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Romans 2 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00We're going to move into Romans chapter
0:012, but before I get into that, I want to
0:04refresh
0:06that Paul has introduced the gospel
0:09and he said faith is the way we receive
0:11[music] it.
0:12And he wants to bring about the
0:14obedience of faith.
0:16But he has presented faith
0:18as something that must live in the
0:20larger framework
0:22of who we're living for, the glory of
0:25self or the glory of God.
0:28And if we have not yielded [music] our
0:29self for another's glory,
0:32we are going to be given over to
0:34passions that were intended [music]
0:36to further his purpose and glory, but
0:38are going to be perverted to
0:40self-destruct, to ruin our lives. So, he
0:43begins the next chapter, chapter 2,
0:46in the middle of the sentence. Romans
0:49chapter 2, verse 1, "Therefore, you have
0:53no excuse. [music]
0:55Every one of you who passes judgment,
1:00for in that which you judge another,
1:03you condemn yourself.
1:06For you who judge practice the same
1:10things."
1:12Paul has just in the first chapter
1:13showed them the end of their rejection
1:18and violation of God's order and design.
1:22If you're not living for his glory, if
1:24you're not surrendering your life to his
1:26design, you're going to be destroyed.
1:29And he tells all the most creepy sins,
1:32and then he just tells how we get there
1:35by being disobedient to parents, by
1:37being unloving, untrustworthy,
1:40unmerciful,
1:42without understanding,
1:44right?
1:45And so then he starts chapter 2 and he
1:47says, "You're judging people who are at
1:50the tail end of the journey you're
1:51already on."
1:53Because you're already disobedient to
1:55parents, you're already unloving, you're
1:57already untrustworthy, you already don't
2:00understand what God is doing.
2:04And we know that he says, "For you who
2:07judge, practice the same thing."
2:09Now, I don't think that means that the
2:11worst sins were vibrant and thriving in
2:14the Roman church. I believe that the
2:16starting point framework was already in
2:19the Roman church, and Paul was trying to
2:21get it out so that they could be
2:23established.
2:25He says,
2:26"And we know that the judgment of God
2:29rightly falls upon those who practice
2:31such things."
2:34He doesn't say the judgment of God once
2:36fell, but thank God it doesn't fall on
2:38you cuz you're a Christian and you're
2:39eternally secure.
2:41He says, "The judgment of God rightly
2:44falls on those who practice this lie of
2:48a life
2:49that is built around self-idolatry
2:52instead of oriented toward the one who
2:55made us, and becoming a revelation of
2:58his glory
3:01in our lifetime."
3:02>> [clears throat]
3:04>> "But do you suppose this, oh man, when
3:06you pass judgment on those who practice
3:08such things and do the same yourself
3:10that you will escape the judgment of
3:12God?"
3:13Now, who is he writing to? He's writing
3:15to Christians.
3:17And he's telling them they will not
3:18escape the judgment of God. Verse 4, "Or
3:21do you think lightly of the riches of
3:24his kindness and tolerance and patience,
3:30not knowing that the kindness of God
3:32leads you to repentance?"
3:35Now, this is a theme in Paul's letters.
3:38This is a theme in Peter's letters. What
3:40is the theme? Don't act like God's delay
3:44in judgment entails that he doesn't care
3:48about your sin.
3:50That delay is patience that Paul calls
3:53kindness
3:54to give you a chance to repent. Paul's
3:57saying, "You should die. You should be
4:00judged. You should have a judgment in
4:02your life right now because you're doing
4:04things worthy of death.
4:07And if that's not happening, don't
4:09misunderstand why.
4:11Because God is
4:14holding back his judgment so that you'll
4:16have several more days to come to
4:18repentance.
4:21Because his mercy is new every morning.
4:23The kindness of God leads us to
4:26repentance, meaning he didn't kill me
4:28yesterday when I deserved it. I can come
4:31to repentance.
4:33I can walk in repentance.
4:37Knowing that the kindness
4:40the patience and kindness of God leads
4:43you
4:44to repentance.
4:46But because of your stubbornness
4:50but
4:51He said, "God's delay, God's patience is
4:54kindness and it would lead you to
4:55repentance, but
4:57but that's not happening. But because of
5:00your stubbornness and unrepented heart,
5:03Roman Christians,
5:05you are storing up wrath for yourself in
5:08the day of wrath and revelation of the
5:12righteous judgment of God.
5:15To the saints of God at Rome, you are
5:18storing up wrath for yourselves.
5:22When God doesn't judge us,
5:24it is because he believes we can come to
5:27repentance.
5:29Let's empty the storehouse we've stored
5:31up for ourselves
5:33by finding repentance now.
5:38Who will render to each person according
5:42to his deeds?
5:47That's not James. That's not Jesus.
5:50That's the Apostle Paul in his second
5:53chapter of his first letter
5:56recorded in the Bible.
5:58He will render to each person according
6:00to his deeds.
6:02Now, here are the two kinds of people.
6:04To those who
6:07by perseverance
6:10in doing good
6:13seek for glory, honor, and immortality
6:18he'll give eternal life.
6:21But to those who are selfishly ambitious
6:26Now, I want you to notice that he's
6:27describing the sin category up above,
6:30but he doesn't say those who are
6:32homosexual. He doesn't say those who are
6:35murderers. He doesn't say those who are
6:37revilers because all of that fits in the
6:40category of living for yourself.
6:44So, all he says is those who are
6:48selfishly ambitious.
6:52Those who are stealing
6:54the life God gave them
6:56to steward for his glory, and they're
6:59thieving it away for their own glory.
7:02But to those who are selfishly ambitious
7:05and do not obey the truth
7:09>> [snorts]
7:09>> but obey unrighteousness
7:12wrath and indignation
7:15there will be tribulation and distress
7:18for every soul of man who does evil.
7:23Of the Jew first and also of the Greek.
7:26But there will be glory and honor and
7:30peace to everyone who does good.
7:35To the Jew first and also to the Greek.
7:39Now, listen to this.
7:41I want to point out something here.
7:44In the first category where he says that
7:47we will get eternal life,
7:49he says that it's those who seek for
7:53God's glory, honor, and immortality.
7:56You will never be good enough
8:00to not need
8:02the
8:03atoning blood of Jesus imputed to you
8:06far beyond your worthiness. Do you
8:09understand?
8:11But please get what Paul is saying.
8:14In verse 7, he says
8:17that
8:18those who by perseverance in doing good
8:24seek for glory, honor, and immortality,
8:27he will give eternal life.
8:29How do we seek for glory, honor, and
8:31immortality
8:33in Paul's equation? How do we seek for
8:34it?
8:35By by doing good.
8:39There's a way to do good
8:41that says this is good enough to get me
8:43to heaven.
8:44And there's a way to do good
8:47that is seeking
8:49for glory.
8:51What glory? You were made in the image
8:54and glory of God. The glory that says I
8:57am his.
8:59He has possession of me.
9:02The glory you're seeking for is not your
9:03own glory, but the glory of God in your
9:06life.
9:07And you don't seek for it just in
9:09prayer. You don't seek for it in your
9:11words. You don't seek for it in your
9:13head or even your emotions. You seek for
9:15it by doing good.
9:18Do you understand? So, there's a way to
9:20do good that is distancing yourself from
9:22God. That's a righteousness of yourself
9:26based on the law. That's filthy rags.
9:28There's a way to do good that is seeking
9:31for a deeper relationship with him.
9:33And that kind of seeking is rewarded
9:36with eternal life. What we're really
9:38saying is that kind of seeking is faith.
9:41Here's the Paul's best definition of
9:44faith.
9:45Seeking for glory, honor, and
9:48immortality by doing good
9:51and gaining eternal life. That's faith.
9:57There will be tribulation and distress
9:59for every soul. Notice he does not say
10:02that you're just going to have a hard
10:03life, but in eternity you're going to be
10:04saved. He says there's going to be
10:06tribulation and distress for every soul
10:09of man who does evil, of the Jew first
10:12and also of the Greek. These are
10:14categories of evil, whether you're
10:15living your life selfishly ambitious or
10:18whether you're living your life for his
10:20glory. The most fundamental sin you or I
10:23can commit is to live for ourselves.
10:32Everything else stems from that. You
10:34will be as God. That's the starting
10:36point.
10:38Every other sin is based on that.
10:41That's where the perverse passions come
10:43in. That's when God gives us over. Okay,
10:46build the insanity.
10:49Worship the creature rather than the
10:50creator.
10:52But there will be glory and honor and
10:53peace to everyone who does good, to the
10:55Jew first and also the Greek.
10:58For there is no partiality with God.
11:01Don't fool yourself. God's not going to
11:04favor you just because of something that
11:05happened in your past.
11:07For all who have sinned without the law
11:10will perish without the law.
11:12And all who have sinned under the law
11:14will be judged by the law.
11:18For it is not the hearers of the law who
11:20are just before God, but the doers of
11:23the law who will be justified.
11:26For when Gentiles who do not have the
11:29law
11:31do instinctively the things of the law,
11:34these, not having the law, are a law to
11:38themselves.
11:41In that they show the work of the law
11:43written in their hearts.
11:46Now, that's a new covenant phenomenon,
11:48isn't it? Jeremiah 31:31 says the new
11:51covenant is when God will write his law
11:54on our hearts.
11:55Paul is not talking about the Mosaic
11:57law. He's not talking about the Sinai
11:59law. He's talking about the law of the
12:01spirit. He's talking about the law of
12:04Christ. He's talking about the law of
12:06life, the law of liberty, the law of
12:08God, the law of love.
12:10And that can be very confusing cuz he
12:12uses law in a very interchangeable
12:15manner. We don't have to understand
12:16through the context which law he's
12:18talking about.
12:20But he hasn't introduced law
12:22except in a very favorable point to this
12:24stage. So,
12:26if it's the law written on our hearts,
12:29then it's the right law.
12:32For when Gentiles who do not have the
12:34law do instinctively the things of the
12:36law, these, not having the law, are a
12:37law to themselves.
12:39In that they show the work of the law
12:41written in their hearts, their
12:42conscience bearing witness, and their
12:44thoughts alternately accusing or else
12:47defending them on that day when,
12:50according to my gospel, God will judge
12:52the secrets of men through Jesus Christ.
12:55What did he just say?
12:57He's saying that there's no partiality
12:59with God.
13:00God's going to judge Jews and Gentiles
13:02the same.
13:03And he's telling us that God has already
13:06given us
13:08what's right and wrong in an ultimate
13:10sense.
13:12Amen.
13:13And he's saying the proof of this is
13:15that there are thousands of Gentiles
13:17around the world who do not have
13:20the Jewish law. And yet, for some
13:22reason, they do instinctively the things
13:25that are written in the law.
13:27Because he says their conscience and
13:29their thoughts are alternately accusing
13:32or blessing them.
13:35They haven't seared their conscience
13:36with a hot iron.
13:38God's nature is still at work in them.
13:41God is still through their conscience
13:43pricking them and guiding them. That's
13:45why they're without excuse.
13:47So, the law that he's talking about here
13:49is good. He's talking about the law of
13:51Christ, the law of what is right, not
13:53the law of Moses so the our Levitical
13:56law.
13:57But, now he's going to contrast that to
13:59the Jews.
14:00But, if you bear the name Jew and rely
14:03upon the law and boast in God and know
14:07his will and approve the things that are
14:09essential being instructed out of the
14:11law
14:13and are confident that you yourself are
14:15a guide to the blind, a light to those
14:17who are in darkness, a corrector of the
14:19foolish, a teacher of the immature,
14:22having in the law the embodiment of
14:24knowledge and of truth, you therefore
14:26who teach another,
14:29do you not teach yourself?
14:31You who preach that one shall not steal,
14:34do you steal?
14:36You who say that one should not commit
14:38adultery, do you commit adultery?
14:41You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
14:45Why does he make robbing temples sound
14:48synonymous with idolatry?
14:52Your temple is the temple of the living
14:53God and when you take it away from God,
14:56you rob
14:57him of his temple and that is a form of
14:59idolatry.
15:02You who boast in the law through your
15:04breaking the law, do you dishonor God?
15:08For the name of God is blasphemed among
15:10the Gentiles because of you, just as it
15:12is written.
15:13For indeed circumcision is of value if
15:17you practice the law,
15:19but if you are a transgressor of the
15:20law, your circumcision has become
15:23uncircumcision.
15:25So, he's saying, "If your rituals and
15:28rules brought you closer toward living
15:30as you should, then it helped you. It's
15:32not enough, but it was a value.
15:35But otherwise, it's a judgment [music]
15:36against you.
15:38So, if the uncircumcised man keeps the
15:40requirements of the law, will not his
15:43uncircumcision be regarded as
15:45circumcision?"
15:47So, he's saying,
15:48>> [music]
15:48>> "God doesn't care about the Levitical
15:50rules like circumcision and washing. He
15:53cares about living righteously. And if
15:56this guy, who doesn't know anything
15:57about Leviticus, lives more righteously
16:00than you do,
16:01then it's as if he was circumcised. It's
16:03as if he was a Jew and you were the
16:05Gentile."
16:06That's his point.
16:08"And he who is physically uncircumcised,
16:10if he keeps the law,
16:12will he not judge you, who through
16:14having the letter of the law and
16:16circumcision are a transgressor of the
16:19law?"
16:20Notice he doesn't say having the law. He
16:22says having the letter of the law.
16:24That's the superficial stuff. That's the
16:26the Levitical temporary stuff.
16:29"For he is not a Jew who is one
16:31outwardly,
16:33nor is circumcision that which is
16:34outward in the flesh,
16:37but he is a Jew who is one inwardly,
16:40and circumcision is that which is of the
16:42heart by the spirit, not by the letter.
16:47And his praise is not from men, but from
16:50God."
16:52So, in this whole equation, the law is
16:54good, and he's not talking about the the
16:56Mosaic law. He's not talking about the
17:00Levitical rules and regulations, Sabbath
17:03and washings. He's not talking about the
17:05ceremonial law. He's not talking about
17:07circumcision, right? He's [music]
17:09talking about honoring your parents,
17:12loving mercy,
17:13being forgiving,
17:15having all of the righteousness [music]
17:17that is from faith to faith, that is
17:20living in an awareness [music]
17:22of God.
17:24Does that make sense? And so, he's
17:26saying, in this framework, he's saying,
17:28"I'm telling you, those of you who boast
17:31in your externalism, these people who
17:35are living more righteously are more
17:37Jews than you are."
17:41>> [music]
17:50[music]

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