Lesson 3—Jews in Sin (Chapter 2)
for September 17, 2000

Introduction

Reading this lesson and attending class should be only part of your study of Romans. Read the text itself and think through it. Apply it to your life. Obviously, some parts are more applicable than others, but try to think of a way that each lesson applies to your life today. Use the questions and applications at the end of this lesson and think of your own. May God bless our study of his message to us.

It is important to remember for understanding Romans that the church in Rome was primarily Gentile. However, there were Jews because he addresses them several times throughout the letter. Chapter 2 is one of those instances. After exposing in chapter 1 the sinfulness of the world as a whole, but specifically the Gentiles, Paul turns to the Jews to show that they are also in great need of a Savior. Paul especially addresses a smug, or self-righteous attitude among the Jews.

Jews are without excuse

A reading of the Old Testament reveals that the Jewish people as a whole had not been particularly faithful to God even though they had been given every advantage. They cherished their position of status as God’s chosen people, but did not live in a grateful attitude for that blessing, nor did they live up to their calling. In too many ways, the Jews lived much like the rest of the world (the Gentiles) whom they looked down upon as pagans.
In chapter 2 of his letter to the Romans, Paul points out this deficiency of the Jewish nation. He tells Jews in no uncertain terms that they are without excuse and that their actions of judgment, while living like the Gentiles, condemn them. They are especially guilty because they should know better. This shows stubbornness and lack of repentance.

Paul wants Jews and Gentiles alike to understand that God will be objective in judgment. God will give to each person as that person is due. There will be no favoritism. If one has lived under the law, he will be judged by that law; not just on whether one knows the law, but whether he follows it (see 2.12-13)

Exhortation to the Jews to follow God

In 2.17-29, Paul encourages those who have enjoyed a special relationship with God (the Jews) to live up to that relationship. Jews have had an advantage, but have not lived by it. Instead, they have tended to “rest on their laurels”, especially on the outward sign of circumcision as evidence of their special relationship with God. Paul points out very clearly that circumcision is of no value for a life that is not aligned with other aspects of God’s will. He specifically states that the Jewish lawbreaker is condemned by the one who is obedient to God, yet lacks the outward mark of a special relationship (circumcision). Disobedience to the law nullifies circumcision. We must keep in mind how distressing these words would be to a Jew.

Questions

1. What is meant by “storing up wrath” (2.6)?

2. For whom will there be wrath and anger from God (2.8)?

3. Do you observe the “natural law” of which Paul speaks (2.14)? Aren’t there certain things that are right or wrong by nature, and everyone knows it? What are some of those “natural laws”? Is our American culture trying to ignore some of those natural laws today? Which ones?

4. What is circumcision of the heart (2.29)?

Application

Could Christians be guilty of the same attitude as the Jews, that is, knowing better how we ought to live, yet living like the world anyway? In what ways do you live differently from the world? Is God’s name blasphemed today because of Christians (see 2.24)?

Do Christians have any tendencies, like the Jews, to rely on outward signs of a relationship with God while continuing to live out of alignment with God’s will?