Want to discover your freedom in Christ? Then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin (0:07) Smith talk about it, today on Grace Coach. Today we're talking about Romans (0:14) chapter 2 through the end of the chapter. We're gonna be talking about the Jew is (0:22) condemned by the law.

Mike, you want to do a little recap of us, where we've been in (0:30) this journey through Romans? Yeah, I sure will. You know, I'd like to say first (0:35) Kevin, we are approaching 40,000 downloads of our podcast. Holy smokes! (0:43) It's just amazing and I just love seeing the activity.

Oh my gosh, 40,000. Now, I (0:53) never would have thought 40,000 people would have listened to our podcast. Yeah, those are unique downloads, so it's very cool.

(1:00) Back up a little bit and just do a little recap of what Paul is trying to (1:05) explain here in the book of Romans to mostly Gentiles, but also Jews, and we see (1:11) that in Romans 1, 16 and 17, he says he's not ashamed of the gospel because it is (1:19) the power of God that brings salvation for everyone who believes, first for the (1:24) Jew and then the Gentile. That's what he means for all who believe, all Jews and (1:29) all Gentiles who believe. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is (1:35) revealed, that's imputed righteousness, not self-righteousness, and it says it's a (1:40) righteousness that comes by faith from first to last, and it says the righteous (1:45) will live by faith.

But the problem here in where Paul is writing in (1:52) the book of Romans is that there are Jews and Gentiles who do not believe in (1:56) Jesus, and they're suppressing the truth. So, he's talking to both of them. First, he (2:04) talks to the Gentile, then he talks to the Jews, and in chapter Romans 1, 18, to the (2:11) Gentile, he says that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all (2:17) the godliness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their (2:22) wickedness.

They're suppressing their truth about Jesus, which so many do today (2:28) who don't believe. And then in chapter 2, verse 5, to the Jew, he says, because of (2:37) your stubbornness and unrepentant heart towards Jesus, again, you are storing up (2:44) wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment (2:50) will be revealed. So, both the Gentile and the Jew are unrepentant.

They're (2:56) suppressing the truth. And so, Paul goes on to say, well, this is how to escape the (3:04) judgment of God. He says in Romans 2, 7, that to those who persist in doing good, (3:12) seek glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

But for those who (3:18) are self-seeking, who reject the truth and follow evil, there'll be wrath and anger. (3:25) This is sometimes a confusing verse. We talked about it last time, about what is (3:30) doing good.

I want to read John 5, 29, which really shows what that really means. (3:39) And it says, those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and (3:45) those who continue in evil will rise to experience judgments. Doing good in the (3:53) new covenant is about believing in Jesus.

That's why, again, Paul is writing this, (3:58) because he wants to help the Jew and the Gentile come to faith in Christ. So, the (4:05) Gentiles are without excuse. The Jews are without excuse.

And it says, finally, in (4:12) Romans 3, there is no one righteous, Jew or Gentile, who are not saved, not even one. (4:20) There is no one who understands. There's no one who seeks God, and that all have (4:25) sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

So, he really just is laying it out (4:31) here in Romans 1, 2, and 3, trying to help. You know, he's trying to help the (4:38) unbelieving Jew and the unbelieving Gentile come to faith in Christ. (4:45) I mean, it's amazing that Paul is basically leveling the field.

You know, (4:54) you mentioned it in Romans 3, you know, there's none righteous, no, not one. To (5:00) these law-abiding Jews, that was the ultimate slap in the face. Paul was (5:07) ushering in a totally new way to relate to God, something completely foreign to (5:13) what they lived their whole lives, and it was what we are living under right now.

(5:22) We're living under a faith-based relationship for all those who believe (5:29) and trust by faith in Christ. That's what Paul was telling them 2,000 years ago (5:37) and we're still telling people that today, and praise God for all the other (5:42) people in the world that are doing that. Let me read a little bit of Romans 2, 17 (5:49) through 24, and we'll kind of get into really what the Scripture is talking (5:54) about.

We always like to read it first. All right, Romans chapter 2, verse 17 (6:02) through 24. But if you bear the name Jew and rely upon the law and boast in God (6:11) and know his will and approve the things that are essential being instructed out (6:17) of the law and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind and (6:23) the light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of (6:28) the immature, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, (6:35) you therefore who teach another do not teach yourself.

You who preach that one (6:44) shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do (6:53) you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the (7:03) law through your breaking the law, do you dishonor God? For the name of God is (7:11) blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written. So we'll stop (7:19) there. The end of verse 24.

Yeah, it's basically really in the unbelieving (7:27) Jews face here, calling them a hypocrite. Well, you know, he goes through the whole (7:33) laundry list of things and he asks these rhetorical questions. And a rhetorical (7:41) question, most people know, is a question you don't need the answer (7:46) because it's obvious.

You know, do you steal? Well, of course you steal. You've (7:51) been robbing the temples. Do you lie? It's ridiculous.

He's just like, you're a sham. (8:00) He's telling these people that they're a sham, basically. You know, and he also (8:07) says in verse 22, you who say that people should not commit adultery, do you (8:11) commit adultery? And if you remember in Matthew, I think it's Matthew 5 in the (8:18) Beatitudes, where he says, have you committed adultery? Well, they said no.

(8:24) Well, have you looked at a woman with lust in your eyes? You got me. So, yes, (8:31) because he's getting underneath the skin where the Jews were saying, we didn't (8:36) adultery, but Jesus says, you have the spirit of adultery in your mind and in your thought (8:42) by just looking at a woman with lust in your eyes. And, you know, we all know what that means, (8:49) right? Just because we're not doing something doesn't mean that we're not thinking it.

(8:53) Jesus is just in the Jews' face, as Paul is, you know, by breaking the law of Moses, (9:00) which they were doing, they were giving God a bad name among the Gentiles. (9:07) They saw the Jewish people breaking their own law while looking down on others (9:14) and judging them, others, the Gentiles. And the Gentiles' response was that they were (9:22) blaspheming God about, you know, about Israel's God, about their Jewish God.

(9:28) Yeah, yeah, the Gentiles were blaspheming God because of their, of what the Jews were doing. (9:34) Exactly. (9:36) They weren't fooling anybody, basically, is what Paul is saying.

(9:39) That's right. (9:40) You think you're fooling people. You walk around with your robes and your phylacteries and all this (9:44) and this, and you say your long prayers on the street corner.

You're not fooling anybody. (9:52) Yeah, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And it's not just that (9:59) we have committed sins.

It's, the problem is that we're born into this world spiritually dead (10:07) and separated from God, all of us, both Jews and Gentiles. And that's the problem. There is (10:14) no one righteous, it's because we're all born unrighteous.

And Paul here is trying to help (10:23) both the Jew and the Gentile come to understand (10:27) there is a way, there is a way to Jesus and it's not by following the law. (10:32) And he wants to help them both avoid the wrath of God that is to come. (10:38) Absolutely.

We talk about this a lot, but it's, it is so comforting to know that we're not under (10:47) the law and that, you know, the 10 commandments are part of the law, but we, we can't, (10:57) we can't live up to the 10 commandments. And once you do, you can't just say, (11:04) oh, I want to do, choose whichever one you want. Cherry pick.

(11:10) Yeah. Cherry pick. You can't just say, oh, I want to try and do this and not that.

(11:15) You've got to do all of it or none of it. And if you try to do it all and you've, (11:20) you mess up in one point, as James says, you're guilty of all. (11:25) That is right.

It's a, it's a zero sum game. This relationship with God, he has set it up (11:33) for each person to believe on themselves by faith in Jesus Christ. And that is the only way.

(11:44) Listen to what Matthew says in 23, 13 to 15. He says to the Pharisees, (11:51) woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You shut the door of the kingdom (11:57) of heaven in people's faces.

You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are (12:04) trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. He says that twice (12:12) in two verses.

You travel over land and sea to win a single convert. And when you have succeeded, (12:19) you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. Child of hell.

(12:29) Twice as much a child of hell. That is no bueno. Yeah.

So I'm going to read the rest of Romans (12:37) two here. Romans 2, 25 to 27 says that circumcision is value if you observe the law. (12:45) But if you break the law, you have become as though you have not been circumcised.

(12:51) So then if those who are not circumcised, that's the Gentiles, keep the law's requirements, (12:57) will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised (13:03) physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you. He's talking about the Gentiles. (13:09) Even though you have the written code and circumcisions are a law breaker.

(13:17) So he's just continuing to pound the Jewish hypocrisy talking about circumcision. (13:26) A very delicate matter, I might add. Very, very delicate.

You don't want to (13:32) slip with a wrist on that thing. You know, according to the Jewish law, (13:38) circumcision is the physical representation of the covenant between God and Abraham in the Old (13:45) Testament and was required for the inclusion of males into the Jewish faith. And so I went (13:56) through that.

I'm from a Jewish family. On the eighth day, I don't remember it, thank goodness, (14:04) but there was a ceremony and a rabbi came by our home. I went through that process, but (14:12) the purpose of it back then and even today was to say, hey, this is how you're included in the faith.

(14:20) It's no different than baptism in many religions today that they say you must be baptized (14:29) if you're going to be saved and be in the faith. They say that incorrectly? (14:38) Well, they're referring to water baptism, but if you want to be included in the faith, (14:44) there's a spiritual baptism that must happen, and that's when you put your faith in Jesus, (14:51) then you are baptized by the Spirit at that moment. It's not with water.

(14:58) It's with just your faith in Jesus that you are baptized into Jesus. (15:05) You know, this is a little bit of a rabbit trail, but, ma'am, yesterday after work, (15:13) we're sitting out in the parking lot, and this guy came to our job. He hasn't been there a long time, (15:21) so he was talking about getting his son baptized as a infant, and kind of a long story.

He was (15:30) Catholic, and he was divorced, and the Catholic church wouldn't let him get baptized because he (15:37) was divorced. I mean, my heart was just breaking for this guy in just the whole situation that he (15:46) was in. He was talking to this other guy who's a churchgoer, and he's very influential in his (15:54) church.

Long story short, the other guy got him the ability to get his kid baptized at his church. (16:04) I forgot exactly what I said, but it's something like you don't have to get your kid baptized or (16:11) something, meaning that you get baptized after you become a Christian as a sign of what you've done (16:20) as a celebration. But I didn't want to really belabor the point and just rain on their parade.

(16:29) They were real happy and everything else like that. But it's just sad what the world is doing (16:35) with baptism, and backwards it is. Right.

It's just like the Jewish faith, where they think that (16:43) physical circumcision is the day when you're entered into the Jewish faith. Many religions (16:51) will say that once a baby is baptized with water, they are included in the faith. They are basically (17:00) saved, and there's nothing worse than thinking that is true, because it's not true, and you (17:08) might miss eternal life if you believe that.

Let's read the next two verses that really kind (17:16) of tie this thing together. Yeah. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision (17:24) that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that (17:34) which is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from (17:41) God.

So basically, I know this is the NIV. I was reading it in an ESV, and it says it a little (17:51) different, but it's basically like a Gentile could be a Jew inwardly if they're circumcised by the (18:00) heart. Basically, if your heart is circumcised, not your private parts, your heart, that is the key (18:15) element in this relationship with God.

If your heart is circumcised, you can become a Jew. (18:23) You know, I don't want to elaborate too much on what that means, what a Gentile becoming a Jew, (18:29) but the point is that your heart's been circumcised by faith, by the Spirit. (18:36) It's a lot like this, Kevin, to me.

It's like when you want your dog to do something, (18:44) you want him to go get the ball, and you go point to the dog to go get his ball, (18:51) and he comes, and he starts sniffing your finger. Yeah. Right, and that to me is the same thing (18:58) that we're looking at physical pictures.

In the Old Testament, there's all these physical pictures (19:06) of spiritual truths. Circumcision in the Old Covenant is just a physical picture of the (19:13) circumcision, like you're referring to, of our heart. The ark where Noah and his family were (19:20) saved was just a physical picture of the salvation that we receive in Jesus Christ.

(19:27) Yes, so many illustrations. So many. Foreshadowing.

There were shadows of things to come, (19:35) but Hebrews 10 says not the reality themselves. They were just shadows, but people are just (19:41) sniffing the shadows. Yeah.

What about Adam and Eve, the first sin they did? God covered their (19:49) sin with the sacrifice. He sacrificed an animal and gave them a covering. Just a picture of Jesus (19:58) Christ taking away our sins one time on the cross.

It's just on and on and on. All these (20:04) baptisms, water baptisms, just a physical picture of an inward truth. That's what it's all about.

(20:12) It's all pointing. God is pointing towards Jesus, and people are just sniffing (20:20) God's finger and not looking to where he's pointing. (20:25) You know, John 3, 5 to 8, I want to read.

Jesus answered, very truly, I tell you, (20:33) no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the spirit. (20:39) Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at (20:45) me saying you must be born again.

And so he's using the physical picture of birth, (20:52) as we pass through our mother's womb, to the spiritual birth of being born again. (21:02) Always, God is using physical pictures to explain spiritual truths, (21:07) and we got to let go of that if we're going to understand the love of God and Jesus Christ. (21:14) I always talk about The Chosen on our podcast a lot, but that was a powerful movie, (21:22) part of The Chosen.

When Jesus met Nicodemus, and he tried to explain that aspect to him, (21:30) and he basically, Nicodemus knelt down and kissed Jesus's ring. He could really see that he was (21:40) talking to somebody who understood the real deal and was speaking truth to him. Oh my gosh, I can't (21:51) wait till season three comes out.

Yeah, me too. You know, it's the spirit of God, Kevin, living (21:57) inside of us. He leads us into truth.

He reveals the truth of the Word of God to us, so that we (22:05) would understand what God has freely given us. And so I just pray that anyone listening today, (22:13) if you're not sure if you're saved or not, right now, pray and ask the Lord to come live inside (22:20) of you, and he will be your Lord and Savior. All your sins have been forgiven.

Once he's living in (22:28) you, he'll never leave you. It's a done deal. If you're only 98% sure, I would pray that prayer (22:36) to be a 100% sure.

And if you do pray that prayer to ask Christ to come in your life, (22:42) you will be saved, and you will see the Lord the day of not only the rapture, but when the (22:50) new millennial kingdom comes back to earth, we'll be with the Lord forever. (22:57) Amen. That makes me think of 1 John 5, 13, where it says, for those who have believed, (23:06) they will know that they have eternal life.

They won't think it. They won't feel it. They won't (23:12) want it.

If you believe, you will know you have eternal life. And I think that's the spirit (23:23) in abiding in your heart. I mean, you know there is a change.

You know something's different (23:32) when you believe. Well, good podcast, Kevin. Can't wait to get into Romans chapter 3.