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ROMANS CHAPTER 2 KJV WEB See previous page Rom 2,1-29 (196i) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Lukewarm Christianity -- People throughout the ages when left to their own devices always find a way to reduce the gospel to a level that is attainable by the flesh, so as not to require the Holy Spirit. When they do this, they always revert to the law, and then twist it to fit their needs until they break it. Once they break the law, which they use to stand for the gospel, there is nothing to show for their faith, but in this chapter Paul is calling us to pursue the gospel by faith in Jesus Christ. Rom 2,1-13 (51a) Judgment >> World & church >> Warning of wrath >> Consequences of sin – God has shown us His kindness, but we have rebelled against Him. Paul got in our faces and left us no hope except to cry for the mercies of God, which is the subject of the rest of Romans, starting in chapter three. He set-up the reader to first understand that he is guilty in the eyes of almighty God, and then showed him the way of salvation, for no one can lead another to salvation without first making him understand his need. Rom 2,1-11 (17b) Unrighteous Judgment (Key verse) (17m) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the flesh >> Judging the sins of others that you practice – This passage contains a major doctrine from which we interpret multitudes of other passages in terms of being intrinsically wrong about judging in the flesh. It explains why we are wrong and the consequences of our actions. We are extra-sensitive to the sins in other people that we also practice. We think we can well discern other people, when in reality we only know what we have in common with them, behaviors that we despise about ourselves. In other words, the probable cause for not liking someone is that they may be like ourselves in all the wrong ways. The only good way to deal with a person's sin is to be free of it ourselves and develop an attitude of humility, lest we fall into the same pit. (26j) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> Sin backfires on you – People who use the nature of this world to understand God don’t understand that the creation is cursed, and for this reason the creation is a poor reflection of God. In the beginning man told God that he didn’t want Him in their lives or even in their world, so God divested Himself from this creation, removing His presence from it, and for this reason it is cursed. People then use the creation as a means of understanding God, and it leads them to think about God in all the wrong ways. They say He is barbaric and malicious, but these are traits of their own behavior. The mind of man is geared to think this way because he is a fallen creature, and we live in a spiritual world that is filled with demons, whose aim is to control the human race. The demonic world leads society to think according to their logic, and God stands outside the creation and watches the scenario unfold and longs for people to come to Him for help, because he has given them the gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Jesus' body on the cross. He was spotless and blameless and without sin and paid for the sins of man, who now lives in heaven and is seated at His Father’s right-hand and is ready to judge the wicked and the dead. See also: God cursed the creation through Satan; Eph 4-6; 54ea (154c) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> There is no excuse for sin (178i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for making false judgments (186i) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Having a perverted sense of justice Rom 2,1-8 (97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verses 17-29 (166k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The carnal mind’s idea of justice – How did Paul know that judgmental people are guilty of the very things they judge in others? It is a principle belonging to the demonic realm, one of the elementary principles of the world. God created the heavens and the earth through wisdom, so anyone who would break His laws would see the faults in others that they have in themselves. They become experts in the area of sin, according to the idiom “It takes one to know one.” It is irrelevant that the judgmental person is correct in their estimation of others, in that there is a difference between rightly judging and "righteous judgment". Righteous judgment operates through the gift of discernment, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit, whereas a judgmental person who walks in his flesh discerns wickedness in other people. What he is actually discerning is the sins he has in common with the people he hates the most. A characteristic of judgmental people is that they excuse their own sin while they magnify the sins of others. This has happened since the fall of man; Adam passed the buck, saying, ‘It was the woman who gave me the fruit and I ate,’ refusing to acknowledge his own sin and pointing out the sin of his wife to God. Whenever this happens demons are present. Rom 2,1-6 (161a) Works of the devil >> Tempted to condemn the weak (174f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Self righteousness >> Comparing yourself with sinners Rom 2,1-4 (45g) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> God will judge us with the world if we live like them Rom 2-1 (53e) Paradox >> Opposites >> Freedom and bondage >> It takes one to know one (181j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Deceitfulness of sin -- This verse goes with verses 17-24 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2-4,5 (184f) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Trying to take advantage of God’s kindness – It is amazing how people are able twist and bend the word of God, simply by excluding certain passages from their teachings that don’t fit the doctrines they want to believe. They say God’s kindness and patience leads to repentance, which is obviously true, but while they store "up wrath for [themselves] in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Rom 2-4 (127d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> God is kind – Paul said that the kindness of God leads to repentance. He came to earth after disrobing the glory of heaven, and He became a common man clothed in the weakness of human flesh, and He taught the truth about the ways of God, and the world killed Him for it. Instead of coming with a hammer, He came as a gentle Lamb and demonstrated His Father’s true nature. God is a polygon, many sided; Jesus showed us one side of God, His love; there are other sides to Him. He created hell for the devil and his angels, and He intends to place rebellious man in there too. It is a dumping ground for His creatures who will not serve Him, a place of quarantine to protect the rest of His creation from their polluting affects. He wants to make a beautiful world and a glorious universe and have beautiful people inhabiting it, and He wants to spend eternity showing them His ways. In the Old Testament God approached mankind with a different side of Himself, the side of judgment toward sin. It was important to Him that people first understood how He felt about them as sinners; then He came with His kindness and demonstrated His mercy. With sin in its place He is a loving God. Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Mat 5-45). The wicked who treats His fellow man with contempt receives rain on his field just the same, and it waters his crops, and so God is kind to sinners; He doesn’t repay evil for evil, but is kind to those who are evil in hope they will repent, but if they refuse to repent, He will throw them into the devil’s hell and they will be tormented day and night with fire and brimstone forever and ever, which is the second death. This is a horrible judgment after God gives them resurrected bodies that cannot die. This is the other side of God; He hates sin far beyond our imagination. Since He hates sin this much, He must also have an everlasting love that is equally beyond imagination. God wants His worshippers to respond to His kindness rather than to His hammer and wants to build a relationship with His people based on faith and love. (193g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> God grants repentance (198c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Ungrateful Rom 2,5-11 (200d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the faith of God >> Rejecting Christ through disobedience Rom 2,5-10 (48e) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your deeds >> In the day of judgment (90i) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Righteousness of the law >> All righteousness is covered by the law Rom 2-5,6 (48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin -- These verses go with verse 12. People tend to ignore the Day of Judgment long as possible, like paying bills. Worrying about them doesn’t pay them, so they compartmentalize them in their mind, shut the door, lock it and throw away the key. The Bible says, “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Act 17-31), referring to the White Throne Judgment. Everybody who is summoned to this court will find his place in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, “and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever” (Rev 14-11). This doesn’t sound like something anybody should ignore. People should admit to God that they are guilty of sin, that they are estranged from Him, give their heart to Jesus and live for Him all the days of there lives, just to avoid His judgment, and God will receive them into His kingdom and glory, where they will enjoy eternal life. There are certain things that are hardwired into the heart of man, and one of them is final judgment. Everyone knows it’s coming but they refuse to believe it. Refusing to believe something they know is true is the rationale of a twisted mind. (49j) Judgment >> Judgment day >> The open books of the white throne judgment -- These verses go with verse 16. The second worst thing that will happen to fallen man is their resurrection, and the worst thing is the White Throne Judgment. God will resurrect the sinner and give him a body that cannot die, designed for judgment, and He will throw him into the lake of fire. Judgment of the damned who have rejected Christ will be based on their love of this fallen world without God. Since they want to live in a world without God, He will give it to them. They will be ushered in front of the White Throne Judgment and God will remind them of every evil thing they said and did and he will permanently stamp their sins into their minds and then throw them into the lake of fire, and they will be forever tormented by their sins. Most people haven’t thought too hard about this, but there are numerous things the Bible says about hell, and they don’t all jive with the judgment of eternal fire. Since the Lake of Fire is a lake, some will swim to shore but not to safety. There will be dangers outside the lake, both demons and people who roam the black darkness, and everybody will hate one another. Rom 2-5 (193j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Consequences of not repenting KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2,7-11 (218e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> Reaping the harvest of our works – This almost sounds like the Old Testament; is Paul alluding to Deuteronomy chapter 28? He was a Pharisee at one time, steeped in the teachings and laws of the old covenant, but he was a writer of the New Testament and was speaking about the new covenant, which is no different from the old to those who disobey the word of God. The consequences of sin and rebellion have not changed; that is, the teaching about Hades is the same, but the blessings of obedience have changed; they have gotten better, holding promise both for this life and the life to come. However, if we are determined to remain a sinner as a new covenant Christian, the consequences will be worse than the unbeliever, for we have greater knowledge, increasing our sin. The Son of God has been sacrificed, so now we have less excuse for rebellion. The Church these days is leaning heavily on God’s kindness to the point of abusing the grace of God. The attitude is pervasive throughout Christendom that if we sin, God will forgive us, which He will, but if we sin on purpose, it indicates we are not Christians at all; we are only fooling ourselves. Christianity is a new covenant by which God hopes we will take full advantage as a means of repentance and perfecting holiness in the fear of God. The old covenant had the same goal, though it sought perfection by other means. God knew it wouldn’t work, for even if we knew the will of God we wouldn’t do it. After we discovered that we could not fulfill the Law, He then gave us His Son as a better covenant, designed with the same goal of obedience. Instead of abstaining from sin by following a set of rules, we obey Him through the power of the Spirit, who affords us grace to both understand His will and to do it, so now if we are unwilling to do His will, it proves we don’t love God. Rom 2-7,8 (13m) Servant >> Serve God faithfully Rom 2-7 (99k) Thy kingdom come >> Perseverance (Working to keep in motion) >> Persevere in doing good (232k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek the essence of his kingdom >> Seeking the righteousness of His kingdom (233j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory through perseverance -- This verse goes with verse 10 Rom 2-8 (22c) Sin >> Greed takes without consideration for others >> Serving self (86h) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey the truth (87j) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Being a slave to obedience (163d) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Bondage makes you a victim of God’s judgment Rom 2,9-11 (51g) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> No partiality between saved and unsaved – God is not one to recognize faith without works; if we practice sin as Christians, we can expect God to treat us as common sinners. The Jews are first to receive tribulation and distress for their sins, because of their place in the world as God’s chosen people according to the flesh. This also applies to Christians; we can expect more tribulation and distress than non-Christians for our sin, because of our status in the world as representatives of Christ. God will judge us more severely if we sin against Him, but He will also bless us more generously if we obey Him. The non-Christian disobeys a lot of inanimate laws when they sin, but the Christian disobeys the Holy Spirit, and the sin of the Jew is rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, the severity of judgment increasing in each case. Later in chapters four and five of Romans, Paul teaches that our faith in Jesus is for God and that our obedience is for man. (166g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Nature of man’s wisdom >> Man’s wisdom contradicts itself – Paul is talking about the contrast of good and evil like Solomon’s proverbs. The concept of doing good is in reference to obeying the law, for every good thing a person could do is covered by the law. Being only the second chapter of Romans, Paul is slowly constructing his point about the grace of God, setting the foundation and speaking about reacting to good and evil as though it were like karma. A person does evil, and tribulation and distress comes to him; this is the very meaning of karma, but it is Solomon’s version of karma, not that of Hinduism. God made His creation to react to righteousness and sin through a cause-and-effect system of causation that Solomon thoroughly addressed in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Man is largely in control of this system, but we discover its roots in the earth itself. A person can evoke circumstances and events into his life, both good and evil, through his works and words; even a simple facial expression can attract or else deflect rewards and punishments. On the day of our death God will personally reward His believers for what we have done, whether good or bad, but until then He leaves it up to His creation to generally reward or else punish us for the things we say and do, for He has sown this ability into the creation, that we might learn the benefits of doing good. See also: God's judgment is comparative; Mat 12-41,42; 48i / Hinduism (Karma - God does not baby-sit mankind); Lk 13,1-5; 175k Rom 2-9,10 (210i) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Gospel belongs to the Jew first -- These verses go with verse 17 Rom 2-10 (32h) Gift of God >> Father will honor you if you die to self >> Your obedience (126f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Terms of peace (127l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Rewards for doing good >> Honor is the reward for doing good – This is a kingdom principle. The Bible says that God will destroy this present universe and create a new one in its place, and who knows what physical laws will govern it, such as the law of gravity, but kingdom principles are eternal; they will forever remain. However, in this life we don’t always see the consistency of kingdom principles, but ultimately they will prevail. If we surround ourselves with godly people, we will more readily receive honor by doing good to them, for they have fewer motives for frustrating the spiritual laws that are in place. The less godliness that surrounds us to whom we are doing good, the less honor we can expect. A climate of disobedience and unbelief, secularism, agnostics and atheists, a loud, drunken party, when we try to do good in a situation like that, we should not expect to receive honor. For example, the missionary goes to another country and to a people who practice paganism, who have never heard the gospel and who do not recognize the truth when they hear it, the missionaries are ill treated and misunderstood. They will not receive honor right away, yet over time if they endure their circumstances and persevere in preaching the gospel of Christ, hopefully reaching some. Then the missionaries will begin to receive honor among those who have believed their message, but that can take years. There is no honor with disobedience and unbelief. Look at all the abuse that Paul received in the process of establishing churches. In Rome he set up a school and people came to hear the gospel, most of them Roman Jews, and for the most part they rejected the gospel, and so there was very little honor for all his labor, though it was the will of God. Sometimes we have to wait for eternity to receive honor for serving the Master of the universe. (233j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory through perseverance -- This verse goes with verse 7 Rom 2-11 (51f) No Partiality (Key verse) KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2,12-29 (90h) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Righteousness of the law >> We must keep the law because it is righteous -- Why would we think we have no obligation to keep the law because we believe in Jesus? What sin or act of righteousness is not covered by the law? If we desire to live a righteous life before God, then we must keep the law because it is righteous. When we walk with Jesus, He leads us to walk parallel with the law. That is, while we are doing His will we are inadvertently fulfilling the requirements of the law, and when we falter, He forgives us through His blood. Rom 2,12-16 (52a) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> Those who transgress against it -- These verses go with verses 25-29. Is Paul talking about unbelievers, or is he talking about believers also? We know that believing in Jesus is how we get saved, so what is this talk about judgment in relation to the law? Paul is saying that those who receive Christ but reject discipline will be judged by the law, regardless of their beliefs. So if we do what we know is wrong, there will be consequences. Man before Noah’s flood didn’t have the Law, and they manipulated their conscience until it was permanently destroyed. God gave the Law to Israel so man couldn’t do that again. This is a true statement: in order to get people saved we must first get them lost; hence, the first two chapters of Romans is proving that mankind needs a savior. That is what the Law was made to do. Over the last two millennia God has taken His time to reveal Himself to us, and before that He took even longer to reveal our need for a savior by giving the Law to Israel. The Law technically is not necessary, for Paul said that the Law was written in our hearts and we have always known right from wrong, but He gave the Law as a definitive description of sin. Rom 2-12 (48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin -- This verse goes with verse 16 (52a) Law Judges Sin (Key verse) (181e) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Lawlessness >> Lawlessness is no excuse for sin >> Lawlessness does not cancel the power of sin – Talk to just about any Christian these days and he will tell us that the Law is no longer in effect, but this is false. What did Paul say in Eph 5-5? We know with certainty that “no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” If we want to be a habitual sinner and a Christian at the same time, we can forget about heaven. Man is incapable of faith in Jesus apart from repentance. The purpose of the Law is to teach us the difference between righteousness and evil, and the purpose of the Jesus’ cross is to forgive us when we fail. The cross was not meant to forgive sins that we willfully commit without any plans to repent (Heb 10,26-39). The Bible teaches that a person who lives this way is incapable of genuine faith, because his conscience is defiled. Without a clear conscience, faith is impossible, but repentance promises God our future without practicing sin. When we do something that violates God’s Law, it also violates our conscience. Jesus’ blood sacrifice then forgives our sin, and it cleanses our conscience, so we can resume the process of sanctification through the gift of repentance. Rom 2-13 (87a) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> God blesses us for doing His word, not for knowing it -- This verse goes with verses 17-27. Aren’t we justified by faith in Jesus? How could Paul make this statement? No one has ever perfectly observed the tenets of the Law, and we abide by the Law more than we break it, yet we break the Law just the same, and when we break the law, God charges us as sinners. However, we who believe in Jesus and practice the Law are in good standing with Him, for Christ's blood sacrifice forgives our mistakes so we may continue in his sanctification, no longer sinners. This is the essence of the gospel according to Romans: we fulfill the Law by faith in God’s righteousness. Without faith, being doers of the Law does us no good, and without practicing the Law, our faith is worthless. Both of these need to be at work in our lives together; for if God saved us from our sins, how can we still live in them (Rom 6-1,2)? KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2,14-16 (74e) Thy kingdom come >> Heart is man’s central value system >> Where man interprets worth (90e) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It leads us to God -- People who do not have the law (who have never read the Bible) yet do instinctively the things of the law, must believe that there is a God and that He is righteous and just. All God is asking of us (whether we have heard the gospel or not) is that we believe God is righteous and just. Heb 11-6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is [exists], and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." All of God's promises reduce to this one statement: if we believe He exists, He will reward us for diligently seeking Him. He sent His Son to reveal Himself to us, and then commanded us to believe in that He demonstrated the true character of God. If they who have never heard the gospel are living the same way we do who have heard the gospel, then why wouldn't they go to heaven with us? Jesus died for our sins that we who believe in the character and justice of God might have our sins forgiven whether we have heard or not. See also: Saved without hearing the gospel; 155c (155c) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> Having a good conscience >> Conscience testifies that we obey God’s law – There are people in the Church today who may be Christians but are not students of God’s word, and some of them go as far as to criticize those who commit their lives to the Scriptures. There are many passages in the Bible that speak very highly of attaining to the knowledge of God. That is not to say that those who live in other countries, who may be illiterate and have no access to the Bible through no fault of their own, cannot be saved. It is possible for those without a Bible to be saved if they follow their conscience, which has the law written in their hearts, otherwise where would be the justice of God? Salvation is based on a clear conscience with or without the Bible (1Tim 1-5). We don’t need the Bible to have a clear conscience, but we do need a willingness to protect our conscience from wickedness and evil. With a clear conscience devoted to God, we believe that God is a good person, which is the basis of our salvation; after all, isn't that the message of the cross? However, if the Bible is available to us, we have an obligation to read it for the sake of those who don’t have a Bible. Otherwise, how would we explain to God that we had a Bible but never read it? See also: Saved without hearing the gospel; 208bb (208bb) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> You can be saved without ever hearing about Jesus -- These verses go with verses 25-29. Some say that missionaries are crucial to evangelism and salvation, but they go too far and say that unless a person hears about Jesus, they cannot be saved. What if someone thinks God is a good person, and lives accordingly? If he never hears the name of Jesus, perhaps he lives in the remote parts of New Guinea, can that person be saved? If someone live somewhere in the world outside the availability of the gospel, how could that disqualify him from heaven? On the one hand, those who believe that God is a good person and treat his fellow man accordingly, if the gospel came to them, they would immediately believe in Jesus. For the rest of us who have heard, “There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Act 4-12). If we hear the message of the cross and refuse to believe in Jesus, God will judge us according to our knowledge (Mat 25,24-27). Jesus did in fact pay the penalty for our sins, regardless if we have heard or not. The covenant between God and man is based on the cross. On His end of the covenant the cross substantiates God’s forgiveness and is sealed by our reception of the Holy Spirit, but on our end of the covenant it is sealed by a promise to keep Him always in our heart by loving our fellow man as we love God. This does not require knowledge. See also: Saved without hearing the gospel; 90e Rom 2-16 (48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin -- This verse goes with verses 5&6 (49j) Judgment >> Judgment day >> The open books of the white throne judgment -- This verse goes with verses 5 and 6 (114k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Jesus is the way to the Father (212i) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> God is all knowing >> Nothing hidden >> God knows your secrets KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2,17-29 (20k) Sin >> Disobedience >> Rejecting the word – Rarely does anyone openly admit to his own hypocrisy; instead, he develops elaborate schemes and uses them to manipulate his mind into believing that he is doing nothing wrong, though his works clearly contradict the Scriptures. For example, though he had sex with someone who is not his wife, he doesn’t see himself as an adulterer. The hypocrite who massages his mind to believe what he wants is far from repentance. He must first admit that he is lying to himself (which is a form of lying to God), and then he must stop the offending behavior. His unrepentant heart points to rejecting the word of God even if he believes it. Paul was talking about someone who loves God’s word but doesn’t love God, that is, a religious person who totally agrees with all the Bible's teachings but rejects it in his personal life. He reads the Scriptures as poetry without any direct application to himself, as though it were not designed to guide a person's life, just words combined in interesting ways. He reads it and enjoys it, but his life doesn’t change; that is all the Bible means to a religious person who refuses to incorporate the word of God into his life. Paul is saying that the person who has never heard the word of God yet lives by its standards apart from the knowledge of God is way ahead of the one who knows the truth but doesn't obey it. The one who believes in God’s word enough to get circumcised but not enough to live out its precepts is uncircumcised in the eyes of God, for circumcision is a sign of obedience, and baptism is the new covenant equivalent of circumcision. The symbolism of baptism says that the person is ready to obey God, and his first act of obedience is to be baptized. See also: hypocrisy; 97a (90f) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It shows our need for Jesus (97a) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about yourself >> A self-righteous attitude -- These verses go with verses 1-8. This passage speaks to the highly religious person, who is a leader in his church, who is a student of the Scriptures, who has a deep fondness for God’s word but sees no need to obey its statutes. Paul asks, “You who abhor idols [he really does hate them], do you rob temples?” When he steals, he is not doing it as though he were actually stealing, whereas if someone else did the same thing, he would be stealing. “You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?” The answer to all these questions is a resounding “Yes!” He does commit adultery, but he doesn’t see it that way, because of so-called mitigating circumstances that he thinks skirts around the Law. All these are interpretations of his works that he has conjured in his own mind to justify himself, yet no less directly contradict God’s Law, behaviors that he clearly sees as wrong in other people. He manipulates his mind in order to give himself freedom to explore his corrupt desires, while at the same time maintaining his devotion to the Scriptures and to his religion. If he admitted that he was in violation of God’s word it would condemn him; he would have to repent and reorder his life. Instead, he massages his motives to keep the Scriptures dear to his heart, while simultaneously holding other people to its statutes. This was the mindset of the Pharisees who had Jesus murdered. See also: hypocrisy; 178g (178g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for disobedience – Every heretic has incentive for seeking the first place among the people in the Church, just the opposite of what Jesus taught, that if we want to be great, we must become least of all. Those who want to be first must mistreat the truth and develop doctrines and teachings that condone their actions before they can exploit the people. Their doctrines are easy to believe by the flesh, giving people rights to sin, and protecting them from teaching that if we want the true life of God, we must subject our flesh to the will of God, so that the Spirit can reign in our place. False teachers invariably override this particular teaching, and tell the people they can live as they see fit and still please God, and so biblical doctrines have been manipulated over the centuries into licentiousness, where the grace of God has been abused to the point that the gospel is no longer meaningful, and for that reason no one is getting saved. See also: hypocrisy; Rom 2,17-24; 198b (197j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unfaithfulness >> Unfaithful to your own conscience Rom 2,17-28 (174i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Form of a servant but denying God your loyalty Rom 2,17-27 (87a) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> God blesses us for doing His word, not for knowing it -- These verses go with verse 13 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2,17-24 (19k) Sin >> Actions that contradict your words will twist your mind (54b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Ignorant people wanting to teach – God’s word is like He wrote it on a single piece of paper and then folded it a million times and deposited it in our innermost being. Our task is to unfold the page little by little to discover what is written. The process of unfolding the truth will take an eternity; forever we will continue learning about God. Our understanding has begun in this life the moment He placed His Spirit in us. Now we have the capacity to understand the Scriptures. God spoke to Moses; he wrote it; the Israelites studied it, yet they failed to obey its statutes as a nation. Then Jesus came and gave His life's blood for the people, and His disciples wrote what happened in the four gospels; His promise of the Spirit has come to mankind and now we have a better hope to please God and do His will. (63j) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcastic from being emotional >> Angry (153i) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Walking in condemnation >> Walking in hypocrisy – It was prophesied that the gentiles would blaspheme God because of the poor example of the Jews, who walked in their flesh even after Jesus gave His life for the Church. People study the Bible thinking it will honor God, yet what honors Him is a heart that is trained by the Scriptures. The only person who really has the power to do this is the one who hears the voice of the Holy Spirit and follows Him as Abraham did. Paul testified about the flesh of man in Rom 7-18, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” The Bible describes our flesh as being dead to God, but we are alive in Christ through the Spirit. Our flesh is dead in that it is separated from God; it is dead in that it has the curse of God upon it. When God saved us, He did not save our flesh, though he will redeem it at the resurrection of the righteous. He will not resurrect sinful flesh but a body that cannot sin and therefore cannot die, one that will endure eternity, designed for His purpose. (159b) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit godliness >> Love sickening sweet >> The kind of love that replaces wisdom (173i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Unholy sacrifice >> Penance of following the law (Legalism) (181j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Deceitfulness of sin -- These verses go with verse 1. We enjoy hearing the spectacular salvation testimonies of prostitutes and drug addicts, yet these are some of the least likely people to get saved with little hope more than the religious Pharisees. Sin can lead us one way or the other. The Bible teaches that sin has an intrinsic deceitfulness that can lie to us and turn our hearts to stone, or else we can get so tired of living the life of a sinner that we look for a way out, and it drives us to repentance and faith toward God. The question is, what is more common? Does sin drive people to Jesus, or does it harden their hearts? The fact is, sin has a hardening effect on our heart more than it drives us to Jesus. (185l) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom (198b) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unteachable >> Too busy being a teacher to learn anything – The person who does not live by his knowledge is as though he doesn’t believe God at all. Paul posed the question, ‘You who know the law and teach that one should not steal, do you steal?’ Paul is saying that all our knowledge is for nothing if we don’t live by it, and his bigger point was that those who boast in the law, now that Jesus shed His blood for the sins of the world, have not made the leap from the old covenant to the new. In fact, Paul is using this argument to prove to legalists that they don’t understand the law, because if they did, they wouldn’t seek favor with God through it. The next couple chapters of Romans Paul starts on a dissertation regarding Abraham, and his point is that legalists need to break ties with Moses and rediscover the father of their Jewish nation, Abraham, the father of all who believe in Jesus. That is, legalists need to understand God the way Abraham did, who heard His voice and obeyed Him. (198f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained by man >> Men place themselves in positions of authority >> Men who are ill-equipped to fulfill the ministry (239l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Let not many of you become teachers >> Teachers incur a stricter judgment Rom 2-17 (210i) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Gospel belongs to the Jew first -- This verse goes with verses 25-29 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2-22 (235c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Tithing >> Be faithful in your tithes >> If you are unfaithful to God, you won’t tithe Rom 2-23 (27c) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Condoning evil can bring a curse on your life – God didn’t give the law to Israel for them to believe in it, anymore than He gave Moses to Israel to believe in him. Instead, Israel should have believed in God and lived by the Law of Moses. Paul's point was that the more knowledge we have, the more He expects of us. The goal of studying the Bible is not the knowledge itself, but to use the knowledge to do the will of God. In fact, knowledge can actually become a curse to us if we don’t walk in it. Rom 2,25-29 (52a) Judgment >> Judging Church with world >> Law judges sin >> Those who transgress against it -- These verses go with verses 12-16. Circumcision in the Old Testament was used as a sign for the Jew to indicate they believed in God. Here in Romans Paul is making the point that anyone among the gentiles who follows the law is acting as though they were circumcised. Paul talks about being circumcised in heart, which is far more important than being physically circumcised, since one is merely a symbol of faith while the other is the substance of it. (171k) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Outward appearance is not important (190i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Obeying the Holy Spirit makes circumcision obsolete (208bb) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> You can be saved without ever hearing about Jesus -- These verses go with verses 14-16 (210i) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> Jews are believers >> Gospel belongs to the Jew first -- These verses go with verses 9&10 Rom 2,25-27 (88f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Purpose of good works in faith – There are many purposes of our works; one of them is to avoid contradicting ourselves. Our good works are so effective in relation to God that they physically represent the condition of our faith. If we practice good works, we are circumcised at heart, which is more important than being physically circumcised. Circumcision applies only to men, while baptism applies both to men and women, which reflects the sensibilities of the old covenant versus the new. We could apply the principle of circumcision to baptism and say that if we do not practice good works, it cancels our baptism. Conversely, if we practice good works, though we were never baptized, our good works would change us in a positive way more than any ceremony. Baptism is a sign of obedience; therefore, the day we make a commitment to His service is when we should start planning to be baptized, so that baptism becomes the first act of obedience of faith, and let all other obedience follow baptism. We are submerged under the water, referring to the sinful nature of the flesh, and are raised to a new life in Christ. Throughout the book of Romans and Galatians Paul fights legalism, defined as performing the works of the Law in hope of gaining favor with God. We practice the law because we are born of God, not because we hope to be born of God. We are His children and God has given us His Spirit that desires to live like Him. We should take the emphasis off this life in the world and put it on walking in the Spirit. That is, we should place our hope on heaven and maintain that hope through good works, keeping our mind and heart on Him. Sin has the opposite effect, like a door that shuts in our face and separates us from God. Rom 2-27 (69i) Authority >> Righteous judgment (Outcome of Discernment) >> Passing judgment by the authority of God Rom 2-28,29 (118l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Spirit delivers you from the desire to sin -- see commentary Rom 2-29; 231c (183f) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Nursery for the Spirit of error >> Ignorance – Inwardly, gentiles who believe in Jesus are more Jewish than unbelieving Jews. This means no Christian has any business being anti-Semitic, for it is evidence that we don’t know God, and it is absolute proof that we are ignorant of the Scriptures, because we cannot hate the Jews and inwardly be a Jew at the same time. We all possess some level of hypocrisy, but there is a level of hypocrisy that is inexcusable, and to be anti-Semitic is that level. (191l) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart by the Holy Spirit KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rom 2-29 (32c) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> The Spirit of His grace (116l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Rest in His yoke by dying to self >> Relax as God kills you (231c) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> God’s grace is the mystery of godliness >> God working in you is a mystery – It is important to God and to our faith and salvation that we rise above sin. This circumcision of the heart by the Spirit is a symbolic removal of the sinful nature, though it isn’t actually removed. With the Holy Spirit in our lives when we are tempted, we are no longer obligated to obey sin's demand; we now have a choice; we can seek the power of God to help us rise above it. The fact that this circumcision of the heart occurs by the Spirit indicates that rising above our temptations is no longer a human effort, but is the work of God. That doesn’t mean we won’t be tempted or that our temptations will not be severe or that we won’t need to resist or do battle against the forces of evil that reside in our flesh. We will battle these forces but with the power of God. Sometimes God fights our battles for us and the temptation goes away by itself; other times the battle continues for months, yet the promise remains: if we continue to fight and not surrender to sin, eventually we will conquer, instead of it conquering us. (233i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> Seek His glory through obedience – Our praise being not from men but from God is significant in that if we wait for God’s praise and honor, He will eternally reward us in heaven, and He will never stop blessing us, but if we settle for the praises of men, then "You, you have your reward in full" (Mat 6,1-17). See next page