So much of our lives are spent summing things up by the way they appear. We tend to take things at face value until actions prove opposite of the appearance. We need to be very careful that we are not projecting outwardly one way but living inwardly another way. In other words, our outward actions need to match our inward person.
In Romans 2:17-29, Paul addresses this subject when speaking about the Jews. God had entrusted the Jews with the law, but mere possession does not qualify them to be the guide, to be a light, or to be an instructor for others. They were very prideful in their knowledge of God’s word. They felt a certain entitlement as His chosen people. Yet, as they held the truth in their hands, they failed to understand real heart application.
Romans 2:19-20 “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.”
When we do not live according to God’s word, we are hurting the cause of Christ more than we are helping it. In verses 21-24, Paul warns them that they are living such lawless lives while preaching the law, that God’s name is blasphemed because of them.
Romans 2:21-23 “Thou therefore which teaches another, teaches thou, not thyself? thou that preaches 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 dishonors thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
Paul tries to make them understand the meaning of the rituals they were keeping. He argues that possession is not protection from the condemnation of God. The ritual of circumcision was more than the cutting away of the flesh; it was to be a circumcision of the heart. Anything that was not pleasing to God was to be eliminated, “cut away,” from the heart. The action must back up the teaching and preaching of God’s word.
When those who claim to know Christ do not fulfill what the Bible says in the living of their daily lives, they are no different than the Jews Paul was talking about. Being a disciple of Christ is an inward spiritual action that shows itself outwardly to others. If our actions don’t match what we say we believe, we are harming the cause of Christ. I believe weak, uncommitted, self-righteous “Christians” are the worst enemy the church of Jesus Christ has. Those who profess one way but live another give the lost world reason to believe they are “ok.” They don’t see any difference between them.
Rituals and sacraments are not bad things. There are sacraments that we should keep, but if they are not matched by the inner reality they symbolize, they are empty. Baptism is a symbol, for the onlooking world, of our new birth, our death with Christ, and our resurrection to a new life. The Lord’s Supper is a reminder of the foundation of our right relationship with God through the work of His Son on the cross. However, unless participation in these sacraments is an illustration of the truth within us, they are of no use. They are harmful to us, and to those who observe.
Paul is making his case to the Jews. He wants to convince them they are lost if they do not have that inward relationship with Christ. They may think that because God chose to reveal himself to them first, they are ok, but Paul says a “Jew,” “God’s chosen people,” are those who are God’s from the heart, who seek God’s approval, not the approval of man.
Romans 2:29 “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
So, what about you? Are you keeping the rules to Christianity, going to church, paying your tithe, reading your bible, and saying a prayer? Do you know about the God of the Bible, but you are not experiencing the presence of God in your daily life? Are you seeking to change daily to be like Christ, or are you satisfied and feel everything is ok? If your actions and attitudes are not springing from a heart that is full of the Holy Spirit, then Paul is talking to you too.
Excellent