Let's go to Romans chapter 2 please. The epistle of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome presents an an orderly presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word gospel means good news. And the Apostle Paul goes to great pains to explain the good news about God's love and God's grace towards us manifest in his son, Jesus Christ, who laid aside his glory, who assumed our humanity, who died our death, who was buried in a tomb, who rose again the third day, who ascended into heaven, was sent down his spirit, will soon catch up his church, but then return in power to reign in glory on a universal scale as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But before Paul gets to explaining how good the good news is, he takes some pains to tell us how bad the bad news is. And the bad news is, because of our sin, Romans chapter 1 verse 18 says, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Now, as we look around the world today, there is evidence of God's righteous indignation against sin. The evidence is seen in the fact that God has given people over to live with the consequences of their choices. God has given us freedom to choose. He has not given us the freedom to escape the consequences of those choices. And so on every hand, the Scripture tells us that there is evidence of God's righteous indignation against humans in manifested in the things that are happening in people's lives as a consequence of sin. The wrath of God is being revealed, present tense, against human sin. But then the apostle Paul also goes on to tell us that the wrath of God will also be revealed in a future way as well. Yes, there is a present reality of divine judgment, but there's also a future prophetic aspect of God's judgment, too. There will be a final evaluation of our lives, the lives that we have lived when we stand before God. And we read about that in chapter two, verses one to 16. That's the passage that Pastor Fisher preached for us last week, which makes two main points about the judgment of God. Chapter 2, verses 1 to 5 points out the inescapability of God's judgment, that is, God's future judgment is certain. And then chapter 2, verses 6 through 16 talks about the integrity of God's judgment, that is, God's future judgment will be fair. God's judgment is certain, God's judgment will be fair. And this judgment applies to all people. whom the apostle Paul divides into two distinct groups. Paul was particularly concerned to address the people of his day, and he puts them into two categories. There is the category of the Jews and there is the category of the Gentiles. Jews and the rest of the world. That is, all the other nations whom the Jews often refer to as the heathen or pagans. In Romans chapter 1, Paul goes to great pains to show the sins of the Gentiles, the sins of the heathen, the sins of the pagan world. But then when we come to chapter 2, Paul points out the sin of the Jewish people as well. The Jews were a unique people, very, very distinctive, different from everyone else. Totally different coat of dress. Totally different approach to work. Totally different approach to culture. Thoroughly different system of religion. Very, very different indeed. In fact, so different were the Jews from the rest of the nation that there was a love, sort of love hate relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles. But the Jews, the Gentiles, sorry, couldn't help admire them. Yet at the same time, they were absolutely irritated by them. It is to these two groups that the Apostle Paul addresses the bad news about human sin and about the judgment of God. And it was no surprise to the Jewish people to hear Paul castigating the Gentiles for their sin. They would agree with absolutely everything that Paul said about the heathen in chapter one. They deserve the judgment of God. But what did come as a terrible surprise to them is to see how Paul then proceeds to talk to the religious Jew about their sin as well. Now, if we could stop here and think for a moment, I think there's an immediate application that we can make to our own society today. Today, there are people, lots of people who show absolutely no interest whatsoever in the things of God. They are out and out irreligious as far as their lifestyle is concerned. They just let it all hang out. And there are many, many people who rise up in indignation about their lifestyle and think that, yes, they certainly deserve the judgment of God. And very often, this is the attitude of people in our society who are outwardly religious. They're moral, they're upright, they're respectable, conform to all kind of rituals and rules, outwardly religious. very loud in their condemnation of the sin of others. But they have a very hard time understanding that their own hearts also are sinful before God. It's true to say, according to the Scriptures, that the pagan who just lets it all hang out is suppressing the truth that God has revealed to him and will come under the judgment of God. But it's equally true to say, according to the Scripture, that the religious person who is in a position of privilege still comes under divine judgment. And as a matter of fact, there are some particular dangers for those who are inherently or traditionally religious. And it's these dangers of religion that I'd like to draw your attention to this morning. Let me identify, first of all, the danger in religion in terms of profession without performance. It's clearly what Paul has in mind, commencing in chapter two, verse 17, the danger of profession without performance. Notice the things that these religious Jews professed about themselves. Firstly, they professed they had a special name. Behold, they are called a Jew, verse 17. The word Jew is derived from the word Judah and from the word Judea. Judah was a chosen tribe. Judea was part of the promised land that God gave to the children of Israel. The word Jew became the title for 12 tribes who descended from Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. And God had chosen the Israelites. be very, very special in his economy. And so, therefore, anyone who was called a Jew was a person who had a very, very special place in God's economy. Now, it's true to say that down through history, the word Jew has been reviled, but before the throne of God, it's never been reviled. It's a very, very special word indeed. And those who rightly call themselves Jews can be rightly pleased with their special name. But not only that, but they also regard themselves as having a special foundation. It says they rested in the law. They rested in the law of God. Now, when we read the book of Romans, we need to be careful when Paul talks about the law because he uses that expression in several different ways. Sometimes he's referring to the law of Moses, specifically the Ten Commandments. Sometimes he's referring to all the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Old Testament. Sometimes he's referring to the whole of the Old Testament. And sometimes he seems to be talking about divine principles which have been made known to man. And this is a point that we need to bear in mind as we proceed through the book of Romans. But the point that is made here is that the Jewish people are not only proud of this special name, They're also proud of the fact that they built their lives upon a very, very special foundation. God had revealed things to them that he had not revealed to any other people. And they professedly had built their lives upon this foundation of special and divine revelation. Not only that, they also claimed a special relationship with God. Verse 17 continues, Thou makest thy boast of God. In other words, you brag about your relationship with God. Now, there's no question about it, the Jews were a chosen people. There's no doubt about it, they were put in a unique position indeed, not in order just so that they might be separated from the rest of the world, but in order that they might be in the divine economy, an instrument of blessing to the human race that through Abraham's seed, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. There's no question about it. The Jewish people have a unique and special relationship with God. Furthermore, in verse 18, Paul goes on to say that they also had special insights. They could quite honestly say that they knew God's will. In the Old Testament, there was a revelation of God's character. In the Old Testament, there was a revelation of God's requirements. Any Jew who knew the Old Testament scriptures had a glimpse of the nature and the character of God, God's plan and God's purpose. They could understand this with absolute certainty, with absolute clarity. They understood what it meant to live as God intended life to be lived. And so they were rightly able to say that they had special insights into the will of God being instructed out of the law. And then finally, we see in verse 19, they also had this special conviction. They had this special conviction that God had uniquely called them to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness. Verse 20, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes. Now, it's true that God never suggested to them that they should have this proud and arrogant attitude towards others and calling them blind and in the dark and fools and juveniles. But nevertheless, God had showed them. an unmistakable privilege and responsibility in leading other people into the knowledge of the truth. And all of this, they loudly professed great, great professions and all that the Jews were professing, generally speaking, was perfectly valid. Now, let's just think about this for a moment. I think there's an obvious application for us today at this point also. There are people who can equally rightly say that they bear the name Christian. They bear a special name, the name of Christ. And there are people. who would say that from their earliest days, they've heard the truth, they've gone to church with their parents and they can't remember a time when they weren't learning things about God than when they were knee high to a grasshopper there in Sunday school and a foundation of God's word was laid in their life. No question about it, from the earliest days, there are some people who say that I was part of a church family, a church fellowship, a church family, and in that I had a special relationship with God. I also grew up and I had insights. I knew that God said thou shalt do some things and thou shalt not do other things. I understood this. I saw this and I had this conviction that someone such as I was put in this privileged position so that I might share the truth about God with others. It would be true to say that many people in society today and Perhaps many people in this church and other churches would be able to make, with a considerable degree of validity, professions of faith like that. But Paul's point here to the Jewish people, which is applicable to all religious people, is this, that profession without performance is disastrous. Profession without performance is disastrous. Notice the point that Paul then goes on to make whilst they are convinced that they're guides to the blind and lights to those who are in darkness, instructor of the foolish and a teacher of babes, because they knew the law, they got the knowledge of the truth. But then he asks them this question, verse 21. Thou therefore that teachest another. Teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest that man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest that man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Verse 23, Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law, dishonorest thou God? Verse 21, so there is this teaching of others, things that they fail to learn themselves. Halfway through verse 21, there is this preaching to others, things that they fail to preach and heed themselves, things they don't practice themselves. Verse 23, there is this bragging to others without properly behaving themselves. Paul's point is inescapable. He says that it is possible for pagans to let it all hang out and be rightly condemned because they suppress the truth of what they know. But there are also those who are religious, those who are upright in their stance, who are respectable in society. And we have to acknowledge and recognize that they are also equally capable of sin, perhaps not the gross, crass form admittedly. Without doubt, there are many religious people who demonstrate gross inconsistency in many, many areas and who don't necessarily suppress the truth. What do they do? They twist it. They distort it. They ignore it. Let me give you an example. As far as the Jewish people were concerned, many of them were meticulous about keeping the law. And one of the requirements of the law was that they remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And one of the ways that they did that was by not doing any work. And they knew that physical exercise was work. And so they would limit physical exercise on the Sabbath day. They weren't allowed to walk more than a prescribed number of meters on a Sabbath day. Literally, it was called a Sabbath day's journey. However, often people wanted to go more than a Sabbath day's journey on the Sabbath day. However, they didn't want to break the law. And this is how they did it. Before the Sabbath day, they would take an article of clothing or a piece of food and then they would carefully, meticulously pace out a Sabbath day's journey from their home and they'd find a rock or a tree and they'd leave their clothes there or leave a piece of food there. And then they would pace out the exact Sabbath day journey from that rock or that tree and lead another item of clothing or another piece of food there. And they keep doing this all the way to their desired destination, the one they get to on the Sabbath day. And then on the Sabbath day, they would go a Sabbath day's journey from their home and find their piece of clothing or the piece of food. And if anyone asks them what they're doing, they say, well, this is my home. This is where my food is, this is where my clothing is. They'd go another Sabbath day's journey to the next bit of food, next bit of clothing. They just keep doing that. This is my home. This is where I keep my things. One of that sort of thing rings a bell with anyone, not breaking the law, but twisting it and distorting it and bending it to our own advantage, fulfilling the letter, but certainly not the spirit. That's a very common thing. amongst religious people. This is what Paul is hitting out at. He is saying that, yes, there are people in a pagan society who are crass and gross and breaking what God has outlined. But it's equally possible for us who are committed to our religion to be rigid in our adherence and correct in our position, but to have a heart which is far, far removed from what God wants us to do. The way that they were operating was there was teaching without learning, preaching without practice, boasting without behaving. And as a result of this, they were living in outright inconsistency. And the nature of that kind of inconsistency is sin before God. This is why Paul says in Romans chapter two, verse one, You know, you who condemn others, you do exactly the same thing. The same, it's sin, different form, but it's still sin. Remember, the point of all this is to show that in the final analysis, it doesn't really matter whether you are a irreligious sinner or a religious sinner, what we have in common is sinner. And this is the point. But it is so hard, it is so hard. to get upright, respectable religious people to admit their sin. And all the while, they continue to give God a bad name. Verse 24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. And one of the place where this is written is 2 Corinthians 2 Samuel, chapter 12, verse 14, where we read about David's sin with Bathsheba and the shame that that brought to the name of God. In his commentary on Romans, D. Stuart Briscoe tells a story of the time when he worked in a bank. That's what he says. He said, When I was in business, I was placed in a position where I had to deal with a man who had embezzled a considerable sum of money from the bank for which we both worked. The reason for his embezzlement was that he had two wives, two families and two homes to run. When he was apprehended and dismissed from the company, he stunned everyone in the room by saying, I'm very sorry for what I've done, but I need to know whether I should fulfill my preaching commitments on Sunday in our local church. Briscoe says, as a practicing Christian, I spent a considerable amount of my time in the ensuing weeks undoing the damage done by this man's blatant inconsistency. To my chagrin, I discovered that my work colleagues not only despised the man in question, but because of his behavior were quick to dismiss the church he belonged to as a bunch of hypocrites, the gospel that he professed to believe as a load of hogwash and the God he claimed to serve as non-existent. In Romans 2, verses 7 and 24, Paul addresses the sin of religious people, religious Jewish people, privileged people indeed. And sadly, for most of them, their profession and their performance did not equate, and the result was their guilt and condemnation before God. What a warning this is to people like us who are not out there in society like the pagan, letting it all hang out, but who live righteously and respectfully and religiously on the outside but on the inside may very well have hearts that are very far, far from God. Profession without performance. Sin. The second thing that Paul talks about in verses 25 to 29 is the danger of ritual without reality. Ritual without reality. Starting in verse 25, Paul addresses the subject of circumcision. a ritual with which the Jewish people were deeply acquainted and deeply proud. You may remember that God had established a covenant with their forefather, Abraham. God said that he would be Abraham's God and through Abraham's seed, a nation would come through whom the whole world would be blessed. In the person of Christ and the work of Christ, in the salvation which he provides for sinners like you and me. And what a privilege this was for Israel, that God would be their God and they would be God's special people and a special covenant relationship with him. This is what we call the Abrahamic covenant, one of the most glorious things in the Old Testament, that God was not only a creator who some people had the idea was far removed, rather he is also a covenant making God. who was intimately and intrinsically involved in our lives. And the sign and a seal of the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision. And so Abraham and all the succeeding Jewish males were to be circumcised. The point of this was not hygienic. It didn't have anything to do with just being a meaningless religious ritual. The point of it was this. It was an outward sign of an inward covenant relationship that they had come into. But the problem was. But the history of Israel is one long history of one generation after another, proud of the covenant, insisting on the ritual of circumcision, but having an ongoing erosion of commitment in the relationship with God. Paul speaks about this, speaks about it with great force. And he tells the people it's one thing to adhere to a ritual, but the ritual is to speak of a reality. A ritual is always to speak of a reality. And if we divorce the ritual from the reality, that's the essence of sin. Listen to the words of one Martin Luther. He says, I was a devout monk who wanted to force God to justify me because of my works and the severity of my life. I was a good monk. and kept the rule of my order so strict that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his monkery, I would have gotten there as well. If I had kept on any longer, I would have killed myself with vigils and prayers and readings and other works. There's tragic concepts there. Here's this gifted man. devout man, totally committed to his order. This man was so meticulous in his observation of rules and rituals. This man who was prepared to go on and on and on, even the point of killing himself if necessary, so great was his commitment to what he professed. And yet, by his own testimony, he had no sense of assurance or forgiveness of sin in his life. Let's face it, it's possible. For there to be profession without performance, there is possible to have rituals and yet no reality. And this is one of the dangers of religion. You see, in verses 25 to 29, Paul points out that an external sign is no substitute for an internal intention. There's a tendency in religious circles to feel that because I have gone through the ritual or because the external sign has been applied, then my internal heart attitude doesn't matter. There's a tendency in religious circles for us to feel that the external sign gives us the freedom to be unfaithful and it doesn't matter. In other words, the fact that I'm being inconsistent and the fact that I'm being unfaithful doesn't really matter because I've gone through the ritual, I've done the ritual. There's a tendency in religious circles for us to assume that external signs in the flesh, which are intended to convey an inner working of the Spirit, don't necessarily do that. And all that matters is the external sign. Don't need to worry about the internal work. Paul puts it this way, verse 28. For he is not a Jew, which is one in outwardly. Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter. It's possible for us to adhere to the letter of the law and to miss the spirit of it. Possible for us to have the highest regard for the ritual, but have no interest whatsoever in the reality for which the ritual stands. It's possible for us to go through all the motions of the minimal requirements of respectful adherence to an ecclesiastical system or structure without any real interest in being the people of God. And so this is one of the dangers of religion, is one of the sins of people who are religious. True, the pagans will be bold and brash and crass in their sin, the religious more sophisticated, more subdued in theirs, but the common denominator is sin. And Paul is relentlessly bearing down on this, coming to the point where to show that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The third danger of religion is privilege without perception. Privilege without perception. Chapter three, verse one asks the question. What advantage then hath the Jew? What profit is there of circumcision? And you think that the way that Paul's been rebuking them, you expect to say, well, none whatsoever means nothing. It doesn't say that. Verse two, he says, there is much advantage, there's much profit every way. First of all, the Jews had been entrusted with the very words of God. Verse two, unto them were committed the oracles of God. What a privileged position the Jews were in. What a privilege to have uniquely entrusted to them the very words of God, they knew God in a special way. They knew God's requirements in a special way. They understood morality and ethics in a special way. They understood right and wrong in a clearly focused way, far beyond what the pagans understood. They were highly privileged. The trouble was there was little perception. Little perception of that timeless principle, to whom much is given, much shall be required. Little perception of the well-known fact That privilege always brings with it responsibility. You see, they had settled down into this callous, hard-hearted indifference to God. In terms of heart love for Him, in terms of heart obedience to Him, they were just settling for the external. Jesus, of course, spoke very forcibly about this to people of His day, particularly the Pharisees, who in a very real sense exemplified all of this. And this is what He said to them. He says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, the smallest little herbs. You tithe that, you go to that degree, but have omitted the weightier matters of the judgment and mercy and faith or faithfulness. These you ought to have done and not leave the other undone. You blind guides that strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. Never think that Jesus didn't have a sense of humor. He says you gag on a gnat and gulp down a camel, hump and all. What's he saying? He's saying exactly the same thing that the Apostle Paul is saying. Privilege? Absolutely. Without perception, blind, he says, blind. There's a terrible danger to those who adhere to a religious system. not to recognize their inconsistency, not to recognize the callousness of hearts, not to recognize that we're majoring on externals, giving scant regard to the internals, settling for the rituals, ignoring the reality. Let's put this right where it belongs, folks. It's the easiest thing in the world. To feel that because you've gone through the religious motions and to feel that you've satisfied yourself, it's easy to assume, therefore, that all is well. And yet at the same time, we have to admit that there is perhaps deep down a nagging suspicion that there's something really not right in our own hearts. And isn't this something that we all need to confront? And when we confront it, isn't it necessary to recognize that the measure to which we have become external and not internal, ritualist but not real, professors but not performers, privileged without perception, it's necessary for us to come humbly before God and to admit, yes, this is the essence of our sin. And how dare we point the finger at those who are gross and crass when we are equally sinful, only slightly more refined and sophisticated and religious. The bad news is that the wrath of God is being and will be revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. And therefore, all of us, irreligious and religious people, are in desperate need of the grace and the mercy of God and the forgiveness That is to be found in Christ and Christ alone. And finally, the fourth danger is the danger of objections without objectivity. Objections without objectivity. Chapters chapter three, verses three to eight. Not easy to understand, and we certainly don't have time to examine them thoroughly this morning. What I like to do is paraphrase and draw out the meaning for you in just a and a summary. You might remember that last week, Pastor Fisher taught us that the literary form that Paul is using here is called a diatribe, in which Paul is debating with an imaginary opponent. Well, in Paul's debate with his imaginary opponent, his opponent's objections are now being expressed in verse 3 to 8. And one of the objections is this, verse 3. that if the religious Jews are so bad, like you just said they are, Paul, they're unbelieving, they're faithless. Well, how can they still maintain their position of privilege? If the religious are as bad as you say they are, then surely they shouldn't be having the privileges that they do. And Paul's answer is basically this. Yes, they are as bad as I say they are, and yet they still have privileges because God is faithful. because of the faith of God, because of the faithfulness of God. That's the reason why. His next objection is in verse four. It's this. Well, then if they're still privileged, then God's not being fair. Or if God was to take away their privileges, then he's reneged on his promise and so they've got God either way. It's the kind of objections that you hear from people out there. You mean to tell me that all these bad religious people still have privileges? If so, God's not being fair. If God was to take away their privileges, then he's not being faithful. And so they play both ends against the middle. Another objection he suggested in verse five, it's this, that if our sinfulness really highlights the righteousness of God, then why would God punish me? If my unrighteousness just really shows how righteous God is, then He is using me for his purposes and actually as being useful in his purposes. He should really thank me rather than punish me. Another objection is this verse seven. If my sinfulness shows how, by contrast, how good God is, then the more I sin, the better God will look. And if I sin more, God will look better. And the more and more I sin, the better and better God will look. These are the kinds of objections that people have. In other words, when you try to talk to people about their sin, they will squirm, they will wiggle, they will argue, they will debate, they will bring up every objection imaginable under the sun, but they won't address that issue of their own sin. And Paul shows that objectively. that objectivity is needed at this point. And his objectivity is really straightforward. Objectively, his point is, don't get into the point of all of these objections. Why don't you just get to the point of acknowledging your sin? Why won't you just acknowledge your sin? This is the point that he's making. Objectivity says, don't present all these highfalutin philosophical debates. Just admit, just admit there's a degree of hypocrisy and inconsistency. But you are a sinner. Admit it. Objectivity requires us also to have a deep sense of consciousness, of sinfulness about ourselves, a reverence towards God, a reaching out to God, asking him not for justice because it blows to smithereens, but asking God for grace and mercy, which is thankfully available in Christ. We can raise all the objections we like. But when it really comes down to it, there are several dangers inherent in religion. There's a danger of profession without performance, the danger of ritual without reality, the danger of privilege without perception, the danger of objections without objectivity. And Paul's point up until this point in the Book of Romans is that pagans, no, they don't have the same revelation the Jewish people have. They suppress the truth that they have. And they're living with the consequence of their own sin. The Jews, however, they're not stumbling around the dark. They have the truth. And the sin that they commit, they commit in the blinding light of the revelation of God. And there's no real excuse for them to be falling flat on their faces when they have so much light. They're not stumbling in the dark. The danger of religion is that we might be so meticulous on the outside and forget how sinful we are on the inside. The danger of religion is that we can be very, very quick to point the finger at the crass and the gross pagan and blindly overlook the inconsistency and the hypocrisy and the sinfulness of our own hearts. You see, where we all belong, where we all belong, where we all belong is at the foot of the cross in humility and in faith. and in repentance, seeking God's forgiveness. And that's the good news. Salvation, which is available in Christ and Christ alone. Romans chapter 8 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Not our own righteousness with Paul says, Philippians 3, but to be found in the righteousness of Christ. All of our sin imputed to Him, all of His righteousness given to us, all of our sin, even the good things we try to do defectively, all the hypocrisy, all the double standards, all the inconsistency, all of our sin forgiven, cleansed by the blood of Christ. A righteous God will impute to us the righteousness of Christ. And the righteousness of God Christ became sin for us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good news of the gospel. Thank you that there's one message for all people, because all people are alike, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Lord, it's true that we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we are better than we are. And Lord, I do pray that you'd help us to not be so blind to our own condition. Lord, open our eyes, help us to see what we really are like without Christ. Lord, help us to see how wonderful the Lord Jesus Christ is for us and to us. How that in such mercy and grace, the Lord Jesus is willing to forgive sinners like us. Father, we rejoice in the wonderful news of the gospel. May this be the thing that we glory in, nothing of ourselves, but may our glory be in the cross of Christ and the person of Christ and the work of Christ and Christ alone. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.