For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rom. 2
What do Jews and Gentiles (all humanity) have in common? Why should we not pass judgment on others? This is all Paul’s very wordy way of saying that God is the ONLY standard by which we are all measured. And – newsflash – we all miss the mark by a ridiculous margin. Not one of us even comes close. There are several implications of this truth covered in Paul’s words.
- None of us has the right to pass judgment on another. Paul is clearly talking about a condemning judgment here, which is different from other kinds of judgment he speaks of elsewhere. The only one who can rightfully pass such judgment is one who does not stand condemned themselves. It’s just like in the story of the adulterous woman, where Jesus told her accusers that the one who was without sin should throw the first stone. We all have to walk away.
- We are judged – measured against God’s standard – based on what we do, not on who we are.
- There is no single part of the law that we can use as any kind of standard against another. This is because if you are guilty of breaking even one part of the law, and we all are, then you yourself stand condemned.
The situation Paul was speaking to in Romans was that some believing Jews were condemning the believing Gentiles because they were not circumcised, according to the law. Paul was letting those Jews know that being a Jew, having the law, and bearing the sign and seal of God’s covenant through the law – that is circumcision – gained them nothing. These are parts of the covenant God gave us to show us that we could not attain righteousness with our own efforts. In Jesus, God gave us a better way – one that cannot fail. In failing to recognize that, these Jewish believers were only condemning themselves. Likewise, if any one of us boasts in anything other than God, holding our achievement up as a standard by which to measure others, we condemn ourselves. Because whatever that standard is, it still falls hopelessly short.
Lev. 17-18
Why did God give the sexual restrictions in ch. 18? How were these restrictions related to the nations around them, to them, and to God? God frequently mentions that his people are to be different and to do differently than the pagan nations around them. Those nations were pagan because they served other ‘gods’. God wanted His people to behave in a way that acknowledged His holiness. They were to devote themselves to Him alone.
I don’t fully understand how all of these laws played into that, though I am convinced that they did. There were reasons that certain things defiled a people devoted to a holy God. I personally think there was an attitude perspective – a reverence – behind a lot of it. Take the blood, for instance. “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Lev. 17:11). Blood represents both life and atonement. These are gifts from a holy God. We need to be respectful of that.
Like blood, I suspect that sexual relations were a big part of pagan rituals. I don’t need to know the specific practices to see that using such things in a way meant to ‘honor’ anything other than God is irreverent and disrespectful and, therefore, defiling. I could also make a case for a certain amount of disrespect involved in this list of “close relative” sexual relations listed in Leviticus 18. But, to be honest, I feel like I am still missing something.
I do know that sexual relations are the most intimate relations a human can have. And they are something that God gave both as a gift and with a purpose. So I think it is important that we treat them with the proper God-honoring attitude. The only relationship that is more intimate is the indwelling of God’s Spirit. We certainly don’t want to defile that intimacy by being careless with others.