlasting life in his presence.
And in the remainder of chapter 1, Paul explained that the wrath of God is being revealed every day against everyone who has rejected God. Everyone knows God, because God is continually revealing himself to us through the things he has made. But instead of glorifying God and giving thanks to him for his good gifts, people reject him. They push him out of their thoughts and they replace him with false gods. And so, instead of worshipping the Creator, they worship other things. And God displays his wrath against such people every day by letting them fall deeper and deeper and deeper into sin and into all the misery that sin causes.
So, that was chapter 1. And I said last week that Paul’s focus in that chapter was the unbelieving Gentile. He was talking about the typical person living in the Roman Empire in the first century who worshipped false gods instead of the true God. And the believers in Rome to whom Paul was writing were familiar with that kind of person. In fact, they themselves were that kind of person until they were converted to faith in Christ. There were once that kind of person and they probably still knew lots of people like that.
So, Paul’s focus in chapter 1 is the unbelieving Gentile. But his focus in chapter 2 is the unbelieving Jew. It’s the typical Jew living in the Roman Empire in the first century who worshipped God according to the law of Moses. So, although Paul is writing this letter to the believers in Rome, he’s not writing about them in chapter 2, even though he begins the chapter with the word ‘You’. He may be writing to them, but he’s writing about unbelieving Jews.
And in the verses we studied last week from chapter 2, Paul made three main points. His first point was that if it’s right for God to condemn unbelieving Gentiles for their sins, then it’s right for God to condemn unbelieving Jews for their sins. A typical Jew in those days would have agreed with everything Paul said in chapter 1. A typical Jew would nod his head in agreement with Paul over everything he said about the sins of the Gentiles in chapter 1. But don’t you realise — Paul is saying to this typical Jew — that you who pass judgment on the Gentiles do the same things? You’re just as guilty are they are.
His second main point was that God is impartial and he treats unbelieving Gentiles and unbelieving Jews in the same way. If someone is self-seeking and rejects the truth and does evil, then God will punish that person, whether he’s a Jew or a Gentile, because God does not show favouritism. He does not show partiality. He gives to every person what they deserve and he treats everyone in the same way.
And Paul’s third main point was that possessing the law of Moses — and that’s what the Jews boasted about — doesn’t really matter. Possessing the law doesn’t matter. What counts is keeping the law.
So, those are the three main points Paul made in the verses we were studying last week. And although he wrote about the importance of keeping the law, Paul knows that none of us is able to keep God’s law perfectly. And he’ll go on to say in chapter 3 that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us have disobeyed God. All of us are lawbreakers. All of us have rejected God and his will for us. And so, all of us need the gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to rely on Christ for peace with God and for the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God.
Today we come to the remaining verses of chapter 2. And these verses can be divided into three parts. In verses 17 to 24 Paul focuses on the law of Moses. And in verses 25 to 27 he focusses on circumcision. And he focusses on those two things because the Jews relied on these two things for their relationship with God. They felt safe and secure in their relationship with God because they had the law and because they had circumcision. As far as they were concerned, having the law and having circumcision demonstrates their special relationship with God.
But Paul wants to make clear that they can’t rely on having the law and they can’t rely on circumcision. Or to put this in modern terms: what Paul is doing in these verses is showing us that religion by itself doesn’t work. Religion by itself can’t restore us to God. Religion by itself can’t fix our broken relationship with God. What we need is the gospel. And that’s what verses 28 and 29 are about.
Verses 17 to 24
Let’s turn to verses 17 to 24. Paul is again debating with an imaginary Jew. He’s thinking of the typical unbelieving Jew living in the Roman Empire in those days. In fact, this is what Paul himself was like before he was converted to faith in Christ.
And the typical Jew in those days believed they possessed the three privileges which Paul lists in verse 17. Firstly, they were Jews, which meant they belonged to that one nation of the world which God had chosen for himself. Secondly, they had the law. And that makes them special, because they received the law from God himself, when he established his covenant with the Jews at Mount Sinai in the days of Moses. And then thirdly, they boasted in God. The NIV says they bragged about their relationship with God. But that’s not the best translation. Paul is simply saying that they were able to boast about their special relationship with God, because hadn’t God chosen them to be his people?
And then in verse 18 he mentions another privilege which they enjoy. It’s that they know God’s will and they’re able to approve what is superior because they’re instructed by the law. So, possessing the law gives them an advantage over other people, because in the law God reveals his will and what is good.
And in verses 19 and 20 he says that they’re convinced that they are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in the dark. And so, they are an instructor of the foolish and a teacher of infants. And the Jews are all of these things because they have the law. And the law, he says in verse 20, is the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
So then, the typical Jew in those days would boast about all these advantages which they possess and which the other nations do not possess. And it all boiled down to having the law, because in the law God revealed the knowledge of his will and the truth about himself and the truth about what is good and right and proper and necessary. And because they have the law, they thought they were qualified to teach the other nations who are in the dark about God.
But, says Paul in verse 21, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? He means they don’t do what they’re teaching other people to do. And it’s not only the Jews who are like this. We are all like this. I was at a meeting recently, where people were discussing something which ministers are supposed to do. And someone pointed out that the people who are teaching us to do this thing aren’t doing it themselves. And do you remember Covid and all the restrictions the government imposed on people? We couldn’t do this and we couldn’t do that. And then it turned out that members of the government were breaking their own rules. And everyone was mad about it.
Paul is pointing out that everyone can be a hypocrite. We tell people what they should do, but we don’t do it ourselves. We expect people to meet our high standards, but we don’t meet our own standards. We judge others, even though we’re guilty of doing the very same things. You who preach against stealing, Paul says, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor temples, do you rob temples?
Paul doesn’t mean that every Jew was guilty of doing all of these things. But he means that the Jews are not faultless. There have been Jews who have stolen. They have been Jews who have committed adultery. They have been Jews who robbed temples. Having the law does not prevent us from breaking the law.
And everyone has their own kind of law: their own standard for how people should behave and how they should treat one another and their list of dos and don’ts. And we all pass judgment on people who don’t live up to our standard. But the truth is: that we ourselves don’t live up to our own standard. Having the law, having any law, doesn’t prevent us from breaking the law.
And look what Paul says about the Jews in verses 23 and 24. He says that you who boast about the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? And then he quotes from Isaiah 52:5: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’ Because of the wicked things the Jews did, the other nations only had contempt for their God. And that’s a terrible indictment, isn’t it? To live in such a way that people reject our God? But that’s what the Jews were doing, because even though they had the law, they didn’t keep the law.
Every religion has some kind of law for its people to follow. And every person has a sense of right and wrong and a list of dos and don’ts and a way of judging other people. And we get mad or we complain or we get judgmental when other people don’t live up to our expectations and standards. And yet, Paul is right: you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against this or that, don’t you do the very same things?
Paul’s point in these verses is that the Jews felt safe and secure in their relationship with God because they had the law. But the problem is: they don’t keep the law. And so, religion by itself can’t restore us to God. It can’t fix our broken relationship with God. Religion by itself just turns us into hypocrites.
Verses 25 to 27
Let’s move on to verses 25 to 27, which are about circumcision. The Jews felt safe and secure in their relationship with God because they had circumcision.
Now, the practice of circumcision came from the Lord. He commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and every male member of his household. And they were to do this, because circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with them. It was a sign that they belonged to God: he was their God and they were his people. And they were to continue the practice throughout the generations so that every male child who was born was to be circumcised. The promise was for themselves and their descendants.
And so, circumcision was a sign of the covenant and it was to remind the people that they could trust in their God. But instead of trusting in God, they began to trust in the sign itself. They began to believe that because they’ve been circumcised, God will not punish them for breaking the law. Because they’ve been circumcised, God will look on them with favour. They were trusting in circumcision for peace with God.
And that’s the way Paul used to think about circumcision. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul lists all the things he used to rely on and boast about for his relationship with God. He felt safe and secure in his relationship with God because of these things. And the very first thing he mentions is his circumcision. He was trusting in circumcision for peace with God.
That’s the way Paul used to think. But now that he’s been converted, he thinks differently about circumcision. Now he says about it in verse 25 that circumcision has value if you observe the law. But if you break the law — and all of us are lawbreakers — then you have become as though you have not been circumcised. And when he refers here to the value of circumcision, he means its value in saving us from God’s wrath. Can circumcision save us from God’s wrath? Paul is saying: no! If you’re a lawbreaker, if you’ve disobeyed God — and we all disobey God — then you’re liable to his wrath and curse and circumcision cannot save you from that.
In verse 26, he does what he did in last week’s passage, which is that he presents us with a hypothetical case. So, this is a theoretical, and not an actual, case. If there are people who are uncircumcised, and who keep the law perfectly, then then will be treated as if they were circumcised. So, if there are Gentiles who keep God’s law perfectly and do all that he requires, then God will look on them with favour on the day of judgment and he will give them eternal life. And those obedient Gentiles will condemn disobedient Jews when Christ comes again. As I say, that’s a hypothetical case. And it’s a hypothetical case, because all of us are sinners who break God’s law continually. There never has been anyone — apart from the Lord Jesus — who has kept God’s law perfectly.
But Paul’s point is this: What counts is not circumcision, but obedience to God’s law. And if you haven’t obeyed God’s law, then circumcision cannot save you from God’s wrath.
And so, religion by itself doesn’t work. Religion by itself can’t restore us to God. Religion by itself can’t fix our broken relationship with God. The Jews trusted in circumcision. People today might trust in their baptism. They believe that, because they were baptised, their relationship with God is safe and secure and they don’t need to fear God’s judgment. They can live as they please and do what they like, because God is bound to save them, right? And other people trust in other things they have done. Whatever it is, they think that because they’ve done this thing, whatever it is, they don’t need to worry: God will be pleased with them. They’ve done what is necessary and so God will look on them with favour. Their attitude is: God will accept me because of this thing that I have done.
But what does Paul say? This thing you have done has value if you observe the law. But if you break the law — and everyone has broken God’s law — then that thing you have done cannot save you.
Verses 28 and 29
So, if possessing the law can’t save us from God’s wrath and if being circumcised can’t save us from God’s wrath, then what can save us? How can we be restored to God? How can our broken relationship with God be fixed?
Well, in verse 28 and 29 Paul compares the outward and the inward. When he refers to the outward, he’s thinking about things like circumcision and baptism and any of those other actions or rites or rituals that people perform. And he’s already made the point that those outward things can’t save us from God’s wrath.
But then he mentions the inward. He mentions circumcision of the heart by the Spirit. And when he refers to circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, he means that the Holy Spirit is able to cut off and remove a person’s unbelieving heart. So, when someone is circumcised outwardly, a piece of their skin is cut off and removed. But the Holy Spirit in a sense cuts off and removes a person’s unbelieving heart. The Spirit cuts off and removes a person’s unbelieving heart and replaces it with a believing heart, so that that person is able to believe the good news of the gospel and to trust in Christ, who is the only Saviour of the world. He’s the Saviour for the Jews and he’s the Saviour for the Gentiles. He’s the Saviour because he came down from heaven as one of us and he suffered all the punishment which our sins deserve. He bore in his body and soul the punishment of us all. He endured the wrath of God in our place. And the moment we trust in him, we are restored to God. Our broken relationship is fixed. And from that moment on, we can rely on God to help us throughout our life in this world and to bring us into the world to come, where we will be with God for ever.
Paul says this heart circumcision happens by the Spirit and not by the written code. He means the law of God — with all its regulations and commands and it’s dos and don’ts — can’t produce this change in us. The law can’t turn an unbeliever into a believer. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
And the Holy Spirit not only turns an unbeliever into a believer, but once he does that, he then begins the process of changing us from the inside out. He fills our heart with love for God and with love for our neighbour. And he works in us to remove our selfish and wicked desires and inclinations and attitudes and he transforms us into the kind of people who want to do what is right and good in the sight of God. He enables us to resist our sinful desires and he creates in us love and joy and peace and patience and kindess and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.
The law, the written code, commands us to love God and our neighbour. However, the law can’t help us to love God and our neighbour. But God the Holy Spirit is able to help us to love God and our neighbour. And so, he works in our hearts and he works from the inside out, so that having changed our heart, he then changes our behaviour and our speech.
Conclusion
And God did not have to do this. He was under no obligation to us. He did not have to send his Son down from heaven to bear our punishment. He did not have to send his Spirit to cut off and remove our unbelieving hearts and to enable us to believe. God did not have to do any of this. He could have left us in our sin and misery. He could have left us on the road to death and destruction. But instead of leaving us like that, he has reached out to us in love. Because of his abounding love and goodness, he sent his Son to be our Saviour and he sends his Spirit into our hearts. And because of his abounding love and goodness he will bring us into his presence. And so, thanks be to God for his abounding love and goodness to us. And let’s live our lives, not for ourselves, but for him and his glory.
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