17But
if you are being called a Jew and resting in law and boasting in God and 18knowing
the desire and examining the differing [things], being instructed out of the
Law, 19and you are persuaded you yourself to be a leader of blind
ones, a light to ones in darkness, an instructor of simple ones, a teacher of
infants, 20having in the Law the form of the knowledge and the
truth, 21the one teaching others, are you not teaching yourself? The one preaching not to be stealing, are you
stealing? 22The one saying not to be committing adultery, are you
committing adultery? The one abhorring idols, are you committing sacrilege? 23Whoever
[is] boasting in law is dishonoring God through the transgression of the Law, 24for,
just as it is written, “The name of God is being blasphemed because of you (pl.)
among the Gentiles.”
Paul has been developing his argument since at least 1:18,
trying to show us that everyone needs the Gospel, that no one will be saved by
trying to keep the Law. In chapter 1, he presented the case of the very immoral
of this world. To that, any thinking person would easily agree. Certainly if
anyone should be judged, it is the very wicked people who do so many “bad”
things. In 2:1, Paul turns the argument on anyone who had enough sense of
morality to agree with chapter 1. In fact, he proves, the very act of judging
others condemns each of us because it proves we know better – leaving us with
no excuse for why we ourselves so often have failed and continue to fail.
If anyone was truly one of the “immoral” of chapter 1, read
those verses, saw themselves, repented and turned to Christ, that would be a
wonderful thing. If anyone read on into chapter 2, saw in themselves the hypocritical
moralizer they are, repented and turned to Christ, that too would be a
wonderful thing.
But I believe now in 2:17, Paul turns on the most difficult
person, the people least likely to ever see their need of a Savior – the very
religious lost. Obviously, reading the text, Paul applies his words directly to
those who “are called Jews.” What I would ask everyone to see, however, is that
today he could have just as easily said, “You who are called Christians…” Paul is
talking to people who are very familiar with the Bible, probably people who “grew
up in church,” people who attend church regularly, own several Bibles, teach
Sunday School, go to Bible studies, sing all the right songs, etc., etc.
Just as in the case of the Jewish people, all of the above
is highly commendable. Anyone who “grew up in church” is certainly someone
blessed with privileges others did not enjoy. This is true, especially if the
church really did teach the Bible, if the message of the Gospel has been
clearly presented, if a person can honestly say the stories and teachings of
the Bible are very familiar to them. Just as with the Jewish people, it really
is true that those are great blessings.
However, the question for each person is, what have you done
with all those privileges? “To whom much
is given, much will also be required.” All of those privileges added up do not
somehow make us “good.” They only make us more accountable. And, if we would search
our hearts, what do we find? Given all this knowledge and opportunity, have I
thus been able to pull off a perfect life before God?
The obvious answer should be “No.” Probably even the most
religious would admit the answer is “No.” But what does that mean? It means we
have sinned against the very bright light of God’s truth! The very immoral were
lost even though they perhaps knew nothing of the Bible. The moralizers were
lost because their very moralizing proved they had some sense of right and
wrong. But here you and I stand, claiming with our own mouths to be people very
knowledgeable of God and the things of the Bible. If anyone, we should be the
people who in fact are “righteous.”
Yet we are not.
This, I would offer is perhaps the worst form of blindness a
human being could suffer – to enjoy the privilege of living in the bright light
of Bible truth, and yet to think those privileges somehow equal a righteous
standing before God, instead of seeing that all of it utterly robs me of any excuse
whatsoever for my sins. It doesn’t make me more righteous. It makes me more guilty!
If anyone ever needed to take hard stock of their life, it’s
not the very immoral, it’s the person who knows most the Bible.
In fact, as Paul asserts here in Romans 2, even the very
religious have failed to obey the Law, and then it’s even worse than that
because, claiming to be religious, their sins (which they do commit) provide
opportunities for the enemies of God to blaspheme Him!
This is it. If salvation is to come to those who perfectly keep
the Law, then even the very religious are lost. The ones who seem to “try the
hardest” are, if anything only more guilty
before God! Salvation does not come to “those
who try hardest.” Being very “religious” does not save us. It only makes us
more guilty.
We’re cornered.
Sounds to me like we need God to come up with some other way
of salvation besides us “doing our best.”
Sounds to me like we need a Savior.
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