Romans 2:17-24 – Presumption abhorred

Paul now turned to address the Jews for being over-confidence in their religiosity. He underscored the fact that it’s extremely dangerous to think that “I am alright because I have the truth.” This kind of thinking was peculiar to the religious Jews of Paul’s day. They prided that of all the people in the earth, they were privileged to have the truth.

In verses 17-18, Paul highlighted several things that led them to their pride. Firstly, they were called Jews, meaning “Praise to Jehovah.” They were so proud that some even used this term “Jew” as their surname. Secondly, they were proud because they felt that they were the custodians of the Law. Being given the Law, they felt that they had a superior standing because they possessed the Law. Thirdly, they boasted in God, mistakenly thinking that they alone were God’s people and therefore, His favorites. Fourthly, they felt that they knew the will of God just because they had the Scriptures, the Old Testament. Fifthly, they prided that they were able to make better moral judgment because they could discern God’s will. And finally they felt that they were instructed by the Law itself. All these false notions deceived them into thinking that they were more superior then the Gentiles. So they sneered at the Gentile theological illiteracy. How is this applicable to us?

As Christians and believers in Christ, we need to guard our attitude of feeling more superior to those outside of Christ. We may have the Bible but do we really know the God of the Bible? We need to do all we can to get to know Him in experience.    

Being deceived that they were God’s special people caused the Jews to be conceited and presumptuous. They thought that they alone were “…a guide to the blind, light for those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.” So they sneered at the Gentiles and acted condescendingly.  They became egotistical, prideful, self-centered, self-righteous and self-deluded.

For Christians, the attitude of superiority must also be checked. Do not adopt such an attitude when we seek to reach out to non-believers. If we do that, we will violate the essence of grace. It’s an indication that our knowledge of God had caused us to be swell headed and arrogant. We must never be presumptuous just because we have a relationship with God. Be mindful that it’s all because of God’s grace.

To address the issue of the presumptuous pride, Paul then asked those religious Jews a series of humbling questions in verses 21-23. He asked, “…you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? From the way Paul asked the questions, we know he was implying that they did not even keep what they expected of others. They who were called to set the pace for others, were themselves breakers and violators  of what they were teaching.

So in verse 24, Paul ended by pointing to what was described of them: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Instead of bringing honor to God, the Jews’ own non-compliance to what they had taught, brought dishonor to God.

Most unfortunately, we Christians today still see a lot of these in churches too. We do talk about the danger of greed but we see Christian ministers pilfering from the offering for self-aggrandizement. This and many other misdeeds had caused the name of God to be dishonored. We need to know that God is not impressed by our claims that we know Him. What He’s looking for are people who truly know Him. People, whose right actions in life flow out their right belief. People who cultivate conducts that are carefully lived out in accordance with His word.