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Romans 2:
23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
In the midst of a lengthy narrative on the nature of being a “spiritual” Jew,
Paul pauses to quote from Isaiah 52:5:
Now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them make them wail,says the Lord, and My name is blasphemed continually every day.
By directing us to Isaiah 52, Paul is presenting a distinction that is to be made
between earthly Jerusalem that is in bondage, and the Jerusalem that is above.
Isaiah 52:
1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer
come to you.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself
from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
“You who make your boast in the Law”
Why does Paul frame this carnal/spiritual dichotomy against the Law?
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
The Law leads to bondage because to keep your mind on the Law is to keep your mind
on sin, and the carnal nature, rather than on things above.
For by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20
We find liberty in the Spirit of promise
Galatians 4:
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman,
the other by a free woman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and
he of the free woman through promise,
24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from
Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar;
25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children;
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Therefore, the Law was given for the children of the bondwoman,
and the Law defines the unrighteous person.
1 Timothy 1:
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person,
but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners,
for the unholy and profane….and if there is any other thing that is
contrary to sound doctrine.
The children of promise are of the free woman, who receive the Spirit of promise.
You must be born again from above and receive the Holy Spirit of promise in order
to KNOW His good, and acceptable and perfect Will. Romans 12:2
Only God Himself can define who is righteous; by giving them to His Son,
by placing His Holy Spirit in them,
and commanding them to serve His Son as a slave to righteousness.
We serve the Lord by receiving His Precepts as a personal mandate to do His Will.
Isaiah 52:
6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know on that day
that I am He who speaks. Behold, it is I.
The Watchmen rejoice in the messengers of the Lord
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.
Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
The Watchmen find rest when the message is received,
and the Lord has comforted His People.
8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together.
For they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,You waste-places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
In the midst of a lengthy narrative on the nature of being a “spiritual” Jew,
Paul pauses to quote from Isaiah 52:5:
Now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them make them wail,says the Lord, and My name is blasphemed continually every day.
By directing us to Isaiah 52, Paul is presenting a distinction that is to be made
between earthly Jerusalem that is in bondage, and the Jerusalem that is above.
Isaiah 52:
1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer
come to you.
2 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself
from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
“You who make your boast in the Law”
Why does Paul frame this carnal/spiritual dichotomy against the Law?
Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
The Law leads to bondage because to keep your mind on the Law is to keep your mind
on sin, and the carnal nature, rather than on things above.
For by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20
We find liberty in the Spirit of promise
Galatians 4:
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman,
the other by a free woman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and
he of the free woman through promise,
24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from
Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar;
25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which
now is, and is in bondage with her children;
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Therefore, the Law was given for the children of the bondwoman,
and the Law defines the unrighteous person.
1 Timothy 1:
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person,
but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners,
for the unholy and profane….and if there is any other thing that is
contrary to sound doctrine.
The children of promise are of the free woman, who receive the Spirit of promise.
You must be born again from above and receive the Holy Spirit of promise in order
to KNOW His good, and acceptable and perfect Will. Romans 12:2
Only God Himself can define who is righteous; by giving them to His Son,
by placing His Holy Spirit in them,
and commanding them to serve His Son as a slave to righteousness.
We serve the Lord by receiving His Precepts as a personal mandate to do His Will.
Isaiah 52:
6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know on that day
that I am He who speaks. Behold, it is I.
The Watchmen rejoice in the messengers of the Lord
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.
Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
The Watchmen find rest when the message is received,
and the Lord has comforted His People.
8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together.
For they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,You waste-places of Jerusalem!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
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