Paul transitions from the depraved practices of the pagan world to the equally depraved practices of the religious world of the Jewish nation. This shift is so abrupt that it must be given special consideration; not in the various assertions of truth that Paul offers but in the overarching principle that religiosity is just as sinful and lost as unbridled paganality. Within the span of forty-nine verses starting at chapter two, verse one moving to chapter three, verse twenty, Paul employs once again the use of the Greek participle a total of thirty times to show the true nature of depravity even within the religious of his day. Paul starts by highlighting the utter sinfulness of condemning the practices of the lost while engaging in those same practices; though dressed in the guise of religion. He says in chapter two, verses one to three,
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”
Paul is clear at this point, one’s supposed station under religion in no way relieves that one of responsibility before God. Worse yet, the hypocrisy of self righteousness mars the truth that all men regardless of religion are woefully sinful before a holy God. This assertion of Paul is necessary here to show that even those who trust in religion must be broken under the yoke of sinful rebellion before the gracious news of the Gospel can be applied. Paul serves to accomplish this task in chapter two, verses twelve through verse twenty-nine as he challenges his Jewish audience on two points, the Law and circumcision. Paul’s argument begins as he highlights the fruit of one’s nature expressed in chapter two, verse nine, ten and eleven, “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” He then goes on to highlight that it is not possession of the Law that saves but rather obedience to the Law that brings right standing. This is not to say that salvation is acquired through adherence to the legal code but on the contrary, those who by their nature (an imputed nature) do good, or accomplish the things that are deemed good by the standard of the Law, these are the ones who demonstrate their salvation by true obedience to the spirit of the Law. Paul further asserts in verse fourteen that the Gentiles who do not possess the Law, by instinct do the things that are required by the Law and demonstrate the spirit of the Law written on their hearts. Paul then contrasts this assertion with the rigidness of the Jewish legal code by highlighting the error of trusting in a set of laws that are not obeyed under the premise that right standing with God is based upon the “knowledge” of the Law devoid of the doing of the Law. For Paul, it matters not that the Jewish nation prided itself on knowing God’s Law so well that they could coldly instruct the nations as to its mandates. This knowledge was of little consequence because the very ones teaching the Law systematically failed to keep the very same mandates which were espoused as vital to salvation. This singular point is of unquestionable import within much of modern faith life. Evangelicalism has for long years also prided itself on a knowledge and possession of God’s Law (simply renamed “God’s Word) while abandoning all forms of genuine obedience. Like the Jews of Paul’s day, salvation seems to be based upon possession of the Word and not obedience to the Word. Like the Jews in Rome, evangelicals claim to understand the “mysteries” of God when in actuality this knowledge has deceived many to the reality that they are not the guides but rather the blind. Paul declares that in the final evaluation of God, it is not the possession of knowledge that saves but the obedience to the spirit of righteousness that saves. The second area in which Paul confronts the Jews in Rome is in the observance of circumcision. Much could be said of this ancient Hebrew rite but the seminal issue seemed to be Israel’s belief that the nation as a whole had gained God’s favor through birth right and not obedience. Paul simply says that salvation is not found in one’s identity with one particular group or another; that is, it was not being a Jew that ensured salvation, it is genuine regenerative faith. Paul asserts that undergoing the rites of the faith community are of value but only if regenerative change is first present. In fact, the rites are hollow and naught but ash otherwise. Again, the value of religion is not found in the observances but in the transformative power of the Gospel and without this power, all religion is in fact dead. Paul sums this singular thought up in verse twenty-eight and nine when he says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” This singular truth emphasizes the reality of the lost condition among all who are outside of Christ. It matters not what belief system or faith community one may or may not belong to; the question of supreme importance is has there been an inward transformation of the sinful heart? To bring his indictment against all mankind, both pagan and religious, to its fullest conclusion, Paul turns in chapter three to eight primary quotations from the Old Testament to prove once and for all God’s sovereign decree against mankind’s depravity. In so doing, Paul affirms the rightful place of not only the Old Testament but also God’s Old Testament people, Israel, as a valid witness of God’s divine wrath against iniquity. This presentation by Paul serves to demonstrate the revealed truths of God’s word upon which Paul as an apostle stands to level such charges. In short, it is not simply the words of Paul but the words of God through Paul and the prophets of old that are given. Four key points precede all that follow in chapter three, verses eleven through thirteen; the ontological nature of not “understanding” (συνίων), “seeking” (ἐκζητῶν), “doing” (ποιῶν) and being “open” (ἀνεῳγμένος). In Paul’s indictment against all mankind, he begins by showing that all men in their lost condition simply do not possess a nature of understanding. Additionally, sinful man does not possess a nature that seeks after God which is demonstrated in their complete inability to do anything good as defined by God Himself. Last of all, Paul says that sinful man’s nature is only open toward those things that bring death and destruction which is what he illustrates in the last half of verse thirteen to eighteen. The comprehensiveness of man’s depravity must be illustrated to all mankind so that none will think they are immune. All are in need of the grace in the gospel and all are in need of salvation.
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