Comments: the apostle now turns to exposing the more sophisticated and subtle sins of religious people. in this case it is the religious jews of his day, but the very same kind of challenge is pertinent to the professing christians of christendom through the centuries. pride (in the "religious" world it's often in the form of ethnic [nationalism] and spiritual pride) and hardness of heart (the soil in which self-righteousness and judgmentalism grow) seem to be the big two foibles of the "committed". the deception that the religious often fall into is that they find their spiritual security in and establish their spiritual status on their intellectual knowledge and mental assent to God's truth while their heart is actually closed off (or gradually becomes closed off) to the living Person of Christ and the present-tense influence of the Holy Spirit. people in this condition don't genuinely grow spiritually as their knowledge about God and the scriptures increases, but, ironically, they do become all the more accountable before God for the knowledge they are acquiring. this "head-knowledge" doesn't transform the soul into the image of Christ, but serves to deceive a person into thinking that they are growing in the true knowledge of God and Jesus. but true knowledge is "heart-knowledge" that resides within the core of the human being and that always informs and then transforms the rest of a person's life. these are hard and penetrating words from the apostle. i would like to think that i am immune to the dangers and deceptions of the dynamic he reveals in romans 2, but i do find that the temptations to spiritual pride and hardness of heart are always crouching at the door--ready to pounce. they seek to take advantage of my spiritual victories and even the blessings that God has given to me. i don't believe they are the kinds of sins that we overcome once and for all, but that they must be overcome repeatedly in every season of our walk in Christ.
Chapter 2
Now before you religious folks congratulate yourselves for not being guilty of what all those other people are, you need to look more deeply at your own lives before you judge them and thereby condemn yourselves. You better be sure that you aren't actually guilty of the same root sins because we know that God will judge us all according to the naked truth. If you are proven to be a hypocrite, how will you escape his judgment? Just because he has blessed you and shown you his rich favor in many ways, don't take these things for granted- it doesn't automatically mean that you're okay. Don't you know that God may be showing you his goodness and patience in order to woo you into repentance. Don't mistake tolerance for approval!
But in fact, you have done this very thing. Because of your hardness of heart and religious pride, you are accruing a "wrath account" that will come due on the "day of wrath" when God's righteous judgment comes down. He will give to every person what is due him. To the believing, who by patiently and persistently doing right, show that they are seeking the things above—glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But to the unbelieving, who stubbornly refuse to submit to God's truth, but embrace unrighteousness, he will dispense his hot and holy vengeance. Yes, it's true, for Jews first and also for Gentiles. (A past history with and greater knowledge about God implies a greater opportunity to "receive" from him. It also implies a greater accountability to him for not receiving from him- this is the great equalizer!) On that day, God will pour out trouble and torment upon every person who cherishes evil in their hearts. Yet he will pour out glory, honor and peace on those who pursue righteousness. God has made this opportunity for salvation available to all ethnic groups, for there truly is no racism in his heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment