Lesson TOC

Lesson 2: Man's Need of Salvation (Rom 1:18-3:20)
Topic 4: Jews Condemned (Continued)

## Advantages and Responsibility (Rom 2:17-29)

Objective 7 - At the end of this topic, you will be able to summarize the advantages and responsibilities of the Jews and explain how they came under condemnation.

Paul is talking directly to the Jews in Romans 2:17-29. Why? Because the Jews were always boasting of their privileges and advantages, but their lives did not measure up to their boasts. In Romans 2:17-18, we find six claims of their advantages:

1. They are called Jews.
2. They rely upon the Law.
3. They boast in their relationship to God.
4. They know God's will.
5. They approve the superior things (They have the right standard of values).
6. They receive instruction from the Law.

In Romans 2:19-20, we find five more claims. These show us how the Jews saw themselves with relation to the heathen or Gentiles:

1. A guide to the blind
2. A light to those who are in darkness
3. An educator of the senseless
4. A teacher of little children (young or immature)
5. Guardians of the form of knowledge and truth in the Law

Paul points out to these Jews who have been given such great advantages and privileges that privilege brings with it the responsibility to live according to the revelation they have received. The greater the knowledge of God and His will we possess, the greater our accountability to Him. The problem with the boasting Jew was that he did not live according to what he claimed to be.

##### Question 28

What word best describes the sin of the Jews regarding their boasts and their lives in Romans 2:17-24?

|  | Hypocrisy
|  | Pride
|  | Adultery
|  | Murder

The Jews were God's chosen people. They were to be a missionary nation to tell others about God. The purpose for their existence was to receive and share with others the revelation of the true God. God called them His witnesses. The very name Jew means "praise." Their lives were to bring praise to God.

##### Question 29

How did the Jews of Paul's day measure up to their boast of relying on the law, knowing God's will, having the right standard of values, and being instructed by the law (Rom 2:18, 23)? (Select all that apply.)

|  | The Jews were to praise God, but their boast in the law detracted from His glory.
|  | The Jews were a shining light to the nations.
|  | Their lives caused the Gentiles to blaspheme God.
|  | The Jews were to lead others to praise God, but they dishonored Him.
|  | The Jews led others to God by their devoted lives.

##### Question 30

Romans 2:17 and Romans 2:23-24 point to the conflict between the claims and the actions of the Jews: though they claim to be Jews and rely on the Law, they actually ______ the law.

|  | Obey
|  | Break
|  | Curse
|  | Forget

##### Question 31

How did breaking the law affect their rights and privileges as Jews according to Romans 2:25-29?

|  | They were now subject to the laws of chance.
|  | They were no longer real Jews.
|  | They now needed to get their privileges reinstated in their local synagogue.
|  | They were no longer saved.

Just as the Gentiles are judged and condemned for having rejected the revelation that they received of God, the Jews in this passage are judged according to what they do with their higher revelation and responsibility.

##### Question 32

Examine the five claims of Romans 2:19-20 and how the Jews taught in Romans 2:21-23. What was wrong with their teaching?

|  | They tried to impress people with their knowledge.
|  | They were experts at making the lessons hard to understand.
|  | They had a very shallow understanding of the Law.
|  | They taught one thing with their mouths and another with their examples.

##### Question 33

Compare the hypocrisy of these people and their privileges with the sins of the Gentiles. Which group would deserve greater punishment? (Select all that apply.)

|  | The ones with more direct revelation
|  | The ones with more moral issues in their background
|  | The ones with a higher level of income
|  | The ones with the greater knowledge of the truth

Keep in mind that while Paul is talking about the Jews of his day, there is a much wider application for his words. Do you know people who think of themselves as these Jews did? Paul's description fits many religious people of our times. They may be nominal Christians in name only or followers of another religion. Have you ever faced this problem in your church? Have you ever met people who refuse to believe the gospel because they have seen hypocrites in the church? This passage lets us know that God judges the hypocrites.

Some people call religion "the opiate of the people." Of course, this is not true of the true religion that brings a person into contact with the living God, but in one sense this statement is true. If a man trusts in his religion (his association with a church) but his life is ungodly, religion to him is like a drug. It is a false security. This is the type of person that Paul describes in Romans 2:17-29.

##### Question 34

Which statement best expresses the theme of Romans 2:17-29?

|  | Jews should not boast.
|  | Religious people are all hypocrites.
|  | Greater privilege brings greater accountability.
|  | Gentiles have displaced the Jews.

Paul tells us in Romans 2:25-29 that to be a Jew is good if a person keeps the Law of God. But a Jew who breaks the Law is no better off than the Gentile. Circumcision, which Paul discusses here, was a sign of God's covenant with the Israelites. As you have seen in Galatians, this was the sign of the Jew's obligation to keep the whole Law. But if the person did not love and worship God in his heart, he disobeyed God's commands, the covenant was broken, and the outward sign of the covenant was meaningless. Some of the people in other nations also practiced circumcision. The Israelites who did not obey God from the heart were no better than the circumcised pagans.

In our study of Galatians, we saw that water baptism for the Christian can be seen as the New Testament equivalent to circumcision. Both are religious rites ordered by the Lord as outward signs of an inward commitment to Him. Today, some people trust in their water baptism and are proud of it, just as the Jews were of circumcision. But both are meaningless if they are not accompanied by the inward commitment that they symbolize.

##### Question 35

Enter your answer for the question in the "Course Life Notebook Questions" page found in the "Personal Life Notebook" section.

In order to apply the lesson of this passage in your own life and ministry, read Romans 2:25-29 again, substituting the word baptism or baptized for circumcision or circumcised. In your Life Notebook, give a two- or three-paragraph teaching that applies these issues of false security in religion to your community.