Romans 2:12-16

Becoming aware of our own blind spots is an important part of maturing in our faith. The believers in Rome needed to do it and so do we.  It isn't enough for us to read or know, we are called to actually respond to what God reveals in us.

Transcript

Tempo: 120.0

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Happy Thursday. I am so glad you've chosen to come on in and meet with me here in the Word. And hopefully it's more than that. Hopefully we're here and we're meeting with Jesus. That's the goal. That as we engage with the scriptures and a little bit with each other, that we're ultimately inviting Jesus into the depths of who we are, that we could grow into maturity and let him do that incredible, life-changing work in us. We're back in Romans today, which means we should probably remind ourselves of what Paul has just finished saying. He's a pretty intense guy, and our little portion needs a bit of a context reminder. Paul goes on and on sometimes, and he continues to develop thoughts, and there are so many different things that could be interacted with that I've chosen to keep this broken up into smaller portions just because of the kind of the intensity of the material of the text itself. So going back to the beginning of chapter two, he's warned against being judgmental. And it seems like he's addressing all of the believers in the Roman church, but in particular the Jewish ones. And while he in chapter one has talked about sinful humanity and kind of paganism, those sorts of things, and now he's flipped it and he's talking to them and he's reminding them, hey, you're not actually the one in charge. Don't be judgmental, that's a problem for you. And then he's talked about God's kindness, which is what really leads us to change, to repentance. And then he's emphasizing that it's what we do, not our evaluation of others or our opinion of others or ourselves that really matters. So with all of that said, let's go ahead and pray and then we'll jump into the text together. Jesus, thank you that you are so invested into who we are as people. Thank you that you desire for us to not only be rescued, but to be changed. So God, we're here to keep growing up. That's what we want to do. Would you meet with us now? Amen. Beginning here at verse twelve. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Indeed, when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them, and at other times even defending them. This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. Let's go ahead and make a few observations about this text together. The first thing that really stands out to me is that this is once again all about doing, not just hearing, right? It's not just those who hear the law, right? It's those who who who do what it asks us to do. So it's not just about hearing or knowing or even understanding. And again, the Jews in the church had grown up with the understanding that righteousness came through the law. And when we talk about the law, we're talking about those first five books of the Bible, the first five books of the Old Testament. So that's always what we're referring to when that word is used. And certainly in keeping it. Like how how do you live a righteous life? And they would have rightly so said, Oh, you follow the law. Whatever the law tells us to do, we do whatever the law tells us not to do, we don't do. When we mess up, these are the steps that we take, the sacrifices we make, those kinds of things. And so that was really ingrained in you if you were a Jewish person at the time. And now we come to this second part, and and Paul is contending that while the law is God's covenant with the people of Israel, and it had been that for so long, and it is his standard for recognizing righteousness. I think that's actually still true today, that it reveals the holiness of God, that it does reveal God's values, I would say, that it is about revealing righteousness. That's what the law does. It's like a mirror or a or a test of sorts, that it shows us who we are, but it doesn't cause righteousness. In other words, it's not the thing that makes us right before God. It's not enough for us to simply follow the rules or even know the rules and that for that to make us okie dokie, right? There's something that actually needs to take place, and it really serves as a way of showing us who we actually are. And I feel like in not just today's passage, but in the ones immediately before and also the ones following it, I think Paul is trying to remove the entitlement that some of the Jews brought with them into their faith. By the way, we all do this. And it may not be entitlement, but it might be. But we all bring our own baggage into our faith, and it just is human nature. And sometimes we wish we could just snap our fingers and you know make that ugly part, that old man, kind of just go away and dissipate. But we do. We just we bring old thinking, old thoughts into our faith, and that's part of the work of maturing in Christ and uh having that ongoing work of being cleaned up. The the churchy word or the Bible word for that is sanctification. So we're seeking that out. So all of that is happening here, and we we see that yeah so clearly in verse 13. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. And Paul even really goes on to describe, you know, what's happening there for the Gentiles who who have consciences. We all do, right? And and these consciences are quite telling. They may not always line up exactly with what God has for us, but we do, we do all have that experience where we're like, oh, I know that what I'm doing right now isn't right. And those those moments are very informative for us, and we should be listening to what's happening with that inner voice. Let's reflect a little bit for ourselves now as we as we consider uh this text together. And you know, for me, I I was asking myself, what what baggage do I bring into my own spirituality? And I'm just gonna let you get a bit more of a glimpse into me, into Tim. And there are three things that came to mind pretty quickly. So either that's because I'm really self-aware, which is amazing, but but probably it's because God's been talking to me about these things and and working in my own heart about all of this. So the first bit of baggage that I bring into my own my own faith is that my people are good. And what do I I just I mean like my my family is a good family. You know, I was raised in a church-going family, and and even when I think about my extended family, my uncles and my aunts, my grandparents, uh all of who was involved, just kind of, you know, that heritage that's there. Like, yeah, my people are good people. They're they're Christian people, right? And so sometimes, I and especially as a kid, this was true, but even even lately I've I've been like, oh yeah, like not that I'm extra special, but I've I've had sometimes that feeling of like, well, I come from good stock, you know. I I hang around with with church folk, and they're they're good people. And so sometimes that can that can lead you into a place maybe of of false security. And and so that's just something that I've learned to recognize about myself is that I I I shouldn't, I shouldn't try to rest on those sorts of things. I shouldn't view those things as somehow being like yeah, make making me better than anyone else. It's just something that needs to be set aside. The second part is similar, it's it's that my beliefs are good. And and just again, full disclosure, I I came to Jesus when I was six. I can remember that moment quite clearly, and and so I've I've walked with Jesus for quite a long time. And I've spent a lot of time not just reading the word, but but considering it, studying it, those kinds of things. And and hopefully, after that much time, my beliefs should be good. But but does that mean that somehow I've got it all set straight or all together? Oh, I I still need to be learning, and sometimes I need to hear a perspective that is distinctly different than mine. That's part of maturing and growing up. So sometimes I'm just acknowledging that I bring that as baggage into my spirituality. And the last the last one is is pretty personal, and it's simply this that my talent or my skills can be mistaken for maturity. I've had the privilege of serving in ministry as a pastor, as a musician, for you know, well over 20 years, and and sometimes people, you know, they see and they hear the words spoken, they they view that and and they equate it to, oh, Tim must really have a great walk with Jesus. He knows all of the Bible verses, he can recall these different things, and and those things are helpful, it's not that they aren't, but that doesn't automatically mean that I'm mature. Hopefully those things assist that, but it's not about that, and we shouldn't confuse those those two things. So I wanted to ask you what baggage do you bring into your own faith? What are the things that when you kind of stop and take a moment, and my assumption, by the way, is that most of us listening aren't Jewish, so we don't have that exact same struggle that they did in in the book of Romans, but but we all have stuff, and and so what is it for you? Have you listened to God about that? I would encourage you just to take time and and and let the Spirit search you out. The second thing is is kind of piggybacking off of that. I think Paul is pointing out a blind spot for his readers. And again, what what blind spots do you think are present for you? And and maybe you don't you're not thinking of anything right now, and and and you might want to you know talk to a trusted friend about that, or just again, bring that before the Lord and invite him to speak that into you. And it's not the end of the world. If you find out, hey, I've I've actually I I do have some stuff to work through, that's not a bad thing. That's just recognition. And we can bring all of who we are into the Lord's presence and know that he is ultimately kind and he is holy, but he's also loving and and desiring for us to be changed and made more like him. Let me go ahead and pray for us. Jesus, thank you again for your goodness and your kindness to us. We love you, Lord, and we want to do everything we can to follow you and honor you. Amen.