Romans 2.17-29

September 10, 2018

Jeff Harrington

According to Paul there is a three-fold division of mankind when it comes to spiritual matters. In chapter 1, Paul addressed the defiant rebellious person who openly rejects and resists God. In the beginning of chapter 2, Paul addresses the decent respectable person who would readily admit that the defiant rebels of Chapter 1 may need grace and forgiveness, but they certainly are not in their company. The decent moral person is typically quick to judge others whose shortcomings are more obvious and gross. In today's text Paul says there is one more group of people who go even one step further. This person thinks "I'm not a defiant rebel and I’m more than simply a decent respectable person -- I'm a devoutly religious person." The devoutly religious often have a false sense of security about their eternal destiny. He uses the Jews as the example of the religious person because that was his own experience. However, the principles apply to any person who trust their religion to keep them safe and secure from God’s condemnation.