Episode Synopsis:

In Romans 1:18–32, Paul exposed the unrighteousness of the Gentiles. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and engage in all sorts of godless behavior. Then, in Romans 2:1–3:8, Paul turns the spotlight of the law upon the Jews, exposing the troubling fact that they are no better off than the Gentiles. While correct in recognizing the truth of Paul’s condemnation of the Gentiles, the Jews were doing many of the same things for which they self-righteously judged the Gentiles. If they think God will overlook their own lawbreaking and hypocrisy, they are sadly mistaken.

Paul has set out the blessing-curse principle established at creation, when Adam and Eve were created as divine image-bearers. The law was written upon their hearts: “Do this and you shall live; break this command and you will die.” After God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai through the mediation of Moses, the commandments given to Adam and Eve as representatives of the human race were codified and published to Israel in the two tables of the law.

This blessing-curse principle remains in place, as Paul reiterates several times in chapter 2. God will give to each according to what they have done, promising blessings for obedience and threatening curses for disobedience. The Jews mistakenly assumed that the mere possession of the law and undergoing circumcision would protect them from God’s judgment. But their failure to keep the commandments, along with their error in understanding the essence of circumcision as a matter of cutting the flesh rather than a matter of the heart, renders them guilty before God.

But Paul is not done. Far from it. In Romans 3:9–20, Paul turns up the wattage, shining a very bright floodlight on both Jew and Gentile. Has anyone from either group ever kept the commandments of God? The verdict? No, not one. Is anyone (Jew or Gentile) righteous before God? No, not one. Is there anyone who truly seeks God and desires to obey his will? No, not one. In fact, all have turned aside. When it comes to the blessing-curse principle, how many have done good and earned the promised blessing? Not even one.

In verses 9–20 of Romans, Paul will open up the Old Testament to expose the fact that every person and every aspect of human nature has been tainted and corrupted by sin. The bad news is really bad. When Paul is finished with his indictment, not a single member of Adam’s race (Jew or Gentile) can claim the promised blessing. Rather, we all face the covenant curses because of our disobedience.

For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Episode Synopsis:

In the opening eight verses of Romans chapter 3, Paul continues to address the matter of Jewish hypocrisy by asking a series of rhetorical questions that have obvious answers. The Jews were given many blessings by God as beneficiaries of the national covenant he made with Israel at Mount Sinai—especially the covenant sign and seal of circumcision. Yet the Jews mistakenly assumed that the mere possession of these blessings protected them from the wrath of God that was coming upon the Gentiles. The Jews condemned the Gentiles for their godless conduct but, as it turns out, were doing many of the same things themselves.

To expose such hypocrisy, Paul now takes up a role in which the apostle speaks as a former Jew, who is then answered by “Paul the apostle.” Each of these questions and answers is designed not only to expose Jewish hypocrisy but also to remind his Jewish readers of God’s right to judge his disobedient people. God alone tells the truth and does not lie. And those who claim to be spared from judgment by the mere possession of covenant blessings will find themselves exposed to the covenant curses and will realize that God is just and righteous when he punishes the disobedient—especially the hypocritical.

But Paul also addresses an objection he has heard that reveals the depths of misunderstanding regarding the judgment of God. Someone is claiming that since God judges sin and evil, then sin and evil are good things, since through them God reveals his righteousness. So why not sin if it serves God’s purposes? Paul quickly and forcefully rebukes those teaching such things. As he says in verse 8, their condemnation is just.

For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/

Episode Synopsis:

Gentiles had a difficult time understanding why Jews would circumcise their male children. There was no Gentile heritage or memory of Abraham. Further complicating the situation was the fact that, among Jews in Rome—as with Jews across the Greco-Roman world—circumcision was understood to be a meritorious act. Those who were circumcised were numbered among the people of God, and those who were not were not. Imagine the difficulty of converting from Gentile paganism to Judaism and then having to undergo a very painful surgery in a very delicate place. Proselytes not only needed to embrace monotheism, embrace Jewish feasts and ceremonial washings, follow the dietary laws, and obey the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments), but also undergo circumcision as adults.

But just as Paul challenged the Galatian Judaizers—the covenant God made with Moses at Mount Sinai was not to be confused with the gracious covenant God made with Abraham—so too the true meaning of circumcision was not found in the cutting of flesh. The cutting of flesh was an outward sign of the cutting of the heart—a way to speak of faith in Jesus Christ. In Romans 2:17–29, Paul is not only correcting the Jewish misunderstanding of circumcision—a serious error in its own right—but also letting Jewish Christians know that uncircumcised Gentiles could be numbered among the people of God and become true children of Abraham without undergoing circumcision.

Paul’s discussion of circumcision (verses 25–29) flows out of his efforts to take the Jews to task for their hypocrisy in verses 17–24. The Jews demand certain behavior of others—stop stealing, stop committing adultery, stop robbing temples. But many Jews were doing the same things themselves. The Jews are supposed to instruct those who live in ignorance and walk in darkness—the Gentiles. They were to show them that truth is found in the law of Moses, the very embodiment of God’s will. But instead of leading and teaching the blind and foolish Gentiles, the Jews commit the very same sins themselves. Imagine the blatant hypocrisy of insisting upon something permanent like circumcision, all the while committing the same sins that you insist the person about to submit to the procedure is supposed to stop doing.

This leads to one of the most tragic lines in the whole of the New Testament (verse 24): “For, as it is written, `The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”

For show notes and other recommended materials located at the Riddleblog as mentioned during the Blessed Hope Podcast, click here: https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/