The Sin of Cultural Religion

 Thus far in our study in the book of Romans, we have seen that God’s wrath is being revealed against men in two different ways. First, his wrath is revealed against pagans who deny the truth of God that is revealed in nature and exchange that truth for a lie. Second, his wrath is revealed against Jews, who live self-righteous lives and store up wrath for the day of judgment. In our text this morning, Paul is going to continue his argument against the self-righteous by condemning the sin of cultural religion.

I think it’s quite obvious by now (and some of you have already noted this) that we live in a post-Christian society, even here in the South. Yet, the way that it shows up in the South is far different than it might in other parts of the country. You see, here, there are still churches on every corner. There are still parents and grandparents who go to church. There are still expectations of a basic public morality: you don’t say God’s name in front of a curse word, you at least pretend to have plans of marriage while living with your girlfriend, you make sure that your children get signed up for VBS. But, I think it is safe to say, judging by the falling attendance in most churches in our county and state, that the majority of “Christians” on our community only mean that as a cultural reference. They will stand for the prayer and the pledge at a ball game, have their weddings and funerals at the church, attend an Easter or Christmas service (never both, though!), and they will gladly show all due respect to the pastor. But, they will not commit to weekly worship. They will not ensure that their children are raised in the admonition of the Lord. They will not give up their worldly concerns to follow Christ. And because of all of this, I say with every bit of confidence that cultural Christianity and true, faithful Christianity are not the same thing at all. I can say that because of the text before us. So, let’s read Rom. 2:12-29 together. I want you to see three points from this text: Hearers vs. Doers, The Dishonor of Law-Keeping, and the Distinction of True Faith.

First, let’s consider the contrast of Hearers and Doers from vs. 12-16. Remember, last week I explained the difference between true righteousness and self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is the pursuit of an outward appearance of morality and an attempt to gain obligate God into accepting you. True righteousness is found in trusting in what Jesus Christ has done for you and then living in obedience to him out of gratitude for what he has done. Paul now draws a distinction, in v. 13, between those who hear the Law and those who actually do it. It is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous, but those who actually do it. Then Paul gives a scenario that would shock a Jew. He asks, if a Gentile (someone who never grew up going to church or studying the Bible) just naturally does what the Law requires, don’t they show that they have the law written on their hearts? Jesus makes this very point with the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Remember, a lawyer, attempting to catch Jesus off guard, asks him “who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers that question by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable, a man is robbed on a country road, beaten, and left for dead. A priest (picture a pastor) walks by and avoids the man. Next, a Levite (imagine a deacon) walks by, and he too avoids him. Then, a Samaritan – a race that was despised by the Jews because they did not follow the Law of Moses – he comes by and helps the man in a self-sacrificial way. Jesus’ conclusion in Luke 10:36 is to ask this: “Which of these three proved to be a neighbor to the man?” The Lawyer rightly answered: “the one who showed him mercy.”

Brothers and sisters, knowing Scripture is a good thing, but unless we are doing what Scripture says, we are hearers and not doers. Church attendance is a great thing, but if we are just attending out of duty without any real love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are hearers and not doers.

Next, I want you to see the Dishonor of Law-Keeping from v. 17-24. In these verses, Paul condemns the Jews because of their cultural pride in keeping the law. Paul points out that while they pride themselves for their religious observance, they fail to truly do what the Law says. In verses 21-23, Paul gives four ways that the Jews pridefully dishonored the Law of God. First, while teaching others they failed to teach themselves. It was an expectation that every devout Jew would have the first give books of the Bible memorized by the time he was twelve. The Jews took great pride in their care for the Word of God. After using a quill to copy a portion of Scripture, they would burn it so that it could not be used for any lower writing. Yet, for all of their zeal in preserving and teaching the Law of God, they never took it to heart.

Second, though they preached against public sins like stealing, they set up systems in which they could easily steal from others. The cause of Jesus’s outrage when he overturned tables in the temple was the fact that the temple leadership had established a scam of money exchange so they could defraud people who were bringing in sacrifices from other parts of the world. The Jews had no problem condemning the poor and the outcast for their thievery, all while they defrauded those same people through their institutions of power.

Third, though they condemned private sins like adultery, they also committed those same private sins. Many in Jewish leadership thought that it was OK to dismiss your wife and marry someone else without any reason or pretense. Yet, in Matt. 5:32, Jesus says, “Whoever divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Too, the Jewish leaders thought they could condemn others for adultery while harboring lustful desires for women in their own hearts, but Jesus would say in Matt 5:28 – “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Finally, though they condemned false worship and idolatry, the Jews used their own religion for personal gain. To be a priest or a religious scholar was to have the highest paying, most protected profession in all of society. No one could criticize you. Everyone had to obey you. It was the perfect position for anyone looking to get rich, and many sought positions of religious leadership for just those reasons.

So, in verse 23, Paul says that these men who boast in the law are really dishonoring God in the ways that they break the Law. By their outward law keeping they are blaspheming God. It is the same with those who are culturally religious today. You may pride yourself on your knowledge of the Bible and all the while you live your daily life as though the Word of God has no bearing in your life. You may despise the vagrant and the illegal immigrant for breaking laws, and all while fudging on your taxes or lying to gain some government benefit. You may rail against homosexuality and the decay of our nation all while casually consuming pornography. You may protest the removal of religious symbols from the public square and the attempts to take “Christ out of Christmas”, all while you show a half-hearted effort in your own personal commitment to church. These hypocritical acts may reveal that you only identify as a Christian because it is part of your culture, not because you actually believe in Jesus Christ and want to follow him. If that’s the case, you aren’t honoring God. You are blaspheming him.

Finally, let’s consider the distinction of true faith from vs. 25-29. Remember that the Jews were set apart by God, and the physical sign of that election was in the practice of circumcision. By the time of Paul’s writing, circumcision had become a badge of honor. The sign itself was proof that you were chosen by God, regardless of the way you lived. But, Paul challenges that idea by asking a similar question to what he asked in verse 14: “If an uncircumcised Gentile keeps the law, hasn’t he proven himself to be chosen by God, even if he doesn’t have the sign?” In taking such pride in this physical sign, the Jews had missed the significance of what the sign meant. In Col. 2:11, Paul says, “In [Christ] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” In other words, circumcision symbolized the removal of the flesh that God would do through Jesus Christ. When we trust in Christ, God takes our sinful, corrupt heart (often called “flesh”) and transforms it by the power of His Spirit to desire the things of God. This is the circumcision that matters, regardless of what sign we have on our bodies. In a similar way, many people today pride themselves on their baptism. They say, “preacher, I was baptized in the church when I was 10, so how dare you say I’m not a Christian because I haven’t been back since.” Baptism is an outward sign. Certainly, it is supposed to be an outward sign of inward faith. But, being baptized doesn’t make you a Christian any more than wearing a pilot’s cap makes you a pilot. The difference is a matter of the heart. So Paul says, in verse 29, “a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.”

Friend, you may have assumed that you were a Christian because your Momma was. You may have assumed you were a Christian because you were born in the Christian south. You may have assumed you were a Christian because all of the major events of your life have happened in this church. But, unless you have trusted in Jesus Christ and your heart has been changed by his Spirit to desire the things of Christ, then you are not a Christian. But you can be through simple repentance and faith. Won’t you turn to Christ today?

Brothers and sisters, our obedience to Christ is to be motivated by a heart that is set on him. If you are in Christ, then you have been given a heart to desire the things of God. Don’t turn back again to cultural law-keeping, thinking that your worth before God is tied up in your years of service or you’re standing in the church. Instead, live in obedience to Christ because he has made you a part of his family thru his death and resurrection. Trust in that, not in any outward sign or symbol.