(A) Introduction. Read Rom2v17to29.

Paul is not condemning all Jews in this passage but a certain kind of Jew well represented among the religious leadership of that people. The same could be said of Jesus' denunciation of the Pharisees and lawyers in Luke11vs37to51. Not all Pharisees were 'unmarked graves'. Nicodemus was a righteous man. The criticisms of Jesus were true of the majority.

I sometimes accuse Grace Baptists of being exclusive. My accusation is not true of all but several who are influential in Reformed circles are undoubtedly exclusive and want no dealings with Arminians like me!

What Paul writes about the Jews in this passage can be adapted to apply to devotees of all religions including Christianity. The apostle deals with how the true believer can be distinguished from the fake.

(B) What does not mark us out as genuine Christians.

(1) What we call ourselves. Now you, if you call yourselves a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship with God;

The Jews thought their name made them special. As true descendents of Abraham they were God's elect people and beneficiaries of his covenant. When they received the Law throught Moses this just confirmed their special status as God's chosen race. But Paul writes: A man is not a Jew if he is one outwardly! v28.

In the worlds of antiques and designer goods many, many articles are not what they purport to be - they are fakes. A picture might be signed, Vincent Van Goth, but that doesn't mean it is a painting by the artist. A handbag might carry the Gucci label but that does not mean it is the genuine product. Costume jewellery sparkles like diamonds but unfortunately there is nothing precious about it.

Many, many people in Britain call themselves Christian. They would claim to be members of the Church of England. But they are not real Christians at all. They carry the label but there is nothing genuine about them. This can even be true of Baptists! I was talking recently to a friend from childhood. He was describing indignantly a visit he had from some Jehovah Witnesses. "JR," he said, "I told them I was a Baptist - that's my sort of Christianity." My friend attends our chapel once a year on Christmas Day!

In his book called, 'Early Christians of the 21st Century', Chad Walsh writes: “Millions of Christians live in a sentimental haze of vague piety… demanding little more than lip service to a few harmless platitudes... It is much safer from Satan’s point of view to vaccinate a man with a case of mild Christianity so as to protect him from the real thing.”

(2) Possessing the know-how

The Jews were instructed in the Law and knew God's will which was for superior conduct to that generally practiced by pagans. So, armed with their knowledge, Jewish activists set about enlightening the ignorant and leading Gentiles out of darkness and into the light as they made known the truth embodied in God's Law.

Some did this from the best of motives and were successful in converting Gentiles to Judaism. By the time of Paul many Gentiles attended Jewish synagogues. These Gentile converts were especially receptive to the gospel. In some respects the Jewish proselytisers prepared the way for Paul and the gospel he preached - not that he ever acknowledged this. This is, though, something that Jesus with great prescience pointed out to his disciples. See John4v38 and exposition on John4v25to42

However there were many among the Jewish leaders who knew what the Law said but didn't keep it. Paul wrote: You who brag about the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? v23.

According to Paul the Jews knew that it was wrong to steal but stole anyway. Jesus accused the Pharisees of devouring widow's houses - exploiting vulnerable women for gain. They knew it was wrong to commit adultery but did so regardless. This might be a reference to divorce on trivial grounds that Jesus described as little better than legalised adultery. The Master told the Jews that God made a concession to their hardness of heart in giving them a law on divorce. See Mk10v1to12. It is hard to credit the truth of Paul's statement: You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Perhaps some Jews accepted objects of precious metal stolen from pagan temples for melting down and reuse. In so doing they were a bit like some modern day scrap metal dealers who accept the lead stripped from church roofs.

The improper behaviour of many Jews bought God's name into disrepute. Paul wrote: God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

Know-how without commitment is a curse in our society. This was the theme of an article by Charles Moore in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday May 12th, 2012, entitled, 'Bloodless bean-counters rule over us - where are the leaders?' In this article Moore dealt with those he called, 'Managerialists'. I quote: Managerialists are a group who consider themselves seperate from the organisations they join. They are not interested in the content of the work their organisation performs. They are a caste of people who think they know how to manage. There is a clear benefit for them from their management: they arrange their own very high salaries and bonuses. Then they can leave quickly with something that looks good on their CV. The benefit to the company or organisation they purport to serve is less clear.

Managerialists, like the experts in Jesus' day, are more interested in their role than the cause they are supposed to serve.

During my time as a teacher I came across managers, advisers and consultants who claimed to know how a school should be run, teachers should operate and the procedures teachers should use. In my experience they were good at making teachers feel guilty and piling extra work upon them without themselves ever coming into contact with children or the problems of the classroom. These people were committed to their own role and status without being committed to teaching children - delivering the goods at what in my time was the chalk face and is now the interactive whiteboard.

This attitude can be found amongst those who claim to be Christians. Take for example Brother Brighton. . He was a pompous man who was meticulous about his appearance, especially when it came to his reputation as a Christian. He was a member of the most prestigious church in town. He felt very strongly about the appearance of other members of the church as well. He had no tolerance for those little boys who were anything less than perfect in church or in the community. So he volunteered to teach the Bible class of young boys. On his first day of class, he decided to begin by teaching the boys the importance of living the Christian life. He began with this question: "Why do people call me a Christian?" After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, "Maybe it’s because they don’t know you."

Brother Brighton was perfectly prepared to teach others what to do without doing it himself. He was committed to his role of teaching appropriate Christian behaviour without personally living out the Christian faith.

It is possible to have much knowledge of Christianity yet be a counterfeit Christian. You can know all about the Bible and have a B.Th. or D.D. after your name without having a real passion for Christ. You can be an expert in Christian doctrine and be able to argue the case for Calvinism without having any love for the brethren. You can know the ins and outs of church government and serve on its many committees without having been born again of the Spirit.

If knowledge is all we have then we are fakes. A man or women possessing knowlege without devotion, precept without practice and words without deeds is not a genuine Christian. James wrote: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Jms1v22.

(3) Keeping up appearances.

The Jews believed in keeping up appearances. They were meticulous about circumcision. In many other ways their religion was for show: the ceremonial washings, strict diet, the large phylacteries, the long blue tassels attached to the corners of their robes, praying on street corners and whitening their faces to suggest they had been engaged in long fasts.

Paul wrote: Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as if you had not been circumcised. v25. The apostle is saying that looking good is nowhere near as important as being good.

Appearances can be very deceptive. One of the purposes of the packaging industry is to deceive. My cereal packet is very colourful and exciting. It obscures the fact that the contents are very boring and do not fill the packet. A packet of potato crisps fulfils the same purpose. My jar of coffee is a very elegant shape - pinched in the middle. This is a clever device to fool the customer into thinking that he is getting more than he is. Not only that, but the jar is only seven eighths full! I like the way God packages his products. Take an egg. The package is very plain; only a shell, but it is full right up.

Today there are folk who like to keep us appearances, They are married in church, their babies are christened in church, granddad's funeral is held in the church. Such people may even put in an appearance for three or four special services in the year: Mother's Day, Remembrance Sunday, Christmas and Easter. Songs of Praise is essential Sunday viewing. But keeping up appearances and doing the bare minimum to keep in with God doesn't amount to much. Charles Hodge writes: Whenever true religion declines, the disposition to lay undo stress on external rites is stressed. The Jews when they lost their spirituality supposed that circumcision had the power to save them. Are you trusting in a rite or do you have a relationship with Christ?

Paul must have shocked and antagonised the Jews by saying that uncircumcised Gentiles who did what God wanted by having a moral code and abiding by it were more the children of God than circumcised Jews who failed to keep the Law. If Paul was alive today he would teach that unbelievers like humanists who live up to their ideals are more acceptable to God than nominal Christians who have no intention of obeying Jesus.

(C) The marks of a genuine Christian.

You can tell a genuine Christian from their:

(1) Change of heart. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. v29.

The outward appearance of a male child was altered by circumcision. It was something external and physical. It is true that God ordained it as a sign of the covenant he made with Abraham. However, it was possible to bear the mark of a Jew without living as one of God's chosen people. To be a Jew at heart required true devotion to God.

Today our hearts need to change before we, too, become children of promise. They will change if we exercise faith in Jesus and submit to him. Jesus gives the Holly Spirit to all who believe in him. The Spirit enlightens, guides, strengthens and empowers. He changes believer's hearts and marks them out as children of the New Covenant of Grace.

(2) Devotion to God. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly. v29.

In writing this Paul is only repeating what the LORD says in Is29v13: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."

The writers of the Psalms had an inward respect for, reverence of and delight in God. See Ps40v4and5. I wish I felt as the psalmists did! 'Dejection: An Ode,' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge contains these lines:

All this long eve, so balmy and serene,
And its peculiar tint of yellow green:
And still I gaze -- and with how blank an eye!
And those thin clouds above, in flakes and bars,
That give away their motion to the stars;
Those stars, that glide behind them or between,
Now sparkling, now bedimmed, but always seen:
Yon crescent Moon, as fixed as if it grew
In its own cloudless, starless lake of blue;
I see them all so excellently fair,
I see, not feel, how beautiful they are!

John Piper wrote: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Sadly we struggle to find our satisfaction in God.

A genuine Christian will be devoted to Jesus and live to please him. The Christian's first loyalty is to Jesus - not to himself, his family, church or denomination. We should long to be of service to Jesus as very small children sincerely desire to help mum or dad. It is only as we get older that we want to please ourselves. We may even end up knowing better than our parents; knowing what is good for them. My very elderly friend, Ivy, used to complain in her broad Suffolk accent: "They boys of mine, they will keep a tellin' on me what to do." She took their advice with a pinch of salt!

Our attitude to Jesus shouldn't change. It is good to retain a child-like desire to please him.

(3) Quality of life.

In the worlds of antiques and fashion it may be difficult to tell the real thing from a copy. Hallmarks, signatures and labels can all be forged.

The expert is able to tell the fake from the genuine in two ways: by inspecting the quality of an item and from experience.

The genuine Christian carries the signature of Jesus but more than that as the years pass he or she grows to be more like him. Paul was able to claim: But we have the mind of Christ. 1Cor2v16. That is why Paul could urge the Philippians to follow HIS example. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the patern we gave you. Phil3v17.

The antiques specialist gets a feeling for the genuine after years of experience. This is something the story below illustrates:

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, 'That's not jade!'" H. Robinson, Biblical Preaching.

The world is not the best judge of whether a person is a genuine Christian. The best judge, after Christ himself, is the mature old saint who has spent all is or her life rubbing shoulders with other Christians.

(4) Willingness to abide by God's judgment.

Paul said that a man who was a true Jew - a true believer - might not receive praise from men but would receive it from God. Such a man's praise is not from men but from God. v29.

There is no doubt many wish for the recognition and approval of men. This was a besetting sin of the Pharisees. See Mt6v5. I am afraid it is something of a besetting sin of mine. It is a strange thing but my public prayers are far more eloquent than my private ones. I would never prayer in public like I do in private. So why is that? When I pray in public I have an audience of men and women. But is that more important than the audience in heaven? I am pleased to have emails of appreciation from people who find my website by accident and are helped by a particular exposition. That is one of the motives behind my efforts. But then I find myself longing for words of commendation from a Bible scholar who has done a thorough assessment of it.

All of us who want to be accepted, recognised and approved by our peers need to remember the words of Paul writing to the Corinthians: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time: wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 1Cor4v3to5.

I think even Paul did care what others thought about him - as his second letter to Corinth shows. Nevertheless his words above are true. The only judgment that matters is that of Christ - the supreme and infallible expert on the human heart.