Ep. 291. Romans 2 | To the Jew First

EPISODE 291

TO THE JEW FIRST: ROMANS 2

I want to start by pointing out Romans 2:4; "It is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance." The reason this is so important is because when I was growing up in church, a lot of effort was put into scaring people out of Hell and into Heaven. People would get up and talk about the terrible realities of Hell, though they can't possibly know or understand them, and once the crowd was on the edge of panic, they'd finish with a quick, albeit poorly shaped, gospel presentation designed to "rescue" you from the most horrible fate of Hell. Not once can I remember someone presenting the gospel from the perspective of the kindness of God as a motivation for knowing him and following him. To be sure, wrath is mentioned in the next verse, but not as the motivation for believing in Christ, rather it is offered as the result for those who have rejected him. Wrath, as a reality, presented to those who have made a mockery of God and kindness presented to those who were being called and beckoned to salvation. What a contrast! One I never experienced.

Pay attention to verses 9 and 10, "For every human, the Jew first and also the Greek." We read this "every human" as "every individual," and certainly every single individual is included in the gospel, but that isn't the point Paul is trying to make. Remember that the Jews believed the Messiah to be for them alone. The mention then of "every individual" was meant to be a jarring truth that showed the Jews that, yes, even the Gentiles were included in the call to righteousness.

That Paul is talking about people groups is abundantly clear in the following verses as he talks about "circumcised and uncircumcised" as well as "those without the Law and those under the Law." We have got to quit reading the Bible as though these authors were appealing to twenty-first-century saints and, instead, do the best we can to think of what the author was initially trying to say to his audience to foster a deeper connection to the biblical text.

ADDITIONAL READING: Hosea 5-6; Romans 3:22; Ezekiel 36:20-23; 2 Samuel 12:14; Exodus 32:25