HIS LAW CANNOT MAKE HIM RIGHTEOUS (series: Lessons on Romans)

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

HIS LAW CANNOT MAKE HIM RIGHTEOUS
Romans 2:17-24

17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law. Israelites who remained in Palestine, or who returned to it after the Babylonian captivity, were designated as “Jews,” even though tribes other than Judah were included. Paul calls himself a “Jew” in 1Acts 21:39 but “an Israelite” in 2Romans 11:1 and “a Hebrew” in 3Philippians 3:5. All three names refer to the same people; but in a technical sense “Hebrew” is the racial name, “Israel” is the national name, and “Jew” is the religious name of the sons of Jacob. The Jews rested in the law because it was described as “wisdom and … understanding in the sight of the nations” (Deut 4:6). The Jew did not have to travel around the world to study in a distant university. He did not have to rely on the philosophy of the Gentiles. The Jew trusted his law to be all that he needed and the best education he could get. Thus he boasted in the God who gave that law. There is no doubt that many Jews felt they were immune from God’s judgment. God would never send a Jew to hell, they thought. The Gentiles, on the other hand, were fuel for the flames of hell. Paul must now destroy this pretension by showing that under certain circumstances Gentiles may be closer to God than Jews.

And make your boast in God. The Jew felt that he was superior to all other nations and he despised them, because he had the law of God. It is true that the law had been given to Israel and that God had declared himself to be their god, but this was not a reason for boasting (especially since they did not keep the law). Instead of boasting they should have felt gratitude for the mercies and favors God had bestowed on them.

The implication in this verse is that one might be called a Jew and yet not BE a Jew. (I can say that today one might be called a Christian and not be a true Christian). Paul is proving that the so-called Jew is just as helpless a sinner as the Gentile, in spite of all his Jewish boasting.

18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

Because he had received parental training in the law as a youth, and rabbinical teaching as a man, the Jew felt confident that he could prove or discern those things that are in line with the will of God. He thought he knew God’s will, because a general outline of that will is given in the Scriptures. He approved the things that are excellent (Those things that were in keeping with the character of God.), because the law taught him how to assess moral values.

19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Confident that he would be saved by his law, the Jew was convinced that he had been made righteous and therefore was able to assume four roles: a guide of the spiritually blind (the blind being the Gentiles who lived in darkness); a light to those who are in the darkness of ignorance, (the Gentile needs to be enlightened by the Jew who was enlightened by the law). The next verse tells what the other two are; an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of babes.

20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

He felt qualified to be an instructor of the foolish (because he did not know the law, the Gentile was a fool), and to teach babes (the Gentile was immature, an object of Jewish disgust), because the law gave him an outline of knowledge and of the truth.

Verses 17-20 list ten advantages that a Jew had over a Gentile; the first five are what he was:
1. Bears the name Jew.
2. Rests upon the law.
3. Boasts in God.
4. Knows the will of God.
5. Proves the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law.

The last five personal privileges of the Jew are what he did:
1. Are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind.
2. A light to those who are in darkness.
3. An instructor of the foolish.
4. A teacher of babes or proselytes.
5. Having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

Now Paul has a question.

21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?
There is a touch of sarcasm in Paul’s question, You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? In other words, “Do you practice what you preach? The Jews were prepared to teach the heathen Gentiles the commandments of the law, but were themselves breaking these commandments. Next, he asks, Do you steal? (The eighth commandment). The things in which the Jew boasted had never changed his life. It was simply pride of race, religion, and knowledge without any corresponding moral transformation. He taught others but did not take the lessons to heart himself. He preached against stealing but did not practice what he preached.

Paul has more questions for his Jewish brothers.

22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
Do you commit adultery? (The seventh commandment), do you rob temples? (The second commandment).

The Jews were ready to preach morality but their lives did not back up their message. It was a matter of “Do what I say, not as I do.” If they didn’t actually commit adultery, they did lust inside, which Jesus said was also sin.
Do you rob temples? Paul may be referring to fraudulently skimming funds from money given to the temple or withholding part of their temple tax or offerings. Malachi said that this was going on even in his day. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). It is more likely, though, that Paul is referring to the common practice—in direct violation of God’s command in Deuteronomy 7:25—of looting pagan temples and selling the idols and vessels for personal profit under the pretense of religion. “You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.” The practice of robbing temples is mentioned in Acts 19:37. “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.”
23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
They were stealing from one another, perhaps by collecting an extreme interest; they were committing adultery; they were profaning the house of God by commercialism; and therefore, Paul asked the biting question, You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? Disobedience of the law brings dishonor to God. The Jews claim to have known the law but were silent in claims to have kept it.
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. This quotation is from Isaiah 52:5. It was true in Isaiah’s day—“Now, therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord, “That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail,” says the Lord, “And My name is blasphemed continually every day” — and it is still true today. It confirms that the inadequacies in the lifestyles of the Jews caused the Gentiles to speak lightly of the God of Israel. The combination of high talk and low walk is what caused the Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God. They judged the Lord, as men always do, by those who professed to be His followers. For the lost person, their whole concept of religion and Jesus Christ may be what they see of Him in you, (Insert your name), what do they see?

General Notes

1Acts 21:39; NKJV: "But Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people."
2Romans 11:1; KJV: "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
3Philippians 3:5; NKJV: "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;"
4Deuteronomy 7:25; NKJV: "You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God."