Safety Shattered
Romans 2:17-24
[17] But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God [18] and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; [19] and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— [21] you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. [24] For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
DEEP SHEET: Sermon Study Questions
1. Why does Paul wait until v. 17 to explicitly address the Jews? How does this passage build on and reiterate Paul’s previous arguments?
2. How do the Jews in Paul’s day see themselves? Were they right or wrong to think that way?
3. What does it mean to rightly “boast in God”? Where had the Jews gone wrong?
4. What does this passage communicate to the professing Christian? How has Romans 2 informed or impacted you personally?
5. How does Paul connect Jewish hypocrisy back to Gentile idolatry, particularly in v. 23? How does this encourage us to consciously live for God’s glory?
References: Psalm 1; Psalm 119:105; Jeremiah 9:24; John 5:23, 39; 8:42; Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; Genesis 22:18; John 12:36; Matthew 5:14; 15:14; Titus 2:11-14; Deuteronomy 7:25; Matthew 5:28; Romans 1:5, 21; Ephesians 1:12; 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31.
