The Blog

In verse seventeen, Paul continues to argue that all stand guilty before God. After Paul talked about the fate of the unbelieving Gentiles, he then talks about the religiously privileged. Today, those of us who have grown up in Christian families are religiously privileged. Paul’s condemnation applies to us if we do not live up to what we know. In verses 21 to 22, Paul explains how the Jews need to be teaching themselves rather than teaching others the law. He says that they knew the law so well that they excused their own actions and criticized others. The law’s main purposes is to be the guildline to follow God’s will and to be a reminder that we cannot attain eternal life except through Christ.

Romans 2:17-22
17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?