Know: Admit that humanity has fallen into a pit of sin and death from which it cannot extricate itself.
Feel: Sense his or her helpless condition while simultaneously nurturing the hope that God has not abandoned him or her.
Do: Reject those notions of human goodness and progress that insulate him or her from sensing his or her need of Christ.
Learning Outline:
Know: Awareness of the Problem
Why should sin be understood as a universal problem rather than as a periodic problem here or there?
With the many proposed cures for humanity’s evils (education, political/social means, etc.), how would you focus the solution toward what God has accomplished through Christ?
Feel: Cope With the Problem.
What cultural lies keep us numb to the reality of our sin and our corresponding need of God?
Because “feeling sinful” can be a self-destructive experience, how can we recast that notion as a first step toward Christ?
Do: Combat Denial of the Problem.
How would you answer the charge that humanity is not all that bad (therefore not needing a Savior) in the context of kind and loving people who have no affiliation with Christianity?
How does the distinction between the inner life of the heart and outward actions help answer the previous question?
Summary: Humanity will have a difficult time comprehending and appreciating the glorious gospel of God’s salvation if it denies or underestimates the reality of its collective sinful condition.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Romans 2
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: When a particular community is blessed or privileged by God, that community’s recognition of its own sin may become compromised. The sins of those outside the community become magnified while those within are minimized or denied. Awareness of one’s need of God’s righteousness in Christ is often detrimentally replaced with presumption and hypocrisy.
Just for Teachers: The goal is to prevent the church from walking into the same trap that Paul’s dialogue partner has walked into in Romans 2. Adopting a double standard, with regard to sin, entails both a theological and missiological disaster. Gently strive to make those in the class admit that this subtle dimension of sin is something personally applicable to all of us. Leverage the strong denunciations of Paul (Rom. 2:1–5, 23, 24) to emphasize that this issue is not a minor one and that the witness of the church and the character of God are at stake (Rom. 2:24).
Opening Discussion: Maximizing the sins of others and minimizing our own has almost become second nature. Take the simple experience of driving; sometimes the words and anger we suppress as Christians when another driver commits an error are downright embarrassing. However, when we commit those same driving mistakes, we gently whisper to ourselves, “Oops,” or “Sorry about that.” It is this double standard that Paul exposes in Romans 2, and it is this same standard that needs to be exposed in our lives, as well.
Questions for Discussion:
How does applying the sin problem only to nonbelievers set us up to misapply the gospel?
How does having a double standard in terms of sin and judgment basically negate our witness to the world?
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Romans 2 is a rather neglected chapter, sandwiched between the Protestant mantra of “ ‘The just shall live by faith’ ” (Rom. 1:17) and the undeniable theological gemstones of Romans 3–8. Scholars have wrestled with how it fits into the broader theological structure of the book. This confusion leaves much room in Romans 2 for further reflection. Encourage your class with the exciting opportunity they have to trail blaze some uncharted territory. Be sure to highlight how the particular behavior outlined in Romans 2 shows that (1) sin is a universal problem and (2) the disobedience being addressed is rooted in a sinful presumption regarding God’s grace.
Bible Commentary
I. Judges Under Judgment (Review Romans 1:28–30; 2:1–11 with your class.)
After recording a litany of sinful behavior (Rom. 1:23–31), one further denunciation is needed. Not only are these sins committed brazenly, but the sinners give full approval of those who commit such sin (Rom. 1:32). No pleas of innocence or ignorance here, just in-your-face rebellion.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Paul turns the tables on the one judging these sins. He uses a rhetorical diatribe device with an imaginary dialogue partner to drive home his point. This partner, unlike the ones who approve of such blatant sin, condemns all such wickedness (Rom. 2:1). There’s only one problem. This “righteous” judge commits the same acts he condemns, and with that penetrating insight, Paul is able to sweep the whole world into the same predicament (Rom. 3:9) in order that he might apply the solution of the gospel indiscriminately to all peoples. The Jews, understandably represented by the judgmental dialogue partner (Rom. 2:17), and the Gentiles, with their long list of sins, now stand on a level playing field before God’s righteous judgment (Rom. 2:3, 5, 16; 3:19).
But the question arises as to how a population that possesses sufficient godly knowledge to condemn evil thinks that it will “escape the judgment of God” (Rom. 2:3) when it commits the same sins. This question will be answered in conjunction with the following commentary section.
Consider This: How should Paul’s approach of bringing humanity “under sin” (Rom. 3:9) forever change the way we engage other people’s sins? Which character quality needs to be cultivated when addressing the sins that we see around us? Could that quality help us deal with our own sins?
II. False Security (Review Romans 2:17–29, 3:1 with your class.)
The standard way in which Romans 1 and 2 are viewed is that they bring both Gentile and Jew under sin, respectively, so that the gospel in chapter 3 will be universally applicable. This approach has been emphasized here, as well. But Romans 2 also depicts a version of false security that invokes the graciousness of God. This false security undermines sincere obedience to God, while also possibly substituting itself for the true “grace [of God] through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24, NKJV).
To respond to the question that we posed above, let us begin again by reiterating it: How does Paul’s dialogue partner think that he and those he represents will escape God’s judgment? The answer is a theological construal of the character of God as kind, long-suffering, and patient toward them (not Gentiles) so as to minimize God’s judgment on them (not Gentiles) (Rom. 2:5). Paul corrects this misappropriation of the gracious attributes of God by emphasizing that (1) these character qualities are meant to lead to repentance and (2) God “will render to each one according to his works” (Rom. 2:6, ESV). In other words, God is deaf to the praise of His grace when it is used as an excuse for disobedience or an ostensible free pass in the judgment, regardless of one’s behavior.
This flow of thought also is paralleled in the last half of Romans 2. At least ten claims are mentioned regarding being specially privileged. For example, such claims include calling yourself a Jew, boasting in God, being a guide to the blind, and so on (Rom. 2:17–21). Add to the list the covenant sign of circumcision (Rom. 2:25) and the entrustment of the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2), and it is admitted that being a Jew is an advantage in “every way” (Rom. 3:2). However, Israel’s reliance on God’s act of gracious election and the accompanying covenant privileges, while violating that law/covenant, “dishonor[s] God” and causes the Gentiles to blaspheme God (Rom. 2:23, 24, NKJV).
The way Paul corrects the double standard is to invoke a concept that has proved a perennial headache for scholars. Paul simply states in the middle of the chapter, “For it is not the hearers of the law [reference to Jews only] who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law [either Jews or Gentiles] who will be justified” (Rom. 2:13, ESV). If God weren’t this way, then a favorable outcome in the judgment would be guaranteed only for Jews, because no Gentile can claim the ethnic and religious blessings (for example, hearing the law) poured out on Israel. But according to Paul, such an outcome cannot be. God has no favorites, for He “shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:11, ESV).
All of these advantages of being God’s special covenant people count for little when the law is broken. One’s circumcision can be reversed (Rom. 2:25) and one’s Jewish identity threatened (Rom. 2:28).
In summary, God’s grace toward Israel, unfortunately and unnecessarily, resulted in its people having a presumptuous blindness to their own sin and hypocrisy, especially in relation to the Gentiles. Paul, as a sort of post-Cross John the Baptist, belabors that argument in order to clear the way for the coming of God’s gospel in Christ in the following chapters—a gospel for Jew and Gentile alike, and for both you and me.
Discussion Question: What are the theological, false security blankets that current Christians may be holding onto that are creating obstacles to the full ministry of the gospel?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: “Cheap grace,” hypocrisy, and a disregard for keeping the law are monumental problems facing today’s Christian church. Ironically, Romans is often used to bolster such antinomian sentiment. Encourage the class to consider current status symbols (religious membership, ethnic superiority, and so on) that may block us from realizing we are all desperate sinners in need of Christ.
Thought Question: How do we recognize that our church has been especially blessed by God without falling into the same superiority complex that early Judaism did?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Contrast the effortlessness needed to see the sins of others (Rom. 1:18–32) and the severe difficulty required to see our own (Rom. 2:1, 21–24). The goal is for the class to enter into the deepest reflection and humility before God. You lead the way in the activities and be the first to share from your own experience.
Activities:
Invite some brave soul to share a testimony of how God revealed to him or her that he or she had a prejudice of some kind and how God graciously delivered him or her from such an attitude.
A common experience for Seventh-day Adventists is to be labeled as legalistic for a commitment to the law and the Sabbath. Encourage a class member to utilize Romans 2 to show the hypocrisy of claiming a saved status while violating God’s law.
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Key Text: Romans 3:23
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Summary: Humanity will have a difficult time comprehending and appreciating the glorious gospel of God’s salvation if it denies or underestimates the reality of its collective sinful condition.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Romans 2
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: When a particular community is blessed or privileged by God, that community’s recognition of its own sin may become compromised. The sins of those outside the community become magnified while those within are minimized or denied. Awareness of one’s need of God’s righteousness in Christ is often detrimentally replaced with presumption and hypocrisy.
Just for Teachers: The goal is to prevent the church from walking into the same trap that Paul’s dialogue partner has walked into in Romans 2. Adopting a double standard, with regard to sin, entails both a theological and missiological disaster. Gently strive to make those in the class admit that this subtle dimension of sin is something personally applicable to all of us. Leverage the strong denunciations of Paul (Rom. 2:1–5, 23, 24) to emphasize that this issue is not a minor one and that the witness of the church and the character of God are at stake (Rom. 2:24).
Opening Discussion: Maximizing the sins of others and minimizing our own has almost become second nature. Take the simple experience of driving; sometimes the words and anger we suppress as Christians when another driver commits an error are downright embarrassing. However, when we commit those same driving mistakes, we gently whisper to ourselves, “Oops,” or “Sorry about that.” It is this double standard that Paul exposes in Romans 2, and it is this same standard that needs to be exposed in our lives, as well.
Questions for Discussion:
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: Romans 2 is a rather neglected chapter, sandwiched between the Protestant mantra of “ ‘The just shall live by faith’ ” (Rom. 1:17) and the undeniable theological gemstones of Romans 3–8. Scholars have wrestled with how it fits into the broader theological structure of the book. This confusion leaves much room in Romans 2 for further reflection. Encourage your class with the exciting opportunity they have to trail blaze some uncharted territory. Be sure to highlight how the particular behavior outlined in Romans 2 shows that (1) sin is a universal problem and (2) the disobedience being addressed is rooted in a sinful presumption regarding God’s grace.
Bible Commentary
I. Judges Under Judgment (Review Romans 1:28–30; 2:1–11 with your class.)
After recording a litany of sinful behavior (Rom. 1:23–31), one further denunciation is needed. Not only are these sins committed brazenly, but the sinners give full approval of those who commit such sin (Rom. 1:32). No pleas of innocence or ignorance here, just in-your-face rebellion.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Paul turns the tables on the one judging these sins. He uses a rhetorical diatribe device with an imaginary dialogue partner to drive home his point. This partner, unlike the ones who approve of such blatant sin, condemns all such wickedness (Rom. 2:1). There’s only one problem. This “righteous” judge commits the same acts he condemns, and with that penetrating insight, Paul is able to sweep the whole world into the same predicament (Rom. 3:9) in order that he might apply the solution of the gospel indiscriminately to all peoples. The Jews, understandably represented by the judgmental dialogue partner (Rom. 2:17), and the Gentiles, with their long list of sins, now stand on a level playing field before God’s righteous judgment (Rom. 2:3, 5, 16; 3:19).
But the question arises as to how a population that possesses sufficient godly knowledge to condemn evil thinks that it will “escape the judgment of God” (Rom. 2:3) when it commits the same sins. This question will be answered in conjunction with the following commentary section.
Consider This: How should Paul’s approach of bringing humanity “under sin” (Rom. 3:9) forever change the way we engage other people’s sins? Which character quality needs to be cultivated when addressing the sins that we see around us? Could that quality help us deal with our own sins?
II. False Security (Review Romans 2:17–29, 3:1 with your class.)
The standard way in which Romans 1 and 2 are viewed is that they bring both Gentile and Jew under sin, respectively, so that the gospel in chapter 3 will be universally applicable. This approach has been emphasized here, as well. But Romans 2 also depicts a version of false security that invokes the graciousness of God. This false security undermines sincere obedience to God, while also possibly substituting itself for the true “grace [of God] through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24, NKJV).
To respond to the question that we posed above, let us begin again by reiterating it: How does Paul’s dialogue partner think that he and those he represents will escape God’s judgment? The answer is a theological construal of the character of God as kind, long-suffering, and patient toward them (not Gentiles) so as to minimize God’s judgment on them (not Gentiles) (Rom. 2:5). Paul corrects this misappropriation of the gracious attributes of God by emphasizing that (1) these character qualities are meant to lead to repentance and (2) God “will render to each one according to his works” (Rom. 2:6, ESV). In other words, God is deaf to the praise of His grace when it is used as an excuse for disobedience or an ostensible free pass in the judgment, regardless of one’s behavior.
This flow of thought also is paralleled in the last half of Romans 2. At least ten claims are mentioned regarding being specially privileged. For example, such claims include calling yourself a Jew, boasting in God, being a guide to the blind, and so on (Rom. 2:17–21). Add to the list the covenant sign of circumcision (Rom. 2:25) and the entrustment of the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2), and it is admitted that being a Jew is an advantage in “every way” (Rom. 3:2). However, Israel’s reliance on God’s act of gracious election and the accompanying covenant privileges, while violating that law/covenant, “dishonor[s] God” and causes the Gentiles to blaspheme God (Rom. 2:23, 24, NKJV).
The way Paul corrects the double standard is to invoke a concept that has proved a perennial headache for scholars. Paul simply states in the middle of the chapter, “For it is not the hearers of the law [reference to Jews only] who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law [either Jews or Gentiles] who will be justified” (Rom. 2:13, ESV). If God weren’t this way, then a favorable outcome in the judgment would be guaranteed only for Jews, because no Gentile can claim the ethnic and religious blessings (for example, hearing the law) poured out on Israel. But according to Paul, such an outcome cannot be. God has no favorites, for He “shows no partiality” (Rom. 2:11, ESV).
All of these advantages of being God’s special covenant people count for little when the law is broken. One’s circumcision can be reversed (Rom. 2:25) and one’s Jewish identity threatened (Rom. 2:28).
In summary, God’s grace toward Israel, unfortunately and unnecessarily, resulted in its people having a presumptuous blindness to their own sin and hypocrisy, especially in relation to the Gentiles. Paul, as a sort of post-Cross John the Baptist, belabors that argument in order to clear the way for the coming of God’s gospel in Christ in the following chapters—a gospel for Jew and Gentile alike, and for both you and me.
Discussion Question: What are the theological, false security blankets that current Christians may be holding onto that are creating obstacles to the full ministry of the gospel?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: “Cheap grace,” hypocrisy, and a disregard for keeping the law are monumental problems facing today’s Christian church. Ironically, Romans is often used to bolster such antinomian sentiment. Encourage the class to consider current status symbols (religious membership, ethnic superiority, and so on) that may block us from realizing we are all desperate sinners in need of Christ.
Thought Question: How do we recognize that our church has been especially blessed by God without falling into the same superiority complex that early Judaism did?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Contrast the effortlessness needed to see the sins of others (Rom. 1:18–32) and the severe difficulty required to see our own (Rom. 2:1, 21–24). The goal is for the class to enter into the deepest reflection and humility before God. You lead the way in the activities and be the first to share from your own experience.
Activities: