Romans: Theology for Everybody (1-5)Sýnishorn

In Romans 1, Paul told us that God has revealed Himself to all people. Everyone has a general revelation where God has revealed something of His attributes to all people through creation externally, and conscience internally. In addition, some people have received special revelation with such things as Bible teaching, witnessing Jesus’ life and ministry, a visit from an angel or other divine being, or experiencing a miracle or other supernatural event from God. 

Because God is just, He judges each person based upon the amount of revelation they received and then rejected. Jesus’ brother James says something similar in James 3:1, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” As human beings, we can only see the outside of a person. Thankfully, God can also see our hearts.

Ultimately, Paul teaches God who alone is the perfect Judge knows which people have received a new heart from the Holy Spirit on the inside, and which people have the same old heart and are just going through religious rituals on the outside. In Paul’s day, the big issue was male circumcision, and some believed that if a person underwent that change to their body, they were saved, even if their soul was unchanged. 

Today, some people wrongly treat baptism the same way thinking that if a baby is baptized physically, their soul is saved spiritually. Paul’s point is that while there is nothing wrong with outward religious symbols, ultimately what really matters is an inward relationship with the Spirit. Since salvation and marriage are both covenants, think of it as a wedding ring. If you are married, it makes sense to wear a wedding ring pointing to the relationship. But, if you are not married, wearing a wedding ring is of no benefit to you since there is no relationship.

Our outward actions need to match what is in our hearts and vice versa, especially as we minister to unbelievers who may see our external conduct or outward appearance as conflicting with what we say we believe or what we tell others to do.

Reflection:

• The big difference between the person who is simply religious versus the person who is spiritually redeemed comes down to their “heart’ and the “Spirit” according to 2:9. In your own words, what does this mean to you?
• In 2:17-25, Paul says that religious people who know the Bible and grow up with religious teaching sometimes don’t really live out what they learn but wrongly think they are right with God. Have you had a season of life like this where you were religious but not redeemed? How was this Paul’s exact problem before He met Jesus?
• Are you ever a harsher critic of others than yourself? How can you be more aware of ways that God wants to change you before you judge others for their faults and flaws? 
• Are you ever a harsher critic of yourself than others? What does Romans say about how God sees his Saints?