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Opening Prayer
Loving Father, open my eyes to see and apply what you show me in your Word today.
Read ROMANS 2:17—29
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Romans
Romans 2
17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth–
21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.
26 If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?
27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
Reflect
What weather condition would you use to describe your life today? Stormy? Settled? Sunny? Icy? Or something else? Talk to God about it.Throughout Romans, Paul is concerned not just for the life of the church in Rome, but as a missionary, he is also deeply concerned about how the church is presenting the good news to the watching world.
Today’s passage addresses the issue of integrity, where behavior and belief align. Specifically, for a moment, Paul addresses his fellow Jewish disciples in Rome. They had such enormous historical and spiritual advantages, and it seems that as a consequence, they assumed some moral superiority over the other believers.
Sadly, however, it seems that they did not ‘walk their talk.’ The result was that they were pulling the evangelistic rug from under their own feet. God was being ridiculed among the very people that the church should have been introducing to Jesus (v. 24).
Having the outward signs of faith (v. 28) and knowing the truth (v. 18) are not enough. Mission will only happen effectively when the watching world sees the good news ‘fleshed out’ in the lives of people living inwardly connected lives from a Spirit-transformed heart (v. 29).
Apply
Use this prayer from Psalm 139 (vv. 23, 24) and allow God to speak to you about any disjointed areas in your life: ‘Search me, God, and know my heart … See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’
Closing prayer
Lord, you know me better than I know myself. Help me to see myself as you do and enable me to live in ways that make the gospel relevant and appealing to those around me.
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