Romans 2:17-29 - Let's Talk About Jews!

 Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

Lo! you are being denominated a Jew, and are resting on law, and are boasting in God, and know the will, and are testing what things are of consequence, being instructed out of the law.

“Lo! You are not special!” said Paul.

I’m sorry, that’s not true. It should probably say something like, “Damn, you guys really know how to eff up being ‘special,’ eh?”

I would start a new chapter, here, if I were creating the (man-made) chapter/verse system, here. It would highlight the structure of the letter far more effectively, and usher us into the second half of humanity’s Divine roast.

Before we continue, please keep in mind that Paul isn’t an anti-Semitic character, as he himself was a Jew, from Benjamin’s tribe (Rom. 11:1,) and was a major proponent of Judaism before he was blinded by the completed Christ (Acts 9:1-6.)

After fully edifying us on judgment, Paul brings his attention the Jews, the Israelites, from the twelve tribes of Jacob’s seed – but, in my opinion, this could easily apply to anyone proclaiming Jewish nationality today. This is because Paul now defines five particulars of the Jew, and, the more you study this, the more you may realize that, though Israel today is packed with these characters, these folk can also be found in various churches that pioneer these beliefs (and pretend that they are a gateway to Christ, whereas Paul is using them here to criticize man’s hardheadedness:)

1)    They rest on law. Holy shit, this is a big one. I’ll hint at this from Gal. 3:10-12, but Paul will culminate his reasoning for God’s indignation with a pretty damning statement on this front. Needless to say, it’s not a gateway to rest and peace for a sinner, in God’s eyes (Rom. 3:20.)

2)    They boast in God. Sounds like a good idea. Many Jews will not say this today (especially not many non-practicing Jews,) but their history is rife with this divine superiority complex, on account that they were God’s chosen people.

3)    They know the will of God. The hypocrisy here is in knowing His will, to send them a King, and then rejecting it because it doesn’t fit with their proper ideal of what a king should look like. Remember, this is the same group of people that thought King Saul was top dog.

4)    They test what things are of consequence. This is going to be contrasted way, way later in the letter. They couldn't test what was right. They learned of God's leniency in love and figured, 'hmm, let's see how far we can push Him.' Like a child to a parent! These tests have, again, occurred throughout much of their history and they eventually accepted that the law truly is perfect.

5)    This led them to being instructed out of the law.

Besides, you have confidence in yourself to be a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness, a discipliner of the imprudent, a teacher of minors, having the form of knowledge and truth in law.

This sentence is fascinating because the compact nature leaves so much room for misinterpretation. The statements in the middle sound pretty – the Jews believe they are guides to the blind, a light of those in darkness, that they discipline the imprudent, and teach minors! But keep in mind the bookends of the sentence: confidence in yourself, and knowledge and truth in law. Notice how the confidence is not in God and His will – they are using God to stand in a superior position to the rest of humanity. This sentence does not explain why confidence in yourself and teaching knowledge and truth in law is a bad thing, but you can look at Israel’s entire history to see this point fully proven. Teaching superiority will beget superiority. The cyclical nature of humanity is so predictable (almost as if Someone is writing the story!)

You, then, who are teaching another, you are not teaching yourself! who are heralding not to be stealing, you are stealing! who are saying not to be committing adultery, you are committing adultery! who are abominating idols, you are despoiling the sanctuary!

This is so much easier to understand when you have the previous twenty verses to back it up. Do you see how everything falls together to conclusively prove, with no room for mistake on what Paul is saying, that man cannot be perfect, and that any attempt to achieve perfection will only create a bigger issue? Try not to steal, and guess what you’ll be doing? Try not to cheat, and guess what you’ll be doing?

who are boasting in a law, through the transgression of the law you are dishonoring God!

The Jews, in their attempts to maintain “don’t steal,” “don’t cheat,” and “don’t worship other gods,” were all boasts in the law. Then, whether they recognized it or not, they were breaking the same laws they pushed. That is, they would transgress against them in (and no, don’t play that ‘I never kissed another woman so I didn’t cheat’ nonsense; Jesus sees right through it in Matt. 5:27-28.)

This is dishonor to God. Whereas the nations only had their relative moral sense of right and wrong and sometimes followed or broke the rule, here the Jews have the explicit privilege of dishonoring God in their failure to maintain their side of the covenant drawn on Mt. Sinai.

I would like to take this time, also, and delineate between the relative and absolute perspective that Paul is bringing. His condemnation of man, as of now, is relative. We understand that God is in control of everything – the second verse of this letter proves that (designated beforehand,) and he will dive into further detail on the topic later (Rom. 8:31-9:29.) We should not forget that merely because we’re in chapter two. God is willing the Jew that dishonors Him. We will get into why God is doing this later, along with the rest of His good news, but I don’t want you to get confused on the word usage, here. No, I don’t think you’re stupid; there are just too many people here that like to twist words and change them into something they are not.

For because of you the name of God is being blasphemed among the nations, according as it is written.

I’d love to write pages on the sheer humiliation of this revelation, but I feel that would be unwise. The more you hoist God on your shoulders and call Him yours due to your acts, the more dishonor you bring to His Name. Just… soak it in. Read it three more times, bare minimum. Such harsh, harsh criticism. Everything in Romans thus far has built to a complete decimation of mankind, and we’re not even done yet! Teaching others to follow the law brings dishonor.

Do not exempt modern Christianity from this teaching, by the way. They say words Paul uses, such as forgiveness and grace, but most churches proceed to ask you to follow all the same laws the Jews had to follow (the Baptists are particularly bad at this. Maybe I’m just biased, because I grew up in a Baptist church, but their doctrine claimed you had to memorize all ten commandments and follow them, lest you must ask forgiveness or you bring dishonor to God. What the hell, guys?? What does it say of your beliefs when Paul states the opposite in God’s evangel!?)

For circumcision, indeed, is benefitting if you should be putting the law into practice, yet if you should become a transgressor of law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

For “circumcision” benefits you if you put law into practice. Do you know where the concept of “circumcision” came from? It was an old Jewish tradition, instilled in Abraham by God. At the time, it was a form of humility; man’s pride is, more often than not, found in his dick (and as a server, I’d love to tell you about how obsessed with penises humanity truly is! Fellow servers joke about them, customers joke about them, and hell, even I’ve joked about them. We all love a good dick joke, you know?) Considering it’s the device that implants children (life) in the female, you can see where men obtain this superiority complex over the course of their lives. The form of humility, then, was cutting the edge of the penis to humble man. This tradition has been lost over time, becoming less symbolic post crucifixion.

I am headed somewhere with this: the fact that circumcision was given to Abraham, and though Abraham is the father of all believers (including you and me, Gal. 3:7,) his allotment as the physical forefather of Israel designates the physical rite of circumcision a Jewish tradition. The “uncircumcised” that Paul references, then, are the nations. The rest of the world. The gentiles. He is teaching the “Gospel of the Uncircumcision” (Gal. 2:7) to the masses, which is different from the Circumcision (remember Matt. 15:24?)

Thus, keeping in mind who he is talking to (Rome,) he says circumcision will only benefit you if you put law into practice (this is not to say you “must” become a law-follower if you are circumcised.) He says, if you become a transgressor of law (which you are, as everyone is,) your circumcision becomes uncircumcision, or, you become like the nations.

This is all to say that the Jews, in their transgression of the law, would act as though the ritual itself was righteous, and made one righteous, and would ignore the spiritual notions behind it. Circumcision benefits you if you’re putting the law into practice, but if you break the law (which all of them did, dishonoring God in the process,) you group yourself with the rest of the world. Quite the frustrating message for Israel to hear. Paul will go as far, in Philippians 3:2, to call these active “law-keeper-breaker-Jew-people” the maimcision (KJV calls them “concision,” which, while weaker, holds a similar meaning.)

Finally, I have to say one more thing here: “circumcision” is not referring to all Jews, but only those that teach that you must follow every law in order to attain righteousness. However, this teaching is indeed prevalent among Jews and among many in churches today. Does this mean that those in church are literally able to become circumcision believers? No – they are not Jewish, and teach a separate evangel from Paul that mixes these laws and the faith. In Christ, there’s no distinction between Greek and Jew (Gal. 3:28.)

If the Uncircumcision, then, should be maintaining the just requirements of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision?

Paul states the converse of his previous statement. If is an operative word, here. If gives the statement a frame of reasoning, and not fact. The Jews in the Circumcision who fail to follow the law become transgressors. If, then, the Uncircumcision maintains the requirements of law, they would become the circumcision. This does not negate the fact that it is impossible to follow all 613 laws, as I’m spoiling for you, but it is the truth.

Now the question becomes, if Paul knows these laws are impossible to follow, then why is he talking about them? He’s building this argument that the circumcision, the designated Jews that he speaks of that are not operating in any faith or good will toward God, are being placed beneath the uncircumcision. If it were possible for the nations to maintain the requirements of the law, they would be reckoned with circumcision.

And the Uncircumcision who, by nature, are discharging the law’s commands, shall be judging you, who through letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of law.

Those that discharge the law’s commands will judge you, o Israelite, the transgressor of law. The Jews believed they were superior to the Greek, but in selling their Messiah and condemning Him to death, the Greek is now the one that will be judging (not condemning – judging) the Jew.

Note: letter in Paul’s writings aren’t, like, letters with stamps and a lil’ address on an envelope. It’s the law (we will see it again in Rom. 7:6 and 2 Cor. 3:6-7.)

For not that which is apparent is the Jew, nor yet that which is apparent in flesh is circumcision; but that which is hidden is the Jew, and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose applause is not of men, but of God.

This is the most complicated passage I’ve read in Romans thus far… this chapter has held a very clear dividing line between Jew and Greek, and this statement is both a summary for the last few verses, as well as a setup for the next verse (which is why, again, I think we should have a chapter beginning at verse 17 and ending at 3:20, but I digress.)

The essence of these words are, “The flesh does not bear fruit of the spirit,” in so many words. The circumcision gospel, which is all about following the law, is not fulfilled in flesh. The circumcision is found in the heart – Deut. 10:16, 30:6, Jer. 9:26. The law is of the circumcision, the uncircumcision is faith, and those that accomplish the uncircumcision’s faith (given by God, in the Body of Christ) will judge those in the circumcision, who are now lesser than the uncircumcision (Christ almighty, that’s a lot!) This is a crucial delineation, and one Paul will further break down in Galatians.

George Rogers makes another phenomenal point – that circumcision will play a role in their coming kingdom that was promised to them (Ezek. 44:9,) but by then, the outward will reflect the internal spiritual change, in which they will be able to follow the law (Jer. 31:31-33.)

All of this is in retrospect. The Jews receive this relative departure from the spotlight on account of the fact that they killed the Savior of all Mankind. They played their role as some of the major antagonists of this world, and they will now see the punishment that goes with it. Don’t take these men lightly, both the Pharisees of Paul’s day and the Christians now. The falsification of these words trips many into the circumcision when they do not need to be. The only consolation for this tragedy is the fact that God is still the one telling the story, and He has a plan for all of these people (one that does not involve eternal damnation. Seriously, where is that written?)

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I'm really excited to get back into this. I know many have really been reading my blog thanks to my response to Aaron Welch (moreover, thanks solely to God,) but I've been wanting to really post exhortations on Paul's evangel. That's where my heart is at. I hate division. I just want us all to be on the same page and of the same mind. It truly is all love and I'm so, so grateful to be gifted this platform to share my findings in Christ. Thank God, for blessing us all, in His grace! All love. Thank you all for reading!

- GerudoKing