Religion Without a Changed Heart

Transcript

Auto-generated from the audio. Click a timestamp to jump to that part of the video.

[0:00] Our sermon text today also comes from Romans chapter 2, and it's also the NLT. It's the end of the chapter, Romans 2, 17 through 29. You, who call yourselves Jews, are relying on God's law. And you, who boast about your special relationship with him, you know what he wants. You know what is right, because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness.

[0:35] You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God, for you are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don't you teach yourselves?

[0:51] You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery. But do you commit adultery? You condemn adultery. But do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the scriptures say the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you. The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if if you obey God's law.

[1:31] But if you don't obey God's law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. And if the Gentiles obey God's law, won't God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possessed God's law but don't obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.

[2:10] And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law. Rather, it's a change of heart produced by the spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. Let's pray.

[2:31] Our Holy Father, we ask for your blessing upon this word. Open our minds and our hearts to seek you. These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen. So Paul had this really irritating habit of pushing everyone's most sensitive buttons.

[2:52] Imagine this scene. You are a Jew. And you are the one born into an ancient line of Jews. You preach the law. You're proud of your heritage. And you're proud of your squeaky clean appearance. But then Paul comes along and he preaches against all those troublesome Gentiles who don't even follow the law. And you feel this in your soul. And if it was preached today, I feel like every congregation would let out a deep and heartfelt amen. As he's sitting there preaching. You tell them, Paul. And it's bubbling up inside of you as Paul's sharp words put those tricky Gentiles into their place who don't even follow the law.

[3:43] But then all of a sudden, Paul says, now it's your turn. And he starts in on the Jews and you feel like he's preaching directly to you. I think we've all felt that before. I certainly have. You're sitting in a sermon and you just feel that the words are directly going to you yourself.

[4:05] How dare he? But the Jews, they probably weren't expecting his words to cut to them. After all, they were the chosen people and they carried the weight of the law. They knew what God had instructed. And so how could they be at fault?

[4:26] Now the Jews had several claims here and they weren't out of line. Ultimately, they thought these claims would be their salvation. And the first and foremost was that they rely on the law for deliverance from judgment. Micah 3.11 shows us that after rebuking the leaders of Israel for their sin, the prophet said, yet they lean upon the Lord and say, is not the Lord among us? No. No disaster will come to us.

[4:59] Next, Paul says that the Jews boast about their relationship to God. Now some translations will say break, but the word boast is really a better translation because boasting is not always bad in scripture. Bragging can be, but boasting is not always bad in scripture, especially when Paul uses it in first and second Corinthians in sorry, first Corinthians one, and then chapter 12, 2 Corinthians 10, Paul says that we should not boast of riches or material goods, but we should boast in the Lord. Boasting in superficial things is bad. Boasting of one's own self is bad. But boasting of the Lord and the great things he has done is actually a very good thing. So it's not necessarily wrong to boast of your relationship with God unless it's found lacking. Which is what Paul is implying, that their special relationship with God is somehow not quite right. And they find it special for all the wrong reasons. So this special relationship is indicated by the covenant relationship that God has with them. And here, especially the covenant relationship that comes with circumcision. So the next claim is that they know what God wants. In chapter 3, Paul says, In chapter 1 of Romans, we see that God's will has been revealed to all. But here, Paul singles out

[6:33] the Jews. They know what is right. Some translations say that they approve of what is superior. Both can be basically translated to say that they understand the difference between superficial and unimportant things, and those things that truly matter. Now this all goes back to the fact that they are given the law. That fact alone is incredibly important to the Jews. They know what is right in God's sight because they alone have been instructed by the law. All of the other claims that Paul highlights here are related to their possession of God's law. So that's an incredibly important point. They are a guide to the blind. So they are in a position to help others understand the truth about God. They are a light for those who are lost in the darkness, which is basically just another way of stating that last claim. The language of both of these echoes Old Testament descriptions of the mission of Israel to the nations. Isaiah 42, verses 6 and 7 say, I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you. And I will give you to my people Israel as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide nations. You will open the eyes of the blind.

[8:07] You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in darkness. The next two claims are also related to each other. They are instructors of the ignorant and teachers of children. Now, this translation says ignorant and some translations say foolish. Either way, it sounds a little harsh.

[8:31] But in this one context, it's not really meant to be negative, as it often is in the Bible. And it refers to the Gentiles who aren't foolish in spirit, but rather they just haven't had the detailed knowledge of God and his word. And so they've fallen into wrong forms of worship and behavior. It's not because they're inferior, but because they just haven't had that knowledge to tell them differently. And the use of the word children is similar, in that they simply need to be taught the word of God in order to grow. So this attitude of patience with their growth is common in Jewish literature.

[9:14] As it says in First Enoch 105.1, the Lord will be patient and cause the children of the earth to hear. Reveal it to them. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness.

[9:50] Righteousness is the Righteousness of the Righteousness. but he was actually revealing his own self, his character, what he loved, what he held in close regard. He was showing his own self to humanity through them. His very character was made known through the law, and the Jews were the ones entrusted with that knowledge. So yes, the Jews have a special relationship with God. They do have that special relationship.

[10:24] And circumcision was also a special covenant that God made with just them. If they abided by circumcision, God would give them special protection and blessings. So both the law and circumcision set the Jews apart from the rest of the world. The law being a revelation of God's own self, given only to them, and circumcision being a symbol of being set apart from the rest of the world for God, for relationship.

[11:06] Right? Right? Right? Right? a value on these things doesn't seem right. They're just things to the rest of the world, but to the Jew, it was like he was discussing the very value of being an actual Jew. So all these claims that the Jews have made show that because the Jews are the chosen people of God, the ones with the knowledge of God, they have been instructed by God's law and have no excuse to sin. And this is something that he said specifically to the Gentiles in chapter one, that God had revealed himself to them, so they have no excuse.

[12:03] And then here we see that the Jews, even with their special relationship, have no excuse either. In fact, they seem to have less of an excuse. They sure wanted the excuse. They wanted to say that because they were chosen or because they'd been given the law, they had no excuse. And so they're not the only ones who have no excuse. They were more or less God's favorite and should be granted leeway.

[12:27] Now, in our first scripture reading today, we looked at the beginning of this chapter. In verses one through five, Paul made the connection that the Jews do the same things as the Gentiles. Well, if the Gentiles do certain things that are punishable by God's wrath, then the Jews who do those very same things should also be held to the same punishment. So the Jews and Gentiles are actually seen as equals in God's sight. And that had to hurt some feelings for sure.

[13:00] If you believe that you are God's special chosen people, but then you find out that you're the same, problems arise. It kind of reminds me of the year that my mother bought me a special Christmas ornament. And it said, youngest child, mom's favorite. And I'll admit, as soon as I opened it, I was suspicious. But I kind of liked the idea of having something to irritate my brothers, because youngest children take what they can get when it comes to irritating siblings.

[13:36] But before I could get too full of myself, my brothers both opened their gifts, and they each got ornaments that respectively said, middle child, mom's favorite, and oldest child, mom's favorite. And we thought it was fun. And I thought it was funny. The Jews in this situation didn't see the humor.

[13:55] How dare Paul say they were the same as the Gentiles? And how dare he cheapen the idea of the Jews being God's chosen, his favorite? Not only that, but Paul was saying that the revelation of the law and the covenant of circumcision did not rescue the Jews from God's wrath and ultimate judgment. In verses 6 and 13, Paul had already made it very clear that the Jews were the same as the Gentiles. And Paul made it very clear that it's not good enough just to have God's will or to know God's will. They must actually put it into practice.

[14:30] That is what matters in the face of God's judgment. And that's where the Jews had fallen short. So not only had they fallen short of redemption through the law, but Paul feels that by their boasting of the law and then failing to keep it, not only are they imposing hypocritical expectations on others, and not only are they falling short, but they're actually bringing dishonor to God and harming God's own reputation among the Gentiles.

[15:06] Verse 24 says, No wonder the Scriptures say that Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you. And so it's clear that Paul thinks that there is so much more to be said about the Gentiles. It's clear that the Bible does not just talk about the Gentiles as the true spirituality than being given these religious privileges. And the false security that they feel through these privileges is downright dangerous. They think they'll be saved through them, but all these privileges mean nothing if their lived lives don't measure up. Instead of acting prideful and superior and preaching at the Gentiles, they must also practice what they preach. but Paul accuses them of stealing adultery and idolatry. They may have been given privileges by God, but it's clear that their hearts do not belong to him. And even religious rituals mean nothing if they are not done with dedication and obedience. So true spirituality that pleases God is an inward reality accomplished only by the Holy Spirit. Verses 28 and 29 say, for you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have one or have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law. Rather, it's a change of

[16:36] heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. So what matters to God is not that you have knowledge of the law, because isn't he the one that gave you the law in the first place? Why would that impress him? But also, this doesn't just apply to the Jews way back in the day. This applies to us here and now, because it doesn't matter if you can recite scripture from memory or apply verses to your friends' various problems. And it doesn't matter if you understand theology and read a ton of books on spirituality. And it doesn't matter if you go to church once a week, twice a week, even seven times a week. You are not saved by God through knowledge or routines or outward action. What matters is your attitude of humility before God and your honest desire to serve him by doing what's right. If you have an honest desire to please the Lord, your actions will follow. You can make yourself look really good on the outside. You might impress a lot of people. You might even impress yourself. But God can see your heart, and the only thing that will impress him is a heart that longs for the same righteous things that God himself longs for. Now, true spirituality that pleases God,

[18:07] all of us, we all have to have a heart that longs for the same righteous things that God himself also encourages others instead of tearing them down. So here they were, breaking the law, yet trying to impose that law on Gentiles. And throughout the New Testament, we see tension and division brought by the Jews being unwelcoming to the Gentiles, or vice versa, demanding utter obedience to the law that they themselves couldn't uphold. And we see it of many Christians today. We tend to worry about outward behavior instead of worrying about the heart. And we tend to think that people should be doing what's right. It's a natural thing to want people to do what's right. But we also think that they should conform to God's rules and regulations when they don't know God themselves. They haven't had the word and the law revealed to them, but we think they should conform anyhow. And that's often what the world thinks of when they see God as the only God. And that's often what the world thinks of when they see God as the only God. They think of religion that it's a set of rules and regulations. And we become appalled as Christians when we see other people acting sinfully. We tend to forget our own sin in those situations. And we forget that we're supposed to tend to the planks in our own eye before removing the

[19:27] speck from someone else's eye. And so we demand that they stop their awful, sinful behaviors and we push them away. And so we demand that they stop their awful, sinful behaviors and we push them away. Because they're not going to be able to keep up with the awful, sinful behaviors and we push them away. Because they're not going to be able to keep up with the Righteous to him and be healed so sin is a problem sure but what god cares about first is a willing heart and what god sees is christians sinful themselves attacking the sin of other people when we should attack our sin and care for other people it's a little backwards and finally true spirituality that pleases god can only happen through christ it is christ's own righteousness that makes us right with god and true spirituality depends on that fact we cannot earn it we can work on our own sin all we want as we saw in the last scenario we can we should work on our own sin but we cannot actually do anything to make our lives righteous on our own and that would be the first thing that would happen in the last scenario would be to be !

[21:32] need to suffer under the law because we are covered by grace. So our charge as Christians is simple. We need to live with the righteousness that Christ has given to us outside of the walls of the church.

[21:50] Our practices help us to get to know God, but if we are relying on our practices and we are relying on preaching to other people, but we are not centering our hearts on Christ, then we have nothing. Let's pray.

[22:12] Our good and gracious God, we thank you that only through Christ's righteousness can we be redeemed, but we thank you that you give that redemption freely with compassion and mercy. We thank you that you give us the strength to live with the righteousness that Christ has given us. Help us to extend that compassion and mercy to others and to be a light in your world. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.