The Jews’ Need of Salvation (Part 1), Paul reveals in this second section of Romans that Jewish pride was causing them to misunderstand the salvation God offered.
The Jews, who were special people to YHWH and who received revelation through the Law, boasted that they knew his will. They were also taught how to discern right from wrong spiritually and morally.
THE JEWS CONDEMNED BY THEIR OWN LAW ROMANS 2:17-24
The Jew, as a specially chosen people of God, was to be a light to all the nations in their obedience and devotion to him. Their conduct was to be such that others would want this relationship with God for themselves and thus come to know him.
Paul’s argument in this chapter is that the Jews, as a nation, have failed to fulfill that divine task. Instead, their evil, hypocritical, and disobedient behavior brought dishonor to the name of God.
They were to be a guide to the blind, a light to the blind, a corrector of the foolish, and a teacher of the little children (Romans 2:20). They were supposed to be this because they had in their Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
In Romans 2:17, Paul says that the Jewish person who relied on the Law was to “boast in God” because he knew the Law and possessed a special relationship with him. He was also to “know his will and approve the superior things” because he received instruction in the Law.
These are some of the benefits that come with being a Jew and having the Law, but it is still not enough to get us into heaven. The only way we can be saved is through Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah and Savior of Israel.
THE LIMITATION OF CIRCUMCISION – ROMANS 2:25-29
Paul explains that the mere outward trappings of a Jew, involving lineage, citizenship, and worship are not a proper identifying mark in God’s sight.
Rather, true circumcision is an internal sacrament (Deut 10:12-16😉 that is more than just the external rite of circumcision.
In fact, the whole point of Paul’s argument here is to destroy all Jewish confidence in outward circumcision as a means of salvation and justification.
Circumcision, as an outward sacrament, was only valid to the extent that it corresponded with the actual keeping of Moses’ law. Therefore, any Jew who broke the law was condemned to hell just as a Gentile would be.
So, a circumcised Jew who did not keep the law was just as bad as a circumcised Gentile who did.
A person can only be saved by faith and obedience – that is, by living in a way that agrees with the Word of God. This includes baptism, prayer, going to church, fasting, reading the Bible, sharing the gospel, and other Christian actions.
CONCLUSION
Israel, God’s chosen people, had been given the privilege of a special relationship with Him. Part of their divine assignment was to be a light to the world so that others would want a relationship with God as well.
But instead of this, they brought dishonor to God’s name by their hypocrisy and evil behavior. They were haughty and arrogant, and they failed this important purpose for them as a nation.
Moreover, they were not living their lives according to the Law of Moses. Rather, they were relying on their own self-deception. They were convinced that if they knew the Law, then they must approve the things that are excellent.
This false confidence led them to feel that they could do anything they wanted, and that they were entitled to the best that life had to offer. They grew to be proud of their own achievements, and they were content to live by the moral standards that they thought they had established for themselves.
The problem is that they did not understand how to use the law of God in their daily lives. It is not their fault that they were blind to the fact that they needed to teach themselves how to obey the law. They were not motivated to do so.
