The Jews Misuse of the Law

Transcript

GR 1414
01/10/10
The Jews' Misuse of the Law
Romans 2:17-29
Gil Rugh

We are going to Romans 2 this morning. The book of Romans is about the gospel, the good news of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ. In Romans 1:1 Paul began by saying, “Paul, a bond servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” The gospel is that which God has revealed, the message concerning His salvation. And since Paul had been set apart by God to proclaim the gospel he says down in verse 15, “so for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” Then he gave us the summary of what this letter would be about. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” It's in the gospel that God reveals how we can be vindicated before Him, declared righteous. It's by faith.

Now he is going to unfold the truth of the gospel, which is God's power for salvation. He begins by answering the basic questions—why do we need salvation? Who needs salvation? The answer will be we need salvation because we are sinners and we all need this salvation because we are all sinners. So the first point that he wants to make in unfolding the gospel that he will preach when he comes to Rome, and now he is writing about to the Romans, is the fact of the need that we have. We are under condemnation; we are guilty before God. He picks that up beginning with Romans 1:18, and that will be the emphasis through Romans 3:20.

In chapter 1 verses 18-32, Paul demonstrated that all Gentiles are guilty before God. All humanity, really, but particularly the Gentiles are the focus. God has revealed Himself in creation, man has rejected that revelation. He suppresses the truth that God has revealed; he is guilty. He begins chapter 2, and really this will be the focal point for all of chapter 2 and into chapter 3 as well, to show the guilt of the Jews. The church at Rome is a Gentile church but it has a strong Jewish influence. And the Jews had a terribly difficult time making the adjustment to the message of Christ. When I say that I mean even believing Jews. Remember Peter, he preached the gospel in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost and the church begins, but by the time you get to Acts 10 Peter still has no concept that Gentiles also were to hear and believe this gospel. God had to give special revelation to Peter in Acts 10 so he would even be willing to go and give the gospel to Gentiles. Then when he does that in Acts 11 the rest of the apostles in Jerusalem call Peter in and say, we want an answer. Why would you go and give the gospel to Gentiles? That's the attitude of the Jews toward the Gentiles. As we're familiar, they wouldn't even eat with the Gentiles, they viewed them as so defiling and unclean.

So when you begin chapter 2 and Paul writes, “Therefore you have no excuse everyone of you who passes judgment”, he's really starting to talk to the Jews. Now he doesn't specifically mention that until verse 17, “if you bear the name Jew and rely upon the Law” and so on. But it's the Jews who are in view beginning with verse 1 of chapter 2. They were the ones who thought they could sit in judgment on the Gentiles. Of course what Paul wrote in chapter 1, the Jews would say, amen. Those Gentiles, they are dirty, they are defiled, they are unclean. The only hope is they convert to Judaism. But Paul has shown that being a Jew, having the Law, that alone won't spare you from judgment.

Look at verse 12. We are reminded in verse 11, there is no partiality with God when it comes to judgment. “For all who have sinned without the Law will perish without the Law. All who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” So just having the Law will not spare you from judgment. Verse 13, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God but the doers of the Law who will be justified.” The Jews thought because they possessed the Law, therefore they were in a special unique position with God. Partially true. And therefore would be excluded from judgment like the Gentiles. No, they will be judged. And just because you have the Law doesn't mean you are excluded from judgment, that you are righteous. You have to keep the Law. Now he's not implying there, the end of verse 13, that someone can keep the Law and be righteous in the sight of God. Because down in chapter 3 verse 20 he'll conclude the section, by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.

So when he says it's not the hearers of the Law but the doers of the Law that will be justified, he's stating a point that is true. You'd have to keep the Law in order to be vindicated by God and declared righteous. But the fact is no one does that. He's trying to drive home to the Jews that it's not having the Law, it's keeping the law that would be required.

Verse 16, “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.' Here we get insight. The judgment of God will be without partiality and He will judge the secrets of men. The inner condition of the heart will be the subject of God's judgment. Our works simply manifest our true spiritual condition. Now this is the subject he is going to address, really, for the rest of chapter 2 verses 17-29. Degeneration always moves toward a focus on the externals. Think of the Reformers—Martin Luther, John Wesley, John Calvin, Menno Simons, men who stood against the corruption of their day, the corruption of the Word of God, the corruption of the church. They took a stand for the Word of God and now their followers, hundreds of years later, think as long as they observe certain forms, certain rituals, they will be assured of salvation. That's what happened to the Jews. They had lost theirsight of what God required, even of the Jews. First, He required a heart that was cleansed from sin, and then a manifestation of that inner cleansing by a life that was lived in obedience to Him.

And so he'll pick up in Romans 2:17, “But if you bear the name Jew. For the first time in this chapter, now he specifically and clearly identifies the Jew as those under consideration. They were the ones who thought they could sit in judgment of others; they saw themselves as better, as unique, and thus excluded from the same kind of judgment that the Gentiles would have.

What he's going to do in verses 17-24 is show the privileges of the Jews and the failure of the Jews in light of those privileges. And then with verses 25-29 he's going to focus on the issue of circumcision because the Jews really believed that circumcision guaranteed they would be excluded from condemnation. We'll see that as we move along.

Look at verse 17, “if you bear the name Jew, rely upon the Law and boast in God. These are some of the privileges of the Jew. They bear the name Jew. The name Jew comes from the name Judah. Remember Judah really was the name given to the southern kingdom after the nation Israel split into a northern kingdom of ten tribes and a southern kingdom of two tribes. Judah and Benjamin in the southern kingdom were referred to as Judah. And that region and territory thus gets identified as Judah and then the land of the Jews; the people who live there are Jews. So the name comes out of that and becomes a familiar title by the time we come to the New Testament.

They bear the name Jew and they did it with pride. We are the people of God, the nation that God has chosen for Himself, the people that God has entered into covenant relationship with, the people that God gave His Law to. We are Jews. Because of pride and arrogance, ultimately they rely upon the Law. They prided themselves in having the Law and the Gentiles don't have the Law. And so they thought having the Law, we have the revelation from God. No other nation had been given that. So, I'm a Jew and I rely upon the Law. Yes, that's true. Because the Law was given to us, it's our Law.

Now there is a breakdown here. Having the Law is not enough. Remember verse 13, it's not the hearers of the Law who are justified before God, but it's the doers of the Law. But it had settled down in the fact that being a Jew and having the Law put me in a unique position. That's true, but that doesn't mean I'm in a unique position that will enable me to escape the same kind of judgment that Gentiles receive. No, because there is no partiality with God, verse 11.

So you bear the name Jew, you rely upon the Law, you boast in God. And there is a positive way to talk about boasting in God, glorying in God. We think of boasting as negative because it usually comes out of a self-centered idea; we're promoting ourselves. But to boast or glory in God is to have Him as the focus of your life.

Come back to Jeremiah 9:23, “Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom. And let not the mighty man boast of his might, and let not a rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts, boast of this—that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth. For I delight in these things, declares the Lord.” Now the Jew did his boasting and glorying in the God of Israel, who is the true and living God, and I belong to Him. We are His people. He has chosen us for Himself. There is an element of glorying in that. And all the glory goes to God for it, who He is and what He has done, and what He has done for us and to us. So the Jew boasted in God.

Come back to Romans 2. They know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law. So you see now what privileges the Jews had. They know His will. How do you find the will of God? You go to the Word of God, right? Who had the Word of God? The Jews. Paul will mention this in chapter 3 verse 2. First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Who were the prophets of the Old Testament? Jewish prophets. Moses the Jew went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the Law of God given for the Jews. So they know His will; they are able to approve or discern the things that are essential and necessary, make distinctions. Why? They have the Word of God. They can say this is what God requires, this is what God forbids. They know the will of God; they can discern things because they are instructed out of the Law. That's the Word of God; that's not bad, that's true.

And they are confident, these Jews, verse 19, “that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness.” This is how the Jews saw themselves in relation to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were blind; they were in darkness. And that's true. How are the Gentiles going to find out what God said? They come to a Jew. Because who has the Word of God? Who has the Law of God? The Jews. They are confident that they can teach the Gentiles, those blind Gentiles living in darkness. And the Old Testament refers to that. The Gentiles living in darkness in Isaiah 42. The psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 105 says the law of God is a light and a lamp for his feet, for his path. So that's true. They are confident that they could teach the Gentiles because the Gentiles are blind regarding the truth of God. They live in darkness regarding the will of God.

But you pick up with verse 21, the tragedy is the Jews have many privileges, many blessings. The tragedy of the Jews is the failure to live in light of the blessings God has brought to them. “You therefore who teach another, you do not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? You say that one should not commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” You see the tragedy in this. You are teaching someone else, but do you teach yourself? You teach that the Law requires this, but do you teach yourself that God requires that of you also? That's the issue. Then he asks them questions. You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal? He picks three examples here—the stealing, the adultery and the robbing temples. We say, was this what the Jews were doing? Is there a certain hyperbole here or just selecting these as crass examples?

It's like you say to someone, you teach your 15-year-old who is learning to drive to obey the speed limit. Do you go 100 mph on the interstate? Well that's hyperbole. They don't think you go 100 mph. The point is do you break the law? And we use an extreme example to drive home the point. That's what he is doing here. The Apostle Paul, as far as we know, didn't commit adultery before his conversion. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees so he didn't rob temples, didn't steal. But that didn't mean, therefore, he had kept the Law.

So he picks these certain blatant examples to drive home the point. Are you doing and obeying the Law that you are teaching others? The Jews taught if you don't convert to Judaism and submit yourselves to the Law God has given to the Jews, you are lost. But are you teaching yourself that the Law requires obedience? It's not possessing the Law; it's obeying the Law.

I use the speeding example. If you have the Driver's Manual that has the laws for Nebraska, you put it on the seat beside you and you are zipping down 84th Street because you are late for church. And the police officer pulls you over and says you were going 25 mph over the speed limit. You say, no, I had the book here. Well you had the book with the laws, but you weren't obeying the law. The Jews have that kind of confusion. They have the Law; the point is they are not obeying it. Having the Law does not mean you are innocent, that you've been vindicated by God. Doing the Law is what would be required.

Verse 23, “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” Then he substantiates that from a quote from Isaiah 52, “For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written.” The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. In other words the Gentiles looked at the Jews and said, they say we have to do this and this and this, but they don't do it. That causes the Gentiles to speak evil of God.

You know how it is for us today. If a person professes to be a believer, professes to think that the Bible is the Word of God and tells other people about it and claims to be able to teach them about the Bible and about what God requires of them, then they are found out to be stealing on their job, living in immorality, what happens? Unbelievers look and say, see, it's all a sham. There is nothing to it.

Turn over to II Peter 2. Good reminder to us in our testimony as believers not to go astray from what Paul is emphasizing here, but the point does happen. What happens? You have a testimony at work, you've told others that you believe the Bible is the Word of God, that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and He makes your life new. And then you're found out to be embezzling money, what does that do? All of a sudden they make fun of Christianity. We're all embarrassed when we see a well known figure who has claimed to be a believer and has a prominent position. Then he is revealed to have been a sham. We say, well, they weren't genuine. That's what they all say.

Look at II Peter 2:1, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you.” And the false teachers will be just like the false prophets. These false teachers “will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” But they will be popular and have an impact. Verse 2” many will follow their sensuality,” note this, “and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned,” blasphemed, spoken evil of. These false teachers will present themselves as genuine, but then when things come up that reveal their true godless character, unbelievers around will look and speak evil of the truth. That's what's happening to the Jews as Paul writes to the Romans. You claim to have the Word of God, you claim to be the people of God, you claim to teach them what the Law of God says, but you don't do it. And the subtle transition to physical external things has replaced the reality.

Come back to Micah 3. This is not a new problems for the Jews, it permeates the Old Testament. Verse 11, condemnation here. “Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord saying, is not the Lord in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” You see the attitude the Jews had? Being a Jew is enough, possessing the Law is enough. That's a guarantee for us. Calamity won't come upon us; we're the people of God. We have the Word of God. A false security, a false and arrogant self-confidence that God did not ever intend for His people.

Come back to Romans 2. There are many other passages. He quotes from Isaiah 52 in verse 24 as I noted, “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. “ And you can go back and read Isaiah 1, when he begins the book. What did God say to Israel through the prophet Isaiah? Don't even bring sacrifices to Me anymore. When you come to worship Me in My temple, I view it as sacrilege. You're trampling My courts. You don't belong there; you just are antagonizing Me by going through the motions of the worship when you really don't honor Me.

In verse 25 he picks up with the most significant aspect of Judaism, circumcision, the sign of the covenant. The Jews were convinced, not only being a Jew, having the Law, but most of all the mark of God's covenant is upon us. We belong to God. No matter what we do, no matter what happens, we are assured of salvation.

Come back to Genesis 17, just to refresh your mind. In Genesis 17 God is reiterating the covenant that He first mentioned with Abraham. He mentioned it first in Genesis 12, He repeats it in Genesis 13, repeats it again in Genesis 15. Here we are in Genesis 17. The chapter opens up, God appears to Abraham and says, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.” You see, it's always part of this covenant relationship. “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, multiply you exceedingly.” God changes his name from Abram to Abraham in verse 5. Verse 7, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants who are seed after you, throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan.” Do you know why that land is such a battleground down to our day? Because God has given it to the Jews. Even though they are under judgment, dispersion is part of that judgment. Now they are being gathered back in the land. “And to your descendants throughout their generations.” “They will keep My covenant, verse 9. “This is My covenant,” verse 10, “which you shall keep between Me and your descendants after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.” That's not the content of the covenant, that's been repeated and been reiterated, points of it already here. But the mark or the sign of this covenant that will distinguish the seed of Abraham from all other nations. I take it that's why circumcision is selected, to mark that this is for Abraham and his physical descendants. The sign of the covenant. Verse 11, “you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.” Verse 13, “thus shall my covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.” And then the sign of the covenant is carried out for Abraham and his family beginning with verse 23.

That's the sign of the covenant. I want you to note something here. We'll come back to this because Paul will come back to it in Romans 4. Back up to Genesis 15:6, “Then he”, referring to Abraham, “believed in the Lord and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Abraham is vindicated and declared righteous before God in Genesis 15. He's not circumcised until Genesis 17. Circumcision cannot be required for vindication in the sight of God for God to declare you righteous. Abraham was declared righteous by faith. Then later, significantly later, he will be circumcised. The Jews began to take the sign of circumcision as guarantees.

Let me read from some material written by rabbis. This gives you the idea of how the Jews saw this in biblical times. Here is one statement. “Circumcised men do not descend into Gehenna.” Another—“At the last Abraham will sit at the entrance to Gehenna and will not let any circumcised man of Israel go down there.” Another quote—“Circumcision will deliver Israel from Gehenna, from hell.” So you see the attitude of the Jews; circumcision guarantees. Abraham will be there to be sure no circumcised Jew will go to hell. Period. So circumcision is the guarantee. Not much different from people today who have picked up baptism as a sign. Roman Catholicism, have to get that baby baptized as soon as it is born. Why? Physical baptism guarantees its salvation. Some of you have come from backgrounds like Lutheran and have had to deal with issues when you were going to be baptized when you became a believer as an adult. Family couldn't understand; you were baptized as a baby. What is that? We don't have time to talk about covenant theology, but covenant theologians, and I'm just going to take one point and that's out of this, do not see a distinction between Israel and the church as we would see. They see the church generally as replacing Israel, and what God did was replace the sign of circumcision with the sign of baptism. So it's important that we baptize our children so they can be part of the covenant. They've established their own system of covenants—a covenant of works, covenant of grace, covenant of redemption. But just keep in mind they don't see a distinction between Israel and the church. So if the church is the new Israel, we're going to get to this at the end of Romans, then we baptize our children and that's the physical sign. And so you have people believing that because they were baptized and part of this particular church or this particular denomination, therefore they are saved. That's no different than the error the Jews made, that by some kind of physical action now I am acceptable to God. The Jews had a much clearer, much fuller background to draw on than the Gentiles do. Just look at the extent of your Old Testament, look at the repeated promises. But they fail to understand that righteousness comes by faith in Christ. That's required.

Come back to Romans 2. Always as we degenerate and move away from the truth of the Word of God and submission to the Word of God, we put more emphasis on externals. We have this going on in what is called evangelicalism today. A significant movement wants to go back to a certain ritual. We want to have candles, we want to have darkness. Because the form and the ritual become what is important. Really, it's the truth of the Word of God, it's the gospel which is the power of God. It's not going through certain forms, certain activities. Sad to say, multitudes of millions, if not billions, will be in hell who were baptized at whatever age. Just like there will be multitudes in hell who were circumcised because God never said those things bring salvation. Multitudes were part of the nation Israel that God had chosen for Himself and will spend eternity in hell because they never experienced the salvation that God provided for the nation. Just like there will be multitudes of people who attend church that will spend eternity in hell because going to church does not save a person. So we look at this with the Jews and their error and confusion and it is very serious, but we just continue to reproduce it today in a little different form.

Back in Romans 2:25, “For circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law your circumcision has become uncircumcision.” In other words, circumcision can't replace obedience to the Law. The Jews recognized that by their claiming not only circumcision but they have the Law. But if you have the Law but don't obey it, verse 25, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. In other words a Jew who doesn't keep the Law is no better than a Gentile who is not circumcised. Because neither one keeps the Law. We don't have time to go back, but from the beginning of the Law, God stressed that you must keep it, you must obey it, you must do it. That's why it is a law. It is something required of you.

So verse 26, “if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? The uncircumcised man, that would be a Gentile, keeps the requirements of the Law, then his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision. So even though he hasn't had physical circumcision, if he keeps the Law, he'll be regarded as part of the people of God. That's what God required—obedience. Verse 27, “And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter” and letter refers to the same thing as the Law, “if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law? The Law is sometimes called the letter because the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments being the summary of it, was inscribed in letters on tablets of stone. So the letters refer to the Law. Will he not judge you, testify against you, show your guilt if you have the Law and you are circumcised but you transgress the Law. Now the Jews here have to acknowledge that even though they are circumcised, if you don't keep the Law you are guilty. That's why they added all these other minor laws to the Mosaic Law to be sure you didn't accidentally break one of the Mosaic Laws. They had these multitudes of laws that they put as binding. That's what Jesus talked about when he told them they bind these requirements on people. They had multiplied beyond the 613 commandments of the Law because you had to be sure you didn't break the Law. So the Jew couldn't argue; keeping the Law is a requirement.

Now note here verses 26-27. Paul uses an argument here but he doesn't say anyone does keep the Law. If a Gentile would keep the Law then he would be acceptable to God even though the Jew who has been circumcised but doesn't keep the Law would not be acceptable to God. He does not say any Gentile does keep the Law.

Go over to Romans 3:20, “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.” So you have the hypothetical argument here to show the Jew that unless you keep the Law, you're guilty before God. And even being circumcised cannot (?) exclude you from the requirements of obedience to the Law. That's the point. The point is not that some Gentiles keep the Law. He's not drawing a distinction here between Christians and non-Christians. He's showing that having the Law doesn't save you. You would have to obey the Law to be vindicated and declared righteous by God. Same point in Romans 2:13—“it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” That's the requirements of the Law; you have to do it, you have to keep it. Paul is developing the point here, and this will continue down through chapter 3 verse 20, the Jews don't keep the Law. He spends more time on the Jews here because all agreed the Gentiles were sinners. But the Jews thought because they had this covenant relationship as a nation and had been entrusted with the truth of God, particularly the Mosaic Law, therefore they would be excluded from serious judgment; they would be excluded from hell. So he's not saying here any uncircumcised man ever kept the Law. We have to be sure we keep it in context.

Now we come to Romans 2:28-29, “for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter and his praise is not from men but from God.” We almost took a whole message on these two verses. If you've studied in theology you'll know that these verses are used by what I've referred to as covenant theologians, reformed theologians. We want to keep it in context here. What Paul is doing from chapter 2 verse 1 down through chapter 3 verse 20 primarily is focusing on the Jews. Now he is not saying in verses 28-29 that now God is going to call Gentiles Jews. I mean, that would be such a revolutionary concept that Paul just wouldn't want to allude to such a thing, as one writer said, or imply it here. What he says is he is not a Jew who is one outwardly in a manifest way, physically. It's not enough to just be a physical descendant of Abraham, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. In other words the basic circumcision required is not the circumcision of the physical flesh, it is the spiritual circumcision of the heart. Verse 29, “but he is a Jew who is one inwardly.” That doesn't mean when I became a believer, Gentile that I am, I became a spiritual Jew. That is goofy theology, not biblical theology. He is a Jew who is one inwardly; circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit and not by the letter. His praise, incidentally the word Judah, do you know what it means? Praise. A little bit of a play here. His praise. The true Jew is not from men but from God. The point is a division, not between Jews and Gentiles or a changing of the racial lines, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. That is not new material, folks. Some writers say this is now a revolutionary concept, we have entered the eschatological age. Basically this is what God required from the beginning, spiritual circumcision of the heart.

So you have the nation Israel who has been chosen as a nation by God. Within the nation you have Jews that truly belong to God and those who do not belong to God. So you have physical Jews divided into two groups—those who are simply physical descendants of Abraham but have no spiritual relationship with God, and those physical descendants of Abraham who have the faith of Abraham, which will become the argument of Romans 4. This passage has nothing to do with the church becoming Israel or there being a spiritual Israel.

We're going to have to look at some passages in the Old Testament. What I want you to note is what is required here is inner circumcision, the circumcision of the heart, the putting off of the polluted heart, the sinful inner condition. Go back to Leviticus 26, the giving of the Law. We're talking in the context of Israel sinning, committing sin, iniquity, being unfaithful to God. We pick up with verse 41, “I was also acting with hostility against them, bringing judgment on them for their sin, to bring them into the land of their enemies.” Now note this, “or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, Isaac, Abraham.” Going in reverse from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You'll note the condition in their rebellion, their sin, their rejection of God; they have an uncircumcised heart. That's the problem. They have to humble themselves, their uncircumcised heart, so that God can remove the sin of their heart and thus they enter into relationship with Him.

Turn over to Deuteronomy 10. Deuteronomy is the second Law; it's a repeating of the Law. Still Moses writing, Verse 12 and 13, “now Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to served the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” You see that being God's people you fear the Lord, you come to recognize honor and submit to Him and you obey Him. But what happened? Verse 16, “so circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no more. Verse 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God.” Now note this, “who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.” That's what Paul referred to earlier in chapter 2. God is not partial when it comes to judgment. So if you don't have a circumcised heart you will not stand in the judgment. Doesn't matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. So this is not new material. This goes back to the giving of the Law, to the days of Moses when God made this clear. Verse 16, “Circumcise your heart, stiffen your neck.” Stop the obstinacy, the resistance, the rejection of God and fear Him, reverence Him so that He might remove the sin of your heart.

Look in Deuteronomy 30, what God would do to restore His people. Verse 6, “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants.” What does that mean? “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, that you may live.” That evil, sinful rejection of God as we bow before Him is removed and now you have a true relationship with God. Now the external things have a place. Without those you don't belong to God, you're just a physical descendant of Abraham. But you have no spiritual relationship with the God of Abraham.

Jump over to Jeremiah 4. We could have taken just one or two of these but I want you to see this permeates from the giving of the Law into the message of the prophets. You have to have a circumcised heart. This is not new material to the Jews as Paul writes in Romans 2. He is just driving home the point that your rebellion against God and disobedience to the Law, because you are circumcised and possess the Law, doesn't mean you have a spiritual relationship with the God of Israel.

Jeremiah 4:4, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskins of your hearts.” You see the sin of the heart has to go. Stop in Jeremiah 9:23, we read these verses, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom or a mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me.” Because verse 25, “Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord, that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised.” Exact condition Paul is writing about, right? You are circumcised physically but you are uncircumcised in heart. You will be punished by the Lord. So it doesn't matter that the rabbis say that no circumcised man will go down to Gehenna. God has said the days are coming when I will punish those who are circumcised. Yet they are really uncircumcised because physical circumcision means nothing if you haven't been circumcised in heart and had your sin removed. The heart is the issue.

Now stop in Jeremiah 17. Why does the heart have to be circumcised? Why does the sin of the heart have to be removed? Verse 9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. Who can understand it?” You'll note verse 10, “I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” Remember that judgment? He will judge the secret things of the heart, Paul said in Romans 2:16. That's what Jeremiah said. This is not new material to the Jews. Unless you had a circumcised heart and God has removed the sin of your heart, you will come under His withering judgment and be condemned.

So the idea that people read this and say, this must mean the church has replaced Israel and now Gentiles are true Jews. That's silliness. Nobody ought to make that kind of error reading the Word of God. I mean, the plan of God hasn't changed. His requirement for Israel is the same. And by the way, it's the same for you and for me.

Come to Acts 7. Stephen is speaking to the Jewish leadership and he is on the verge of being stoned to death. And what does he say to them? Verse 51, you men who are stiffnecked and uncircumcised. Remember we read that? Circumcise your heart, don't be stiffnecked. You men who are stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears, because they have closed their ears to the Word of God as well. They have the Law but they won't listen to it. So sin has closed their ears. They have uncircumcised hearts, they are always resisting the Holy Spirit, you are doing just as your fathers did. So Paul writes to the Romans in Romans 2:28-29 that God requires spiritual circumcision of the heart, this is not like new material, the church has become Israel. No, there are saved Jews, physical descendants of Abraham, and there are unsaved physical descendants of Abraham. And you Jews who think because you are a physical descendant of Abraham and have experienced the physical sign of the covenant, circumcision, and you possess the Law given to Moses that will guarantee you a pass in the judgment, forget it. God's judgment is of the secret things of the heart; He searches the heart, tries the motives. And there is no partiality with God.

Like people get a Bible and they put it on their coffee table because there is something sacred. And they are careful to keep it dusted, I wouldn't want anything to spill on the Bible. I'm not saying we ought to be disrespectful, but you know what? You can have 100 Bibles in your house and go to hell. Having a Bible, no different than the Jews having the Law. Taking communion, getting baptized, these physical things. People have replaced the truth with something physical and we go through the motions and we think I'm acceptable. Try it. Have lunch today Talk to someone who has come from church. Talk about the gospel, that you are condemned and on your way to hell, and going to church won't save you, being baptized won't save you. Find out how many say, “I'm glad to hear that.” The Jews weren't anymore receptive.

Go to Colossians 2. In this context we're told in verses 9 and 10, “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made complete, in Christ.” What happens? Verse 11, “in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,” that spiritual circumcision that removed the sin. It happens in Christ. That was required of Israel in the Old Testament and God saved them by faith. He'll talk about Abraham in Romans 4 who, when he believed God, God declared him righteous. So what has become clear is how God will accomplish the salvation that people have needed since the sin of Adam. That salvation has always been bestowed by grace through faith on the basis of the finished work of Christ on the cross. That's the distinction being drawn. You have to have spiritual circumcision. And incidentally, in this context he also talks about baptism. Verse 12,” you were buried with Him in baptism.” Do you think now he is has moved to a physical baptism? No, he's talking about spiritual realities in these, and the spiritual reality is you have to be baptized by the Spirit, which identifies you with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection as Paul talks to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 12:13.

Now I address this to an audience here. There are some people sitting here that think because they attend this church, because maybe they were baptized here, because they give money here, they take communion here, they are pretty confident they are going to heaven. You understand physical things don't save you. You have to be saved by faith. That's a spiritual transaction where God does a work in the heart. You can baptize your babies, baptize children, baptize adults. That will not cleanse the defilement of a heart. That is a spiritual transaction. We are ahead of ourselves, because when we get to Romans 3:21 and through chapter 5, Paul will show the spiritual transaction that must take place in relationship with Christ. Now he is wiping out any confidence we might have in physical things to save us, in physical relationships to save us. Not even the Jews, God's covenant people, could be saved on the basis of a physical relationship. But praise God! Salvation is available to all, for the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for your plan of redemption, a plan that goes to the heart of our problem, our sinful heart. And your provision through the death and resurrection of your Son to be the Savior for all who turn from their sin and place their faith in you. You do what no human being can do, you remove the sin that defiles our heart and mind, you make us new. We can be declared righteous because the penalty for our sin was paid for in the death of your Son. Lord, may no one here make the horrible error of considering that their physical activity, baptism, communion, church membership, or anything else, could bring them into right relationship with you. The awfulness of our sin is cared for only in the abundant provision you have made in your Son to be the Savior. And He's the One in whose name we pray, amen.