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Romans 9: The Absolute Necessity of the New Birth (2:25-29)

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Introduction

We left off with St. Paul’s observation that the Gentiles blasphemed God’s name because of the behavior of God’s people. In this passage, he goes on to show the root cause of the discrepancy between the holy name by which God’s people were called, and unholy lives which disgraced that calling. The root cause was the lack of personal regeneration. As Jesus told Nicodemus, a man must be born again. To take the larger argument of Romans, not all Israel are Israel. We may (and we must) extend this to say that not all Christians are Christians.

The Text

“For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:25-29)

Summary of the Text

What good is circumcision? Who needs it? Paul says that circumcision does profit a Jew, if he keeps the rest of the law (v. 25). Circumcision is obedience to the Torah at the doorway (Dt. 11:20), but if disobedience is pervasive through the rest of the house, then God treats the sign of allegiance at the doorway as though it were the opposite (v. 25). And what happens when you flip this around? If an uncircumcised person keeps the righteousness of the moral law (remember, he is not keeping Torah because he is uncircumcised), then won’t God place him in the ranks of the honorary circumcised (v. 26)? Not only so, but the uncircumcised in this position will be in a position to judge the person who “by letter” and “by circumcision” transgresses the law (v. 27). This person could either be the pagan Gentiles of v. 14, or the baptized Gentiles in the church at Rome—Paul’s argument works either way. Why does it work this way? Paul then says that a man is not a true Jew who is simply one outwardly, and that true circumcision is not a matter of what is done to the flesh (v. 28). A true Jew is a Jew on the inside, and true circumcision is a matter of the heart and spirit, not the letter (v. 29) The praise for such a man is not from men, but from God (v. 29).

Torah and the Righteousness of the Law

The distinction between the Torah and what might be called the essence of the law is a very important one if we are to understand Romans. We have noted it before and we have to make a note of it again here. Paul clearly distinguishes between formal law-keeping and essential law-keeping—but this is not possible if we say that his only interest has to do with the relationship of the old Torah and the new gospel. Paul insists here that an uncircumcised person by nature can nevertheless keep the essential law, what he identifies as the “righteousness of the law.”

Counted or Reckoned

A similar thing must be said about a very crucial word here, one that is essential to a right understanding of Romans. It occurs in our passage here, and that word is logidzomai. It is the kind of word that is remarkably flexible—it was rendered as “thinkest” in 2:3, but it occurs here as “counted” (2:26). Elsewhere in Romans it is translated as “reckon” (4:4), “account” (8:36), or most famously “impute” (4:6). We will muddy everything if we understand this word as any kind of infusion. We will not do a great deal with this now, but it will be very important later—so mark this spot.

Outward and Inward

Sin creates rebellious dualisms. God created us so that our spirit, soul, and body would all live in harmonious union. But rebellion against Him fractured this harmony, and made it possible for an individual to be one man on the outside and a completely different man on the inside. This was not what we were created for, but our sin made hypocrisy possible. But that is not our concern in this message now—the basic problem of hypocrisy was addressed earlier.

Here is a different problem. Some Christians, discovering that there ought not to be this inside/outside divide, have falsely concluded that there is no such thing as an inside/outside divide. But this is saying, ultimately, that hypocrisy is impossible. However, Paul is blunt here. He knew men who were Jews on the outside, but he did not consider them to be Jews on the inside. What needed to occur in order for them to be Jews on the inside? Paul says that it amounted to heart circumcision, in the spirit and not in the letter (v. 29). As it was, their outside testified against their inside (v. 27). By the letter and by their circumcision they transgressed.

A Quick Caution

This is the great contribution of historic evangelicalism—teaching the absolute necessity of the new birth. Do not confuse this with the accretions of pop evangelicalism, or certain traditions within evangelicalism, which seeks to put that new birth in a can, prepackaging it for the upcoming revival meetings, prescribing just what it looks like in every instance—going forward, signing the card, that kind of thing. But the Spirit moves as He pleases. Reformation and revival is not a commodity.

How Does It All Translate?

Does this warning at the end of Romans 2 translate over to Christians? Can we say that “he is not a Christian who is one outwardly, neither is baptism that which is outward in the flesh”? Can we say he is a Christian who is “one inwardly,” and baptism is “of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.” Of course we can, and we must.

Paul here is spelling out the root causes of the great Jewish failure. The Jews hadnot kept the law in truth, even though they were circumcised—precisely because they had not obeyed the law by receiving the circumcision of the heart (Dt. 10:16;30: 6; Jer. 4:4). This doctrine of the new birth is not an innovation of Paul’s—God required it in the Old Testament times as well. And Paul elsewhere tells the covenanted Christians that they were capable of failing in just the same way that the Jews had (Rom. 11: 20-21;1 Cor. 10: 6), and for the same reasons (2 Cor. 13:5). A brief glance at church history shows us the wisdom of this warning, as well as a moment’s reflection on our own circumstances. A man, if he wants to see the kingdom of God, must be born again. Is this your desire? Then look to Christ—Christ on the cross, Christ in heaven, Christ in the Word, Christ in the water, Christ in the bread and wine. But always this is looking through, not staring at.

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Romans 8: The Genesis of Hypocrisy (2:17-24)

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Introduction

We have already seen in the first chapter that the unbelieving Gentile world is without excuse in their rebellion against God. We have also seen (in this second chapter of Romans) that believing Gentiles are not in the same position. And here in this passage, we come to the point of emphasis, which is that the Jews are also under sin, and in need of a Savior.

The Text

“Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? /Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?/ Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written” (Rom. 2:17-24).

Summary of the Text

Paul begins by naming the Jew explicitly—you are called a Jew (v. 17). Not only does he call himself a Jew, but he also rests in the law (v. 17), and makes his boast in God (v. 17). What is this but the great Reformation principle of soli Deo gloria? The Pharisee who insulted the publican in his Temple prayer did the same—”I thank thee, God . . .” Not only so, but this Jew knows the will of God, and knows it because he is instructed by God from the law. As a result, he approves excellent things (v. 18). As a result, this Jew is confident that he has the ability to teach—he is a guide to the blind (v. 19), a light for those in the dark (v. 19), an instructor of the foolish (v. 20), a teacher of babies (v. 20), as someone who has the right form of knowledge and truth in the law (v. 20). Very good, Paul says, but let’s start somewhere else.

Those who teach must first teach themselves, and moreover, those who expect others to learn the lessons must learn the lessons themselves first (v. 21). It doesn’t count if you teach yourself first, but the pupil is stupid. If you preach against stealing, do you steal (v. 21)? If you say not to commit adultery, how’s it going in your life (v. 22)? If you abhor idols, and good for you, do you commit sacrilege yourself (v. 22)? The word literally here is temple-robber, and Paul is exonerated of a similar charge at Ephesus (Acts 19:37). There had apparently been some shenanighans that the Roman Christians would have known about. You boast in the law but you in fact dishonor God through your breaking of the law (v. 23). Because of you Jews, Paul says, the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God (v. 24). Not only so, but you have been doing this for a long time—long enough for both Isaiah and Ezekiel to have noticed it (Is. 52:5; Ez. 36;22).

Look at the Verbs First

The orthodoxy is heavy on teaching. knowing, and approving. But notice how Paul then uses the verbs—teach, preach, say, abhor, and boast. You teach the right, you preach the right, you say the right, you abhor God’s rivals, and you boast in Him alone. Yes, but what do you do? Don’t hide behind the creeds and confessions.

What Does Hypocrisy Accomplish?

Paul objects to the fact that the hypocrisy of the Jews has providedunbelieving Gentiles with some cheap entertainment. But there is a common mistake here that we make, and Paul shows us how to avoid it. The hypocrisy of God’s people does not create a valid excuse or defense for the unbeliever. Take the most obnoxious televangelist you can construct in your imagination, the randiest pope in church history, and the smarmiest Scripture-twister ever, and everything they ever said or did is shouted down by one sunrise, one midnight at sea, or five minutes of contemplating the complexities of a single cell. The unbeliever is always without excuse (Rom. 1:20).

The plain fact is that God hates hypocrisy, and He will judge it at the last day (Is. 9:17; Matt. 6:2; 22:18). What sense does it make to oppose the living God, who alone will judge the hypocrites, and to do so because you disapprove of hypocrites? If you hate the behavior of certain people on a particular team, then why do you go join that team. Blasphemers “because of hypocrisy” and the hypocrites themselves will both be thrown into the lake of fire, and if God goes in alphabetical order, those who pretended to hate hypocrisy in their blasphemies will have to go first.

The Snare of Hypocrisy

When we get to the point of denunciation, it is not hard to condemn hypocrisy as Paul does here, and to use a canoe paddle on it. But why and how is hypocrisy a snare that works so easily? It is among the most contemptible of sins—we all hate it—so why do so many fall into it? What contributes to the “set up”? Remember that Paul expects the Gentiles Christians to learn the lessons that the unbelieving Jews failed to learn (Rom. 11:20).

Rain doesn’t fall from a clear, blue sky, and hypocrisy doesn’t “come from nowhere” either.

We are pious and unwilling to mock holy things . . . the way God does (Jer. 7 );
We bask in the reflected glory of things that God actually praises (Rom. 2:18);
We are afraid of blowback (Jn. 7:13; 9:22);
We are careless of the fact that big hypocrises grow from little hypocrisies (Ps. 19: 12-13);
We refuse to make our own deep motivations an object of serious contemplation (2 Cor. 13: 5);
We don’t understand the mimetic nature of human motivation and behavioral contagion (Jas. 4:5-6);
We judge others by their actions, but we want to be judged by our intentions ( );
We say that we need to protect the reputation and feelings of others ( );
We say that mere possession of the truth works as a talisman (Jas. 2:14);
We rest in external privileges, instead of improving them (Rom. 11:22);
We stare at Scripture as though it were a mural, instead of through Scripture as a window (Jn. 5: 39);
And we don’t understand what God is actually like (Ps. 16:11)

 

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Romans 6: The Spirit of Accusation (2:1-5)

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Introduction

God’s wrath is taught very clearly in Scripture. Our great problem with it is that we confound it with the spirit of accusation that belongs to the devil, and we show that we do not understand how righteousness, the real thing, interacts with sin. We think we know, but we tend to know only how self-righteousness would deal with unrighteousness.

The Text

“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. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—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? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:1-5).

Summary of the Text

Having indicted the Gentile world, St. Paul turns to the Jews. But it is interesting that as he does so, addressing those who would approve of his treatment of the Gentiles, he speaks to them as “O man” (vv. 1,3). His point in the second chapter is that you Jews have the same problem with sin, “you are men after all,” and you have compounded it with the hypocrisy of a double standard. The Gentile pagan looking at the stars was “without excuse” (1:20). In the same way, this one who would judge the Gentiles is also inexcusable (2:1).Why? Because he does the same things himself. But the judgment of God rests on those who do such things (v. 2), and it is not possible to avert that judgment simply because you disapprove of them on paper. Do you really think, O man, that it is okay with God that you judge those who do such things, while doing the same, that God will let it go? That He will somehow not judge (v. 3)? The absence of judgment thus far is not meant to communicate that all is well. It is meant to lead to repentance (v. 4). To think otherwise is to despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance and longsuffering (v. 4). To resist the plain intentions of God in all this is to treasure up wrath for youself against the day of wrath and revelation of God’s righteous judgments (v. 5).

Before Getting on a High Horse

Paul knows that the despicable behavior of the Gentiles was atrocious in the sight of God, and he said so. But it also knew that it was atrocious in the sight of the Jews, but for completely different reasons. God disapproved of them the way God would.The Jews disapproved of their immoralities the way the devil would, in a spirit of diabolical accusation. Chapter one followed by chapter two was a Pauline set up, and it is a statement of our blindness that we still walk into it. Is the Gentile world, gay pride parades and all, without excuse? Absolutely.They are without excuse in the same way that their evangelical disapprovers are—those who live in the same kind of moral squalor, but with the furniture rearranged.

The Golden Rule Really Is

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, right (Matt. 7:12)? But this is not just a positive statement that can be applied to every aspect of life (Eph. 5:28).We have the most

trouble with the flip side of this expression of God’s character. Just a few verses before the Golden Rule, Jesus unloaded this on us. “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: anda with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matt. 7:1-2). Clearly, Jesus is not prohibiting any form of moral discernment; consider what He requires in v. 15 concerning the false prophets. He is prohibiting the double standard, which keeps others away from addressing my sin by bringing up their sin first.The best defense is a good offense, right? Wrong.

The Cross Conquers Accusation

God really is righteous, and when true righteousness comes into contact with unrighteousness there must be either wrath or mercy. But wrath is not fussy indignation, self-importance, and self-righteousness, the way the devil does. The righteousness of God is not the devil’s bony finger, pointing in accusation (Rev. 12:10). God is righteous.The devil thinks he is righteous.

The whole point of the diabolical is not the Miltonic “evil be thou my good.”The Satanic and diabolical is to believe that you understand righteousness better than God does. Religious people do this all the time, believing that their standards are better, righter, tighter, and more holy than God’s. But this was refuted and destroyed by the cross, when the “righteous accuser” let his hatred get away from him, and perpetrated a gross injustice by executing the world’s only sinless victim.Why would anyone believe the accuser now?Why would we even trust the spirit of accusation?

Remember, You Become What You Worship

This principle is clearly taught by Paul in the first chapter, and he is resting on a long prophetic tradition. This is a fundamental spiritual law. “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness intotheirsoul”(Ps106:15). “Theiridolsaresilverandgold,theworkof men’shands. …They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them” (Ps 115:4-8). “Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?” (Jer. 2:5). “And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them” (2 Kings 17:15). “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved” (Hos. 9:10).

This great principle is not altered if the idol is hidden away where no one knows about it, or pretends not to know about it. We think out “picture of Dorian Gray” is hidden away in the attic, but we can only keep up the pretence for a time.The idol may be hidden in the attic (Dt. 13:6), but our reflection of that idol’s characteristics are out there for all the world to see. You become what you worship, and what you are actually becoming is a public revelation of your true worship. What many call a mid-life crisis is simply idolatry catching up with you. If you are falling apart, don’t waste your time trying to catch and gather the pieces. Destroy the idol.

Now bring this back to Romans 2.The double standard that cheered when Paul lit into the Gentiles means what? It means that while the Gentiles were becoming like Baal, Zeus, and Moloch, the Jews were becoming like the devil. And there is a warning here for us.

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Romans 5: Vile Affections (1:26-32)

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Introductions

Recall that we have learned that the wrath of God is revealed in the world, and it is revealed as God “lets go”of a culture, allowing them to run headlong into various suicidal and fruitless practices. In this text, we find a deepening expansion of the point Paul has already made.

The Text

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:26-32).

Summary of the Text

The wrath of God, considered in this light, is certainly not limited to homosexual practices. But Paul certainly places that particular perversion at the center of his argument. Notice that men do not embrace vile affections, despite everything that God could do. No, it says that God “gave them up unto” these vile affections (v. 26). The reason we have gay pride parades is that God is doing something to us. As a result, Paul argues, even the women gave up the natural use of man (v. 26). And the men did the same, turning in unseemly desire toward one another (v. 27). Just as they did not want to retain God in their knowledge, so God let them not retain Him in their knowledge (v. 28). As a result, they then filled up with all kinds of spiritual sludge (vv. 29-31). Sins are like grapes; they come in bunches. This happened despite the fact that they knew it to be the judgment of God (v. 32). This means their suppression of the knowledge of God did not really work. They did not want to retain the knowledge of God, but they still knew the judgment of God (v. 32). That judgment is that sin warrants death, as they well know, but they insist on becoming cheerleaders for that way of death (v. 32).

Natural Use

God created mankind, male and female, in His image (Gen. 1:27). This means that attempts to rearrange how everything goes are foundational attempts at trying to make a heretical theology stick. By defacing the image, we assault the reality. By rearranging the components, rebellious mankind is trying to recreate God, trying to make Him into something other than what He is. Homosexual actions are therefore a high profile revolt against the Trinity. All sins do the same, but this shows up the problem is stark relief.

Remember that God does not just reveal Himself in Scripture. He reveals Himself in nature, and the natural use of the female for the male, and the natural use of the male for the female, is an important part of that revelation. Homosexual practice is contrary to the design of God, not just because God says so in Scripture(Lev. 20:13), which He of course does, but also because we discover in the natural world that the parts don’t fit. This is not just physiological, although it is that. If you keep all the nuts in one bag and all the bolts in another, you won’t ever build anything. But “the parts” don’t fit anywhere else either. They don’t fit spiritually, mentally, emotionally, or culturally. Homosexual advocates like to represent this point as a cheap laugh line from “traditionalists,” but Paul shows it to be a cogent point, an unanswerable argument.

Vile Affections

When Paul says that God gave them up to “vile affections,” he does not just mean that they are vile from “our perspective, though others might differ.” Remember that this is at the very center of God’s judgment. When men desired to think as though God were not there, God granted their wish in judgment, and gave them over to a reprobate mind (v. 28). This is how we know that wrath is occurring—God gives them up, God gives them over (vv. 26, 28). Remember that Paul is echoing the judgment themes found in Ps. 106, and here is another one. God granted their request, but He sent leanness to their souls (Ps. 106:15). God judges in wrath by saying yes.

A Grim List Indeed

The sins that follow are not just sins that the culture in question dabbles in. They don’t just happen from time to time. When God’s wrath is being poured out, what happens? The pouring corresponds to a filling. “Being filled with all unrighteousness . . .” (v. 29). This particular cultural jug is filled with all unrigheousness (v. 19), sexual uncleanness (v. 29), wickedness of various kinds (v. 29), covetousness and wanting (v. 29), malice and spite (v. 29), green envy (v. 29), murder of course (v. 29), disputes and tangles (v. 29), lies and more lies (v. 29), a surly malignity (v. 29), whispering campaigns (v. 29), backstabbing (v. 30), God-hating (v. 30). contempt for others (v. 30), overweening arrogance (v. 30), boasting and bragging (v. 30), evil inventors (v. 30), disobedient to parents (v. 30), stupidity and stupor (v. 31), oath-breaking (v. 31), without natural affection (v. 31), hard-hearted (v. 31), and unmerciful (v. 31). And please note the ironic twist, in the modern parlance, to oppose the root that produces all this kind of corrupt fruit is called “hate.” Yeah, right, whatever.

Cheerleaders of Death

Those who know God, suppress the knowledge of God in unrighteousness, but nevertheless retain their awareness of the judgment of God (in which they live), persist in their rebellion. They know that sin is worthy of death, but nevertheless do them, and take pleasure when others follow the way of death along with them. Truly the words that Wisdom speaks in Proverbs are manifestly true in this instance. All who hate wisdom love death (Prov. 8:36).

And this is how we know that America is under judgment. Note again, we do not know in the abstract that America, like all nations, is headed for judgment if . . . We are dealing with a very concrete situation, not an abstract one. Suppose there was a nation awash in consumer goods, a nation that gained the world, but which lost its own soul (Matt. 16:26). Suppose that nation cut off its future by slaughtering over 40 million of her own citizens. Suppose further that this was urged as a noble and constitutional thing to do. Suppose that this nation began to sanctify sodomite marriages, and laughed at every form of righteousness. Suppose that there were millions of Christians in this country who longed for America to deliver herself by returning to her noble, true self, instead of longing for Christ to save her from her corrupted, wicked self.

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