Objections to God's judgment
1) We have the law.
Romans 2 v 17-24.
By the time Paul wrote this, the Jewish religion was more than 1300 years old, and the core of it was the law; so it is hardly surprising there was a pride in it, particularly since it involved the careful observance of some 2000+ details over many years. This law, given by God, ruled their lives. The moral law, which governed their responsibility to God; The ceremonial law, which ensured their personal cleanliness, things like dietary instructions, dress codes, temple offerings, etc. etc.; The civil law which controlled their conduct in Jewish society. All these matters dominated their entire existence, and it is not surprising they developed a sense of pride, and an air of superiority over others. The copious details of the law were a reflection of God's righteousness, His standard for human living, Romans 7 v 12. Paul observes, however, that the reason God gave the law, was not to see if man could keep it, but to prove he could not!
Paul, in his writings, said that the law, as given to Israel, had a time limit upon it, and a design limit upon it. In Romans 5 v 20 he makes, what would be an astonishing revelation to any Jew, that the purpose of the law was simply to EXPOSE SIN. In essence, before God could reveal His salvation to mankind, He must reveal the need for it, the total impossibility of any human being to reach His standards, and this He did through the Jewish nation; so all they went through was to prove that the entire human race required salvation. In Romans 8 v 3 Paul asserts " What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh "
Those of you who rely on the law for your eternal security, and special divine blessing have placed your hopes on something that has failed. Your pride and air of superiority are misplaced.
Paul now sets about exposing and demolishing their pride in their religion.
a. Says Paul you have a superior national heritage "behold thou art called a Jew"
For many Jews this was enough; to them they were born into spiritual privilege . the name Jew, possibly coming from the head tribe Judah became a familiar name for national identity. According to Deuteronomy 28 v 13 their nation would become " the head not the tail of nations". It was to this ultimate end every Jew hoped, and they were prepared to suffer every indignity on the way to it knowing that it would surely come.
b. You have a superior religion "thou restest in the law." The law was "ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator (Moses)" Galatians 3 v 19 MOSES, ANGELS, none higher in the universe, our religion is superior. They were given the oracles of God - no other religion can claim that. What they had was written directly by God, by the fingers of God, on tablets of stone. All other world religions came from men, only THEY had the very words of God.
c. They were superior in their association "Thou boastest in God" Theirs is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, no less than a person than YAHWEH, ADONAHY, ELOHIM, EL-SHADDAI etc. etc. It was not so much boasting before God, but boasting that God had made them a special people.
d. They were superior in knowledge "You know His will, you approve things that are more excellent". We know the future, God has revealed it to us through His writings, we can see beyond the present trial, and insignificance in the world, we have the big picture. We are instructed in the law, the word for instructed katecheo from which we get our word catechism which is a systematic, constant study of God's law at all levels of understanding from the youngest to the oldest, so they certainly knew the law.
e. They were superior in intellect "Confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes."
Paul now goes on to demolish all of this, and tomorrow d.v. we will elaborate on the details; the first indication is at the end of verse 20 where Paul says "all you have is a form of knowledge and of the truth of the law." the same word is used in 2nd Timothy 3 v 15 "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." you have the externals of godliness but not the reality of it, and all professing believers today need to heed this warning, that it is possible to have an external form of religion which is meaningless to God.
To bring this up-to-date, this means that my birth into a Christian family does not guarantee me a place in heaven, my baptism as witnessed by others does not mean I am saved, my communion and church attendance, and conformity to everything that is required of church members does not guarantee I am right with God. Only a heart repentance and acceptance of the life and death of Jesus Christ as my substitute guarantees me that.
The Jewish nation for over 1300 years, and now, for over 3000 years, went through all the religious requirements demanded of them, yet it did not help them. We should learn a solemn lesson from that. Paul, one of the greatest of all Jews, and faithful to his religion above all his peers had to learn this lesson. No wonder he had to go into Arabia for a long time to be alone with God, to understand the real truth of God before he would bring it to the world.
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