Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study #24 of Romans 2, and we will read Romans 2:17-20:

Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

I will stop reading there. Now God is addressing the Jews, as we saw in the previous verses going back to verse 14 where the Lord was contrasting them with the Gentiles: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law…”

We noticed in this passage that God has set up “Jew” and “Gentile,” repeatedly, and that has to do with His judgement program which began at “the house of God,” or with the “Jew,” or with the Christians churches. Then came the judgment of the world, which the Gentiles represent. Likewise, this was true of God’s salvation program, which came first to the “Jew” and then to the “Gentile.” First it came to the “Jew,” which pointed to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the course of the church age, and then followed by the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit outside of the churches in the world where the Gentiles were located. So the Lord addressed the Gentiles, and now He is going to again address the Jews, in Romans 2:17:

Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

Then He tells us many things that do apply to the Jews, historically, but we have to keep in mind that this was written a couple of decades (or so) after Christ had gone to the cross, and after the veil of the temple had been rent in twain, which means it was after God had disassociated Himself with the Jewish nation, the city Jerusalem, the temple, the Holy of holies, and every sort of identification He had with the Jewish people. So God’s concern is not with the physical Jews, but the spiritual Jews. Those He saves become spiritual Jews, but the New Testament churches are typified by the “Jew.” The “house of God,” which was the Jewish place of worship, the temple, is a figure of the churches. We see that, repeatedly, in the New Testament, and also in the Old Testament where God refers to Israel, the house of God, and Jerusalem, and they are all historical parables pointing to the New Testament churches and congregations. That is the main focus as God used Israel to typify the churches, because we must keep in mind that the nation of Israel consisted of only a handful of millions of people, whereas the New Testament churches consisted of hundreds of millions, and by the time judgment finally came upon the churches, they numbered about two billion. So it dwarfed the corporate entity of Israel. The churches and congregations were huge in comparison. So since it would impact tremendously more people, God’s focus was on the churches, and because it was also the time for that, as it was the first century A. D. and the beginning of the church age, and it was the time for God to focus on the churches and congregations.

So He is addressing the “Jew” who typifies the Christian, and He says in Romans 2:17:

Behold, thou art called a Jew…

It is just like Christians are called Christians, and this gets into the whole subject of profession of faith when people call themselves “Christians.” That is, they call themselves of Christ and the family of God, and God will address them as such: “You call yourself a Christian.” And we can see how this is also in view in 1Corinthians 5:11:

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

So if anyone is called a “brother,” it is the same idea as being called a “Jew.” And God is saying that if anyone is calling themselves a brother but they are involved in things like idolatry and fornication, do not eat with them. Basically, the Lord is saying that the “profession” of being a Christian must match up with how one is living his life, and if one is not living his life as a Christian, then do not eat with them, or do not partake with them.

So getting back to Romans 2, it says, “Behold, thou art called a Jew,” and then God says several things that are true of the people of God. It is true of the Jew, historically, and of the Christian of the New Testament, and it goes on to say in Romans 2:17:

… and restest in the law…

Now I do not think this is saying that they are trusting in the law, as in trusting in the keeping of the Law, but they are “resting” in the law or in the Word of God, and God’s people do rest in the Word of God. When the Bible says, “Trust in JEHOVAH with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding,” it is telling us to trust in the Law, the Bible. Trust in what it says. Believe the things that it tells you, and not the things out of your own mind, your neighbor’s mind, or from the world. So it is not a bad thing, from what I can see as I look at this word, “restest.” It is not a negative thing to rest in the Law. Then it says, in Romans 2:17:

… and makest thy boast of God,

The word “boast” is the word “glory,” and, of course, that is not a negative (thing). He is who we should be glorying in, as that is what the Bible tells. We read in 1Corinthians 1:31:

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

We are not to glory in ourselves and the things we do in keeping any good work, but we are to glory in God. So, again, this is a positive statement: “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God…” We glory in God. And then it goes on to say in Romans 2:18:

And knowest his will…

Again, that is a good thing, and in order to know the will of God, we have to know the Bible. We have to know the Law. Then it says in Romans 2:18:

… and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

Again, it is all positive. As far as this statement, “and approves the things that are more excellent,” we can go to Romans 12:2:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The word “prove” is the same Greek word translated as “approves.” God’s people approve of things that are more excellent, which is the Scriptures, the Word of God, and so forth.

So a “Jew” is one that knows His will and approves the things that are more excellent. We approve the things of God found in the holy Bible. Then it goes on to say in Romans 2:18:

… being instructed out of the law;

Of course we are. That is our desire, and we come to the Bible, and we study the Bible to learn and to be instructed. Christ teaches. The Holy Ghost is our teacher. So these are all wonderful and good things. Then it says in Romans 2:19:

And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,

Is that not true, as far as God’s people? God’s people have that identification with God. When we learn the things the Bible tells us, we know that the sinner is spiritually blind, and we know that the world lies in spiritual darkness. And we know the Bible is the truth, and in the day of salvation, the Holy Spirit could deliver one from darkness to light, and we also learned that we were the messengers of the Word that carried the power to bring someone that was in darkness to the Light. So, again, this is all true and correct concerning the things the Bible does, so the “Jew” or the Christian is confident that he is a “guide of the blend, a light of them which are in darkness.” And we absolutely have that confidence that these things are so because the Bible reveals it.

Then it goes on to say in Romans 2:20:

An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

Again, the sinner is likened to a fool, and when the Word of God is proclaimed or is distributed in a tract, it is instruction to the foolish. And God’s people are “teachers of babes.” When we share the Word, there are those out there that are likened to “babes.”

Then it says, “…which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.” Here, I think a transition is being made because God is addressing the “Jew” and the churches are definitely in view, and it is going to get into some “negatives” in the following verses, which will lead to what we read in Romans 2:25-26:

For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

That is, in using this figure of the Jew and circumcision, we can transfer that figure to the Christian and baptism, and you have all these things that identify you with God – you call yourself a “Jew” or Christian, and you have a relationship with the Word of God, which all the verses from 18 through 20 are talking about. And yet, God points out that your circumcision would profit if you kept the Law, but if you break the Law, your circumcision is made as uncircumcision. It means nothing. And I think that transition is beginning with this last statement in Romans 2:20:

… which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

The Greek word translated as “form” is only found two times; once, here, and the other time it is found in 2Timothy 3, which discusses the perilous times that will come in the last days. It says in 2Timothy 3:4:

Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

The word “form” is in verse 5, regarding “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” and the “power” would be Christ or God Himself. So they have the outward trappings that give the appearance of godliness, but they deny God. They deny the One who they are trying to mimic and identify with, as they act as though they are holy in some way because of that identification. It is very similar to the statements made in Isaiah 4:1:

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man…

The “seven women” identify with the seven churches (in Revelation). It is looking at the New Testament corporate church, and the “man” they take hold of is Christ. Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 4:1:

…saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Again, we see, “let us be called by thy name.” They want to be called a “Jew,” spiritually: “Thou callest thyself a Jew…” God fully recognizes what is going on, as they have a “form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” In Romans 2:20, it does not call it a “form of godliness,” but they have the “form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.” They have the “form of knowledge” in their confessions and creeds, and in their denominational positions. If you want to know their doctrines, they can lay it all out. It is a “form of knowledge,” and yet, they are denying true knowledge, because true knowledge is Christ. It is the Word of God, and true knowledge is arrived at when we “compare spiritual with spiritual,” and the Holy Ghost (who has all knowledge) teaches, and He will reveal the true doctrines of God or the true knowledge of the Bible. But this knowledge was often rejected by those in the churches and congregations that had a “form of godliness” and a “form of knowledge.”

Again, looking at that verse in 2Timothy 3, we can understand that they want to appear godly, but without God. They want to appear knowledgeable, but without right knowledge that can only come from God. They really want their own knowledge, and that is what is basically being said in Isaiah 4:1: “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel.” But in the Bible, bread has to do with the (true) teaching of the Word. Christ is the bread, and when the Word of God is taught properly, people are spiritually fed bread from heaven. And yet, these people do not want that bread – they want their own bread, their own doctrine, and their own knowledge.

Of course the historical Jews were well known for that in their holding of traditions, and the Lord Jesus pointed out often that they retained the traditions of their fathers over the commandments of God. That is exactly what the New Testament churches and congregations have done. They prefer and hold onto the teachings of Reformers of old that, we could say, have almost been “chiseled in stone” in their confessions and creeds. At least that is how they seem to treat it, because they would not dare to even think of correcting anything, and it has become a high place or idol. That is one of the things God will address as we continue, so let us keep reading in Romans 2:21-24:

Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

So God had “given them their due,” saying, “You call yourself a Jew, and you know my will and you approve the things that are excellent. You are instructed out of the Law, confident that you are guide of the blind and a light to those in darkness, and that you are an instructor of fools and a teacher of babes, but now I have some pointed questions.” These are some very pointed questions from the One who knows, the one who searches the heart. He knows what is going on in the chambers of the imaginations of the minds of the leaders and church authorities, the deacons, elders, pastors, bishops, and popes. God knows. He also knows what they have done to the churches over the centuries, so He has some very pointed direct questions: “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” What is the answer? Remember what the Lord Jesus said in Mark 11:15-18:

And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

He rightly called it a “den of thieves.” Yes – there was some physical buying and selling going on there, but remember that the Bible is a spiritual book. Christ spoke in parables. And that temple typified the New Testament corporate church, so in “peddling their wares” for the souls of men with their false gospels, they turned the churches into a den of thieves. They have “stolen,” and they are guilty of going up some other way, as we read in John 10:1:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

They are not going through Christ. Christ is the door, and Christ is the way, the only way. And you must follow the truth in order to go through Christ, but if you do not follow the truth, you go up some other way. Then you are a thief and a robber. You have stolen. And that is what the Lord addressed concerning those who call themselves Jews. Then it says in Romans 2:2:

Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

We will just have time to look at adultery in this study. Well, let us ask that question. Did those in the churches who taught against adultery commit adultery themselves? Sure, there would have been some individuals that fell into that sin, but God is not looking at the physical act of adultery. He is looking a spiritual adultery. If we go to Revelation 2, Christ is addressing the church at Thyatira, and remember that what is said to one of the seven churches is being said to all the churches. It is an address to the corporate church. It says in Revelation 2:20-2:

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

There is the judgment of God. “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.” (Romans 2:9) Judgment begins at the house of God, and one of the reasons was that although they taught against adultery, they then committed adultery. They did the things they were teaching against, but in the spiritual realm, by suffering that woman Jezebel. That is, by teaching other gospels, they were engaged in spiritual adultery against God. Therefore, God cast them into “great tribulation.” You see, it comes back again to what we read earlier: “To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.”