All right. I think we're just about there almost all right. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions is where every day you and I we get together we get into God's Word. We have a little bit of coffee and we grow and our love for the Lord together in this year 2022 will go from the book of Acts to the book of phi Lehmann. And this morning, we were at Romans chapter two beginning at verse seven teen when we have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your word. What a blessing it is to sit at your feet. Father, we need your Holy Spirit. We need you to teach us. We need you to open our eyes that we might seem open our ears that we might hear. Let us understand and know. And we pray that Your Word would teach us to imitate to follow after you in Jesus's name. Amen. All right, put on my glasses. Here. We are at Romans chapter two beginning at verse 17. Let's go ahead and jump into it. Indeed you who are called a Jew and rest on the law, and make your boast in God and know His will and approve the things that are excellent. being instructed OUT OF THE LAW and are confident that you yourself are a guide the blind, a light to those who are in darkness and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore, who teach another do you teach? Do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal? Do you steal? You who say do not commit adultery? Do you commit adultery? You who are poor idols? Do you rob temples? You make your boast in the law do you dishonor God by breaking the law? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written for circumstances for circumcision is indeed profitable. If you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, you're circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of law will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physical the physically uncircumcised. If he fulfills the law? Judge you even with your written code and circumcision are a transgressor of the law. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outwardly in the flesh. But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. Oh, what a what an amazing passage. It's kind of a difficult passage, but it's full of hope and truth. So we need to ask ourselves, a What is this about B, what's the best verse that summarizes and see, what are we called to do in response to this? Well, what's this about? Paul is on his way in this judicial setting of the letter showing that no one is above the law. All of us are under the law. And by under the law, meaning under the judgment to the law. And so here he's he's saying that the Jewish people really did have the law. He says Indeed, you are called a Jew, and rest on the law. They really had the Torah. Let me read you over here. They really did have the Hebrew testament. They really did have the words of Moses. They really did have the 10 commandments. They really did have the Shema. They knew God intellectually. And they, their their hope was resting on the law. This is what verse 17 is saying, and they made their boast in God. And they saw themselves as as those who are a light to the Gentiles, right? They were the ones who could say, we have the law. We know God, come and follow Him. And so as they would say this thing, they would have no his will and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out the law. And they're confident about it that they've received this instruction and the they know God and they know his law. But Paul's got beef. He's got a problem still, right.
That's great that you know it. But do you live it? It's not good enough that you just know it. Paul goes straight to the heart of things the same way Jesus did. It what does he say? He brings up some of the points of the Decalogue. Right, you therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? The table's turned? And he's looking right at them now. You who preach that a man should not steal? Do you steal? And then he talks about adultery. All right. We try to say well, I don't think all Jewish people were committing adultery or all Jewish people. were stealing or all Jewish people robbing temples. I really do think that the the commentators the old commentators are right on this. It's it's the point that is going back to what Jesus points out in Matthew chapter five and six, the heart of the law that the depth of the law that if you've ever even looked with a woman lustfully with your eyes, you've already committed adultery in your heart. If you've looked at your brother and said, You full Rica, you've heard her murdered Him in your heart. We could take that and flesh it out even more and we can, we could go past that and apply to all the 10 commandments and we'd find it here. Right, we'd be able to say, if you've ever coveted your neighbor's things, if you have ever coveted his wife or his manservant, or his maid servant, or his or his donkey, or anything within his gates, guess what you've already done. You've already stolen and despise God's providence in your life. See the point of of the New Testament is showing us the depth that the law is meant to cut us to. It's meant to show us that we're not those who keep the law. We're gonna get there in Romans chapter three, but here's he's specifically talking to the Jewish people is getting into the heart of things. And he's saying, Hold on, you have the law. You think you know God, you want to know righteousness. But the problem is, if you're doing the things that the law tells you not to do, the problem is then you're a law breaker. And for this reason, the god is blasphemed among the Gentiles, because of you as it's written. If you act like you're perfect, and people look at your life, and they can tell you're not perfect, you got a problem. So many people during this time many Jewish people during this time believe that because they had the law, because they weren't God's covenant people and God had given them the law, then they would be shielded from God's judgment, but that's not Oh, God. God's law pierces the heart and shows us how much more we need His mercy. And this is why he continues on in this next part, verses 25 and through 29. Because they might say, well, we have circumcision and there was a teaching. It's a little bit later than this, but it's I it's most likely that this heart is still going around. One Jewish writer said no person who is circumcised will go down to Gahanna. So what's this idea? Right? If if you've received the sacrament of circumcision, you're, you're not going to go down to hell. And fall is going to go right at the heart of that, you know, this is exactly what Jesus is getting at to when he says and don't suppose for yourselves that you have because you have your father, you have Abraham as your father. I hold on here God can raise up children from the stones for Abraham, but you're not going to be shielded by judgment just because you're you are a child of Abraham, or even more just because you have the sign of circumcision placed on you. It's not just good enough to preach, but you got to live what you preach. And so here he's saying, therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? These are hypothetical questions that he's asking here. I don't think he's actually saying that there is a any Jewish or Gentile person who could ever perfectly keep the law. But he's getting at the point, right? If there was an uncircumcised person, and that uncircumcised person could perfectly keep the law would that person not be counted as circumcised? This is this what he's getting at right the circumcision was an outward sign meant to point to an inward reality. So he says, he gets to the heart of it in the last two verses. Verse 28, and 29. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is, is outward in the flesh, right? It's not the physical sign.
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart. This is what Jeremiah gets out as well. In the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God sees it's not that they would have their physical flesh circumcised. That was meant to be an outward sign pointing to an inward reality. Circumcision was was meant to be a sign. Not something that they would rest in. I mean, I was I remember I was reading or hearing an illustration at one point where there's this guy and he's headed to to Nashville. And he's going from the north to the south and, and he's headed to Nashville and he gets to someplace like Louisville, and he's on the interstate south and all sudden at the sign that says, Nashville 200 And something miles I don't know how far it is from Nashville to Louisville, but they stopped there. And there's a whole bunch of cars on the side of the highway. And they're all standing up and they're all looking up at the sign. And the sign says Nashville. to hundreds of the miles and everybody's gathered around. And this guy stops and, and he says what do you all stand in here? And they said, look at the sign. He says, Okay, I said, Yeah, look, it's Nashville. I said, How long have you guys been here? We've been here for about 30 years. A guy gets back in his car and he keeps on driving towards Nashville. See, because the point is at the stop and gawk at the sign the sign the point is to get to Nashville The point is to get to the Lord. Circumcision was meant to point them towards the covenant promises of God. Not that they would take comfort just in the sign themselves. I gotta warn you, right? There's there are people who will put the same type of stock in their baptism, or in taking the Lord's Supper. They'll see the signs of the new covenant promises and the seals of New Covenant promise and they'll take those signs in the seals and they'll almost use it as like, just keep looking to the sacrament as like they can't get past the thing right in front of their eyes to get to the spiritual reality that it is God Himself was promised these things. We remember Christ. We remember the person and work of Christ, we go to Christ. It is God desires our hearts to be circumcised. So what is this? What is this whole thing getting at? The whole thing is getting at the fact that the Jewish people can't boast in their heritage, they can't boast in their genealogy, they can't boast and the fact that they have the laws of Moses, they can't boast and all these things. If they're not in Christ, saying they're if if they don't actually keep the law perfectly, which was their hope. Right. God doesn't grade on a curve. He's not going to let them slide. No, he's holy and righteous. And so if they're going to trust in the law, well then they gotta trust wholeheartedly in the law. That's a scary place to be. But they need their hearts circumcised by His Spirit. What's the best verse to summarizes? Well, I think verses 28 and 29 are good candidate for that. In the previous section, I have 21 through 23 Underline. Let me know down in the comments if you're on Facebook or YouTube, what what would you underline in your Bible won't see calling. What do we call to do in response to this? Well, I've already kind of gotten there. It's it's hard to explain the book of Romans without preaching the message of the book of Romans But the point what are we called to do? Have faith in Christ? Don't cling to what some of the old theologians would call the beggarly elements, right? Don't cling to the outward signs but disappointed the inwardness of the heart. That is the spirit of God cry out to God that he would circumcise your heart, cry out to God that he would make you tender towards the working of the spirit, cry out to God, confessing that you can't keep the law perfectly. Cry out to God, that you might follow him and that he might make you a new creature. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, that you do do this work. Lord, I thank You that You've done it in my own heart and miraculous work. I can't explain. I know no many who are listening this morning. Notice well
that says if you take took out their hardest stone, and you gave them a heart of flesh, heart that bleeds and beats for you. God we pray that we would follow after you. Lord, we pray that we will be honest about our own sins, that we would not be filled with judgmentalism but that we would judge ourselves rightly. And that that judgment would turn our eyes towards towards our need for Jesus towards the righteousness that's not our own, and a salvation that we could never earn. Father, we pray that you would share this good news to the entire world. In Jesus's name, Amen. The Lord bless you today. May you be rejoice in Jesus Christ, and be comforted by the grace and peace found in him for the healthy tomorrow. Bye like to HAPPEN
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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