Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Part 4: The Dethroning of the Jew

Romans 2:17-3:8

In the last paragraph of the previous section Paul began to bridge the gap between Jew and Gentile. He did this by introducing both contrast and similarity. The contrast was seen in the fact that Jews have the Law in written form, but Gentiles do not. Yet, there is similarity because whether we have the written code or not all men have God’s moral code written on their heart. That argumentation was the prep work for what is coming next. Paul has torn down any defense that man might seek to throw up against God’s judgment of their actions. The Apostle did this in a general, universally applicable fashion. But now he is going to take down the most arrogant of all people groups, his own countrymen, the Jews.

Jews have a sort of ingrained conceit, because they think they are God’s chosen people. And they are, in a sense. But, it is only those Jews who are genuine on the inside who are members of Abraham’s covenant seed of promise. A Jew who only practices external forms of religion is not a true Jew at all. In fact, if a Jew, who does have the Law of Moses to rely on, in practice contradicts that Law, then he is actually worse off than he was before.

Not only that, but Paul wants to make crystal clear that none of this can be used as leverage to accuse God of any wrongdoing. He is perfectly just in his dealings with the unfaithful Jews. He has full prerogative to judge them and us according to our actions. And, in point of fact, His righteousness is actually accentuated by the contrast with our unrighteousness.

God hates a hypocrite. He despises those who say one thing and then do another. Nowhere is this more visible than in Jesus’s conflicts with the Pharisees, as recorded in the gospels. The great sin of the Jew was religious ritualism. That is, the external form of true worship of God without the internal heart love of God that must be present in order for the external forms to be worth anything.

Although most of us are not Jews, this principle is still fully applicable to us all. We must walk the walk that we talk. Our bodily behavior must match our verbal professions of faith if we are to avoid the derision of our God. What a fearful thing it is to be disdained by an omnipotent Creator.