Romans
2:4-29
False
Security
Page 3
Verses
17-20, tell us some of the characteristics of religious
people. But if
you bear the name Jew and rely upon the law, and boast in
God, and know his will and approve the things that are essential,
being instructed of the law"--i.e. you know the Bible--"you're
confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light
to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish,
a teacher of the immature, having in the law the embodiment
of knowledge of the truth." He gives us some of the characteristics of religious
people. First of all,
religious people rely many times on their affiliations to
"save" them. It's one of the signs of a religious person.
They rely on their affiliation.
You say 'Oh I'm a Methodist!' 'I'm a Presbyterian,
I'm a Mormom, I'm an Adventist'--No, that's not what I asked.
There's a sort of a mentality in the religious mind
of salvation by brand name, you know. I have had people ask me quite often, "Mark,
people at work are asking me 'What are you?'
What do I tell them?"
I say, "Tell them you're a Jesus person."
[One good way of doing it would be "I'm a Christian who just happens to attend
a 'Calvary Chapel', or 'a Baptist church' or 'a Methodist
church', etc., etc., you get the idea-Christian 1st,
affiliation 2nd. God doesn't look for your affiliation, he looks
to see if the Holy Spirit is indwelling you, whether you are
a real born-again Christian.
If that's what is most important to God, why do you
insist on putting your affiliation ahead of what God thinks
is important--"I'm a good Baptist"--yeah, but are you a good
Christian?--that's what God cares about.]
Because they ask me, 'Are you a Baptist?' 'No.' 'Are
you a Lutheran?' 'No.' 'Are you a Catholic?' 'No.' 'Well,
what are you!?' 'I'm a Christian!' Tell 'em you go to the generic church, everything
is yellow and black. Just
tell them you're a Jesus person.
You see, they've got the religious mentality too, don't
they? And you've got to cut through that and say 'I'm
a Jesus person. Everything
in my life is wrapped around Jesus Christ.'
For me to live is Christ, he is my life.
He's the one I'm expecting to return, he's the one
who saved me, he's the one who loves me, he's the one who
accepts me--I'm a Jesus person. Tell them that. It'll knock them over, they won't know what
to do with you. They
won't know where to pigeon-hole you.
'Yeah, but are you going to heaven?
Well, aren't all Catholics going to heaven?' [and on
it goes].
Secondly, a religious person, people, are
often in danger of relying on their knowledge and external
behavior to save them. To
religious people outward appearance is very important to them.
They couldn't worship in anything but a church-looking
building for one thing. For
years we were so blessed, we didn't get religious people.
They wouldn't come to this schoool
where we were meeting. We
didn't have pews. We
didn't have Hymnals. We didn't have stained glass windows and chandeliers
hanging down, you know. We
didn't have them. And
people would walk in and say "This is a church?" And they'd leave, and I was, 'Praise God!'
I'm sorry, ha, ha, I was so glad when they left.
They have to have an atmosphere, external things are
so important to them [things that amount to the re-arrangement
of the deck chairs on the Titanic], how people look, how people
dress, they can be very critical of everybody else, especially
those who don't meet their
standards.
Another characteristic that you see, you
know, he picks on Jews there, but they just represent the
religious person [in this passage].
Religious people are also in spiritual danger, they
have a false security based on a reliance on rituals and cerimonies
to save them. In Paul's
day the cerimony of circumcision was looked upon almost superstitiously. The rabbi's of his day thought that "no circumcised
Jewish male will see hell", end quote.
Another rabbi said (quote) "circumcision saves us from
hell" (end quote). The
Midrash includes this statement (quote) "God swore to Abraham
that no one who was circumcised would be sent to hell.
Abraham sits before the gate of hell and never allows
any circumcised Israelite to enter" (end quote).
I've sort of heard the same thing from people who think
you've got to be baptized to be saved, or "confirmed" or go
through the temple cerimony, or wear "holy underwear", or
pass out literature (gospel tracts), or be a vegetarian. I mean, I've heard this same thing, I mean,
religion is religion is religion.
I really believe that if you're a religious person
you could be a good Muslim, a good Mormon, it doesn't matter,
religion is religion. And Christianity stands starkly apart from
all of it, because Christianity does not believe that
any ritual or cerimony, even a Christian ritual or a Christian
cerimony has any salvation power in it.
There is no rite or ordinance that you can partake
of that will save you. Jesus saves, and only Jesus saves. 'But I was baptized!' So what. Do
you know the Lord? 'Well,
I was confirmed.' But
are you born-again? [i.e.
Does God's Holy Spirit dwell inside you?]
'Well, I'm a church member.'
Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior?
You see, when you get to heaven [into the Kingdom of
heaven as a resurrected immortal being, cf. 1 Cor 15:49-54,--heaven
will end up on earth, cf. Rev. 21:1-17] God is not going to
ask "Were you baptized?", "Were you confirmed?", "Were you
a church member?--Let's see your giving record."
He's not going to say any of that.
He's going to say "What did you do with my Son Jesus?" That's going to be the answer that's going to
get you in or out. 'What
have you done with Jesus?'
That's what matters. Too many people today are relying on some ritual
or cerimony that they went through to save them. But the Lord says something different, look
at Jeremiah chapter 9, beginning with verse 25, the Jews trusted
in this rite of circumcision.
Some trust, "Oh, I've had Holy Communion", "Oh, I've
been baptized." There's
no difference. See
the religious mentality, it's a false security that you have. "Behold days are coming, declares the Lord,
that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet"-what?-"uncircumcised;
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and
Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in
the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, all
the house of Israel, are uncircumcised in the heart."
[cf. Deuteronomy 10:16, "Circumcise therefore the
foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked." Deuteronomy 30:6, "And the Lord thy God will
circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love
the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
that thou mayest live." I.e. Physical circumcision was merely
a symbol for a far deeper spiritual act that must be fulfilled
in the hearts of all believers.
The physical symbol counts for nothing without the
spiritual counterpart being fulfilled.]
God says "Oh yeah, you've gone thorugh the outward
ritual, but your heart isn't with me." You can stuff bread in your mouth and drink
the wine and your heart isn't with me."
And you can do that week after week after week. I never forget my next-door neighbor growing
up, he got married, they had to have a Catholic wedding with
a High Mass, they had to have it.
He never went to church, ever.
But this was an essential, man, if the marriage is
going to work, we've got to have the right hockus, pockus
pronounced over it, you know.
And there he was at the altar, so drunk he could hardly
stand, laughing and giggling, partaking of the bread, just
so sickening. 'Oh,
but we went through the ritual.'
Well why don't you wear garlich around your neck too? You'd better wear crosses too, to protect yourself.
You'd better wear something to protect you from the
'evil eye' too, you know.
I mean, don't walk under ladders, and if a cat runs
in front of you--be careful!
Superstition is all it amounts to, 'Oh we'd better
get this baby baptized!' (God
forbid we kind of give God his due every once in awhile, Easter
& Christmas, we do try to make it to church if nothing
better comes up.) 'But
this baby better be baptized!' Superstition, hockus pockus is all it amounts
to. You see, you could
read it this way, "But behold days are coming, declares the
Lord, that I will punish all who are baptized and yet
not baptized-all who take Holy Communion and
yet don't take Holy Communion, all who are church
members, but they're not church members."
[You see, God sees who has the Holy Spirit dwelling
within them and who doesn't, God sees who is being actively
led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 8:9,14--read it) and who
isn't.] You see, heaven's
rolls and earth's rolls, heaven's computer printout and earth's
computer printout are two different things.
And are you sure? Are you the religious Christian? Oh, I just love to hear about Christians shooting
each other in [northern] Ireland, don't you?--blowing each
other to bits. 'See
you in heaven!--Boom!' 'Oh but they're "Christians"' 'They were Christians fighting there in Lebanon'--till
they all got wiped out, fighting the Muslims. Oh, just like Jesus, isn't it?-didn't he say
'Blow your enemies to bits?--Do it to them before they do
it to you?' Just like Jesus, right? You see, there are a lot of "religious" people
in the world. Religion
is religion, you can call it anything you want, but it's religion,
and it won't get you to heaven [i.e. into God's Kingdom, as
an immortal being, cf. 1 Cor 15].
Relationship is what gets you to heaven.
Not ritual, not religion--relationship.
Not cerimony, but the Savior.
And what have you done with Jesus [Yeshua]?
Is he your Redeemer?--then the ritual means something.
But if he's not, you're lost.
You're a lost 'religious' person.
Light your candles, say your prayers, it'll do you
no good, because you must be born again.
We're not saved by what we
do, we are saved by what he did for us. We're not saved by what is done
to us, we're saved by what he did for us. "My hope is built on nothing else than Jesus'
blood and righteousness. I
dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus
name, on Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is
sinking sand."" Maybe it dawned on you today that you're
a 'religious' person. If
you've been trusting in your 'baptism', if you've been trusting
in your 'confirmation' or 'church attendance', if you've been
trusting your 'knowledge of the Bible' or "Bible teachings',
if you've been trusting in anything
in addition to or other than Jesus Christ, throw it out now. [And we're not talking about Godly obedience
to the Word of God brought about by the enablement of God's
indwelling Holy Spirit--he does not mean that.]
And trust in Christ alone.
And let him begin a work in your life that will be
unbelievable. You won't
need a building anymore because you have the body of Christ.
You won't need the ritual because you have the Redeemer,
you have the Savior--puts meaning in the Sacriment."
[This sermon is a transcript of a sermon given by J.
Mark Martin of Calvary Community Church of Phoenix, AZ, used
by permission.]
[Now
I wish to put verses 17-29 of Romans 2 into the original context
of the audience they were written to--the
Jewish believers in Yeshua who were attending the Church of
God in Rome. This Roman congregation of the early apostolic
Church of God was composed of two major ethnic groups, Jewish
believers--Torah observant Jewish believers--and Gentile Roman
believers. Now read these same verses, understanding that
these Torah observant Jewish believers were trying to be "teachers"
of the Law to their Gentile brother members in this same congregation,
and Paul was critiquing their teaching style, words without
substance. They had the knowledge of the Law all their
lives, and were now trying to teach it to the Gentile believers
while not obeying it themselves!
They were putting more emphasis on the rituals of the
Old Testament Law of Moses than on having a relationship with
Jesus Christ (Yeshua Meschiach). Paul was showing them that while they were busy
teaching the Law of God, they were not really obeying it--or
how real obedience is brought about in a believer--by first
seeking to have an active living relationship with Jesus of
Nazareth--then true heartfelt Holy Spirit enabled obedience
would follow. Relationship
first, then Jesus inside believers brings about true godly
obedience to the Law of Christ.
So now let's read what Paul said to the Jewish believers
in the apostolic Church of God meeting in Rome. Now to
Romans 2:17-29, "Behold, thou art called a
Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more
excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident
that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them
which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher
of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth
in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest
thou not thyself? Thou
that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through
breaking the law dishonorest thou God?
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles
through you, as it is written.
For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the
law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision
is made uncircumcision. Therefore
if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall
not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature,
if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision
dost transgress the law? For
he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly: neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of
God."
And
realize this, there are Messianic Jewish-Christian congregations
all across America, and now spreading around the world.
There are over 90 active Messianic Jewish-Christian
congregations in the nation of Israel.
So keeping the customs of the Law of Moses as part
of the gospel, if that is your ethnic background, is not forbidden
by the new covenant law of Christ. Jewish believers are free to do that, as long
as they put their relationship with Jesus, Yeshua of Nazareth,
first and formost, seeking Yeshua-Holy Spirit-enabled obedience
through faith. Then the Old Testament rituals, Holy Days and
Sabbath are perfectly OK, and have tremendous meaning for
the believer [see http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/lamb/holyday.htm
]--just as Holy Communion and baptism have for Gentile Christians. These Jewish believers just had the ritualistic
'cart before the horse',
putting more emphasis on the Old Testament, Law of Moses rituals
than on a direct relationship with Christ.
When you get to Romans 14 you'll see Paul's strong
advice about the rights these Messianic Jews had to keep observing
their Law of Moses customs, and that they also were covered
by the blood of Yeshua. Now
today a tremendous revival of Messianic Jewish believers in
Yeshua has arisen, and most of them are non-Torah observant
believers who follow the Torah customs, including Sabbath
and Holy Day observance, out of ethnic preference, which is
allowed by the legislation Paul cut in Romans 14 (mirrored
in Acts 15), verses 5-6, 22-23.
To read more about this amazing revival of the late
20th and early 21st century, log onto
http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/messianicmovement/messianicmovement.htm.
The
gospel of salvation, as God inspired the apostles to write
down (Acts 15 and Romans 14), was designed by God to be adaptive
to whatever race or ethnic group it would encounter.
It was originally adapted to the Jewish race and ethnic
group, Judaism. The first churches were Messianic Jewish, and
appeared to be so Jewish, ethnic Mosaic customs and all, that
it was considered by the temple leaders of the time to be
an offshoot sect of Judaism, and was actually called by these
same temple leaders the sect of the Nazarenes. This
branch of Jewish Christians, whose Headquarters church was
the Church of God in Jerusalem, was estimated to be as large
as 50,000 members. Other
Messianic congregations were scattered throughout Asia Minor,
keeping Sabbath and Holy Days, and a New Testament Passover
service once a year (under John, Polycarp and Policrates).
As you got more into the pagan Gentile parts of the
Roman empire and away from these Messianic Jewish congregations,
Paul centered his advice and writings more on Gentile practices
and issues than Jewish. But
in Paul's writings, only two branches of Christianity are
ever mentioned, the Gentile and the Jewish.
Now we see that this same Jewish branch of Christianity
is making a comeback-it is being brought back into existence
by the direct calling of God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
To read more about this amazing ongoing event log onto
the link titled: Two Branches of Christianity, Jewish and
Gentile. You will find
this information fascinating. (http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/messianicmovement/twobranches.htm
)]
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