July 18, 2010

Romans 2: 1-11

Taking Wrong Advantage of God's Response

 In the first 3 verses note simply that the Jews of Paul’s day had a false sense of security.  They were to be judged for sinful practice, and Judged BY sterling truth. They would not get away with disobedience.

Now the second thought from vv 1-11 is that The Jews took a wrong advantage of god’s Goodness.

In 4-5 we will see their wrong presumption, and in 6-10 we’ll note a Wrathful prescription.

their wrong presumption (Rom 2:4-5)  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
 
Joel 1:13-15  Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the   Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,    Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

 The Day of the Lord meant judgment, they thought it was just a day of good times. Joel2:12-17  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.   Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
 
The Jews had a wrong presumption. They interpreted God’s goodness as a guarantee of their immunity from judgment instead of realizing that the purpose of God’s goodness was to lead them to a changed life.

God allows all men a certain degree of kindness just by allowing the race to live. Because he is God he would have been 100% justified in zapping Adam and Eve right to death and hell on the spot after they fell. Even if he had allowed them to multiply and fill the earth and then swept them all off the face of the earth, the angels would still sing HOLY, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, the earth is full of his glory.

God owes man NOTHING. BUT God has continued to pour out his blessings on mankind. God’s intent in this is to draw mankind to himself and away from sin.

Paul asks these people “,Do you despise the goodness of God’s grace?” His desire seems to be to press home to these  Jewish brethren, ones his heart yearns for we will see later, to press home to them the sin of which they are guilty.

Do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering? This refers to the super abundant magnitude of God’s goodness poured out on the chosen people. They were made partakers of God’s covenant with Abraham. And his abundant forbearance and longsuffering to Israel was shown over and over in Jewish History as Israel sinned, was judged and then placed on her feet over and over again.  But here, perhaps more than in their history, is a sense of God’s patience with the Jews NOW, at the time of this writing, because in rejecting God’s Grace and goodness shown in Christ they set themselves up for the maximum wrath of God.
 
But God has graciously suspended punishment, restrained form giving the penalty that sin deserved. Not because he is satisfied WITH them, but because he is waiting FOR them to realize they are sinning and must change their ways.

They despise it, under rate it and fail to realize the significance of God’s long suffering.

They have, inexcusably, missed God’s point which should be clear, that God wants them to repent, change their mind, transform their consciences and turn from sin to serve the Lord God.

But (v5) You have totally misunderstood and hardened your heart. Here Paul leaves the rhetorical questions and gives a direct arraignment acc to Murray.

Hardness and impenitent. God wanted soft, melting hearts but he got hard hearts and they were storing up Wrath not rapture when the day of judgment occurs.

They had a wrong presumption; one many fall victim to, thinking “I’m religious, I’m ok, I’m am American after all,” and mistaking God’s common grace for a stamp of approval on their misconceptions and refusing to recognize their need for a redeemer.  Take care you do not fall into that trap because, as we will note next, a wrong presumption brings A WRATHFUL PRESCRIPTION vv6-10   Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:   But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,   Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 

Who = God as in verse 5, will render to every man according to his deeds.

Keep in mind the thought pattern here. The Jews looked down on the gentiles because of their great sins, but God brings sin’s payback down to a reality level .  God doesn’t measure us by each other, but by himself. He is the standard we must reach if we would claim self sufficient holiness… if we would say “I’m going to heaven because I am as good as anyone else; that won’t do because the standard of how good you must be is heaven high, a Holy God.

Note here “judged every man by his deeds. Every Jew or Gentile, pagan or good guy, all who want to get in by their own merits will be judged by their deeds.

That is: Jews, if you think your having the law will save you, you will be judged for your practice under the law, the standard of an impartial judge. The general statement of v 6 is applied to the JUST in v7 and 10. In vv 8-9 it is applied to the unjust.  What he is saying is that judgment is universal.  The Gentles can get in on God’s favor as well as the Jews.

The Jews can expect God’s wrath as well as the gentiles, no matter who does evil, there is a judgment.

Keep in mind that Paul is looking at the Jews a sa  group under law.  Just as in chapter 1 he looked at gentiles as a group without law.  His discussion here isn’t on how to get out of a works system, he’s not saying you can be saved by works, he is just looking at the Jews under law and just as the gentiles of chapter 1 they have no excuse. God is not partial.

Not only will God judge the down in the gutter slimy sinners, he will judge the fine upstanding good people for their rejection of him.

Phillip Sandifer wrote a simple but profound song called “When It’s All Been Said and Done”.   this is the basics

    Well I could talk for hours about His coming
    But the louder that I’d speak, I’d just grow deaf against his call
    And I could speak a language that only a few could understand
    Or write a book that tells the world my way’s the best

    But when it’s all been said, and when it’s all been done
    He’ll ask me, “Did you go my way, child?  Did you know My Son?”
    And when it’s all been said, and when it’s all been done
    He’ll ask me “Did you find your way within My Son?”

    And when the time arrives to leave behind our earthly lives
    And go before the God who calls our souls to be
    Will you answer, “Lord, I knew You well, I walked Your way,
    I lived a life that caused another man to see.”

 Now you can spend your time turning tricks for all mankind
    And you can base your life on meaningless reward
    But a wiser man is he who knows himself eternally
    And sees his value not in life but in his Lord

    Cause when it’s all been said, and when it’s all been done
    He’ll ask me, “Did you go my way, child?  Did you know My Son?”
    And when it’s all been said, and when it’s all been done
    He’ll ask me “Did you find your way within My Son?”


R.C. Sproul says that making exclusive claims in America is "like attacking baseball, hot dogs, motherhood and apple pie (not to mention Chevrolet)."1

Jesus said many politically incorrect things, but the most shocking is recorded in John 14: He said, " Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Now that’s an exclusive statement! CNN would never allow someone to make such a statement without an instant rebuttal.   

St. Peter made that claim of Jesus even more blatant when he said, " Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. " (Acts 4:12).

Lots of Americans almost wallow in tolerance. They feel that as long as a person is sincere about his religious beliefs, it doesn’t matter what he believes. But isn’t it strange that they apply this logic to faith but not to any other area of their lives? They want the pilot flying their next commercial flight to be right, not just sincere. They want the accountant who does their taxes to be right, not just sincere. They want the pharmacist who prepares their prescription to be right, not just sincere. Why, then, in the single most important area of their lives—their relationship with God—would they be willing to settle for sincerity instead of accuracy? It makes no sense.

Jesus had to die. His death illustrates the fact that there is no other way. Therefore, no other religion or religious leader can bring someone to the knowledge of the one true God.

But the story doesn’t end at the cross and with Jesus’ death. Jesus came back from the dead, demonstrating that He was and is the one whom He claimed to be (Romans 1:4), the unique Son of God and the only way by which a person can have a personal relationship with the true and living God.

Ask yourself, “Do I have such a relationship?”