The True Jew, Inwardly and Outwardly

Transcript

GR 2210
06/16/19
The True Jew, Inwardly and Outwardly
Romans 2:17-29
Gil Rugh

We’re in Romans in your bibles and chapter 2. We are in the opening portion of Paul’s unfolding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Book of Romans stands out because of its careful theological development and consideration of the gospel. The gospel that Paul told the Romans he was looking forward to preaching when he came to Rome. There’s a church there, there are believers there, but he still looks forward to coming and preaching the gospel there. He had delayed his coming because his first responsibility was to carry the gospel where it had not been preached before. But now in anticipation of being able to travel to Spain, he said he would stop in Rome. He looked forward to preaching the gospel there, desiring that more people would come to trust Christ, and concerned that the church at Rome be firmly established in the truth of the gospel.

The devil is always working to corrupt the church and his most effective means is to corrupt it from within, by those who from within, perhaps are not believers, but have come to identify in an external way with that local church there. Some may be believers but are confused, and if that confusion and wrong teaching is allowed to continue pretty soon the whole church will be corrupted. Paul starts at the very beginning with the issue of sin. You can’t understand the need for the gospel, God’s provision of salvation for sinners, if you don’t understand that each and every person is a sinner. What Paul will do through these first three chapters approximately is establish that everyone is a sinner. He established that about the non-Jews in chapter 1, basically chapter 1 verse 18 through verse 32. But there’s a strong Jewish influence in that church in Rome.

Now it would be a Gentile church, but there was a strong Jewish influence. We know many of those early Christians, like through the first ten chapters of Acts basically, were Jews. Some were Samaritans, but basically Jews. Some of the Jews who responded brought their old baggage with them and it’s clear from letters like the letter to the Galatians, as well as the letter to the Romans, that some of those Jews had identified with Jesus Christ. Remember, we had the Jerusalem conference in Acts chapter 15. There were Jews that had come into the church, the external church, the local church meeting, and they too have trusted the Messiah. But it was necessary for salvation, to be complete, to keep the Law also. So, it’s that mixture that becomes confusing.

They claim to believe in Jesus Christ. They believe in His death and His resurrection, and that’s what’s important. No, because they also added something on to that. In addition to believing that you must also believe that it’s a requirement, and you must follow through on this to be circumcised, and to keep the Law. In chapter 2 Paul addresses the Jews and he addresses the Jews more broadly. But it’s showing the error they have in trusting the Law, so that when he is done, it demonstrates that Gentiles and Jews alike are just as sinful.

Any attempt to keep the Law does not put the Jews in a special category, less needful of salvation. This has been an issue through Jewish history. Thinking that because God had chosen that nation for Himself, being part of that nation would guarantee your salvation. That’s not true. It is true God chose the nation Israel, the only nation out of all the nations of the earth that he chose for Himself. He said through the prophets that you only have I chosen of all the families, all the nations of the earth. But simply because you were part of that chosen nation, didn’t mean you were individually saved. Because you had the word of God, the Mosaic Law, and you went through the rituals that are contained in that Law of sacrifice and so on didn’t mean you were saved. What he is doing is demonstrating in chapter 2 that the Jews also need the salvation that Christ provided.

We’ll look at just one passage in the Old Testament in the Book of Isaiah. We’ll go to chapter 1, and that’s very close to the Book of Ecclesiastes, which we studied earlier today. Of course, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, then Isaiah, the first of those major large prophetic books. Isaiah had, if I can call it, the unhappy privilege. It is a privilege and honor, but as far as the readiness and receptiveness of God’s people, it was a difficult task. As Jesus would say in His earthly ministry, “Which of the prophets didn’t they persecute?” Isaiah chapter 1, verse 2, “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth…” The heavens, the earth, everyone ought to pay attention “…for the LORD speaks…” And what does He say? “‘Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me.” He’s talking about Israel, the people that He chose for Himself, that He was a Father to, watched over them. He took care of them and He’s brought them to where they are as a nation.

“But they have revolted against Me. ‘An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.’” What an impact that has! Even animals have more knowledge than My people. “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him.” Can you be any more confused? The Jews are proud in their Jewishness, proud of the ritual they went through trying to carry out the instructions of the Mosaic Law, and yet, God’s view of them shows what they really are, and it pervades. He says in verse 5, “The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it…” I mean this is in the nation permeated with corruption and sin and rebellion against God and He’s brought judgment.

Come down to verse 10, and he reminds them of the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, early in the bible records, their account. We’re familiar with their account of Lot, and then the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. After their reminder, it’s only God’s grace that has kept Israel from experiencing the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah.” That could be no more direct. He reminded them in verse 9, that it was only the grace of the LORD that has left a remnant, or they would have been destroyed just like Sodom and Gomorrah. Then He turns to the people that Isaiah is addressing and calls them Sodom and Gomorrah. In other words, God looks at Israel and He sees the same kind of spiritual condition He saw in Sodom and Gomorrah. These are people that are proud and confident, they are okay. And then He says, “‘What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?’ says the LORD.”

You note, they haven’t quit the religious ritual, but that’s what it is. It’s a ritual they go through and somehow, they have begun to think going through the ritual confirms that they are all right with God. “‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts…’” We get the idea when people are going through the ritual of their particular religious convictions, that somehow at least, God is pleased they do that much.

Here you get the idea of what God thinks of religion. Could it get any clearer? Stop it, quit, I can’t take it! “I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.” And your offerings are worthless. Verse 14, “‘I hate your new moon festivals…” There are things the Law required. Could God’s language be any clearer? This is all an offense to Me, and the Jews were depending on it for their salvation. There’s nothing so sad as religious confusion, people going through all this thinking that God is pleased. Those who reject the word of God, even their prayers are an abomination. Here we have a similar thing said in verse 15, “‘So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.” I’ve shared how I get invitations to these prayer meetings that are a conglomeration. We are going to have prayer for the nation; and everybody, Jews, Muslims, Christians, for whoever will join to pray for our nation. If we come and be part of that, you understand what God says, that I hate it. What is this you come storming? I suppose you’re going to storm the gates of heaven. They are closed to you. I hate your prayers.

Then He does give a gracious invitation, but you come on His terms. Remember in Ecclesiastes, stop talking, listen. God says you can come to Me, but you will come the way that I say. Verse 18, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.’” But the salvation comes from Me. As we’re going through and building toward in Romans, it needs to be by faith in God, His grace. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins, and when you put your faith in that bull instead of in the God, and you come not recognizing your own sin and guilt, and need for cleansing, you are an offense to Me, God says.


One passage in the New Testament Jesus addresses. Come to Matthew 15. We say this because when we come into Romans 2 and we’re working through this, understand this has been Israel’s problem and condition for the centuries leading up to the coming of Christ. And it didn’t change with His coming because what did they do when God provided His Son? They rejected Him, they crucified Him.
Matthew chapter 15, the chapter opens, “Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’” Jesus is very direct. The issue is why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? You see the religious ritual, the traditions, have begun to supersede the very word of God. You’re to honor your parents. You’ve manipulated that, so you really don’t do what God said. They still use the Scriptures, but it’s an abuse of them. They’re twisted.

Look at verse 7, “‘You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you…’” And this is a little later in Isaiah 29, and in verse 8, “‘…THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.’” THIS is the issue that their heart is not right; everything going on externally is unacceptable. “‘…IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” Then He wants to remind them the issue is eternal. It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth. Why? Because the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things, Jeremiah 17. That’s where sin comes from; you’re coming and going through these superficial things, but you haven’t dealt with the problem, sin. Verse 18, “‘…the things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man…’”

The Jews were all taken up with their ritual. Remember even Peter. He said he wouldn’t have gone to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and eaten with him, those dirty defiled Gentiles. Now Peter had spent three years with Christ in His earthly ministry, and he’s a leading apostle. He’s the key figure in the opening chapters of the Book of Acts. He preached the sermon that began the foundation of the church in Acts chapter 2, and in Acts chapter 10 he said, I wouldn’t have thought of going and eating with Gentiles. He’s still got these things that need to be cleaned up, these external things that defile you.

Come to Romans chapter 2. This is what Paul is dealing with, let’s get the gospel clear here. How does this Jewish influence make its way into the church at Rome? Well, there needs to be clarity on the gospel that the door has to be closed. We have this idea that compromise is good. On personal convictions, I can compromise, but on the word of God, I cannot compromise. The first thing let’s settle, has God spoken? Then we go and find out what He has said, and that settles it. Now, I still can have personal convictions, but I can’t impress them upon you or you on me, and that’s the way we are. Paul is clarifying here what the gospel is. And those who say the keeping of the Law needs to be part of the saving gospel, well, he puts it in Galatians, even if an angel from heaven preaches that, he’s cursed to hell. We want to be firm and stand unshakeable on these truths.

We’re ready to pick up in Romans chapter 2, with verse 17. He’s established the principle of judgment. He’s brought these Jews that may be influencing and part of the church at Rome, and have been accepted, and the Gentiles, they’re lost. We all agree, we’ve got a hundred percent on that and the principle of judgment. The Jews would have agreed to that too and even Gentiles recognize that. In our world today, as far away from the Lord as we continue to move, they still acknowledge principles of judgment. There are certain crimes that ought to be punished and punished severely. They’re wrong, so we have that semblance there. The Day of Judgment is coming, establishing the principle in verse 11, “…there is no partiality with God.” That will be judgment that will include, verse 9, the Jews, and non-Jews, the Greeks. Whether you have the Law or don’t have the Law there will be a clear judgment established and it’s not enough to have the Law. Are you submissive to the Law?

We are going to move toward the whole principle of faith when we get to the end of chapter 3 and into chapter 4 where he wants to pound that in clearly. But the day is coming, verse 15, where we’ll see what the heart’s condition is; and in that day, verse 16, it’s according to the gospel Paul preaches. “…God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

The world ignores the reality of sin, they really ignore the reality of coming judgment. We can’t, so we still preach that message. It is sin, and every person is guilty in this sin, and we need to be careful that we preach the gospel, that we don’t preach conservative politics. There may be things in political positions we agree with and we don’t agree with. That doesn’t move me to align with those who have a corrupted religion as the basis of their political position. We really have nothing in common. What we have in common is superficial. We don’t have agreement, we don’t agree on the solution, we don’t agree on the condition that requires the solution. Here now, he pulls it right down.

Verse 17, “But if you bear the name “Jew”…” Now he’s addressing those directly that may be part of that church in Rome. We talked there about the Gentiles, we talked about coming judgment, but now he pulls it down. You bear the name “Jew”, you rely upon the Law, you boast in God. You know His will, you approve the things that are essential, you’re instructed out of the Law, you “are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?” Paul is really driving home the point now; it’s like he can’t let up. You bear the name “Jew”, you rely on the Law, you know His will, you approve the things essential, you’re instructed, you’re confident, you’re a light, you’re a corrector, you’re a teacher, and you’re lost. You’re depending on the Law. You’ve put your faith in the Law, instead of the God who gave the Law.

You missed the whole point of the Law. It was to reveal your sin, and without a recognition and acknowledgement of your sin, you cannot be saved. It is crucial. We lose the perspective of it even today in the church, and we gloss over that. No one is ever saved who doesn’t come under a conviction, a realization of his sin and guilt. That’s why we start with the gospel, with this emphasis. You know, you just jump into the middle, so to speak. Well, yeah, I was taught Christ died for our sins and was raised. Of course, I believe that, of course I’m saved. Well, agreement with these things doesn’t mean you have trusted in your heart. I’ll say more about that in a little bit.

This is where the Jews were. They were confident they had the Law of God. The Law was God’s word. They boast in God. Of course, I believe in God, and the God of Israel is the only true and living God. We know His will, we approve the things that are essential. We’re instructed out of the Law. They would have agreed with the corruption and defiling practices of the Romans, of course. That depravity is why they wouldn’t eat with Gentiles. They’re corrupted from birth to death. I mean the only hope for a Gentile is to recognize they need to become Jews and adopt Jewish practices, and their God will accept them because they have become Jews. You see, they sort of passed over what Isaiah dealt with, what Jesus condemned. It’s the heart.

Joining a religious group can’t save you, getting circumcised can’t cleanse the heart, and being baptized in our day can’t wash away sins. It’s a heart issue. We constantly move toward the externals and this is what’s going on in the Evangelical church. We have a move toward Catholicism, and the external ritual. And we begin to identify these external rituals, and it makes me feel like I worshiped. If you came out of a traditional church like Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and so on, you know that. I’ve had some with that background say, you know it was hard for me because when we didn’t do those ritual things, I didn’t feel like I worshiped. That’s where these Jews and that’s what Peter was struggling with. He even slipped back after his experience in Acts 10. Paul wrote to the Galatians and said Peter slipped, he went back to separating himself from the Gentiles in certain contexts. You know the pressure there. Here they are doing all these things, but can that be bad? Wouldn’t you be happy for that? Wouldn’t we be happy today for a person that was standing for biblical marriage, for morality, for truthfulness, and all these things?

Well yeah, I’ve read comments to you before. One of the leading, if I mentioned his name, you’d know. But he said the cultural issues of our day are so important. We as evangelicals have to cross the line and identify with others like Roman Catholics. There’s something more important than the gospel, the cultural issues of the day, and you know how it is. We’re bombarded with 24-hour news channels, we watch it, and we get so worked up. What’s going on that we think the most important thing we can do is try to fix it. Our country is going downhill. I could say it more strongly than that and it would be true. We have a country on their way to hell, the bulk of the people. But the solution isn’t trying to get better laws passed. Get out and vote. I’m not saying you can’t do those things, but that’s not the solution. If we move to moralism, if we could only clean up the country, and sin is a reproach to any nation. Now we’re ashamed by the openness of the sin, but you can’t deal with sin by papering it over. That’s what the Jews were doing. If we’re not careful, we go through the same cycle, and the church gets involved.

We’ve got a major Evangelical denomination having their national meeting and I look at what they’re doing, and I think they’re more concerned about the issues of the day than they are the truth of the gospel. What’s happened? We lose the focus. That’s why Romans is important, why we do it again. We have to start with sin, sin, sin, sin. The Jews would have been good moralizers. That’s what they had become. They were no longer a testimony of the wretched condition of lost people, the need for salvation through faith in Him. When we get to chapter 4, Paul will demonstrate, you’ve abandoned the one you claim as your physical father, Abraham. You’re not in his line at all. You made a totally different route to God than Abraham. That’s what he’s laying is a foundation for you. The problem was the Jews taught the Law preached the Law so to speak, prided themselves in having the Law, but they didn’t keep the Law.

You can pick up in verse 21. After telling all the things they prided themselves for, “You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?” That’s what Jesus said. You taught the Law, but then you adjust your practice so that you can make the Scripture fit your practice. Really what you’re doing is undermining the Scripture. The passage in Matthew 15 says that’s what you do. You’re to honor your father and mother. But you’ve made it, I have devoted what I have to the Lord, so it wouldn’t be right now to give that to my parents. It was a way of undermining the word of God. The Jews had all these kinds of practices. James talks to them about making vows. Really, the problem was they had made vows meaningless. Remember we looked in Ecclesiastes and saw you’re to keep your word, but they had all these kinds of technicalities they built in. You know like we use the example, if you had your fingers crossed behind your back you don’t have to do that. Like as kids at least in my generation, you did that. You said, Oh, didn’t count. I had my hands crossed behind my back. This is what the Jews were doing. That’s what James is dealing with, you make the Law your servant, you don’t submit to it, and so you do these things.

“You who 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?” Then he quotes from the prophets again, so this is not a new situation. This is not Paul the converted Jew making up charges against the Jews. This is your own prophets. Centuries have gone by and their situation in Israel is still a spiritual mess. “For ‘THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU…’” And what he’s saying is that unbelievers outside of Israel saw their inconsistency. They were greedy, they were inconsistent, they had all kind of regulations that they made up that undermined the real teaching of the Law.

It’s like people today that claim to be Christians. People who claim to be Evangelical Christians, allowed to attend the Evangelical Society, and they deny the substitutionary atonement of Christ. But they have got this twist going on that some evangelicals say, well, I think we can see how they could fit. We need to look and see why they won’t fit. This is the problem when we begin to say, I see enough similarity there that I think they’re not that far from us. You deny the substitutionary atonement. You are a heretic on your way to hell, and they went out from us because they were not really of us, John says. If they were of us, they would have remained with us.

The Jews revealed their character. It was known. Then he tells them, because circumcision becomes the big thing, like baptism in our day. For the Jews, circumcision was the sign of the covenant God established with Abraham and identified Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob, the people that God had chosen. They began to depend upon that external ritual, but Abraham was declared righteous by God years before he was circumcised. That will be Paul’s argument in Romans 4. Abraham wasn’t saved because he got circumcised. Abraham ends up being circumcised as the sign of the covenant because he had been saved. Need to find out how he got saved, how he was declared righteous. It wasn’t because he got circumcised. These Jews blew right by it.

Verse 25 says, “For indeed 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, that physical rite didn’t save you. Obedience to the Law in and of itself didn’t save. It saved a person who really had placed their faith in the God of Israel and His provision for them. Obedience is an evidence of that, and this is God’s word. I want to obey it. But if you disregard the Law and just say, I was circumcised, that gets me in just like people with baptism. Well, I was baptized. Baptism brings salvation. You depend on that rite, and then everything else you just dust off along the way.

I was reading about a prominent Roman Catholic family and the issues that come up. You would know them. This is a family that’s been pictured with the Pope. Everything he said, this is just the rigamarole we have to go through, please do it. That’s what it comes to, but somehow the rigamarole is so important that salvation depends upon it. This man’s father, when he was dying, thought that he really had an in, because he had written a letter to the Pope and the Pope had taken it. I mean, this is where you get thinking, this is the rigamarole we have to go through. Just do it, because their confidence is in somehow that rigamarole will save you. It won’t!

That’s where the Jews are, and were in this issue, and be careful you don’t get confused. Verse 27, “And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?” Making clear to the Jews if a Gentile does the things the Law requires and you have the Law, but you don’t do what the Law requires wouldn’t the Gentile be more acceptable than you? He’s making the point that it’s not having the Law, it’s keeping the Law. But we’ll get to make sure that nobody’s confused on that, as you read later in the letter that no one is saved by keeping the Law, so he’s not making a point here.

This is where you need to be careful you just don’t pull one or two verses out of Scripture, and don’t appreciate the context they are in. Paul’s making a specific point here that even you Jews would admit a Gentile who would keep the Law, would be in a better position before God, than a Jew who didn’t keep the Law, and they would acknowledge that. Anybody born into a Jewish family and they ignored circumcision and the Jewish ritual, well of course, the Gentiles who converted to Judaism and did those things would be more acceptable. He’s not implying that Gentiles are saved if they keep the Law, even though the Law wasn’t given to them. That’s contrary to his whole argument as we move along. The point is making clear to the Jews here that it’s not an external issue, it is an internal issue and the Jews by and large as a nation had run of the rails centuries ago.

The Jews should recognize that. Here’s where we come to verses 28 and 29. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.” It was not enough to be a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then the 12 patriarchs. We’ll just limit it to Abraham for now. That wasn’t enough to have the circumcision that God established as the sign of the covenant he made with Abraham and his descendants. What wasn’t enough, there has to be something that goes on internally, so “…he is not a Jew who is one outwardly…” Now keep the context we’re talking about, “…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.”

Now somewhere along the line people get confused here, and we want to be careful. In a moment, I’ll put up a couple of quotes for you to look at. The point is, being a physical descendant of Abraham is not enough to make you a true child of Abraham in the line of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises. Not every physical descendant of Abraham was in the line of promises. Abraham had many children, many sons. We’re familiar with just the prominent, but he had concubines we’re told, and sons by the concubines. The promises don’t come through them, not enough to be a physical descendant. It’s not enough to have the physical circumcision. It’s always been a matter of the heart. The true Jews, the true physical descendants of Abraham, who are going to receive the covenant promises given to Abraham are Jews who have had their heart dealt with.

Before we put up those quotes, I want to take you through some verses, come back to Leviticus. This is not new, it is part of the Law. Leviticus chapter 26. We’re in the Law here, Exodus, Leviticus, laying out these various laws. Look at Leviticus chapter 26 and verse 40, “If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me-- I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies-- or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember…” it goes Abraham, Isaac, Jacob then the 12 sons of Jacob. “I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and I My covenant with Abraham…” So, you see their uncircumcised heart is humbled. They recognize their sin and their guilt, and they bow themselves before Me.

Come over Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 16, and you can read the context surrounding. But for time the instruction, “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the LORD of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.” Remember we saw earlier in chapter 2, the judgment of God will be without partiality. The Jews thought they got a pass. They had their pass thinking, we have the Law, we’ve been circumcised, we’re in. No! God’s not partial like that. The way of salvation has to be the same for everyone. He requires a circumcised heart, another way of saying their neck is stiffened. You know it pictures that resistance. I will not yield to God. I will not bow. They won’t humble themselves in heart.

Come over to chapter 30 of Deuteronomy, verse 6. “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all you heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” This is what’s needed. The Jews somehow moved by this, and the physical things become important. The sin of the heart needs to be removed; that’s where the wickedness is centered. Everything else that comes out, comes out of that source. The Lord has to circumcise the heart and that will be true of your descendants, and then you’ll be able to love the Lord your God. Those Jews are the true Jews that will realize the fulfillment of the covenant promises to Abraham. It was physical Jews that were also spiritually transformed, had their heart dealt with. They humbled themselves before the Lord.

Come over to Jeremiah chapter 4. You’re aware that anytime a prophet appears in Israel, it’s a sign of spiritual decay. You look at the prophetic books in your Old Testament. Every time you see a prophet come on the scene, it’s a sign Israel is in trouble spiritually. Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 4, and this is God calling them to return to Him. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD …remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

You’ve got to get to the heart, circumcise the heart. Circumcise the heart, the physical decision was to be a manifestation. Abraham’s heart had already been circumcised in chapter 15 of Genesis before he was circumcised in chapter 17. Don’t hold me to those chapters, I think they’re right. Years have gone by. It was just reflecting the relationship he had with God, as one who had his sin removed. God had declared him absolved of all guilt, credited him with righteousness. Abraham believed God, God credited it with righteousness. Then years later, as a sign of that righteousness, he was circumcised.

Come over to chapter 9 of Jeremiah verse 26. And what does Jeremiah say at the end of the verse? “…all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.” All the nations are uncircumcised. The Gentiles didn’t practice circumcision, but you know what? Israel is uncircumcised of heart, so their physical circumcision becomes a nothing. You’re just like the uncircumcised Gentiles, because without a circumcised heart where the sin has been dealt with in the heart, the physical circumcision is nothing. You might as well be an uncircumcised Gentile.

Ezekiel 44:7 is another one, but we won’t go to that. Come back to Romans. Now we took time to look at each of those passages because here is one of the key sections where people who begin to identify the church with Israel, and Israel with the church. Put up the first quote if you would. This is from [Thomas] Schreiner. I’ve just taken them from two recent commentaries that are very good commentaries, but they’re confused on this issue. Paul asserts, in Romans 2:26 to 29, the verses we’re in, “that uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s commands reveal that they are true Jews.” Now wait a minute, I don’t read that they’re Jews, I don’t think that’s what he says here. And “if circumcised in heart, one can be a true Jew without being an ethnic Jew.” Well, wait a minute, he’s talking about the Jews here and through this section and he tells Jews if you don’t have your heart circumcised, your physical circumcision is nothing. And he illustrates the principle.

If a Gentile kept the Law but wasn’t circumcised, and a Jew who had been physically circumcised but didn’t keep the law— you admit that, that Gentile would have been more acceptable to God than the Jew. But I don’t see when he says in verse 28, “…he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.” Of course, the Jew who’s in line of the promises given to Abraham needs to have more than physical circumcision. He has to have the circumcision, which is not outward in the flesh. “…he is a Jew who is one inwardly.” Now to read into that, that that means that every Gentile has become a Jew, it’s not your racial identity” is to read something that is not here. “…he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart....” That’s always been the case for Israel, they always have been required to have a circumcised heart. All the way back to the Mosaic Law, we read in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and then the prophets. This is not something new that suddenly now Gentiles can be called Jews. That’s what he says. “Those uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s commands reveal they are true Jews.” What are you saying, by keeping the Law? He just uses that as an illustration in verse 26. “So, if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” But nobody is saved by keeping the Law! He’s illustrating a point here that your reliance upon the Law and you don’t keep it, then having the Law in and of itself, is nothing.

To somehow make this leap, one can be a Jew without being an ethnic Jew is a lie, and it undermines all the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. But it’s “not really their physical descendants, it’s just the spiritual descendants.” It’s their physical descendants who are also spiritual descendants. Now there is a provision in the Law for non-physical descendants because all nations of the earth will be blessed in you and that salvation provision does impact us as Gentiles. But this idea of what happens is that Israel, Jews, lose their identity and they’re absorbed into the church. They say this is not replacement theology because there still can be Jews. But this man is really saying you can be a true Jew without being an Ethnic Jews. What does that mean? You can call yourself a Jew even though you’re not a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? That’s a lie and a theological error that can’t be allowed to pass.

Put up the next quote. This is Douglas Moo. These two men have probably written the two largest major commentaries on Romans in recent days and they’re basically good commentaries. I like Douglas Moo probably the best of the recent commentaries. He’s just revised his commentary and the recent edition, and it’s big. I don’t say run out and buy it, it’s over a thousand pages. But when it comes to here, it’s almost like he must have went to sleep and when he woke up, he forgot where he was.
Look at this, “Paul goes beyond any first century Jewish viewpoint in implicitly applying the term “Jews”, to those who were not ethnically Jews. We find here a radicalizing of the essence of the people of God.”
What’s that radicalizing incident? Gentiles are Jews. Did you know that? You’re a Jew. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I think you need to be careful about making implicit application. I didn’t put the whole quote down because I wanted it to be big enough for you to read. But let me just read you a little more of the context. “For the first time then in Romans 2 Paul alludes…” Note the words he uses, “he alludes…to Christians, but even here, it is only an allusion since Paul is not so much describing a group of people as specifying what it is that qualifies a person to be a true Jew.”

Well, I don’t argue with that, he’s specifying what qualifies you to be a true Jew. A Jew that is not only a physical descendant of Abraham, but a spiritual descendant of Abraham. No outward rite can bring a person into a relationship with God with that. Many Jews would have agreed, but Paul goes beyond and then you have the quote in implicitly applying the term “Jew.” Alludes to it is an allusion. You know even amillennialists have to agree. I didn’t put the quote up but let me read you what an amillennialist says. “An amillennialist believes there’s no future for Israel, the church is the new Israel.” Schreiner and Moo are covenantal post-tribulationalists, for those of you who wonder where they are theologically. And they see that the Jews get absorbed into the church. So when any Jew that is saved, their future is part of the church. The amillennialist just believes that all gets blended together and the Church in the Old Testament was the Jews. And Israel in the New Testament is the Church.

Hendrickson, who’s an amillennialist, says Paul draws a sharp distinction between Jew and Jew.
The person who is a Jew outwardly only that is a Jew by virtue of physical or biological decent, nothing more. The Individual who is a Jew not only outwardly, but also inwardly. That is a Jew to the eyes of the One before whom the secrets of the hearts of men and lives are an open book. He’s got it right. We’re talking about two groups of Jews. Jews who are just physical descendants, and Jews who are not only physical descendants but are spiritual descendants of Abraham.

We’ll get to this in detail when we get to chapter 4 and Paul will clarify. How did Abraham become righteous, declared righteous by God? And he’ll do that. Was that before he was circumcised or after? It was before that proves that your salvation has always been by grace through faith. How did these men suddenly have the gall, the nerve, to say these verses give us the right to say we have an implicit change, which is a radical change? They even admit it’s a radicalizing of the concept. Now you can call a Gentile a Jew but nowhere in the bible is that done. But here we can see it implicitly implied. So, you come to this with your theology and you read into this portion of Scripture what your predetermined theology is, and this is the best you have.

While we’re here and I’m on this, come over to Galatians 6. This is the other passage and when you have these two passages, you’ll have the basis for this covenantal. In Galatians 6 Paul has been bearing down on Jews who are trusting their physical circumcision, their keeping the Law. They’re trying to impose it on Gentiles. He closes out the book, he’s down at the end here in chapter 6, and he talks about the crucifixion of Christ, of course. Verse 14. “…may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Which in Old Testament terminology was a circumcision of the heart. “And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” Some say, see here the church is called the Israel of God. It is not! He’s been hammering away on the Jews who are promoting circumcision, and the keeping of the Law as part of the gospel. They are not part of the Israel that belongs to God. We have the election of the nation and election of the individuals within the nation.

Don’t get confused. The Israel of God, perfectly consistent, is those Jews who had their heart circumcised. They have humbled themselves in heart, placed their faith in the salvation that God has provided, recognizing their sin, a sin that only can be dealt with by God, and that’s the Israel of God. To come here and say here’s another example, the Israel of God has to be the church because he wrote this to the churches of Galatia. But he’s been talking about the Jews all through this that are corrupting the churches, by trying to lure them back. They’re not even saved Jews. True, saved Jews have responded to the word of God and believed in the Messiah, and realized that salvation is only by grace through faith. So, he recognizes that truth. We want to be clear with the word. I read this and I can’t tell you how many times I read these sections in Romans, and these commentaries I’ve mentioned, because I’m thinking maybe I need to read it again today maybe I was drowsy. Where has the line of argument--they go through chapter 2 and I find myself with Moo. He’s usually really good on the Law and I find myself tracking, tracking with him, and suddenly he gets here, and he says, “Now we have an allusion, a radicalizing of a concept that the Jews never thought of, Gentiles are Jews.” It’s no wonder the Jews never thought of it. You just made it up and he didn’t originate it, but that idea. We have to be careful with God’s word.

Let me read you a quote. This whole idea of sin and the necessity of salvation, I happened to be reading a book for another purpose. I like to read old writers. This one is from the end of the eighteenth century, the beginning of the nineteenth. Charles Simmons was perhaps one of the greatest evangelical expositors in England during the time he lived and many of his sermons have been published. If you read one sermon of Simmons a day, it would take you seven years to read all his published sermons. I don’t recommend it, but if you’re looking for something for your vacation. He was asked a question, “What sir do you consider the principle mark of regeneration?” His answer was, “The very first thing and indispensable sign is self-loathing and abhorrence. Nothing short of this can be admitted as an evidence of real change. I want to see more of this humble, contrite, broken spirit among us. It’s this very spirit that belongs to all self-condemned sinners.” And I think that’s true, we start with sin.

Sometimes I’ve visited with people, and they’re good at pointing out other’s sin. This is terrible, what’s happened there, and that’s terrible, and this. I say all right, I agree, but it’s only you and me here, and I can’t change anybody but me, and you can’t change anybody but you. Let’s talk about you. Where are you? How do you see yourself? You know we become self-righteous. We would say, I think I’m all right. You know, I find people that are truly saved are comfortable. I don’t want to know the details and dirt of their life, but they do stand amazed at their sin. We sing the song, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me”, in our sin, in our condemnation. For some people, it just seems to blow right by. You know that concept, you don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to spend all our time thinking, oh me, I’m such a terrible… That’s not what he’s talking about. You don’t understand. When Paul wants to tell Timothy about his testimony, he says I’m an example of God saving sinners. I was the foremost of sinners. 1 Timothy 1.

You never lose that amazement that God would save me, a sinner. And you can relate to that. When people want to say, I’m a sinner saved by grace, I don’t have to tell you all. That’s not the point. The point is, God impressed on us, our heart was humbled. It’s not how bad this person is, how sinful, what they’re doing there. God has been merciful to me a sinner. That’s the mark of a true believer. That’s why we need to understand this concept of sin. If that’s never happened, you may have been baptized here, you may serve here, you may do a lot of things, but have you ever been impressed with your own sin and guilt to the point that you humbled yourself? God, I’m a sinner, I’m unworthy. But these around are nothing like me. I’m the worst sinner I know, because I know me. You know the inside is there without that conviction, that sense.

I sometimes wonder. I had a question about dealing with people that seem self-righteous. Talk about sin and don’t talk about another’s sin. With the sin going on around us in our country or that, I say yeah! But let’s bring it down personally. Where are you? How do you see yourself? How did you come to salvation? Let them say, Well, I was raised in a Christian home and I heard those things, and I went to a Christian church and I trusted Christ. Is that all that it means? Have you ever realized you’re a sinner, how guilty you were, how lost you were? Paul said, I was the worst. God saved me so everybody else could have hope. Paul could get saved anyway, but that’s how Paul saw himself. How do I see myself? Well, I never was that bad. I never did any of the really, bad, bad sins. Now wait a minute, did I ever really humble myself before God and see myself, as God saw me? That was the problem with the Jews, they didn’t see themselves as God saw them. They saw themselves, as they wanted to be seen. So that whole issue of sin and guilt magnifies the grace of God and the provision of Christ.

Let’s pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your grace. Thank You for the message of the gospel. And Lord we need to hear it as Your people today, the church, in this place. To be reminded again of the seriousness of sin, the magnitude of sin in Your sight, rebellion and sin against a holy God, the stubbornness of our heart, the audacity to see ourselves as not so bad. What an affront to You to go through motions of religious activity, regardless of what You have said, presenting ourselves as somewhat acceptable and good. Lord, pray these truths will be impressed upon us, that we will be immovable as we grasp them, and hold on to them, and share them with others. Bless the week before us. Bless the word as it goes out to the children in the bible school. Lord, pray the Spirit will be pleased to use it to impact hearts and lives. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
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