Prairie View Christian Church Norway, Iowa PastorTeacher Bill Wenstrom www'prairieviewchristian'org

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Prairie View Christian ChurchNorway,
IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.prairievie
wchristian.org
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Wednesday August 22, 2007Romans Romans
213-The Doers and not the Hearers of the Law
will be Justified Before God Tape 53
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Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 21.
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This evening we will continue with our study of
Romans 2, which contains twelve principles
regarding Gods judgment of mankind.
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Thus far in our studies of this chapter we have
noted the first eight, which are the following
(1) Man is judged by his own standards (Romans
21).
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(2) Man is judged according truth (Romans 22).
(3) Gods judgment is inescapable (Romans 23)
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(4) Gods judgment is delayed because of His
kindness, tolerance and patience (Romans 24).
(5) Gods judgment is measured out according to
the accumulation of guilt (Romans 25).
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(6) God judges man according to works (Romans
26). (7) God judges man according to obedience
or performance in that God rewards obedience and
punishes disobedience (Romans 27-10).
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(8) God judges without respect to persons since
He is impartial (Romans 211).
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On Tuesday we began a study of the ninth
principle of Gods judgment of mankind that
appears in Romans 212-13, which is that God
judges according to obedience and not knowledge.
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In Romans 212, the apostle Paul presents an
illustration of this principle by teaching that
the Gentiles are condemned without being exposed
to the written form of the moral code of the
Mosaic Law since they have it written in their
hearts by God and is manifested through the
function of the conscience of man.
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Also, the Gentile will receive eternal
condemnation because they rejected Gods
revelation of Himself in creation.
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On the other hand, in this passage, Paul teaches
that the Jew who was placed by God under the
jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law will receive
eternal condemnation and will be judged according
to their disobedience to this body of truth.
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This evening we will study Romans 213, in which
Paul continues the illustration of Gods
impartiality that he began in Romans 212 by
noting that the doers of the Law and not the
hearers of the Law will be justified in the sense
of being approved by God.
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Romans 21-13, Therefore you have no excuse,
everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that
which you judge another, you condemn yourself
for you who judge practice the same things.
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And we know that the judgment of God rightly
falls upon those who practice such things. But do
you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment
on those who practice such things and do the same
yourself, that you will escape the judgment of
God?
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Or do you think lightly of the riches of His
kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing
that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
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But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant
heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in
the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON
ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS
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to those who by perseverance in doing good seek
for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life
but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do
not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
wrath and indignation.
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There will be tribulation and distress for every
soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and
also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace
to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek.
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For there is no partiality with God. For all who
have sinned without the Law will also perish
without the Law, and all who have sinned under
the Law will be judged by the Law for it is not
the hearers of the Law who are just before God,
but the doers of the Law will be justified.
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For is the explanatory use of the
post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which
introduces a statement that explains Pauls last
statement in Romans 212 with reference to the
Jews, as many as have sinned under the
jurisdiction of the Law will be condemned by
means of the Law.
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This statement teaches that the Jews who were
given the Mosaic Law and were under its
jurisdiction will also receive eternal
condemnation and the conjunction gar introduces a
statement that explains why this is the case.
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We know that Paul is referring to the Jews in
Romans 213 since the Jews were given the Law by
God.
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Unlike the Gentiles, the Jews heard the Law read
and taught by the Rabbis in their synagogues and
the Herodian Temple when it stood in Jerusalem.
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Paul is saying that even though this was the
case, they are still condemned before God because
to hear the Law was not enough since God demanded
obedience to it.
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The hearers is the noun akroates (a)kroathv)
(ak-ro-at-ace), which pictures the Jew listening
to the Law as it is being read and taught by the
rabbis in the synagogues and the temple when it
was standing.
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In Romans 213, the apostle Paul does not use
the usual Greek term for hearing, which is akouo
but rather he uses the word akroates, which was
used of those whose business it is to listen.
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The idea behind the word can be equated to a
college student whose primary purpose in class is
to listen to the teachers instruction.
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Normally, he also has the responsibility of being
accountable for what he hears and is tested on
it.
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If he is simply auditing, however, he is required
only to attend the class sessions and takes no
tests and receives no grade. In other words, he
listens without being held accountable for what
he hears.
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In many synagogues during Pauls time, teaching
did not focus on Scripture but on the system of
man-made traditions that the rabbis had developed
over the centuries since the Exile, which Jesus
rebukes in Mark 7.
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Frequently, Gods Word in the Old Testament was
merely read and listened to, without explanation
or application.
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James 122-25, But prove yourselves doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who delude
themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his
natural face in a mirror for once he has looked
at himself and gone away, he has immediately
forgotten what kind of person he was.
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But one who looks intently at the perfect law,
the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having
become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer,
this man will be blessed in what he does.
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Throughout the Bible, believers are commanded to
not only hear the Word of God but are also
commanded to put it into practice through
obedience.
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Deuteronomy 41, Now, O Israel, listen to the
statutes and the judgments which I am teaching
you to perform, so that you may live and go in
and take possession of the land which the LORD,
the God of your fathers, is giving you.
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Romans 213, For it is not the hearers of the
Law who are just before God, but the doers of the
Law will be justified.
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Of the Law is the noun nomos (novmo) (nom-os),
which is a reference to the Mosaic Law.
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Not is the objective negative adverb ou (ou)),
which is in the emphatic position of this
declarative statement and is employed with the
indicative mood of the verb eimi and emphatically
negates the statement that the hearers of the Law
are just before God.
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In emphatic terms, Paul refutes the delusion of
the self-righteous Jew that he can be just before
God by only being a hearer of the Law and not a
doer.
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Just is the adjective dikaios (divkaio)
(dik-ah-yos), which describes the state or
condition of possessing righteousness.
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Therefore, Paul is saying that the hearers of the
Law are not righteous before God in the sense
that they have no virtue in that they have no
moral excellence, no goodness, and their
conduct does not conform to the will of God.
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The hearers of the Law are not righteous before
God in the sense that they have no integrity in
that their character is not sound and does
not adhere to the will of God.
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Adhering to the will of God involves obeying the
command to love God and your neighbor as
yourself.
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Thus, they do not love and are not upright,
honest, perfectly whole and are diminished, and
unsound, and impaired and in poor
condition.
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Of course, only the Lord Jesus Christ was dikaios
since all members of the human race are sinners.
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Also, in Romans 213, the adjective dikaios
describes the state or condition of a person who
has fulfilled his obligations to both God and
men, which is to love God and your neighbor as
yourself.
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Therefore, Paul is saying that the hearers of the
Law do not fulfill their obligations to love God
and ones neighbor as himself.
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Before God means that those who are merely
hearers of the Law are not righteous in the
presence of Jesus Christ to whom they will give
an account.
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God refers to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ representing the Trinity as the Judge of
all men.
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Romans 213, For it is not the hearers of the
Law who are just before God, but the doers of the
Law will be justified.
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But is the adversative use of the conjunction
alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a
statement that presents a contrast to the
preceding statement that those who are merely
hearers of the Law are as an eternal spiritual
truth absolutely never righteous before God.
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The doers is the noun poietes (poihthv)
(poy-ay-tace), which means, one who does
something that is prescribed or commanded, one
who obeys or fulfills what is commanded in the
Law, one who does what the Law requires.
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Of the Law is the noun nomos (novmo) (nom-os),
which again is a reference to the Mosaic Law.
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Will be justified is the verb dikaioo
(dikaiovw) (dik-ah-yo-o), which means, to
declare or pronounce righteous.
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The adjective dikaios, righteous refers to a
person as having virtue in the sense that they
have moral excellence, goodness, and their
conduct conforms to the will of God.
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Therefore, the one who obeys the commands of the
Law in the eyes of God has integrity in the sense
that their character is sound and adheres to the
will of God.
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Thus, they truly love and are upright, honest,
perfectly whole and undiminished, sound, and
unimpaired and in a sound or good condition.
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The adjective dikaios describes the state or
condition of a person who has fulfilled his
obligations to both God and men, which is to love
God and your neighbor as yourself.
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Therefore, the one who obeys the Law fulfills his
obligation to love God and his neighbor as
himself.
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Since, the Lord Jesus Christ was impeccable, He
was the only member of the human race who was
truly righteous in the eyes of God and who truly
loved God and His neighbor as Himself.
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In Romans 213, Paul teaches that only the doers
of the Law and not the hearers of the Law are
justified before the Supreme Court of Heaven.
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However, there is never been a human being that
has ever kept the Law except Jesus Christ.
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As we noted earlier in our study of nomos, Law
the presence of the sin nature and the volition
prevents any human being from keeping the Law
perfectly.
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As we noted in our study of nomos, Law, the
Mosaic Law cannot justify an individual before
God (Romans 320-28 Galatians 216) and could
not provide eternal salvation for men (Galatians
321-26).
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It could not provide the Holy Spirit and could
not solve the problems of the old sin nature
(Romans 82-3) and it could not make perfect, or
permanently deal with sin (Hebrews 719) nor
could it sanctify (Galatians 321 55 Romans
83).
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However, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law
by living a perfect and sinless life (Romans
104).
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Therefore, the moment a person exercises faith in
Christ as his Savior, God the Father imputes
Christs righteousness to him resulting in his
being justified before God (Romans 4).
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This also results in the fact that the Law cant
condemn the believer in Jesus Christ since Christ
fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law
(Romans 81 71-6 Romans 51 44-8).
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The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the ceremonial
ordinances, the shadows and types of His person
and work, by voluntarily dying a spiritual death
on the cross as our substitute, which
demonstrated Gods love for the sinner and His
hatred of sin.
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The penalty, which the Law exercised, was paid in
full at the Cross and so there is no condemnation
for those who are in Christ (Col. 214 Romans
324-25).
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Christ is the end of the Law and church age
believers are not under the Mosaic Law but under
grace (Rom. 614).
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Since the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills the Law by
His person and work at the Cross, church age
believers are to live their lives by the Spirit
of Life through faith in the Word of God (Romans
82-4).
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If the believer is led by the Spirit, then he is
not under the Law (Galatians 518) and there is
no law against those things that are produced by
the Spirit in the believer who is obedient to the
Word of God, i.e. the fruit of the Spirit
(Galatians 522-23).
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The reason is that the believer is operating
under the highest law, the standards are met as
he walks by the Holy Spirit and grows in the Word
(Gal. 522).
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The believer is never saved by keeping the Law
(Galatians 221) and he is not under the Law as a
rule of life, i.e., sacrifice, Sabbath keeping,
tithing (Rev. 614 Acts 155, 24).
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Therefore, he does not walk by the Law but by the
Spirit, which is the new law for the church age
believer (Romans 84 Galatians 55), which is
law of liberty through faith in the power of God.
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The believer is dead to the Law (Rom. 71-6 Gal.
219) by virtue of his identification with Jesus
Christ in His death, who fulfilled the Law.
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The Law given at Mount Sinai to Israel was to
reveal a holy God and to demonstrate the reality
of an infinite gulf that separated man from Him.
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It was given to identify sin and reveal mans sin
and spiritually bankrupt condition as guilty
before God (Rom. 319f 77-8 520 Gal. 319).
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The Law reveals to man just who and what he is,
namely, sinful and separated from God by an
infinite gulf that he is unable to bridge in his
own human strength.
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It was given to shut man up to faith, i.e., to
exclude the works of the Law (or any system of
works) as a system of merit for either salvation
or sanctification and thereby lead him to Christ
as the only means of righteousness (Galatians
319-20, 20-24 1 Timothy 18-9 Romans 321-24).

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