you who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [romans 2:22]
paul, speaking to the ephesian elders makes this statement:
pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. [acts 20:28-]
when he speaks correctively, he does by starting with the order in which we should consider our sin–he begins by saying ‘pay careful attention to yourselves’, and we would do well to heed this advice when correcting another: sin must be confronted and called out when we see it, but before we rain down judgement upon a brother or sister, let us consider our own sin, our own failings. as paul speaks to the jewish romans who have the law, he uses harsh language to show that the law cannot be weaponized against other christians, and he also shows the shortcoming of the law.
first, let us be very careful not to weaponize the word against others–all sin is deadly, so let us in humility model confession:
if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.[1 john 1:8]
when we model transparent confession and repentance we can approach those who are in sin, not using the word as a weapon, but as a means to plead with others to flee from their sin and run to Jesus.
we boast in Jesus’ saving power, it is in joy that he brings us out of darkness and into his marvelous light–
it is far more compelling to sing a humble testimony–
amazing grace/how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
i once was lost/but now am found
was blind but now i see!
–than to beat someone up with a scriptural reference. this is how we confront sin–with humility, grace and gentleness, but also boldness, helping the offender know that heaven and hell hang in the balance!
second, paul shows that the law is there to tell us what God’s standards are, the existence of the law does not eliminate the sinful actions in people’s hearts: only the Holy Spirit through the saving gospel of Jesus Christ can do that–while the law was about outward behavior, Jesus had much to say about what was going on in people’s hearts–and the only way for us to truly be changed was to have a new heart:
i will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols i will cleanse you. and i will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. and i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. and i will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [ezekiel 36:25-27]
these jewish authorities were ‘God’s chosen people’ and yet, they committed all manner of adulteries, idolatries and thievery in their hearts–they hated their brothers–gentile christians coming into the family and wanted them to operate based on the laws fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
the natural inclination of our flesh is to point to another and diminish them so that we might receive glory–glory that is deserved by our King Jesus, what if today, we sat in his presence, humbled and in awe of his glory and majesty? what if we kneeled before our king, in thankfulness for his gift of a new heart, thankful that we have a substitute who lived in perfect adherence to God’s perfect law, then died so that he might fulfill all of it for our sake?
and you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. he disarmed the rulers and authorities] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. [colossians 2:13-15]
~ce