“Christ Alone”
Romans 2:17-29

 

It may seem strange, even weird to us that Paul would devote so much time to the bad news that is sin.  It seems as if he’s obsessing on the negative, what’s awful and bad.  Wouldn’t it be better to get to the positive, the attractive, the uplifting good news and focus on that and help people see that the gospel really is good?  Wouldn’t that feel more edifying than lingering for so long on the sinfulness of the Gentiles and Jews, that is, all of us?  I’d argue that much of American Christianity, liberal, mainline as well as evangelical, has said “yes” to these questions.  It would be more attractive, more uplifting, more edifying to get to the good news as soon as possible.  And so they pay “lip service” to what God’s Word says about sin, and have then quickly moved on to the positive, feel-good part of Christianity.

But I think there are some very profound reasons for this staying on this topic as long as Paul does.  One reason is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn’t simply drop on us as overwhelmingly good news until we have some deeper sense of our sinfulness and hopelessness before God.  When we recognize how truly desperate and hopeless and lost we are in our sin, then we are able to really get in touch (heart, mind, and soul) with the incredible, amazing grace that is God’s gift of His own precious Son for our salvation.  A “once over lightly” focus on sin doesn’t help us truly appreciate what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  If we think lightly of sin, we will think lightly of our Savior.

Another reason why Paul continues this focus on sin is that while we may be willing to say, “This is the awful truth,” we’re very unwilling to say, “This is the awful truth about me.”  It’s this resistance that comes to the forefront in our passage today.  The resistance comes from a particular group of people, those who consider themselves “religious.”  The chief example in Paul’s day of the “religious” person was the Jew.  Let’s bring this forward 20 centuries.  Who is the “religious” person in 2006?  Today the person who fits this category could be any churchgoing Protestant (regardless of denomination) or a devout Roman Catholic.  The religious person’s response to Paul’s argument so far, his description of people lost in sin, living under judgment and condemnation, headed toward an eternal destiny full of misery, suffering, and horror is, “Right on!  Preach it, brother, let ‘em have it!  Paul, I’m glad you’re not talking about me!  My religion exempts me from your blanket condemnations.  I attend a church.  I’ve been baptized.  I’m a member of my church.  I take communion.  I mean, I believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God!”  Paul replies to that person in this passage, addressing two privileges that led the Jews (as “religious” people) to think they were exempt from everything Paul’s been saying since Romans 1:8.  They thought these privileges translated into a religious life that made them right with God, excluded them from His judgment and condemnation.  Paul disagreed and declared that these privileges gave them greater responsibility, which led to greater accountability, that led to greater judgment and condemnation.

The first privilege was the knowledge of God’s truth.  In verses 17-20 we have a remarkable picture of the privileges of the Jews in having possession of the Law of God in their Bibles.  In these verses are two sets of four claims that the Jews, as religious people, made: 1) we rely on the law,  2) we brag about our relationship with God, 3) we know His will, and 4) we approve of what is superior.  Look at verses 19-20 where four more claims: as possessors of this great knowledge we are, 1) guides to the blind, 2) a light to those who are “in the dark,” 3) instructors of the foolish, and 4) the teachers of infants.  The Jews were the people of the book; they had knowledge of God’s truth in their Bible.  Paul agrees with that.  But, there is something clearly wrong, desperately wrong.  And we, who claim to be people of the book, who affirm the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God, who participate in Bible Study Fellowship, who regularly read and reflect on and study God’s Word, should be all ears and on the edge of our seats to find out what went wrong.  We don’t want to make the same mistake!  So, what’s wrong?  Look at verse 21.  Paul asks, “You then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”  Another way to put it: “You teach, but do you practice what you teach?”  In the questions he asks in verses 21, 22, and 23, Paul answers his own question with a resounding NO.  For all your knowledge of God’s truth, you do NOT practice what you teach.  You bring disgrace on God for your sin.  We know that every sin dishonors God.  But sin that is committed by those who claim God’s name, who honor and promote and are committed to God’s truth dishonor Him the most.  As verse 24 puts it, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.”  Knowledge of God’s Word is of no value before God unless that knowledge is put into practice.

The second privilege the Jews claimed as religious people was the sacrament (verses 25-29).  That’s what circumcision was, a sacrament, a visible sign that set the Jewish people apart from all other people.  The problem is that this privilege led the Jews to believe that all they had to do to find favor with God was to be circumcised.  No matter what they did, how they behaved, if they were circumcised, they were saved.  Jewish rabbis in Paul’s day taught, “No circumcised man will see hell,” and “God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised will be sent to hell.”  Paul’s response is that circumcision has value only if it’s a visible indicator of something that has happened in here, what he calls a “circumcised heart,” a heart that has been changed and saved by the Spirit of God.  From that changed heart comes a life that seeks and keeps God’s law of truth and righteousness.  It’s impossible not to tie these verses to our sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Last Supper.  Are there people who believe that because they’ve been baptized they’re Christians, or that because they take communion they’ve found favor with God?  I know there are.  The sacraments use visible elements (water for baptism, bread and juice for the Lord’s Supper) to point to something the Spirit of Jesus Christ is doing in here.  If you participate in these sacraments but don’t have that inner work of the Spirit of God alive in you, then those sacraments don’t affirm you; they accuse you and will ultimately judge you and condemn you.

I have three conclusions today.  First, knowledge alone, even knowledge of God’s Word does not win God’s favor and approval.  On the contrary, superior knowledge can actually lead to greater condemnation, if it is not accompanied by a commitment to live by that knowledge and truth.  If that was what God expected of the Jews, how much more does He expect it of believers in Jesus Christ?  We not only have Jesus Christ and the New Testament, we also have the Holy Spirit to instruct us and guide us and enable us to love and obey God’s truth!  Those who claim to be Christians but who persistently live in sin prove they carry the name of Christ in vain.  And because there is no difference between their behavior and that of unbelievers, God’s name is mocked, scorned, blasphemed among unbelievers.  Does that happen today?  I know it does.

Second, the sacraments, either of the Old Testament or of the New, save no one, they do nothing to help you gain favor with God.  The sacraments point to what saves, but they do not save.  If you trust that your baptism or your taking the Lord’s Last Supper makes you pleasing to God, if you think these sacraments help you find favor with Him, I have two words for you: forget it.  If you think your membership in the church, or coming to worship once a week gains favor with God, realize there is no biblical basis for that kind of thinking.  I raise this issue because I’m afraid there are many who think that that’s all that they have to do to be saved, go to church once a week.  It’s been rightly said, “Going to church on Sunday doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.

Third, “In Christ Alone” is one of my favorite new, contemporary songs.  It sings of hope, light, strength, solid ground, comfort love, the wrath of God satisfied, victory, sin’s curse losing its grip.  We’ll sing of no guilt, no fear, and the power of God.  Notice that there’s absolutely no mention of knowledge, circumcision, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, church membership, or Sunday worship in this song.  Why?  Because none of those promises, those precious, life-changing, eternally glorious promises, is found in these activities.  It is in Jesus, in Christ alone, that you can find all these precious truths and promises, in Christ alone you can find favor with God, in Christ alone that you can please Him, it is in Christ alone that you can be saved!