Romans 2:17-24 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Romans 2:17-24. Let’s go!
Romans 2:17-24 (NIV)
17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth–
21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
On verses 17-24: To paraphrase Paul’s warning to the Christians in Rome, if you want to be a teacher of God’s laws, you must make sure that you yourself are keeping them. Otherwise, you’ll be a hypocrite. Paul’s warning wasn’t just for those who formally preach and teach God’s Word in church, but for all those who saw themselves as mature believers or who had been exposed to the Scriptures for a long time. What can we learn from this? The primary measure of spiritual maturity is not how much of God’s Word you know, but how much of God’s Word you live out.
When we talk a lot about what right living looks like but don’t live it out ourselves, we cause God’s name to be “blasphemed” (v24) – that is, spoken of dishonorably – especially among people who don’t know Jesus personally. In other words, hypocritical living doesn’t just make us look bad; it makes our God and His church look bad too. That’s why it is important that we look in the mirror before we presume to tell others how they should live (see Matthew 7:3-5).
As Jesus says in Matthew 7:3-5:
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Before we can use God’s Word as a sword, we need to use it as a mirror.
Father, I pray that I would be careful to take out the plank in my own eye before I try to take out the splinter that I think is in other people’s eyes. Thank You that before I use Your Word as a sword, I first need to use it as a mirror. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
