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When you hold up God as the standard, as you should, that standard is one that not only condemns the person you are correcting but yourself as well. As the old saying goes, “You’re preaching to yourself.” This is the overall message Paul is getting out to believers in Romans 2.
It is so easy to point the finger at others, isn’t it? We do it without even thinking about it. It is a mindset that has not been corrected by humanity – even today. I mean, I catch myself doing this all the time! I can’t believe that person would talk like that. I can’t believe that person ate that much. I’m glad I’m not a _______ like they are! Even if we have disciplined ourselves to hold our tongue with politeness, the thoughts in our minds roar with hypocrisy and judgment.
Humility and repentance weren’t new concepts when Paul wrote this letter. The ancient Jew would have understood exactly what Paul was talking about. The Talmud (the book of Jewish law) prescribed the exact same behavior.
“Rabbi Eliezer says: Repent one day before your death. Rabbi Eliezer’s students asked him: But does a person know the day on which he will die? He said to them: All the more so this is a good piece of advice, and one should repent today lest he die tomorrow; and by following this advice one will spend his entire life in a state of repentance.”
Shabbat 153a
Spending your entire life in repentance? That sounds like a New Testament theme!
Without Jesus, it is easy to slip into a fatalistic mindset with regard to sin. We think, “Why should I even address sin if I will never conquer it in my own life?” With this type of mentality, no pastor would be qualified to preach because it would be pure hypocrisy. This is not unreasonable to conclude. But there is something different between the writing of the Talmud and the era in which Paul is writing Romans 2.
The law is no longer what guides our life! The hopelessness of trying harder and harder to please God has continually brought us back to our sin. So, Paul is highlighting the core issue. No matter how good you think you are; no matter how your peers view you; no matter how much you compare yourself to others; we are all in the same boat when it comes to the law.
If the law does not lead us to Jesus, we have missed what God intended. If we are not doing what we are saying, we have missed what God intended. God is not fooled by hypocrites!