26-0308sc Transcript

(0:04) Well, it’s time for us to get started, so let’s have a word of prayer and then we’ll (0:10) get into Romans, the second chapter. (0:13) Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity we have to get together as (0:18) brothers and sisters to study your word and to be able to be able to know your mind and (0:27) your thoughts about our behavior and our conduct, and we thank you so much for your words of wisdom (0:35) and your understanding, your commandments. We try to implement them into our lives as much (0:45) as possible.

We ask for your understanding and insight to the passages as we look at it, (0:53) especially in Romans, the second chapter. We pray that it’s not too much Cainism. (1:00) We pray that you’ll bless us in your study.

We pray these things in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen. (1:08) So, let’s get into it.

Reading from the New International Version. (1:12) I’ve been studying the New King James Version. I keep changing the Bible that I study out of (1:20) by the month, and this month is the New King James Version, but I’m going to (1:26) stay with the International Version for our Bible study itself.

(1:35) Paul is continuing a thought, and I think that he hasn’t changed the subject matter at all. (1:46) He’s talking to the Roman Church, and of course, I keep pointing out the fact that (1:56) the Roman Church is comprised of Jewish Christians, or Christians who have a Jewish background, (2:04) and Christians who have a Gentile background, and so they’re having some problems here, (2:11) and we need to ferret out what the problem is, and obviously, he was talking about the fact that (2:22) the world itself basically is suppressing the knowledge of God, and in the first chapter, (2:31) he’s saying that his wrath, his anger is towards individuals who suppress the knowledge of God, (2:41) and we know individuals, and perhaps we ourselves at one time or another suppress the knowledge of (2:48) God, just like Eve did when she was standing there talking to Satan, and considering eating (2:58) the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order for her to be able to (3:04) make that decision, she had to make a conscious decision to suppress the knowledge of God, (3:11) and so whenever you and I sin, we basically are compressing the knowledge of God, because we know (3:18) that we’re not supposed to be doing what we were going to consent ourselves to do, (3:24) so we’re suppressing the knowledge of God, and there’s various reasons for suppressing the (3:31) knowledge of God, but in the first chapter, he points out to us what we’re opening ourselves (3:39) up to, the lifestyle, the sins, when we suppress the knowledge of God, he’s telling us what we’re (3:46) opening ourselves up to, and so he finishes out the first chapter. If you don’t mind, let’s take (3:56) a look at what we’re subjecting ourselves to when we suppress the knowledge of God, (4:03) picking up with verse 26 of the first chapter.

Because of this, God gave them over to the (4:09) shameful lust, even though women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. (4:17) In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust (4:26) for one another. Men committed shameful acts with one another, with other men, and received (4:35) in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, and this is what we’re opening (4:41) ourselves up to when we suppress the knowledge of God and allow ourselves to participate in (4:48) behavior that God does not approve, he says, furthermore, in verse 28, just as they did (4:56) not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, (5:03) so that they do what ought not to be done. And they have become filled with every kind of (5:10) wickedness, evil greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, (5:18) malice.

They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways (5:27) of doing evil. They disobey their parents.

They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, (5:36) no mercy. And although they know God’s righteous decree, and they do, because that’s why they’re (5:44) suppressing the knowledge of God, because they don’t want to be under that rule or that thumb, (5:51) if you will, although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve (5:57) death, they not only continue to do these things, very things, but also approve of those who (6:04) practice them. And so that’s, this is the reason why I think, because he opens up chapter 2, (6:13) and he continues his letter, and he’s continuing, why is he saying, therefore, (6:21) if it doesn’t pertain to what preceded this? So he’s saying, you, therefore, have no excuse (6:31) to pass judgment on someone else.

For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning (6:40) yourselves, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment (6:48) against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, (6:56) pass judgment on them, and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (7:04) Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, (7:11) not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? And so I’d like to (7:19) stop there for a minute.

What do you think he’s talking to the congregation about? (7:26) How they view each other. How they view each other, absolutely. And that’s where the judgment (7:32) comes in.

How are they viewing each other? We have Christians who come out of the Jewish faith, (7:40) we have Christians who come out of various types of things, like the Gentiles. The Gentiles (7:49) covers the vast rest of the world and their religions, idolatry and superstitions and (7:58) things like that. So we have a congregation who is wanting to meet under Jesus’s name, (8:08) they want to meet in Jesus’s church, but yet what kind of judgment are they making? (8:17) Comparisons? Comparisons, perhaps, yeah.

Any other thoughts? I’ve given this quite a bit of (8:24) thought, because this is one of the reasons why I wrestled with this passage, and so I want to (8:33) understand it. What kind of judgment do you think he’s doing? Well, I think that they’re judging (8:43) the Gentiles, or the Jewish people, (8:48) Christians, the Christians who come out of the Jewish faith, they have an upbringing and a (8:54) training that is basically undergone, where the Gentiles don’t have that training. The Gentiles (9:05) didn’t know God like the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the Jewish church does.

(9:13) So the Jewish Christians, the Christians who came out of the Jewish faith, are definitely (9:20) very much aware and attuned to God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God that (9:27) we’re going to worship. Where the Gentiles come out of a faith that they didn’t know anything (9:35) about that. So we’re looking at lifestyles, aren’t we? We’re looking at different lifestyles, (9:44) because the person who come out of the Jewish faith wouldn’t consider living like the Gentiles (9:52) do.

There’s a point of Jews, obviously, example of that was their whole purpose. (9:59) Whole purpose was to maintain the knowledge of God while the rest of the world gave up the (10:07) knowledge of God. So they have an awareness, what’s the law for? To let us know what sin is.

(10:16) Without the law, there is no sin. So they know the law. They know what sin is.

Gentiles come (10:27) from a background where they don’t know the law. Okay. So very likely are committing a lot of sin (10:38) according to the law, because they don’t know it.

And the Jews who have that knowledge then (10:45) would look at them disdainfully. Exactly. Exactly.

You don’t know what you’re doing. (10:52) I like that word, disdain. I like that word, disdain.

(10:58) Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So they’re comparing themselves, aren’t they? (11:05) They’re comparing their lifestyles against the lifestyles of them. And they’re supposed to be (11:10) Christians.

And we’re supposed to be Christians. And we’re supposed to be God-fearing people. (11:15) And we’re supposed to be God-fearing people.

But the word that we’re looking at and is brought out (11:22) here is, what are they doing? What’s happening in this congregation? There’s some judging going on. (11:32) What kind of judging? And so let’s take a look at the word judge and see if we can’t come up with (11:41) what kind of judging these people are doing. When we look at judging, we see that it has (11:51) a tendency to want to bring, well, let me not get into that just yet.

Let’s look at the circumstances (12:01) under which judging is done. We just got through with the Olympics, okay? Those people that went (12:10) out there on the ice and skated and did their things, and in the summertime we’re going to have (12:17) people who do gymnastics and they do the pole mill and all this other stuff, they’re being judged. (12:27) But they have a standard that they have to meet, don’t they? And so the person who puts (12:35) themselves into the position of being judged and tried is saying, where do I stand? So what does (12:44) the judge who is sitting there looking at and is trying to deal with? He’s trying to deal with (12:53) whether or not this particular performance is at a 10, being perfect, if you will.

So the judge is saying (13:05) nobody’s perfect. So the judge, when he’s looking at the person participating, like in the skating, (13:14) you sit there and watching on TV, if you did, I did, because that’s all Sandy and I had (13:20) opportunity to do. So we sit there and the commentators talk about how that skater did, (13:28) failed to do this or failed to do that.

Oh, that was beautiful, that was excellent. (13:35) So the judges are looking at the same thing and if the commentators know what they’re talking about, (13:42) we know that the judges definitely know what they’re talking about. And so what are they going (13:49) to do? They’re going to rate him less than 10.

When you rate him less than 10, what are you doing? (14:02) You’re condemning them, right? You found fault with them. You condemned them. (14:13) Can you imagine what the church is? The Gentile or not the Christians who are, (14:20) have a Christian or Jewish background, looking at the Gentiles and they’re supposed to be (14:26) Christians and they’re supposed to be doing this.

What is our relationship with the Gentile? (14:36) We’re condemning them. They’re lifestyle. (14:42) And we’re saying, you’re not living up to it.

Now, if I’m condemning a new Christian who comes in, (14:53) who doesn’t know anything about Christianity, doesn’t have the foggiest idea that they’re (14:59) not supposed to be doing what they’re doing, and they’re learning, we can judge them (15:09) what are we supposed to do? Are we condemning them or are we supposed to be encouraging them? (15:17) Are we condemning them or are we supposed to be teaching them? The fact is they must be, (15:27) because he uses the word judge, they must be condemning them. Paul doesn’t want, he wants (15:39) them to realize that, hey, you’re not in the Jewish faith anymore. They’re not in the idolatry (15:48) anymore.

They are in Christ. So what do we know in Romans 8? There is now therefore no condemnation. (16:05) And then Paul writes a belief in the seventh chapter, or maybe even in the eighth chapter, (16:11) how that who’s going to condemn you? I mean, I’m judging you.

(16:19) Now, how am I judging you? I’m condemning you. So Paul then comes along and he says, (16:26) who can condemn you? Is it going to be God? No, it’s not going to be God. Why? Because he (16:36) went overboard to save you.

You think he’s going to toss you off just because you…​ (16:46) No! He’s there wanting to encourage you to continue on doing these things. So Paul asks, (16:55) is God going to condemn you? No. He saved you.

Is Jesus going to condemn you? (17:08) And Paul says, no, he’s not going to condemn you because he died for you. He’s not going to (17:15) condemn you. And then he says, who can condemn you? Where’s the High Court, Supreme Court? Who (17:27) sits on the Supreme Court? It’s God and it’s Jesus.

It’s the Holy Spirit. Are they going to (17:35) condemn you? No. Why? Because Jesus' sacrifice has covered your sins.

So he wants them to realize (17:45) you can’t judge them. Don’t judge them. And he goes on and he points out why.

(17:58) Because they’re forgiven. I like that bumper sticker, but the bumper sticker doesn’t really (18:04) say the right things. I am a sinner, but I’m forgiven.

(18:14) And they are. And they’re encouraged, aren’t they? So we have a tendency to want to judge (18:21) their lifestyle and condemn them. But in reality, we’re not supposed to be condemning them.

(18:30) And that’s the reason why he’s using the word judge. You’re not going to judge. You’re going (18:38) to encourage.

Any questions or comments? And then he follows that up in the same (18:52) verse for you who judge, do the same thing. You’re condemning them. I haven’t got to there yet (19:03) because there’s more to this.

There’s more to this, you know. But yeah, you’re right. (19:10) And we’ll reread this paragraph and then get into it a little bit further.

(19:16) But the purpose of judging is to determine whether a person is a tan or not. (19:28) So when you say that there are tan, you’re declaring them to be righteous. (19:37) But if they aren’t righteous, you condemn them.

So what does the Bible do under the law? (19:48) The law judges. And it declares whether a person’s righteous or condemned. (19:57) It either declares you to be righteous or condemns you.

(20:01) So every person who’s ever walked the face of this life (20:07) has been judged by the Bible, by the law, and they’ve been condemned. (20:19) And Jesus was declared to be righteous, wasn’t he? And who made that declaration for him? (20:28) Huh? The Holy Spirit made that. He vindicated him.

And you and I as Christians (20:36) are going to be looking to the Holy Spirit to do what? (20:42) Vindicate us and declare us to be righteous. Based on what? Based on Jesus' death, burial, (20:52) resurrection. He paid the debt.

We became Christians. And he’s going to cover this in the (20:59) sixth chapter, isn’t he? We decided that we wanted to become disciples of Jesus. So Jesus says, (21:06) go into all the world making disciples of me.

He that believeth in his baptized shall be saved. (21:15) What did we do? We took him up on it, didn’t we? (21:20) And so Jesus' blood continues to cleanse us. As long as we walk in the light, (21:25) if he’s in the light, his blood will continue to cleanse us.

(21:28) And if we’re faithful unto death, what’s the Holy Spirit going to do? (21:34) The Holy Spirit’s going to vindicate us, just like he did Jesus. He’s righteous. (21:42) He’s righteous.

Based on what? Jesus' sacrifice, his death, burial, and resurrection. (21:51) But that’s where I wanted to go with this. Any questions? So Paul is writing this letter (22:01) and he’s wanting them to know, don’t judge.

Don’t judge. Encourage. Teach.

Uplift. (22:14) But don’t judge. And so let’s take a look at this paragraph one more time.

(22:23) So the Christian has come out of the world, and in the third chapter he’s going to try to (22:30) point out the fact that every one of us, whether you were raised in a Jewish family or not, (22:37) whether you were raised in a Christian family or not, whether or not you were a Gentile (22:41) coming of a Christian, you’re saved. Period. (22:52) So, therefore, there is no excuse.

You who pass judgment on someone else, (23:00) for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself. How is that? (23:12) Well, he goes on, and I think that he gives us a little bit better opportunity and fuel to process (23:19) that. Verse 2. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on (23:27) truth.

So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, (23:35) do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his (23:43) kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you (23:50) to repentance? And I think in this particular case, I can leave it open to you guys to help (23:58) me interpret this, but I think when he’s saying, when you judge someone else, (24:08) you’re guilty of doing the same thing. What am I guilty of? I may not be guilty of doing whatever (24:16) the sin is that that person has come out of or continues to do until he’s able to get rid of it (24:24) and repent from it. I’m under the same law.

I think that’s what he’s talking about. (24:33) I’m under the same law. Look at your own background.

If you can use the law to condemn (24:40) that person, use the law to condemn you too. If you’re going to use the law to judge them, (24:48) use the law to judge yourself because you are condemning yourself because you know what the (24:55) law is. And even though you may not be guilty of their infractions, (25:01) you definitely are guilty because you haven’t become a number 10 in your life.

(25:10) And then the context has just gone through and shown a man who rejects God and all the things (25:22) that he does that are contrary to the law. And then in verse one of chapter two, he says, (25:35) therefore, you have no excuse. And the youth he’s talking to isn’t the ones he was just talking (25:43) about.

It’s the one who are making judgment. These people who own people. And what he’s saying, (25:55) I think is, and the excuse there, he’s false condemning the judges.

He says, you have no (26:07) excuse. Another word for that would be, you have no justification. You have no excuse, (26:18) no justification for judging them.

Why? You know the law and you can’t keep the law. (26:27) You are condemning yourself because you’re condemning them. (26:39) And he contrasts them with God.

God can make the judgment because what he does is based on truth. (26:50) You don’t know everything that is involved in judging someone. You don’t know all the truth (26:57) compared to be able to judge.

We don’t have that capability. He’s not the only one that (27:03) has that capability. So they’re making a comparison.

In other words, I know the law (27:18) and I’m not doing all those things that you’re doing. I’m better than you. (27:25) Right.

So you’re using the law to run them down and they’re not there to be run down, (27:35) are they? Right. Because I’m a Jew. Oh, I have, I have a Jewish background.

I understand God. (27:44) So he goes on and he says, don’t, what was your word that you impugning? (27:53) This thing, don’t hold them in disdain. I love that word.

Don’t hold them in disdain. (28:02) And he finishes out that paragraph with the reason why. And the reason why is God’s not (28:13) through with them.

God’s working in their lives. He’s giving them all the rope to change. (28:23) And the word repent is used there.

Repent from what? Repent from the sins that they were committing (28:33) before they became Christians. And so God is holding out the standard that he would like for (28:42) us to rise to. He’s holding out the standard that he would like for us to rise to, but he’s giving (28:49) us time.

And that’s the reason why Paul says, or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, (29:00) forbearance, and patience? For whom? Not only them, but for you. Are you showing contempt? (29:12) Because he’s giving you time to bring your life around too. Because you’re not reaching his (29:19) standard.

Yeah. We’re not reaching his standard. Yeah.

So none of you are reaching (29:31) his standard yet. But you know, we are, when God views us, righteous, based on what? (29:46) The blood of Christ. We are a tan in the sight of God.

We have yet to get there, (29:58) but we are a tan in the sight of God. And that’s a gift. That’s a gift.

That’s absolutely the gift. (30:08) Absolutely. And it’s not based on where we are when we come into Christianity.

(30:19) Where we are when we come into Christianity, we’re still sinners. Where we are when we come (30:30) into Christianity, we’re sinners. And he’s not filling up the difference.

He’s saving the whole (30:39) person. So I’m a five. He only has to come up with five to make me perfect.

You’re a six. You (30:48) only have to come up with four. But I came in and added one.

He has to come in. He has to make up (30:55) the difference tonight. He’s not making up the difference.

He’s not making up the difference. (31:01) He’s saying you are a tan, period. He’s saving you, period.

It doesn’t matter where you are (31:14) on the scale of one to ten when you became a Christian. When you became a Christian, he (31:22) snapped you up and gave you the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus' blood cleansed you.

(31:30) So he’s not making up the difference. It’s a gift. You are a Christian and you have every reason to (31:39) believe in the hope of eternal life in heaven.

You have every reason. It’s a promise. And so (31:50) when we read the scriptures, we see that it’s a promise.

And God keeps his promise. And that’s (31:58) the whole purpose of Romans also is to help us to realize that the law that was Mosaic law that (32:06) was put in several hundred years later did not change the promise. The promise was what he (32:19) made to Abraham.

And the promise is what he’s going to keep. And so he keeps promises. And he’s (32:27) not changing that promise.

And he hasn’t changed that promise even when he instigated the (32:35) Mosaic law in temple worship. So any questions or any comments concerning that? (32:47) We’re not going to get through chapter two, but we’re going to get there. (32:55) Okay.

We’re all on the same page. I hope so. So then he goes on and he talks about (33:05) the problem that they have.

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, (33:12) you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath when his righteous judgment (33:19) will be revealed. God will repay each person according to what they have done. (33:27) To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality.

He will give (33:35) eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking, and that’s another word that I like to stop and (33:44) think in terms of, but those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, (33:52) there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who (34:00) does evil.

First for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does (34:10) good. First for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

For God does not show favoritism. So where is (34:21) he going with this? He’s talking to the individual who is doing the judging. He’s talking to the (34:28) individual who will not give up that, and they’re stubborn, and they’re going to stick to the guns.

(34:35) I grew up in a Jewish faith, and Christianity came out of the Jews. We fathered it, you know. (34:49) So he’s saying this, but I love the word self-seeking.

Self-seeking is the sin (35:00) that is basically what’s causing them to do what they’re doing. What is self-seeking? (35:13) What you want to do is seeking glory for yourself, and not glory for God. (35:35) All right.

That’s part of it, I think. That’s not all of it. What is self-seeking? (35:48) All right.

Do your future above others. The other day, I was listening to the radio, (35:57) which I do quite often because I’m in my car that much, but the other day they were (36:02) interviewing a football player who had turned pro, but over the years he had violated the laws (36:11) from high school all the way through professional. He violated the laws, (36:17) and because he violated the laws, he became an addict, and it took him out of professionalism.

(36:26) When he retired from professionalism, he realized that he was a drug addict, (36:32) and he had to do something about it. But how did he become a drug addict? (36:39) It’s because he was self-seeking. I like to use him as an example.

He’s in high school, (36:52) and in high school you’re supposed to write out your goals, what you would like to do and (36:57) everything. So he wrote out his goals. He was a little bit embarrassed about it because he didn’t (37:03) really feel that he personally was capable of meeting the goal that he had, and that goal was (37:11) he wanted to be a professional football player, and he wanted to be number one in the draft.

(37:18) Those of you who follow football understand that all good players are drafted number one. People (37:28) seek you. They want you.

Look at the Browns. They’re constantly looking to upgrade their draft (37:37) so that they can be the number one draft, and the team that is number one has their eyes focused (37:44) on their need, whether it’s a quarterback or tackle or whatever it is. They have their (37:51) eyes focused on what their need is, and they want a number one draft.

So in high school, (37:59) he knew he wanted to be. This was his goal. He knew it was against the law to take drugs.

(38:10) He didn’t care. He wanted to be number one in the draft, and he wanted to be a pro, (38:18) and he wanted to go through college and be the number one in the draft. (38:23) So he didn’t care about the laws.

He knew that if he got caught, that would be the end of his goals. (38:34) He said in high school, they’re not as nearly concerned about you using steroids. (38:45) So he ran across steroids, and he used the steroids to make him.

In his mind, (38:53) he had to use steroids in order to make him superior to his fellow football players. (38:59) He knew that if he was going to be number one in the draft, he had to be superior (39:03) to everybody else. Self-seeking.

Can you see that? He’s self-seeking because he wants to be number (39:13) one. So he’s using steroids. Then he gets into college, and he realizes he has to (39:23) go to something else besides steroids because testing in college is a big thing, and they can (39:29) test, and they can know whether you’re on steroids or not.

So he searched around for (39:35) other things that other football players were using in order to make them better, (39:41) and so he stumbled upon those things, and he knew that if he was caught in those tests, (39:50) he would be done, but he didn’t care. He knew what the law was, but he was going to break the law (39:58) because he wanted to be number one, and so he succeeded in being number one, and so when he (40:08) got into the draft and being considered for the pros, he got drafted as a number one player. (40:17) That was his goal, but he wanted to stay number one, and so he went to other drugs.

I don’t know (40:27) what the drugs were that he went to, but he realized that if he wanted to be in contention (40:33) with the rest of those people, he had to have an edge, and he knew the law, and the law says you (40:42) don’t do those things. You can’t compete that way. You can’t be that good.

We see in other sports (40:50) where they’re tested, and the ones who a lot of times, even horses, even dogs, even animals that (40:58) are raised, the first thing they do is to test them to see if they were on some type of performance (41:05) enhancing drugs, so he knew that, but it didn’t matter to him. He was willing to break the law (41:15) self-seeking. Why? He wanted to be number one.

That’s self-seeking. I want to be the best, (41:28) so when he got out, he was a drug addict, and he realized that, and so they were interviewing him (41:41) after he went through detoxing, and he realized what he had done to himself, (41:52) so those were the things that he did, so how’s Paul talking about these people as being (41:59) self-seeking? He says, you’re self-seeking. They want to be number one.

They’re comparing (42:10) themselves with one another, and what are we told about comparing ourselves with one another? (42:21) We’re not to compare ourselves with one another. I can’t put my finger on it right away, (42:33) but it’s talking about comparing oneself with one another, and we’re not supposed to do that. (42:43) We are to concern ourselves with our own abilities.

I like the last phrase of this chapter. (42:56) Let’s go down to verse 29 or 28. Not that we’re going to skip the rest of this.

(43:04) We’re going to come back to it. I would like for us to just look at this last. (43:10) A person is not a Jew who is one only outward, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.

(43:19) No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart (43:29) by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, (43:41) but from God. Our time’s up.

I appreciate your attention. We got through the particular area (43:50) that I wrestled with, and I hope that it was rewarding, and I hope that I was on track (44:01) that I was right in my application. (44:04)