Does God treat Israel differently? (Romans 2:17-3:8)
Billy Milton - January 31, 2005
Introduction: In 2 Samuel 11 King David had stolen the wife of one of his army officers and slept with her. Bathsheeba was the lady’s name. The ongoing effect on the life and future of Israel as a result of that one act of lust would turn out to be enormous. In ch.12 Nathan the prophet stands before King David, no doubt in fear and trembling, and he tells him a story. The story concerns two men, one rich and one poor. The poor man has a little lamb that he nurtures and cherishes until the lamb becomes like one of the family. One day a traveller arrives at the rich man’s door and, instead of killing one of his own sheep for the welcoming meal, he takes the poor man’s pet lamb and kills it. David is outraged at this blatant abuse of authority and threatens to kill the rich man. Nathan, having set the trap, now springs it and, pointing an accusing finger at David, he cries out, “You are the man!” The effect on David was dramatic and immediate – he acknowledged his guilt right away, repented and received God’s forgiveness… although the consequences of his sin rumbled on for generations.
Can you see what Paul has done here in Romans 2? He has just sprung a similar trap on the Jews. In ch 1 and at the beginning of ch2 he has just described how godless men behave and the self-righteous Jew would be shaking his head in disappointment at the behaviour of the Gentile and nodding in agreement when they hear how God is going to judge these Gentile heathens. Now, in this little section, Paul does a Nathan! He points the finger straight at them and says, in effect, “You are the man!”
We mentioned it last time in 2:1, the grave danger of sitting in judgment on someone else whilst being guilty of exactly the same sin ourselves. Listen again to his withering attack on them. READ vv17-24. How do you feel about that little section? I read these words and I tremble because, if there is anyone in this whole church likely to stand condemned by these words, then it’s me. If I preach ‘this’ and do ‘this’, then you have every right to point an accusing finger at me and say, “Billy, you’re that man!” But how many of you here this morning would have to stand right beside me?
Most of the Jews in Paul’s day would not feel personally concerned by what he said. You see, the standard response by the Jewish people to such an attack would be, “But we are circumcised,” said in a condescending voice with a haughty look on their faces. REPEAT Paul hastens to explain in vv25-29 the stark reality of their situation – their circumcision is worthless without actions to back it up. In effect they are in at least as bad a situation as the Gentiles that they so readily look down on, and possibly in a worse position because they don’t even realise the danger they’re in.
What has happened to these Jews? Why can’t they see what seems to be so obvious to us as we read it here this morning? Well, put quite simply, they’ve got an almost fatal dose of the “old time religion”! And as we heard fairly recently from this platform, religion separates us from God and kills the soul’s sensitivity to God’s voice and actively works against love for Jesus. To understand why we need to turn to ….Cliff Richard.
10 years ago Cliff Richard had a hit song entitled, “From a distance.” Part of the lyrics said, “God is watching us, God is watching us, God is watching us, from a distance.” Apart from the nice tune, I believe this song was so popular because it expressed how most of our society is happy to view God:-
- A god who is ‘out there somewhere’, but does not intrude in our lives.
- A god who is there if we are in trouble but makes no moral demands on our lives.
- A god who ‘watches us’ but will overlook our sins as long as we do our religious duties.
This kind of false god is a religious god who demands his followers to be religious as well. And that’s exactly where the Jews were at the time of Paul’s writing, but more seriously for us this morning, it’s where the vast majority of Western Christendom is today. We’ve got religion but we ain’t got God!
The day I realised that I had religious ritual instead of reality was the day my life completely changed. It was a Saturday evening at a men’s weekend and the preacher was talking to us about the state that the nation of Israel had fallen into at the time of Eli the priest. Even the priests had sunk into a dead, religious way of living with virtually no reality of God left. The people were even worse – and God eventually moved in judgment. The preacher asked us to examine the religious rituals in our own lives and I realised that I was that man. A good, religious man who had not really discovered the reality of an ongoing personal walk with Christ. That discovery pierced through my calloused heart and changed my life. I had to get real.
EXAMPLE Disney World and 3D movie where we were swatting at imaginary snakes and bees with our little red glasses on. Stella and the imaginary bees. Get real – they can’t harm you!
When it comes to the subject of religion, we need to ‘get real’ precisely because it can harm you! Religious people lose sight of reality by trusting in some religious rituals to make them right with God. That is sooo dangerous. Vs 25-27 talks about the limited value of circumcision. It was a physical sign of the covenant between God and Israel which was a great thing… but only if they kept it real. What is the equivalent of circumcision in your life? Maybe its baptism, or Bible reading or tithing? Or, as we look at this communion table before us this morning, maybe its communion?
Read vs 25 and change circumcision to communion, and Law to Bible. Paul points out that getting circumcised means nothing if your heart is not also circumcised to love and obey God. Whatever the ritual, it can just become a religious, vain ritual with no reality in it. Oh, let’s get real!
We asked the question on our poster outside, “Does God treat Israel differently?” The answer has to be no – he doesn’t. It’s true that at the start of ch3 he does say that the Jews are in an enormously privileged position. They have been given the law; they have had the voices of the prophets and much more. In fact, much like us today here in KRC. Perhaps a better question for us might be, “Does God treat evangelical Christians differently?” What do you think? I’m afraid not. John 3:16 tells us that ‘whoever’ has faith in him will have eternal life. God has no favourites.
‘God is watching us’. But, not ‘at a distance’. And what’s more, He seems to be more concerned with the attitudes that we secretly cherish in our hearts than he is with our outward behaviour. What do you think God is interested in in your life?
Let me close with a practical suggestion from God himself. Jer. 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Encourage people to do this and Offer prayer in this regard.