Overview
Paul tells them what they are, they are Jews, instructed out of the Law to tell others about God, they know the will of God, they know the essential things to do to please God, they know how to guide others to God, they know how to correct those who are ignorant, all taken from their intense study of the Law. But it seems that their study of the Law has led them only to knowing how to teach others, and not themselves. They know how to explain the things of the Law, but they didn’t explain it to themselves. Jesus said to do as the Pharasies say but not as they do. But it doesn’t seem like the Pharasies would steal like they tell others not to steal (bread, possessions, etc.), it doesn’t seem like they would commit adultery or take idols from temples, they wouldn’t be caught dead in a Pagan temple where there are idols. Paul is attacking the things done against God’s Glory (idolatry, adultery, theft) in the more spiritual sense. Then he asks, if they boast in the Law, if they use the Law as a light to the ignorant and a guide to the blind, why do they dishonor God by breaking it? They missed the point, the point of the Law was to show that no one could possibly measure up to God, but they only saw it as how others couldn’t measure up to God. No where in God’s Law does it say that if you know the Law, you will be saved. So Paul says that the Greeks blaspheme the name of God because the Jewish teachers/leaders have an attitude that they are better, that they have been given the Law by God Himself, yet they are no better off than any other nation, they are really no different than anyone else.
So, Paul has touched on the Law and says that even though the Jews have the Law, they are still no different, the Gentiles still don’t see any difference. So maybe the Jew would say, “but we are circumsized, we have this covenant with God.” To which Paul answers that their circumcision has become uncircumcision if they don’t keep the Law. That their outward symbol of being God’s Holy people actually shows that they are NOT God’s Holy people if they break the Law. For circumcision is just a symbol of being God’s chosen people for two reasons: women without husbands can be God’s people (men without the means for circumcision as well), the Gentiles who keep the Law can be God’s chosen. Men can see circumcision, only God can see the heart. So Paul is replacing the notion of being a Jew because one is born and raised in the Law with the fact that one is a Jew who is one inwardly, that is, one who keeps the Law in matters of both the heart and outward acts.
Overview:
Ch 1, everyone knows God, those who choose to ignore Him, God gives them over to their lusts.
Ch 2:1-16 Paul says evil doers will be punished, those who do good will be saved (Jew or Greek).
Ch 2:17-29 some Jews (who have the Law) still do evil, some Greeks (who don’t have the Law) still do good.
So, he seems to be going back and forth, maybe there are some who do good? Clarity coming in Ch 3
Deut 6:5 – Greatest commandment, Deut 10:12
Who is Paul addressing here?
It seems like Paul has addressed this issue before (2:13), there is a reason he is going back over it in more detail…there is another issue he wants to take up against the Jews, he has already leveled the playing field by condemning both Jew and Greek, but now it seems he’s going after a certain group within the Jews.
What does Paul seem to emphasize when he tells them they know the essential things, the will, they are a light, etc? The Law.
Now Paul gets into a list of things the Jews do, do these sound like good or bad things to do?
With the list of things they teach, but do, do you think the teachers of the Law actually do these things?
So, if they know the Law (which is good) and they can help others in the ways of the Law (which is also good) and they don’t do the bad things, what is Paul accusing them of?
Relying upon the Law: Micah 3:11, John 5:45
What, in essence, have the Jews, the teachers, then done with the Law? Isaiah 6:9,10
Do you think everyone who believes in God will be saved? These Jews certainly believed in God, they believed in the Law that He gave, what did they miss? Hos 6:6, Is 1:11
Jer 6:19-20 – People can reject God’s Law even if they “keep” it. So, how can we reject “Christ” even if we believe in Him? Matt 12:50 1 John 3:10 Matt 7:15-23 Matt 15:1-14
Ez 36:20-38 is the reference Paul makes here or Is 52:5. Why does Paul, after telling the Jews that they have become lawbreakers because they know the Law but don’t practice it, bring up how God is dishonored amongst the Gentiles because of them?
In v20 how can Christians cause the name of God to be blasphemed? What does Jesus have to say about this: Matt 5:16
Circumcision – Gen 17, John 7:22, Deut 30:6, Deut 10:16
How is circumcision of value if you practice the Law? Could we say the same thing about baptism?
What is uncircumcision?
How do we know circumcision is just a symbol?
What does the last verse get into? Heb 4:12,13
