Romans 2:1-3:26

What’s Happening?

Paul has just said that all humanity has rejected their Creator and, in response, God has handed humans over to self-destruction and death. However, many Jews thought that they were exempt from this fractured relationship with God. God had entered into a special relationship with Israel. He gave them laws to live by and a special symbol of circumcision to set them apart. God even promised that the laws he gave Israel would one day become the law that would govern the whole world when his Kingdom finally arrived. But Paul says that the Jewish people’s relationship with God is just as fractured as the rest of humanity. And the Jews are just as unrighteous and idolatrous as the rest of the world (Romans 2:1-3). It’s true that God gave Jews a special relationship with him, but that doesn’t automatically grant them good standing with God or excuse their disobedience to God’s laws (Romans 2:4). And as it stands, Jewish people constantly break God’s laws (Romans 2:5). God judges all people, not just non-Jews. Merely possessing God’s laws does nothing, especially when those laws are not acknowledged and obeyed (Romans 2:6-11). So Jewish people, simply by their possession of the law, will not be exempted from God’s judgments (Romans 2:12-16). 

If anything, the clarity and specificity of God’s revelation to the Jews has only served to increase their guilt before God. In pride, they claim to be the only ones who know God’s laws for the world, yet they are the first to break them (Romans 2:17-24). Not even circumcision, the ultimate sign of being part of God’s historic people, gives any advantage to Jews over the rest of the world. The sign of circumcision is undone the moment a Jew breaks any one of God’s laws. Conversely, Paul asks, if an uncircumcised person obeys God’s laws, won’t God consider them a true member of his people? Paul is insistent neither possession of God’s laws nor circumcision places Jews in better standing with their Creator in comparison to the rest of the world (Romans 2:25-29). 

Where is the Gospel?

Paul anticipates that his Jewish readers will think that he’s saying that there is no value at all in being Jewish or being circumcised. But Paul says that’s not true. To begin with, God gave the Jewish people the promise of an eternal Kingdom through his words and laws (Romans 3:1-2). Despite their disobedience, God has faithfully kept his promises to his ancient people (Romans 3:3-8). Yes, all people have rejected God and his laws and stand at odds with the Creator who gave them life (Romans 3:9-18). This fractured relationship is universal, and not even God’s chosen people, with their laws and special signs, can enter the righteous Kingdom God is building (Romans 3:19-20). But that’s why Jesus came. He came to give all people who trust him good standing with their Creator and access to God’s eternal Kingdom of justice and righteousness (Romans 3:21-23).

But you might be wondering… how exactly does Jesus fix my fractured relationship with God? And why exactly did Jesus have to die to give me good standing with my Creator? This is exactly the question Paul answers next. Paul explains that when Jesus died on the cross, he died as an “atoning sacrifice” (Romans 3:25-26). Paul is referencing the book of Leviticus and a special ceremony performed on the Day of Atonement. On that day, a lamb was killed, and its blood was sprinkled all over Israel’s tabernacle and purified it. Symbolically, the life of the animal atoned for the death and self-destruction Israel had committed. Through this sacrifice, God’s people were given good standing with God for the coming year (Leviticus 16). However, the life of an animal cannot atone for the death that humans have perpetrated in the world. Paul even says that God has left humanity’s self-destruction and death-bringing ways undealt with for centuries. The atoning lamb pointed to a day when Jesus could give his life for our death. Jesus' blood has fully and finally purified God’s people and has atoned for all the death we have introduced to the world. God’s people have always been given good standing with their Creator through trusting God’s atoning sacrifice. We don’t have to obey a bunch of laws to fix our relationship with God. (And thank goodness we don’t have to get circumcised either!) From the first pages of the Bible, the good news is the same. We are given good standing with our Creator and entrance into his Kingdom simply when we trust that Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. 

See For Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who has revealed his righteousness. And may you see Jesus as the one who has given us good standing by his sacrifice.