Religion Will Not Take You to Heaven
November 5, 2019
Commentary
Few people were more religious than young Paul of Tarsus. He knew all about religious orthodoxy and how it can make a sincere and zealous person the very enemy of Christ. Orthodoxy in religion requires both access to the truth and accountability to the truth. Paul was speaking to Jews who gloried in being called Jews. In fact, they thought they were much better than the Gentiles, and Paul proceeds to give the following list of moral and religious things they gloried in:
1. They relied on the Law (v. 17).
2. They bragged about their relationship to God (v. 17).
3. They know His will (v. 18).
4. They approve of what is superior (v. 18).
5. They are instructed by the law (v. 18).
6. They thought of themselves as being:
a. A guide for the blind (v. 19).
b. An instructor of the foolish (v. 20). They thought they were the only ones who had knowledge & truth.
7. They thought they were the only ones who had knowledge & truth.
Paul then stops and asks a question. “You who teach others, do you not teach yourselves?” He goes on to say that they teach against stealing, committing adultery and having idols but they are guilty of doing these things of which they are telling others not to do. He says, “You brag about the law, but you dishonor God by breaking the Law.” He says that their hypocrisy even causes the Gentiles to blaspheme God.
Application
When I say one thing and do another it causes others to not follow the Lord. Does my life cause others to want to accept Christ or turn them off to the things of the Lord?
Romans 2:17– 24 (NET)
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God 18 and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth— 21 therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Illustration: Tony Campolo What do you do
Tony Campolo says that his wife is a brilliant woman. She has a PhD degree and can pursue a very profitable career. But she elected to stay home with her children when they were young. Her decision didn’t bother her at all except when other women would ask, “What do you do?” She would answer, “I’m a homemaker. I stay home and take care of my children and my husband.” They would usually respond with, “Oh” and then ignore her from then on. So, Mrs. Campolo came up with this response when she was asked what she did: “I’m socializing two Homo-sapiens in Judeo-Christian values, so they’ll appropriate the eschatological values of utopia. What do you do?” They would often blurt out, “I’m a doctor”, or “I’m a lawyer”, and then wander off with a dazed look in their eyes. (Source Unknown.)