Now we're going to pick up in
verse 17. Paul is going to show us here,
he's showing the Jews, that the external advantages that they
had that were given to them by God would not justify them. The advantages in and of themselves
would not justify them. And he addresses the Jews here
to the end of this chapter from verse 17 on. And he points out their privileges. God highly favored this nation. This nation was given the Word
of God, the prophets, the tabernacle, all those things that pointed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. All the types, all the pictures
was given. to this one nation. This one nation. Of all the people
of the earth, they had advantages. They had the advantages. But
what Paul is going to show them is although they had the advantages,
they couldn't stand this. You're no better than the Gentiles
by nature. You're just like those Gentiles
that you hate. And this is what Paul is going
to point out. You're no better. He says, Thou art called a Jew. You are a Jew by name. That's how they are distinguished.
You are a Jew by nationality, by religion. Everyone knew their
religion that knew them. They knew them. They were Abraham's
seed according to the flesh, and they rested, he said, in
the law. Not that they actually observed it. They rested in it.
We rest in Christ. We rest in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They rested in the law. When they thought of their acceptance
before God, they turned to the law. When we talk about our acceptance
before God, we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. See, they turn
to a letter. We turn to a person. We turn
to the Son of God. He said, you rest, and you rest
in the law. They were given the law by Moses.
God gave it to Moses. Moses gave it to them. And because
of this, they claimed to have God's favor. Having the law and truly keeping
the law is two totally different things. They had the law. The law was given to them. They
had it, but they didn't keep it. They didn't even come close
to keeping it. Even though they thought they
did, They would stake their life on it, they did. They did not
keep the law, because they did not understand the spirituality
of the law. The law reaches the heart, the
mind, the thoughts, not just the outward actions. One writer
said this, and I've read this years ago, and it stuck with
me. The name of a Christian does
not mean that you have the nature of one. The name of one doesn't
mean you have the nature of one. Those Jews, they claim to have
the law, they claim to have God's favor, but they did not have
the nature of a child of God. They were no better than the
Gentiles. You say, in verse 18, you say that you know God's will. You know His will. You know what
He requires. You know what is to be done and
not to be done. They could tell you do's and
don'ts. They said, well, you don't do this, and you do this.
So they claimed to know God's will in that fashion, in that
way. Well, to know the will of God, and to truly do the will
of God, is two different things. They claimed to know what God
required, but they missed it. They missed it, because it didn't
enter into the heart. They just did the outward forms
and the outward show. That's all it was with them.
It was an outward thing. There were a few among them,
though. There were a few among them that believed God. A remnant,
but just a remnant. That's why I was telling Vicki,
driving down here, I was talking about the churches gathering
together this morning. The gospel church. I said, there's
just a remnant of us. I said, there's not very many.
Just a remnant. God has a remnant here. Lexington. other places. He had just arrived.
Who truly believed him. The rest of them is truly a show. It's just an outward profession.
And that's what theirs was. What they did not know was the
redemptive will of God in Christ concerning us Gentiles. As well as them. They didn't
comprehend that. They missed it. It went right
over their heads. And He says, you say that you approve the
things of God. You give agreement that this
is the way things ought to be done. You approve the things
of God. But to approve a thing and to
do it is two different things. Two totally different things.
But they approved these things being instructed out of the law.
This is how they knew these excellent things. They were instructed
out of the Word of God. So they had some knowledge. They were
not in complete darkness like the Gentiles. They had the Word
of God, the Oracle. They were given to Israel. And
he said, you've proved these excellent things. But they didn't
practice them. Paul is going to reach right
in and grab hold of their heart. You'll see this as we go along
here. He's going to reach right in and grab hold of the heart.
That's where God does business. God does business in the heart.
That's what he does. And he says, and you are confident
that thou thyself are fit to be a guide of the blind. You're confident that you can
guide everyone else. That you can teach and guide
everyone. That's a lot of confidence, isn't it? When we're talking
about things of God. What did Paul say? We are not sufficient. No man.
Paul said no man is sufficient for these things. You wouldn't find one of those
Jewish teachers saying that. Paul says, you're confident that
you're a guide of the blind. Puffed up with knowledge, but
void of grace. Void of grace. That's why they
were so harsh on everyone. That's why they were so mean.
They were so mean to the Lord who was meek and lonely. The
most gracious man that ever walked on this earth was the Son of
God. And they were so mean to Him. So mean. Puffed up with knowledge. Knowledge
puffs up, but grace brings us down to the level we should be
at. It brings us down. Our Scripture
says, if the blind leads the blind, the result is this, they
both fall in the ditch. Both end up in the ditch if the
blind lead the blind. And he said, you say you're a
light of them that are in darkness. You know, that's what they used
to call their teachers. They would call them the lamp
of light. That's what they would call those Jewish rabbis and
teachers, a lamp of light. Now, this is true of a gospel
preacher. He is a guide to them that sit
in darkness. But this is not true. of those
Jewish leaders, those Jewish teachers. They were self-righteous
hypocrites. This is what Paul is pointing
out to them. You're nothing but a bunch of
self-righteous hypocrites. Outwardly, you claim to do all
of these things. Outwardly, you claim to keep
the law. But you have never kept one jot or tittle of the law.
Not at all. You're not a light. You're really
a darkness. He says, you call yourself an
instructor of the foolish? Speaking of their teachers here
still, who taught the common people, they thought, this is
how they looked at the common people, foolish. They looked
down on them. They stood, and when they taught,
they would stand there so stiff and so rigid, and they looked
down on all those ignorant people. That's the way they looked at
them. Common, foolish, foolish people. That's what knowledge
without grace will do to you. It'll make you look down on everyone
else. It'll puff you up and you'll think you actually know something.
Paul says none of us know as we ought to know. None of us. You think you're an instructor
of the foolish? The conclusion Paul is drawing here is this. Since the teachers Since the
teachers could not keep the law, and they missed it, they didn't
understand the spirituality of it, and they couldn't be justified
by it, then how are the students going to be? How are the students
going to be? How are they going to be justified?
If the teachers have missed it, what about the students? You've got teachers in here that
teach. If you teach the wrong lesson,
how are the students going to end up? How are they going to
end up? Scripture says this. He says,
you proselyte, you Pharisee, you cross sea, you encompass
sea and land to make a proselyte, and all you've done is make him
twofold the child of hell. That's all you've done. Now Paul gets to the root of
the matter. Now he reaches in and he gets a hold of the heart.
He says, Thou therefore that teachest another, Teachest thou
not thyself? Don't you hear what you're saying?
Teachest thou not thyself? Do you not follow your own instructions?
Your own teachings? They were desirous to teach the
law. They wanted to teach the law. But they didn't know what they
were teaching. They totally missed the purpose and the spirituality
of the law. But they were very desirous to
teach it. They were very desirous to stand in front of the people
and take the law and then give out their interpretation of it. I'm not giving you my interpretation
of the Scripture. If I am, you're in trouble. You're
in trouble. The Word of God is not up for
our interpretation. It is as it is. We just have
to find that word to say it. We better find that word to say
it. They were blind and ignorant
to the spirituality of the law. And they taught about the Messiah's
coming. They taught about that. They all looked for the Messiah
to come. But when he came, it says, his own received him not.
So evidently, their teaching was way off, wasn't it? If I was to describe a person
to you, I'm going to describe that person in detail. And that
person walked in the room. I think you'd recognize him,
wouldn't you? So it's evident through their teaching they missed
it. They missed it. They missed Him. They missed
what the Scriptures had to say about Him. They were ignorant
of the real person and work of the Messiah. Because when He
came, they missed Him. They missed Him. They didn't
listen to their own lessons. They didn't listen to the Word
of God. And thou that preachest, a man should not steal. Paul
says, dost thou steal? Paul says, you steal. You preach
that a man should not steal, but you're stealing. He's accusing
them of theft. Paul's accusing them of theft.
See, that's why I say he's really getting to the heart here. He's
removing all these excuses that they are using in order to have
acceptance with God. Paul's reaching into the heart.
Even though they stole away the true meaning of the law. And they did that. They stole
away the true meaning. But Paul is accusing them of
true theft. The Scripture says, Our Lord
said this, Ye devour widows' houses. You devour them. They plundered and they robbed
them of their substance. They robbed the poor. They took
from them things that was not theirs. And they claim that this
was of God or that. You know what these TV preachers
do? I said on one of the radio sermons
here, this has been some time ago. I said, if you hear someone,
I said, please, if you hear someone asking for money, don't send
it. Don't send it. Don't give money to people that
are begging for it on the radio or on television. Don't do it. They're robbing you. They're
lying on God and they're coming into your house and robbing you.
Work on your conscience. Paul here is accusing them of
theft. He says, you say it's wrong to
steal, but you steal. Paul says, you're guilty of what
you're saying. You're guilty of what you're preaching. Thou that seest that man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?" Paul said,
you're guilty of adultery. John Gill said that was pretty
rampant back in those days among those Jewish leaders. But I never
thought of this until I read this this week. You remember that woman caught
in adultery? They brought her before the Lord.
And he looked at him and he said, you that are without sin. Now
we know that, and they know that everybody's sinned, they even
knew that. But I think there was a whole lot of them there
guilty of what they were trying to get her stoned for. There
was a lot of them there guilty of adultery. It began with the
eldest and to the youngest they left. There was a whole lot of
them there, I believe, was guilty of the very thing that they were
trying to have her stoned and condemned for. And the Lord convicted
them. He said, you that are without
sin, you without this sin, you cast the first stone. And they
all left. That's what Paul's saying here.
You say a man shouldn't commit adultery? He said, but you're
guilty of it. You know it. You're guilty of it. They strongly preached against
it while they committed it themselves. Thou that abhors idols, dost
thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law, here in verse 23, through breaking the law dishonest thou
God? This religious Jew, he boasted
of being a man of God. Oh, you know, they like to stand
in those robes And for people to think that they were very
religious, that they were men of God, and people looked up
to them. Paul said, you like to think
you're men of God. But all along, you're the biggest
liars and biggest hypocrites that ever walked on this earth.
That's a pretty strong charge, isn't it? That's a pretty strong
charge. He said, all along you're boasting
of being a man of God and you're breaking the very law that you
claim to keep. The very law you claim to have
salvation by, you're constantly, every day, breaking it. Transgressing
God's law. Every day. Therefore, you can
never be justified by the law. Never. It will condemn you. When
you stand before God, it will be the law that condemns you.
And you're no better than the Gentiles when it's all over.
In fact, it's only going to aggravate it in judgment that you had all
these privileges. And he says here in verse 24,
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you
because of your conduct. Because of your conduct, the
heathen Gentiles mock the name of God. Look over in Ezekiel
36. Here they were claiming to keep
the law to be a man of God. And yet, he said, you destroy it by your own conduct. You bring reproach on the name
of God. In Ezekiel 36, look in verse
20. And when they entered unto the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name. When they
said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth
out of his land. But I have pity for mine holy
name, which the house of Israel hath profaned among the heathen
by their conduct." He said, you claim to keep the law? He said,
look at history. He pointed at their history.
He said, this is your history. This is, Paul being a Jew, this
is our history. Claim to keep the law, but all
of our life we broke the law, and the Gentiles have blasphemed
the name of God through your conduct. He says here, Therefore say unto
the house of Israel, verse 22, Thus saith the Lord, I do not
this for your sakes, O house of Israel, I am not doing this
because you are righteous, you are good people, no, but for
mine holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen
everywhere you went. Everywhere you went, you profaned
my name. Now Paul, and we'll wind this
down, Paul's going to root them out of their last stronghold. They professed to be men of God. They professed to keep the law.
They professed to be a light to them that was set in darkness.
They professed to be a guide to the blind. Paul has shot all
that down. He has shot it all down. Now he's going to their last
stronghold, circumcision. He said, for circumcision barely
profits if you keep the law. He's talking about keeping the
law perfectly, not just doing some outward things, but perfectly
in the heart as well as outwardly. They trusted that their circumcision,
they truly trusted this, that their circumcision was sufficient
enough to gain them righteousness and acceptance with God. They
trusted that. I'm telling you, they felt like
that overrode everything else. is that circumcision they had.
It made them a child of the covenant. Children of the covenant. That's
what they believed. It would make them righteous
enough to obtain God's favor. But Paul let them know that they
did not keep the whole law, that their circumcision was useless.
He said it's absolutely useless. He said it's become uncircumcised.
It's as if he was never circumcised. And Paul gives here a hypothetical
case here in verses 26 and 27. Let me get back to my spot here. He said, therefore, if the Gentiles
keep the righteousness of the law, if they obeyed it, if this
were possible. It's not possible now. It's not
possible. But Paul is giving a hypothetical case here. If
it were possible that the Gentiles could keep the law, Shall not
his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? If he could
do that, he would stand before God righteous, and he would condemn
you of your unrighteousness and your transgression of the law. Verse 27, And shall not uncircumcision,
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, if that were possible,
judge you, condemn you, who by the letter and circumcision does
transgress the law, for he is not a Jew. Now here's where Paul
really reaches in on. He is not a Jew. He is not an
elect son of God. That's why he's saying he is
not one of God's elect, which is one outwardly, just an outward
form, an outward show. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. It means nothing. It means nothing. Here's what means everything.
He is a Jew which is one inwardly. God works in the heart. And circumcision
is that of the heart. It's God doing business in the
heart. It's God giving a new heart. It's worshiping God in the Spirit.
Because He says here, And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit,
not in the letter, not in this outward show and keeping of ceremonies
and all these things. That's not where it is. It's not where it is. It's an inward
work of grace in the heart. That's true circumcision. And
they who experience this are the true children of God. Now,
people can profess and say and do what they want, and they will. Men are religious by nature.
We're just religious by nature. We're going to worship something
or someone or somehow. We're going to do it. But when God commands the light
of the Gospel to shine into the heart, when God gives a new heart, When we are born again, when
we are born of God, He gives that new heart. That true circumcision, that
true work of grace is in the heart. And that's what God sees.
God doesn't look on His flesh. He looks on the heart. Scripture teaches that all throughout.
Even over in the Old Testament, God looks on the heart. What Paul is teaching us and
them is that no man in this flesh, by the strength of this flesh,
can keep the law of God perfectly, can keep the law of God in such
a way that he can be justified by it. You know, when I think of justification,
when I read about it, when I preach about it, justification, pardon,
I realize that for someone to enter into this, for it not to
be a cold, dead, dry doctrine or some legal term, I realize
you've got to be guilty. You've got to know what it is
to be guilty. You've got to know what it is to need pardon. Then
when you talk about justification being by grace through faith
in Christ, boy, it means something, doesn't it? Being cleared of
all charges, that means something to a sinner. That means something. But in this flesh, in this flesh,
nobody's going to be justified by their doings, only by the
grace of God. Only by grace. All right.