Romans 2:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

NIV: You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

NASB: You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?

CSB: You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

NLT: You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.

KJV: Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

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

Paul has been asking a series of rhetorical questions. Now, he states his point with complete clarity. He is correcting the misperception of some religious Jews. By extension, this idea also applies to any person—Jewish, Christian, or otherwise—who thinks he can be justified before God on the basis of his deeds. The specific people Paul mentions here apparently believed that having the law of Moses, given by God, was enough to make them righteous in God's eyes. They didn't believe God would judge them for their sin as He would the sinful Gentiles.

Paul has shown that having the law is not enough if you don't perfectly keep the law. He will go on in Romans to show that nobody can keep the law to that extent (Romans 3:10). Instead, everyone who is under the authority of the law ends up dishonoring God by breaking it. How can a holy God ignore sin, simply because a person sometimes does good?

Romans 2:12–29 describes two groups of people, with an emphasis on how their sin relates to their knowledge of God's written Law for the nation of Israel. Here, ''Gentiles'' are those who sin apart from the law, while ''Jews'' are those who sin under the law. Paul shows how, in both cases, God will judge people based on whether they kept the law and were circumcised in their hearts. Even Gentiles who follow the law out of sincerity would be regarded by God as truly Jewish. Meanwhile, God will discount the Jewishness and circumcision of someone under the law who breaks the law and does not have a sincere heart. Paul will show in the following chapter that, in truth, no one can keep the law.

Romans 2 springs a trap on any religious person who read Paul's lists of sins at the end of Romans 1 and thought it wasn't about them. Paul calls them out for making themselves judges when they are also guilty. He shows that God will judge everyone, including those under the law, based on their works. This prefaces this letter's theme of salvation by grace, through faith, rather than by works. Many benefits come with having the law, but only if those under the law keep it. Jewishness—circumcision—must be an inner state, not just an outer one. Paul will show in the following chapter that none of us really meets those conditions.

Having just concluded a list of terrible sins humanity indulges in as a result of rejecting God, Paul turns to religious people and says, ''This applies to you, too.'' Nobody can judge arrogantly, because we are all guilty. Even God's people the Jews will stand before Him in judgment based on their works. Having the law only matters if someone can keep the law. Paul asks his Jewish readers why they don't and shows that they must be Jewish and circumcised in their hearts for it to matter. In the following chapter, he will show that nobody can keep the law.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.

Accessed 5/18/2024 8:21:49 PM