One of the recurring themes in the Psalms (2, 22) and the prophets (Isaiah 2, 9, 11, 42) is that when the rightful King of Israel comes all the nations will stream towards Israel’s light. The early church believed that Jesus was this rightful king– the Messiah, and that the good news of his enthronement was therefore good news for Israel and the nations. Bit by bit on the pages of the New Testament we see the unfolding of these ancient prophecies. The nations do indeed come streaming towards Israel’s King Jesus. This is joyous, good news, but as you have already encountered in the letter to the Romans it is often difficult for the church to live according to this good news. It is much easier to maintain the old division between Israel and the nations than to live into this new reality. Paul, who has himself been transformed through encounter with King Jesus is determined not to let the old division be upheld. Throughout his ministry he works carefully and boldly to hold these two groups together, or better, to help them see that they are now part of one kingdom with one king. He will not idly watch the church fracture because a fracture– particularly one along the Jew- Gentile border, demonstrates a misunderstanding of the nature of the gospel. It demonstrates that believers have not committed fully to Jesus as king.
Some of that careful work to break down the wall along the Jew- Gentile border is done in Romans 2:12-29. In these verse Paul demonstrates that no one should point to “the law” as a force that separates Jews and Gentiles. He does this in a number of ways. I have previously noted that there was for many first century Jews a stereotyped picture of gentiles. Paul sharpens this picture to a point in Romans chapter 1. “They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness….” He hurls one descriptor after another compiling a long list of gentile sins. After springing the trap on part of his readership in the first half of chapter 2 he goes on to demonstrate in the second half that the stereotype doesn’t hold. Sometimes these gentiles who know nothing of God or his law do what is right. The very same people who Paul’s Jewish readers might have hung with the labels of chapter 1 do “by nature what the law requires.” The people who they imagine to be gossips, slanders, haters of God, and insolent, do what is right in the eyes of God. That they would do so is clear evidence that God has sown his truth promiscuously. Somehow in his grace, even those who do not know the law do what is right. If this is true, then the law cannot serve as a boundary marker between Jews and gentiles. But, Paul’s not done yet. There is another side to this coin.
The gentiles who do not have the law are, as a result of their God shaped conscience, obedient to the law. The Jews who do have the law are occasionally disobedient to it. The law, especially in light of what Christ has accomplished cannot be faithfully maintained as a barrier between the peoples. Paul drives home his point about Jewish disobedience with a series of questions. “While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the response of at least some in the Roman congregations as they heard these words read out loud. They sniffed in righteous indignation and said things like; “Of course, I don’t steal,” and “I’m no adulterer.” Accusations like the those that Paul has just launched need to be backed up. Perhaps he could have responded with some investigative reporting. He could have dug into the past in an effort to find some dirt. Inspired by Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount he could have shown those who claimed not to have done these things that they have in fact sinned by daydreaming and plotting about them. Paul adopts neither of these approaches. Instead he turns to Scripture and quotes a passage that is about Israel. “‘Now therefore what have I here,’ declares the Lord, ‘seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,’ declares the Lord, ‘and continually all the day my name is despised” (Isaiah 52:5 cf Ezekiel 36:20). The Old Testament prophets demonstrate exactly the point that Paul has been making. Those who have the law break the law, and by their disobedience they bring God’s name into disrepute.
The external standard of the law cannot serve as a marker of God’s people because much deeper transformation is needed. What all believers, of all backgrounds need is the inward work of the Spirit that accomplishes the circumcision of the heart.