A Judgement of the Religious Elite
Rom 2:17-20 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
Jesus and here Paul speak of two classes of people - those who consider themselves right with God based upon being "good" and those who disregard God. Both need to be saved. But the common approach to preparing "good" people for the gospel is to show that they are sinners and thus need to be saved. Here Paul starts to really focus on the religious elite, the self-righteous with the same kind of tone Jesus used with regards to the religious elite to convict them of sin.
Today such is the case not only regards to Jews or Muslims, and even among Christians there are those who rely upon the law to justify them. That is today we could just as well replace the word "Jew" here with "Muslim" or "Christian".
However here he is not saying that these attributes are bad. For example with regards to bragging about one's relationship with God it says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Jer 9:23,24
With respect to God's will it says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God‘s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will." Rom 12:2
With respect to being a light it says, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2Cor 4:6
With regards to teaching it says, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." 1Tim 5:17
So all these activities of which he is speaking are commendable.
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
Rom 2:17-20 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
Jesus and here Paul speak of two classes of people - those who consider themselves right with God based upon being "good" and those who disregard God. Both need to be saved. But the common approach to preparing "good" people for the gospel is to show that they are sinners and thus need to be saved. Here Paul starts to really focus on the religious elite, the self-righteous with the same kind of tone Jesus used with regards to the religious elite to convict them of sin.
Today such is the case not only regards to Jews or Muslims, and even among Christians there are those who rely upon the law to justify them. That is today we could just as well replace the word "Jew" here with "Muslim" or "Christian".
However here he is not saying that these attributes are bad. For example with regards to bragging about one's relationship with God it says, "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Jer 9:23,24
With respect to God's will it says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God‘s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will." Rom 12:2
With respect to being a light it says, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 2Cor 4:6
With regards to teaching it says, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." 1Tim 5:17
So all these activities of which he is speaking are commendable.
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
