WHO NEEDS THE GOSPEL? THEY DO TO!

Background Passage: ROMANS 2:1-29

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 2:1-11,17-21,23-24

PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BECAUSE OF WHERE THEY WERE BORN, WHAT THEY KNOW, OR HOW THEY BEHAVE ARE MISTAKEN AND STILL NEED TO RECEIVE SALVATION.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 2:11

God doesn't have any grandchildren! That's what the preacher proclaimed as he brought his evangelistic sermon to a close. With his proclamation, he didn't intend to stir up the anger of the grandparents in the congregation. He drove home an important point about becoming a Christian.

The people in the congregation needed to know that becoming a Christian involved a personal response to the good news of Christ. They couldn't consider themselves Christians just because they had relatives who believed in Christ. Neither could they count themselves as believers because they lived in a country filled with churches.

Paul shared the good news of Christ with Jewish as well as Gentile people in his day. Many Jewish people struggled with the gospel because of their religious background. They had been taught that they had a relationship with God because of their connection with Old Testament Israel. For that reason, they resisted the truth that the gospel actually applied to them.

In his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul explained why the gospel applied to people who felt secure in their Old Testament religious culture. Study the text with an awareness that the truth applies to people today as well.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

As Paul turned his attention to Jewish people who needed Christ, he emphasized the way they tended to cast judgment on Gentiles. By their judgment, however, they judged themselves. Jewish people who rejected the good news of Christ didn't have an excuse either. Their spiritually hardened hearts had made them unwilling to repent. Consequently, God would hold them accountable for their disobedience. They could expect God's wrath on their unrighteousness.

God treats everyone the same because He does not have favorites. Jewish as well as Gentile people can expect God's response to them to be the same. If they reject Him and live in evil, they will suffer for their decision. If they have a relationship with Him that is characterized by goodness, they will enjoy its rewards. Also, Gentiles share with Jews the same accountability to God for the law they have come to know. Instinctively, Gentiles know God's law because it lives in their hearts and guides their consciences. For that reason God will judge them according to the gospel of Christ.

Jews are accountable for what they know about t he law of God too. Because of their religious heritage, they can deceive themselves into thinking they are much better than other people around them. They may consider themselves to be morally or spiritually superior because of their association with Old Testament Israel. But their superiority vanishes when they judge themselves according to the ways they actually abide by God's laws.

Circumcision cannot save anyone either. It cannot protect Jews from being accountable to God when they disobey His law. God does not measure us by our appearances of religious devotion on the outside. Authentic devotion to God cannot be measured first by what others can notice but by what God alone can see inside us. In other words, spiritual transformation alone pleases God.

Earlier in his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul had asserted that Gentiles did not have an excuse for rejecting the gospel (1:18-32). Then he went on to make the same assertion about Jewish people. Keep in mind that Paul's comments about Jews cannot be taken as derogatory. He had no desire to fan the flame of anti-Semitism. On the contrary, he loved Jewish people and wanted them to receive Jesus the Messiah.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.Why did Paul put so much emphasis on God's judgment?(Romans 2:2)
2.What do self-seeking people disobey, and what do they obey?(2:8)
3.Which statement did Paul repeat twice as he explained God's impartiality?(2:9-10)
4. What did God's law allow the Jewish people to approve? (2:18)

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ ROMANS 2:1-2

Romans 2 1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

VERSES 1 ~ As Paul mentioned anyone of you, he had Jewish people in mind. Without any hesitation, he asserted that Jews did not have an excuse for rejecting the good news of Christ. God held them accountable because they recognized sinful behavior. The only problem was that they recognized it only in people who weren't Jewish.

Their Old Testament heritage as God's chosen people had nurtured a sense of hypocrisy in the Jews of Paul's day. They saw themselves as spiritually superior to other people and set themselves up as spiritual and moral judges of the behavior of Gentiles. In the lofty position they created for themselves, they could easily condemn the people around them. Paul noted that while they cast judgment on what other people were doing, they were doing the same things themselves.

VERSES 2 As Paul elaborated on their hypocrisy, he directed their attention to God's judgment. Instead of favoring certain people, God judged all people in the same way. He based His judgment on the truth, not on cultural or family ties, (See study question 1) For that reason, anybody who did such things, whether Gentile or Jew, was accountable to Him.

The problem of spiritual hypocrisy continues to torment us in our walk with God. If we recognize sinful behavior, we need to address it. Recognizing it in others, however, is easier than seeing it in ourselves. Hypocrisy clouds our vision.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ (ROMANS 2:3-8)

3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

VERSES 3 ~ Paul continued to address the Jews' hypocrisy by raising a piercing question about God's judgment. Do spiritual hypocrites actually think they can escape it? How could anyone expect God to condemn Gentiles for what they do and to overlook Jewish people who do the same thing?

VERSE 4 ~ People who continue to reject the Lord show that they have taken His kindness for granted. By presuming on His goodness but rejecting Him, they have ignored the purpose of His kindness. By being patient with us, God is not suggesting that we are not accountable for what we do. He is giving us an opportunity to repent and turn to Him so we won't have to face the dreadful consequences of our sins.

VERSE 5-6 ~ What happens to someone who doesn't repent? Every time a person refuses to repent, the spiritual lining around his or her heart gets harder. Also, the reservoir of God's wrath is filled more. Stored behind the dam of His patience, one day His wrath will be released. The day of God's final judgment will come in due time. When that day arrives such persons will face the outcome of their decision to reject God. He will repay them according to what they have done.

VERSES 7-8 ~ In the face of God's judgment, all people everywhere belong in one of two groups. The first group includes people who have done good things and have honored God by how they live. For them, eternal life will be the reward. The second group includes people who have devoted their lives to selfish things. As their reward, they can expect nothing but wrath and indignation from God. (See study question 2).

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ ROMANS 2:9-11

9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

VERSE 9-10 ~ Paul had more to say about God's standard of judgment. First, he clarified how God looked at people. God didn't see people in terms of how religious they were, to whom they were related, or where they lived. He saw them in terms of whether they gave their lives to doing evil or doing good. Of course, what they gave their lives to was determined by how they responded to the Lord. People who gave their lives to the Lord would do good things. But people who rejected the Lord would do evil things.

Second, Paul described the judgment God would render to people. Individuals who spent their lives doing evil could expect the grinding misery of affliction and distress. The words suggest a life that's miserable under the constant pressure of external conflict and internal anguish. On the other hand, individuals who were characterized by good could look forward to glorifying god and honoring Him with their lives. Also, they would enjoy the peace that He alone could give.

Third, Paul identified the people who would b e affected by God's standard of judgment. (See study question 3) God would judge the Jews as well as the Greek, or the Gentile, in the exact same way. The Jews would be judged first only because they were the first to be given God's Word. But the Gentiles would not be judged differently.

VERSE 11 ~ Paul's assertion that God had no favorites must have stunned the Jews. They considered themselves God's favorite people because of their heritage. Paul's bold remark shattered their sense of spiritual security. More important, it clarifies the truth about how we can have a meaningful relationship with God. Since God has no favorites, we cannot depend on our earthly identity to make us right with Him..

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ ROMANS 2:17-24

17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

As Paul moved on in his explanation about God's judgment, he underscored the value of the law (2:12-16). He showed that the Jews and the Gentiles alike were accountable according to God's law for what they did with their lives. Then he began to tun his attention to people who considered themselves to be spiritually superior to others.

VERSES 17-18 ~ Jewish people had been given a number of advantages due to their rich spiritual heritage. Paul directed them so see the reason for the advantages they enjoyed. God had given them the law to direct their lives. (See study question 4).

VERES 19-20 ~ What had they done with the advantages God had given to them? Paul indicated that they had used the advantages to prop up their own sense of spiritual superiority. He showed them some of the ways they had convinced themselves that they were better than other people around them. For instance, they considered themselves to be all knowing guides who could give divine direction to the spiritually blind pagans among them. They saw themselves as bright lights for God in the presence of all the people around them who were stumbling in spiritual darkness. They regarded themselves as wise teachers who were capable of passing along God's wisdom to the spiritual infants who were ignorant regarding God's ways.

VERSE 21 ~ Paul knocked the props of superiority from under them. His simple question about stealing challenged their arrogance, prodding them to be honest about whether they themselves were following the instructions they enjoyed passing out to others..

VERSES 23-24 ~ Spiritual arrogance can allow us to boast about knowing what God wants while, at the same time, we refuse to do it. Such an attitude brings dishonor to God and causes other people not to take Him seriously. By contrast, people who honor God with their lives place a high priority on doing what He wants, not just knowing about it.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Perhaps now you understand why the evangelistic preacher proclaimed that God doesn't have any grandchildren. He meant that God does not look at people in terms of whether their parents are Christians, how religious they are, who they know, or where they live. He sees people in terms of whether or not they have given their lives to Him.

Giving ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ is the critical first step toward living in a way that honors God. The Jewish people of Paul's day thought they honored God just by being associated with Old Testament Israel. But as Paul wrote, a life that honors God begins by knowing Him personally through Jesus Christ.

How can you nurture your relationship with the Lord so your life will honor Him? The text studied in this session suggests some ways.

*Ask other Christians to hold you accountable so you can avoid spiritual hypocrisy.
*Ask God to show you the ways in which you may be presuming on His kindness..
*Thank God for not showing favoritism and for saving you through Jesus Christ alone.
*Share with other believers the ways you want to honor God by doing what He wants, not just talking about it..