Romans 2:17-23

17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

Jew (v.17)  = Israelite in Palestine after the Babylonian captivity. “Hebrew” is the racial name. “Israel” is the national name. “Jew” is the religious name.

Approve (v.18)  — vain compliance based on an idea of the Law’s excellence.

Confident (v.19) = self-complacent.

Blind (v.19) = in darkness, foolish, babes. Gentiles without the Law.

rob temples (v.22)  — commercialism

The Jews knew the law, but did they keep it? They saw it as evidence of God’s favor but not a a guide for conduct or conscience.

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