The Problem of Religion

And verses 17 to 29, which is on page 116, 1129, sorry, 1129, if you've got a church

Bible, Romans chapter 2, verse 17 to 29.

Romans 2:17–29

And before we look at that, we are going to pray.

So let's do that together.

Amen.

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.

Man looks at the outward appearance.

But the Lord looks at the heart.

Father, our prayer is that right now, you would look into our hearts.

And you would show us exactly what we are like.

And that this morning you would show us how you are going to change us.

How you can transform us.

And so we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would speak into our lives.

May none of us not miss any word.

But may we hear you through your word, speaking into our lives.

changing us, changing us to be more like Jesus.

May we never be content with the way we are.

But may you go on making us more like you.

Amen.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, imagine for a moment that you have entered the new X Factor show.

I know you all secretly watch it.

And I know you all love to perform on stage.

Well, if you were in the X Factor show, very soon you would discover that if your performance

is not up to scratch, you would not get through to the next round.

If you don't tick all the boxes, good voice, good looks, good style, I think I've got all

of them.

But I haven't got good rhythm.

It's going to be a simple fail.

The buzzer will sound and you will exit the stage.

Or suppose you've entered The Apprentice.

If you show good management skills, good leadership, good selling technique, good initiative, then

you will be rewarded with a place in the multi-million company of Alan Sugar.

And you will watch as those who didn't perform get fired.

You see, our culture and our society that we're in condition us into believing that if you

perform well, you will get rewarded.

If you look good, if you're successful, you're going to go places.

But if you don't perform, then you won't get rewarded.

You'll be looked down on.

Now, religion, I want to suggest this morning, is no different.

Religion is all outward performance.

It's all a show.

And we meet some very religious people in Romans chapter 2.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

We looked at the first part last week.

And this week we follow in from verse 17.

And in chapter 2, we meet people who love their Bibles.

People who love going to church.

Similar to an awful lot of people that are here this morning.

Now, before we meet these people in detail, let's remind ourselves of the situation that we are in.

Back in chapter 1, verse 18, we read there that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven.

Why?

Well, it's against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Literally, they push it out.

They live as if God does not exist.

Pretend that he's not there.

And so God is rightly angry at the road rage incident that we heard about in Dublin this past week.

But he is also angry at the hurtful words that we speak to our spouse or to our friends.

So how is God going to respond to this?

Well, look at chapter 2, verse 6.

God says that he will give to each person according to what they have done.

Verse 16 of chapter 2.

This will take place on the day when God will judge everyone's secrets.

Nothing will be off limits.

There will be nowhere to hide.

God will judge everyone's secrets through Jesus Christ as my gospel declares.

So the hard truth that we're faced with in these first couple of chapters of Romans is that we are all under God's fair judgment and deserving of his wrath.

Now that's very hard.

And the question we need to ask is, is there any way we can escape it or avoid it?

Well, there's a very common belief that religion will somehow save you and protect you.

The religious people say something like this.

If I keep God's law, if I know my Bible really well, then God is going to save me from his judgment.

Or somebody else might say, well, if I follow my church's tradition, it's going to protect me from God's wrath.

Well, look at the answer that we get in chapter 2, verse 28.

We're going to come to this in a little minute, but let's just read verse 28.

I'm going to paraphrase it for you.

Verse 29.

No, a person is a Christian if he is one inwardly.

Now that sums up the difference between the gospel and religion.

The gospel is all concerned with inward heart change, about changing us on the inside.

While religion is all about outward style performance, what other people think of me.

And as we will see, religion can't protect you or save you.

It will only destroy you and break you.

Which leads us to one conclusion that we all need the gospel to change us on the inside.

To do that work that no one else can do.

Well, let's meet some of these religious people that we have in chapter 2.

In verses 17 to 24, we are introduced to, we're going to call him Mr. Law.

He's a very proud man.

Because in verse 17, we're told that he relies on the law and he writes about his relationship with God.

So Mr. Law is really saying, look guys, I'm accepted by God because I know all about the Bible.

I rely on the law.

Well, let's look at his life in more detail.

There's three things we know about him.

First, he's somebody who's been instructed by the Bible.

Look at verse 18.

If you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law.

So here's somebody who goes to church every week.

He reads his Bible regularly and he even downloads sermons off the internet.

He knows what God's will is because he spends his time reading upon it.

And he knows what a superior way of living is because he studied it.

Mr. Law is no fool.

He's very intelligent.

He's a very clever person.

In fact, he's more than being instructed by the Bible.

He is an instructor of the Bible.

Look at verse 19.

If you're convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

So he's not just a learner.

He's a teacher.

He loves nothing more than to sit down with a group of people and to teach them all about what the Bible has to say.

He can't wait for Sunday mornings when he can stand in the pulpit and tell people how they should live.

Mr. Law is very sharp.

He'll pick up on anything that is not right because he knows all about it.

However, surprisingly, Mr. Law is incapable of obeying the Bible.

There's a question that is posed to him in verse 21.

He says,

Mr. Law is looking at a tea break when the boss wasn't looking.

Ever downloaded songs or films without adhering to copyright rules?

Stealing.

Ever collected the dole and done a little bit of extra work without declaring it?

Stealing.

Mr. Law is looking somewhat embarrassed.

And yet there's more for him.

Verse 22.

Verse 22.

You who say that people should not commit adultery.

Do you commit adultery?

Well, I only have one wife and I've never even entertained the thought of having an affair.

Okay.

But have you ever looked at another woman lustfully?

And allowed your mind to imagine?

Mr. Law puts his head down.

He's become very, very silent.

And yet there's more.

Verse 22.

You who abhor idols.

Do you rob temples?

Well, no.

I don't have any idols or images in my homes.

And I would certainly not rob them from any other temple.

Because the first and second commandment says that we should never do that.

Okay.

Okay.

But don't you have God's substitutes in your life?

Aren't there people and things that you put in place of God?

Don't you take all of this wonderful creation and all the good gifts that God has given you?

Don't you enjoy it and take pleasure in it?

But yet you ignore your creator?

Don't you enjoy it and take pleasure in your life?

Because of you.

Now, for the religious Jew who was listening to this, that was quite a slap in the face.

Because verse 24 is a direct quote from Isaiah where God reminds his people that they were taken off into exile because they had continually disobeyed.

All the other nations looked in on the nation of Israel.

And they saw their behavior and what they were doing.

And they were all thinking, what kind of God of you?

You just do whatever you like.

And when God saw that happening, he says, I'm not putting up with it any longer.

You're going to go into exile.

And it's no different for those who say, I read the Bible, I love the Bible.

But as they walk about town and as they go to work, they ignore it in their lifestyle.

Mr. Law, when people look at your life, they don't see a holy man.

They see a hypocrite.

Now, one day, we're all going to face God's judgment.

And we're all going to have to answer for our lives.

And what on earth are we going to say?

If we include any of these following things or anything similar, we're in deep trouble.

If we're to say to God, I went to Sunday school.

I learned my memory verses.

And I even did my Bible readings at night.

I taught at Crusaders, you know.

And I even led a quiet time at camp.

I attended church quite often.

Always paid attention to the sermons.

And I was always taking notes.

Now, they're all good things by themselves.

But they are absolutely useless before God.

They cannot save you.

Suppose you're coming down Cars Hill.

And you're stopped for speeding.

The guard comes along and he knocks on your window and he says,

Excuse me, you are doing 100 kilometres an hour in an 80 kilometre zone.

I'm going to have to find you.

Oh, it's alright.

I know what the zone is.

In fact, I know what all the speed limits are in Carrigaline.

I'm sorry, you're fined.

But I have the highway code.

I even have my very own copy.

I'm sorry, you're fined.

But don't you realise that I actually teach people?

I'm teaching my own son how to drive right now.

Now, to think that your knowledge or awareness of the rules of the road would somehow get you off the fine

is nothing but ridiculous, isn't it?

But that's how many people are going to face God's judgement.

They think that somehow their knowledge of their Bible,

their ability to teach it,

their love for it,

their devotion to it,

is somehow going to save them.

It's absolute rubbish.

It can never save you because we can never put into practice

everything that it tells us to do.

So Mr. Law, or Mrs. Law,

are in serious trouble.

Now, in verses 25 to 27,

we're introduced to another religious person.

We'll call him Mr. Tradition.

He's related to Mr. Law.

And Mr. Tradition is very proud because,

if you look in verses 25 to 27,

it's all about circumcision.

And he's very proud because he has been circumcised.

And boastfully, he tells all his friends,

I'm accepted by God.

God loves me because I follow the tradition of my church.

You see, circumcision for the Jew was this outward sign.

It was a mark physically on your life

that you are part of God's people.

And it was treated a little bit like a passport into heaven.

And so the Jew thought that if you had this sign,

if you had this mark,

you were accepted.

In fact, his tradition even taught him

that no person who was circumcised

would go to the place of death.

They believed that Abraham,

their great father of the past,

actually sat at the entrance of hell

and stopped every circumcised Jew from going there.

So it was most important that you were circumcised.

Now, we don't follow the tradition,

I don't think, of circumcision.

But we've all got our own traditions, haven't we?

Ireland is a very religious country

and whatever church background you come from,

you're full of tradition.

We can't escape it.

We love our membership and our baptism.

We adore communions and confirmations.

And somehow we believe that if I'm baptised

or if I'm confirmed,

I'm going to be accepted.

And we treat it like our passport into heaven.

You don't believe me?

Well, the next time you go to a funeral,

and I was at one recently,

listen to what the pastor or the priest might say.

Let's say something like this.

Because they were baptised

or marked with the sign of the cross,

they're going to be in heaven.

But it's all superstition.

And Paul has something to say

to Mr. Tradition, verse 25.

He says, circumcision,

baptism if you like,

it has value

if

you obey the Bible.

But if you break

or don't do what the Bible says,

you have become as though

you had never been circumcised

or baptised.

You see, what Mr. Tradition has forgotten

is that circumcision is only

an outward physical sign,

just like baptism and confirmation are.

It has no power.

It's not some mystical charm

that's going to protect you

from God's judgement.

The real or true sign

that you are part of God's family,

that you are accepted by God,

is a heart that is changed

and a heart that wants to

obey God's word.

That's how you know

who the true people of God are.

Look at verse 26.

If those who are not baptised

keep the law's requirements,

will they not be regarded

as though they were baptised?

You see, tradition looks great

on the outside.

It even provides us

with a sense of security

and assurance.

But it's all false.

It's all empty.

It's empty because

you're still the same person.

You've never changed.

Now we love getting together

for a confirmation.

We love getting together

for a baptism.

We love all of these things

and we invite all our friends

and all our families

and uncles and aunts

and everybody comes together

and we all have a great big party

and we think it's all wonderful.

The child or the person

is now okay.

And they can go and live

and do whatever they like.

It's absolute nonsense

because they're exactly

the same person

as they were

before the event.

The people that God accepts

are those whose lives

have been changed

on the inside out.

And sadly,

many people put their hope

in tradition.

And when their loved one

passes away,

they dig deep

for some kind of comfort

and they remind themselves,

well, it's okay.

Granny was christened

in this church.

She'll be alright.

She's in heaven now.

Don't worry,

Grandad was baptised.

He's in heaven too.

Baptised and buried

in the same church.

Imagine.

He's alright.

How's that?

It's all superstition.

Imagine the scene.

It's judgment day.

And Mr. Tradition

arrives feeling

very proud

with his church credentials.

He has a list

of all of his achievements.

Baptised in 1971.

First communion

in 78.

It was a beautiful summer

that year.

Confirmed when he was

a teenager.

Became involved

in his local church.

was on the parish team.

The list goes on

and on and on.

And besides him

stands an old friend

who never went to church.

Never even got baptised.

Never even had communion.

He doesn't have a list

to bring with him.

But his life

speaks for himself.

His life

is his written record.

Because he was obedient.

He did

what God's word said.

And not a word

is said

between Mr. Tradition

and his friend.

But very slowly

it all begins

to dawn

on Mr. Tradition.

His piece of paper

counts for nothing.

He stands judged

and condemned

by the person

he thought

was lost.

Look at verse 27.

the one

who is not

circumcised physically

and yet

obeys the law

will condemn you

who even though

you have the written code

even though

you know all about

the Bible

even though

you've been baptised

and confirmed

you're just a lawbreaker.

So if Bible knowledge

can't save you

and if church tradition

can't protect you

what on earth

is going to protect us

and save us

from God's wrath

and God's judgement?

It's most important

that we've got that right.

Well look at verse 28.

A man

is not a Jew

if he is one outwardly

nor is circumcision

merely outward

and physical.

He's saying there

that the real Jew

the true Jew

is not known

by the external

but by the internal.

In other words

the true Christian

is the one

who tries to keep

is not the one

who tries to keep

all the laws

and who follows

all the traditions.

The true Christian

is the person

who has been changed

on the inside.

Now there's two things here

we want to look at.

First it's all about

the internal

not the external.

Look at verse 29.

Now a person is a Jew

he is a Christian

if he is one inwardly

and circumcision

is circumcision

of the heart.

We don't want to think

about circumcision

too long

that's a bit painful

isn't it?

It involved

cutting away the skin

it was an external sign.

But the gospel says

what we really need

is a cutting away

of the heart.

Suppose I was to go

to my doctor

following a recent

check up

and as I wait

in the surgery

I'm presented

with this news

from the doctor.

She comes out

and she says

Johnny I have the results

and we see that

you've got some

heart disease

there's some speckles

on your heart

you've got disease there

and if you want

to live

we need to operate

we need to get in there

and cut away

the infection

and if you don't

you're going to die

we need to treat it.

I look at the doctor

as if she's got

two heads.

Don't be so silly

I'm actually quite fine

I've walked here

I'm alright

I just ran a marathon

there's nothing wrong

with me.

Well I think we all

know that the external

signs count for nothing.

We need to deal

with the internal

and it's the same

with our own hearts

and our own lives.

the centre of our lives

the core of our being

need operated on.

We need to cut away

the rotten disease

of sin

which religion

can never deal with.

And how's that

going to happen?

Well it's all about

the spiritual

and not the physical.

Look at the rest

of verse 29.

It says

circumcision of the heart

by the spirit

not the written code.

By the spirit

not by religion.

Now suppose

with that news

from the doctor

I go home

and I go into

the kitchen

and I take out

the sharpest knife

in the drawer

and I take off

my shirt

and I begin

to make an incision

into my heart.

and just as I am

about to cut

into my heart

Kirstie rushes in.

She doesn't push it

don't worry.

She says

what are you doing?

Well the doctor

said

that I've got

heart disease

and I need

to cut it out.

Now that would be

absolutely stupid

wouldn't it

on our part.

We'd kill ourselves.

We need the surgeon

to do it.

The expert

the one who knows.

and anything else

and we'll be

as good as dead.

Now see what it says

here in verse 29

that this work

the circumcision

the cutting away

of the heart

is done by the spirit

not by religion.

In other words

God by his Holy Spirit

must dig deep

into our hearts.

He's the only one

who can change us

and transform us.

He's the one

who sees us

exactly what we're like.

We can put on

that great appearance

on the outside.

We can walk in here

this morning.

We can look beautiful.

We can go to work

tomorrow

and nobody knows

what's inside.

But God sees

and he knows

the change

that needs to go on.

And look what happens

when the spirit

goes to work

in our lives.

Have a look at

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:6–9

verses 6 to 9.

because that theme

of the spirit

working in our lives

is picked up

in chapter 8.

Chapter 8

verse 6.

It talks about here

the sinful man.

we can think of that

as being the religious

person.

Chapter 8 verse 6.

The mind of the sinful

man is death.

But the mind

controlled by the spirit

is life and peace.

The sinful mind

is hostile to God.

It does not submit

to God's law

nor can it do so.

It doesn't want anything

to do with God's word.

Those controlled

by the sinful nature

they cannot

please God.

You however

are controlled

not by the sinful nature

but by the spirit

if the spirit

of God lives in you.

And if anyone

who does not

have the spirit

of Christ

he does not

belong to Christ.

You see

we do have to

come clean

before God.

We need to ask

that he would

come into our lives

by the power

of his spirit.

Change us.

And that gift

is available

to us now

through Jesus Christ.

He died

for all of our sin.

He took the judgment

that we deserve.

He paid the price.

And if we trust him

he enters

into our life

and he will

change us

so that we

want to

obey God's word.

That we will

love him.

That we will

want to meet

with one another

in community

as an expression

as our response

to everything

that God

has done for us.

So when we

come to church

it's not because

we want to put

on a performance.

We want to come

to give thanks

to encourage

one another

to help

each other.

And when we

open up our

Bibles and read

it it's not

just for head

knowledge.

It's because

we want God

to change us

to make us

more like him.

Back in Romans

Romans 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

the very last

line of that

section in

chapter 9

says such a

man's praise

is not from

men

but from God.

Now that's

the test

to see

whether we

are living

a gospel

life

or a

religious

life.

If we're

always looking

for praise

from other

people

if we're

always wanting

to be

noted by

other people

as people

who do

well

people who

read their

Bibles

oh aren't

they good

they always

go to

church.

If we're

looking for

praise from

men

we're in

serious danger.

but if

we are

people of

the gospel

then God

will look

at us

and our

praise will

come from

God

because we

are saying

we want

you to

change us.

Any effort

on our

part

keeping any

law or any

traditions

is going to

leave me in

danger of

God's

judgment.

What we

need is

inward heart

change

not outward

styled

performance.

let's pray.

Our

Father God

we ask

that you

would

go on

changing

us.

We pray

that your

Holy Spirit

would enter

deep into

our lives.

Show us

the things

that we

need to

get right

trusting

that in

your

goodness

and in

your

kindness

you

will

make us

more

like you.

Thank you

that you

are a

kind

God

that you

deal with

us

gently

that you

are

patient

with us

that you

are

kind

towards

us

that you

are

forgiving

that you

do not

treat us

as our

sins

deserve

and we

pray that

you would

do that

work in

us today

in Jesus

name

Amen

Amen

A

Amen

to

happy

good

happy

people

whole

over