The Road to Salvation – We study Paul's letter to the Romans

Background

We see in Romans 1 that Paul mentions that man is inherently bad. He begins with the first group:

1. The unrighteous (Romans 1:18-26), those who are not interested in God at all. However, they can learn about God through his revelation in nature. They have no excuse.

In Romans 2 he goes further and discusses the following two groups:

2. The self-righteous (Romans 2:1-16), those who blame others without looking at their own sin. However, their conscience accuses them, and they do not have an excuse either; and
3. The overly righteous (Romans 2:17-29), the Jews, who think that the law is their solution. They have no excuse.

None of these three groups is any better than the others. God's judgment is clear, as Paul will later write:

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23

Highlights in Chapter 2

1. The second group, the self-righteous, blame everyone but themselves. First, they judge others (verse 1) but Paul explains that they are not innocent. You point one finger at someone else, but there are three fingers pointing back at yourself. They do not see their own faults, and everyone is wrong except them.
2. God's judgment on these people is just (verse 2).
3. These people think that by shifting the blame, they will not be judged. However, God's judgment is just (verse 3).
4. People are deliberately unaware of God's mercy (verse 4) while God is ready to save them. However, they must take the step and can choose:
   1. persevere and obtain eternal life; or
   2. disobey and obtain destruction (wrath).
5. Paul makes a distinction between two groups:
   1. The Jew represents Israel, and the Jews are the ones through whom the promise of salvation came.
   2. The word "Greek(s)" is sometimes used to refer to pagans. The Gentiles are the ones to whom the promise of salvation has come.
6. Note that the Jew is mentioned first each time. After all, they are God's chosen people. However, there is no distinction with God (verse 11) and He is not biased either. On the contrary, the Jews, who should have known better, will receive a greater judgment (verse 12).
7. The third group, the Jews, are the excessively entitled, or so they pretend (verses 17-29). They lean on the law (verse 17) and glory in God, unlike the first two groups who want nothing to do with God. Paul is being somewhat sarcastic here. He says they know the law; distinguish things; are leaders; and is light. He knows full well that he himself was like that, and just as judgmental, and so he speaks from experience.
8. He hits them with this truth: they are quick to correct others, but they do not see their own mistakes (verses 21-23; see also Matt 23:13-39). He is asking rhetorical questions here. He emphasises an aspect that is very important to the Jews, and which distinguishes them from the Gentiles, circumcision. The law and circumcision go together. If you don't have one, neither does the other (verse 25).
9. Paul puts it even worse. If the uncircumcised keep the law, then it makes the circumcised Jews look bad (verses 26-27).
10. What God is looking for from us is not the external features, but what goes on in the heart. What the body does has its origin in the heart (spirit) and the mind (soul). This is where the change should be.
11. In two chapters, Paul succeeded very well in making the two groups of the church in Rome, the Jews and Gentiles, note that nothing they did brought them any closer to God.
12. This is almost the end of the bad news. In chapter 3 (verses 1-20) Paul continues to show man his sinful state, but then he turns to the good news, which we will look at next week.

DISCUSSION

1. Think about the three groups of people to whom Paul refers. Which one were you before your rebirth?
2. If you had to take only one text verse to give to someone as representative of Romans 2, what would the text be? Motivate.
3. Read Romans 3 in preparation for the next reading.

Chapters

• Romans Chapter 1
• Romans Chapter 2
• Romans Chapter 3
• Romans Chapter 4
• Romans Chapter 5
• Romans Chapter 6
• Romans Chapter 7
• Romans Chapter 8
• Romans Chapter 9
• Romans Chapter 10
• Romans Chapter 11
• Romans Chapter 12
• Romans Chapter 13
• Romans Chapter 14
• Romans Chapter 15
• Romans Chapter 16

Send to a friend

Return to home page