ROMANS 2:17-29 REAL RELIGION CHANGES YOUR HEART2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 2:17-29 Real Religion Changes Your Heart

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015.

We're going to be here in Romans chapter 2, and we're going to be looking at verses 17 through 29, finishing up chapter 2 this evening. And as we get started looking at this passage, I'd like to take a moment and read through it for you. Romans chapter 2, verses 17 through 29 says this, Indeed, you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God.

And know his will and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law. And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

Verse 23. Verse 24.

But if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you, who even with your written code and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God."

As we finish up Romans chapter 2 this evening, looking at verses 17 through 29, I've titled the message, Real Religion Changes Your Heart. As we look at Paul's letter here to the Romans, he now begins to specifically address the Jewish people. And as he addresses the Jewish people, you can see a contrast that he is making here in this passage.

In verse 17, he says, indeed, you are called a Jew. So you go by the name of, well, you are Jewish. You are of the Jewish people. He says, you're called that.

But notice he's making a distinction between simply being called a Jew and then actually being a Jew. In verse 28 and 29, he says, He says,

But here's what makes a real Jew. He says, And so there's this contrast that Paul is establishing here in Romans chapter 2. He says,

but are you actually a Jew? Again, he's speaking to the Jewish people. And the difference that he's making here, the contrast that he's highlighting is the external versus the internal. And there are those who are called Jews externally because of, you know, what's happening on the outside. But he says real Judaism is about the heart and that's what you're missing.

And so it's the difference between external or internal, or you could also put it this way, cultural versus spiritual. They were cultural Jews. That's why they were called Jews. That was their heritage. That was their nationality. That's, you know, what they grew up knowing and practicing was Judaism. And so culturally, they were Jews.

But spiritually, they were not. They were not following God in the way that he had called them to. Last week, we looked at the judgment of God and how it's going to be absolutely fair. But he now turns specifically to the Jewish people because he wants them to know that they are included in that judgment that he's been talking about.

Remember in chapter 1, we saw how the whole world is guilty and is ready for the wrath of God. The wrath of God is being revealed. And that will be ultimately realized in the judgment of God. And now he's speaking to the Jewish people and he says, I want you guys to know that you're included in this because the Jewish people would not expect to be included in the judgment of God.

But Paul's saying, because you're just Jewish on the outside, it's not internal. It's not a spiritual walk with God that you have. It's an external walk with God. You're guilty as well. And you are storing up for yourself wrath if that's the case.

Now, as we talk about the Jewish people of Paul's day that he's addressing here in Romans chapter 2, it's really appropriate for us, and that's why I titled it this way, Real Religion Changes Your Heart, because it's very appropriate for us to consider these things and the principles that Paul is sharing for us. There's not much difference between a cultural Jew and a cultural Christian, right?

You know, we can be cultural Christians where we go to church, you know, it's part of who we are, it's part of our habits, it's part of our society, it's part of our community, but it's

Just external things. And it's very easy for us to slip into that type of cultural Christianity. Maybe you were raised in the church. That was certainly the case for me. I was raised in the church. And so it's very easy for me to be a Christian just by culture. It's just by my upbringing. It's just by experience and routine of the things that have been going on, that I have been doing for a long time.

And if that's the case, it really just becomes religion for us. It's just an external thing. It's rituals. And so I would rephrase verse 28 and 29 this way for us this evening. For he is not a Christian who is one outwardly, nor is baptism that which is outward in the flesh.

But he is a Christian who is one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. You see the parallel there, that there's a difference between being a Christian in name, being called a Christian, and actually being born again and walking with God. There's a difference between being a Christian outwardly, being baptized outwardly, and actually

Well, the baptism, that is, really needs to take place internally. Now, just so you know, I'm not just like making this stuff up and perverting the scriptures for my own fun. 1 Peter 3, verse 21, here's what Peter says. This also is an anti-type which now saves us. Baptism, but then notice what he says. Not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So here's what saves us, Peter says. It's baptism. But it's not the external, the outward baptism that saves us. It's not the getting your body wet. No, he says it's the answer of a good conscience towards God. It's the cleansing within, the cleansing of the heart that brings salvation. And so it's a spiritual baptism. It's an internal baptism.

And so that's what we're talking about today. In the same way that the Jews could just rely upon the outward things and miss out on all that God had for them and the salvation that he provided, we as Christians, we're called Christians,

But we can miss out and we can experience God's judgment if it's just external and if it hasn't changed our heart. And so the heart is the focus here. It's what needs to be changed. It's where the work needs to take place. And so we're going to look at verses 17 through 29 this evening and look at four different points as we work our way through the passage. The first one is found in verses 17 through 20.

And the point is that outward religion has the form of truth. It has the form of it. It looks good. It has elements of truth. It has the appearance of truth. That's why it's so easy to fall into it. Outward religion has the form of truth. Check out verse 17 again. He says, "'Indeed, you are called a Jew and rest on the law and make your boast in God.'"

So again, he says, you are called a Jew. You go by that name. You have that title. That's your nationality. That's your identity. You know, people ask what you are or where you come from. You say, well, hey, I'm a Jew and I practice Judaism and I worship God in the way that he has instructed. And then Paul goes on here saying,

to list a bunch of things that the Jews were relying upon, that they would present as, this is how we know we're right with God and God's okay with us. The Jewish people in Jesus' day and Paul's day basically thought that they could live however they wanted,

because they were Jews. And I mentioned this last week as well. Because they were descendants of Abraham, they thought salvation is guaranteed. It doesn't matter how we live because we're descendants of Abraham. But John the Baptist in Luke chapter 3 verse 8 rebuked this idea and he tells the Jewish people to repent and he says, and don't say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And

He's helping them open their eyes to this mindset that they have. Hey, we're children of Abraham. We don't need to repent. But he says, no, God can raise up children to Abraham. That's not a big thing. That's not your guarantee of salvation. No, you need to repent. There needs to be a change of heart. There were rabbis who would teach that Abraham sat at the entrance of hell to make sure that none of Israel

his descendants that were circumcised passed through. So their thought was Abraham's going to make sure none of his descendants are going to go to hell. And Paul here is making the point that's not true. Just because that's your descent, just because that's your nationality, that doesn't mean that you're automatically saved. And so he says you're called a Jew and you rest on the law

you rest on the fact that God has given his word to the Jewish people. But what Paul is explaining here is that means you are, well, more accountable, not less accountable. You think, well, we have the law, so we can just do whatever we want. And Paul says, no, you have the law. That means, well, things are more strict for you. Warren Wiersbe says, Paul explained that the Jewish law only made the guilt of Israel that much greater.

Because they have much more revelation. They know much more. It was a special revelation given to them. And so they're held accountable to that. And so he says, you rest on the law and you make your boast in God. You boast in God. You talk about God. But you don't know God is the real issue.

And so it's these external things that you have. In the same way, for us as believers today, you can be called a Christian and rest on the scriptures and make your boast in God and put a knot of this world bumper sticker on your car and it all looks great from the outside. But you can be in the same position as the Jewish people. In verse 18 says,

He says, and you know his will and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out of the law. He says, you know God's will because again, they've been given this special revelation by God. They've been given the scriptures and you approve the things that are excellent. You discern and say that's holy and that's unholy. That's clean and that's unclean. You're able to evaluate these things because you've been instructed out of the law.

You've received the scriptures. It's brought insight into life. And so you're called a Jew and you have this great confidence in that. Again, in a similar way, you've been called a Christian and you know the Bible and you can quote the verses and it all looks good from the outside. Verse 19 says,

and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You've been given the scriptures, and you rest in them, and you know them, and you're able to evaluate holy and unholy as a result. You're able to evaluate clean and unclean,

If I were to ask you questions about different kinds of animals, you know, which one's clean and which one's unclean, he says, you'd be able to answer that. You'd be able to evaluate that. Can we do this on the Sabbath or that on the Sabbath? You'd be able to evaluate that. Not only that, but you teach others. He says, you're confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind. You're confident. Well, I could tell you what God says, Jewish person might say. I could tell you what God wants, right?

You can't see, you're blind, but let me tell you, I can see what God wants and what God says. And you're a light to those who are in darkness. You're confident of this. You have your hope in this. You count yourself as an instructor of the foolish. Well, you know, you're kind of foolish, but I have great wisdom. So let me share with you my great wisdom because I'm a Jew and I have the law.

This was the attitude. This was the mentality. He says, you count yourself as a teacher of babes. This is referring to not infants physically, but babes spiritually. That is, proselytes, converts to Judaism. And so you would say, hey, I have a lot of experience in Judaism, and so I can teach you how to be a Jew and how to live the way that God wants you to live.

And so this was the confidence of the Jewish people. They were called Jews. They had the law. They knew the law. They considered themselves teachers and lights to those around them. And again, in this parallel, as we consider these things, it's very easy for us as a cultural Christian to

to be called a Christian, to have the Word of God, to read the Word of God, to quote the Word of God, and to count ourselves as teachers of the Word of God and tell people about Jesus and the gospel message and be able to teach the basics to new believers. And it all looks good from the outside, but the real question is, has your religion changed your heart? You can do all of those things without having your heart be changed.

without having a heart that's right with God. Now, all of these things are good things. Having the word of God and knowing the word of God and being able to apply the word of God to our lives, being able to teach others the word of God. These are all great things, but by themselves, they're not enough. This is just external. And what we really need is a changed heart. Now, when your heart is changed, the result will be, well, that you will know the word of God.

and apply the word of God and teach others the word of God and share the gospel message. That will be the result of the changed heart. But just because we're doing those things, well, that's not sufficient. We can do all of those things without having our heart be changed. Doing those things won't change your heart. It's got to be the result of a changed heart that prompts us to spend time in the word of God. Otherwise, we're just called a Christian, but we're not actually a Christian.

We're called a believer. We're called the disciple, but we're not actually disciples. Real religion changes your heart. And so the question for us to evaluate and consider for our own selves this evening. Now, your job this evening is not to evaluate whether Harvey's heart has been changed. We already know it hasn't. No, I'm just kidding. No, your job, my job, even as I share this is, Lord, help me see my own heart. Because

Even as those who have been believers for some time, it's easy for us to get caught up in just the motions. The heart being changed is not just a one-time thing, but it's an ongoing thing where you keep yourself in relationship with God, walking with God, and He is changing your heart.

And so it's not just, well, I did that one time and that's it. That's kind of what the Jews were saying. I'm a Jew. I don't need to worry about how I live. I don't need to worry about all those things. I have this confidence. I said the sinner's prayer, you know, at the harvest crusade. So I'm good. I'm set for life and I can do whatever I want. And I don't got to pay much attention after that. But that's not the case. And that's what Paul is saying here. You can't rest on the external side.

Real religion changes your heart. And if you have a changed heart, you will do these things. But doing those things all by themselves doesn't change your heart. And so it does not guarantee that you are right with God or that you will enter into eternity with God. Well, going on into verses 21 through 24, he says outward religion, or the point is outward religion says, but does not do. Preaches, but doesn't practice. Do you practice what you preach?

Do I practice what I preach? Again, this is for us to evaluate ourselves, to challenge ourselves. Verse 21, he says, you therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

So you count yourself as a Jew. You count yourself as a teacher of others and a light in the darkness. You count yourself as one who can bring the truth to others. But while you're doing that, when you're teaching another, Paul says, do you teach yourself? Are you learning? Are you being corrected? Are you growing? When you say man should not steal,

Do you stop to evaluate whether or not you are stealing? Do you let God correct you in that behavior that you possibly have going on in your life? As believers, as we've walked with the Lord for a little bit, it's easy for us to develop a sense of entitlement. And so we have ways of justifying our sinful behavior to escape the correction. And so we teach others, but we don't teach ourselves.

Because, well, yeah, they need to hear this, but I don't need to hear this. I've been a Christian for 20 years. They need to hear this, but it's okay if I don't do what I'm instructing them to do because, well, I know the risks and I've evaluated it and I know what I can handle and I know they can't handle this. And so I got to tell them not to do this, but I can do this because he says, you who teach another, do you teach yourself? You tell others to spend time in the word, but do you spend time in the word? You tell others to be involved in these ways. Are you involved in those ways?

This is especially true for those who have been Christians for a long time. And it's very easy for the seasoned saints to really rest on the fact that they're called a Christian. They've done a bunch of stuff. They've read the Bible. It's very easy for us to rest on the past and the things that used to be. Again, it's like we're a cultural Christian. We're still going through the motions, but the heart's not continuing to be changed.

There's not the ongoing real connection with God. It's easy for us to slip into this routine, this religion, which does not profit. Verse 22, he says, So when you say, hey, you shouldn't commit adultery, do you stop and consider, wait, do I commit adultery?

Remember, Jesus deals with this in Matthew chapter 5. He talks about, well, you've heard it said to not commit adultery. But I say to you, Jesus says, if you look at someone to lust after them, you've committed adultery in your heart. And so when you're instructing, hey, that's wrong. Adultery is wrong. Fornication is wrong. But are you engaging in that externally or in the mind? Paul says, do you evaluate that? Have you considered adultery?

whether or not you practice the same thing. He says, you who abhor idols. The word abhor, it carries with it the idea of turning away from something because it smells so bad. You ever done that? You're like, oh, and you turn away. You abhor that smell. He says, you abhor idols. But do you rob temples? Now, robbing temples, we don't know exactly if this is what Paul is talking about, but kind of

drawing some conclusions from what he's saying here, we do know that temples, the pagan temples, were used to store treasures. And Josephus talks about instructing about laws not to plunder Gentile temples or to seize the treasure that is there. And so we can imagine very easily where the Jew could have the mentality that

Well, it's okay to steal from pagan temples because they're worshiping false gods. So we can steal their treasure. We can steal their gods. We can take their gold or their silver, whatever their gods are made out of. We can take that for ourselves because they're wicked. They're false gods and it doesn't matter. But Paul is pointing out this is not right. It's like commanding not to commit adultery, but committing adultery. Verse 23, you who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

So again, as a Jew, you have this great confidence and boast that, well, we have the scriptures and I know the scriptures and I can teach you the scriptures, but do you break the law? Do you disregard the word of God? Do you set aside what he says to do what you want to do? And again, the parallel is so easy for us as believers today. You have the word of God, but do you dishonor God by breaking the law, by breaking the word of God?

By setting aside what God has declared? And then notice what he says in verse 24. He says, Here Paul quotes from the Old Testament. There's two possibilities as far as the passage he's quoting from. It could be Isaiah chapter 52 verse 5, or it could be Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 20.

Now the context for both of those passages are very similar. It's talking about Israel being in bondage because of their rebellion against God. And so because of their rebellion against God, in Isaiah 52, verse 5,

God says, now therefore, what have I here, says the Lord, that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them, make them wail, says the Lord. And my name is blasphemed continually every day. Here, God's people, the Jewish people, are given a hard life by those who oppress them because of their rebellion against God. And God says the result is that his name is blasphemed every day.

Their rebellion, their oppression dishonors the name of God. In Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 20, God says,

And so there he's talking about the Jewish people having gone out of the promised land. And he says, everywhere they go, people hear about them. Oh, those are the Jewish people. And he says, they profane my name because they say, well, hey, if these are God's people, why have they left his land? The name of God is blasphemed when God's people disobey him or rebel against him. And so Paul takes that thought from those Old Testament passages. He applies it to the Jews of his day,

And he says, hey, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Because you make your boast in the law of God, and yet you break the law of God. In today's terminology, we would say you're being a bad witness. You're being a bad witness because, well, you're called a Christian, but you're not representing God. Outward religion says, but does not do.

It preaches, but it does not practice. And outward religion, you have to understand this. It really doesn't fool people. The world is not fooled when we are only Christians outwardly. They're not fooled. When we make big claims, but then don't live accordingly, the world sees that. The people around us see that. When we speak against sinfulness, but then practice sinfulness outwardly,

The world sees that. The world is not fooled. But the thing that happens then is we, well, we cause the name of God to be blasphemed because we name the name of Christ, but we don't live like Christ. So we cause his name to be blasphemed just as Israel did and just as the Jews of Paul's day did. They speak evil because of your behavior.

Warren Wiersbe says it this way. He says, the pagan Gentiles had daily contact with the Jews in their business and other activities, and they were not fooled by the Jews' devotion to the law. We don't fool people. We can be really devoted to the word of God. We can be really devoted to church. We can be extra vocal about it. We can wear our Christian t-shirts. We can have all the external things, but the people around us are not fooled by

by just those outward things. It's evident that it's not genuine and it causes the name of God to be blasphemed because there's this hypocrisy. And think about it. That's one of the reasons people always bring up about why they don't want to be at church, right? All those darn hypocrites. Because the name of God is blasphemed. Because there's a lot of people who are called Christian, but they do not do what they say. They do not practice what they preach.

And so again, the question is, has religion changed your heart? Are you in contact with God in such a way that your heart is being changed? Now, if your heart is changed, you will proclaim the truth. You will rest on the word of God and boast in the word of God. You will do that, but you will also live it out. Not necessarily perfectly. I'm not saying that we become sinless, but there's a big difference between

between still falling and complete hypocrisy. There's a big difference. There's a big difference in your attitude, in the way that you handle your failures, because, well, when it's genuine, there's remorse, there's sorrow over your failures. And when it's not genuine, well, there's justification. There's this boast in the law of God, but there's also the breaking of the law of God.

Has your religion changed your heart? Going on in verses 25 through 27, point number three, outward religion does not fulfill the law. So outward religion has the form of the truth. It looks like the truth. It has similar characteristics, but it says and does not do what the law says.

And it also does not fulfill the law. The requirements of the law are not fulfilled by outward religion. Verse 25. He says, So one of the things that the Jewish people boasted in and were proud of was circumcision. This was a sign that

of the covenant that God had given to Abraham. And as those who were descendants of Abraham, they were to indicate physically that they were part of that covenant by circumcision. And so circumcision was the norm for the Jewish people because God said, hey, as my people, you need to be circumcised. It was something that he instructed them to do. And so he says circumcision is indeed profitable circumcision.

if you keep the law. So here's what you need to understand, he tells the Jews of his day. You boast, you have great pride in circumcision, and that's okay, it's profitable, but it's only profitable if you're perfect, if you keep the law. If there's not a corresponding inward reality to the outward circumcision, then

Paul is saying it's meaningless. If you're a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So you are real proud that you obeyed God, or really your parents obeyed God, and you were circumcised. But then you disregard God and live the way that you live. So he says your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. Now, earlier when I changed up verse 28 and 29, I replaced circumcision with baptism because it's a similar type of thought.

How do we describe baptism? It's an outward expression of an inward change. It's the external that represents what's happening on the inside. And that's what circumcision was. It was an external expression of an inward change, of an inward truth. I like the way that David Guzik describes it. He says, circumcision and baptism do about the same thing that a label on a can does. If the outer label doesn't match,

With what's on the inside, something is wrong. So you get a can of beans, and you open it up, and there's carrots inside. Something's wrong. You get a can of pineapple, and then there's olives inside. Something's wrong. That label on the outside is supposed to indicate what's on the inside. The circumcision on the outside was supposed to indicate what's on the inside. Baptism on the outside is supposed to indicate what's on the inside.

They're just labels. They're external demonstrations, but there's got to be a heart that matches to it. Otherwise, it's wrong. Something's wrong if the label doesn't match the contents. Outward religion cannot keep the law. It doesn't fulfill the law.

All it does is it puts a label on the outside that doesn't match what's happening within. Now, the best of the best of the Jewish people were the religious leaders, the Pharisees. And notice what Jesus said about the Pharisees in Matthew 5, verse 20. He says to his disciples, I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

So the best of the best, as far as the Jews were concerned, was the Pharisees. They were the most holy, the most spiritual, the most religious. If anybody was close to God, it was the Pharisees. And Jesus says, if you don't have righteousness that exceeds their righteousness, you have no hope of entering into heaven. Now this would have completely shocked Jesus' hearers. Jesus is saying righteousness is what really matters.

And the religious leaders, the Pharisees, they have the external, but they don't have the internal. They have the outward things, but that's not real righteousness. It doesn't match what's happening in the heart. It doesn't match what's happening within. And so Jesus says, if you want to make it to heaven, you got to do better than the Pharisees did. And the disciples were like, are you serious? Because they looked the best.

It'd be like me saying, look, if you want to make it to heaven, you got to be more righteous than Richard Bueno. I mean, that's like, how can you do that? It's impossible. Or you got to be more righteous than Billy Graham. How are you going to do that? Not to slander any of these guys, okay? But the point is, you can have a nice outward demonstration and everybody thinks, wow, they're really good. But the righteousness has to be within. Your heart has to be changed. Verse 26 says,

He says,

Well, even though he's uncircumcised, he'll be counted as circumcised. Because again, it's just the outward sign. Circumcision was given by God as a sign of his covenant. And you were to be circumcised as an indication, I'm part of that covenant. I'm one of God's people and I'm walking with God. And circumcision was God's idea. It wasn't man's idea. God thought it up. God established it. Yet it's not the most important thing.

The most important thing is righteousness, but not just an outward show of righteousness, not just a head knowledge of righteousness, knowing the scriptures, quoting the scriptures, teaching the scriptures, but a walking in righteousness, a walking in right standing with God. Do you remember what Samuel told Saul in 1 Samuel 15, verse 22? Saul was sent out by God to take care of business on the Amalekites,

And he was to wipe them out. God was very clear in his instruction, but he doesn't. He brings back the king. He brings back the flocks. And he tries to explain it away. He says, oh, look, I brought back all these animals so that we can sacrifice to the Lord. And Samuel rebukes Saul. In 1 Samuel 15, verse 22, Samuel says, "'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?' He says, "'Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.'"

To obey is better than sacrifice. The sacrifice, that's external. Yeah, you can go through that, but you disobeyed. Well, yeah, but I disobeyed so that I could sacrifice. That's not valuable. That's not pleasing to the Lord. What does God prefer?

Ritual or obedience. Baptism or obedience. Church attendance or obedience. He prefers obedience. It's better than sacrifice. It's better than ritual. And so if an uncircumcised person keeps the law, well, it's counted to them as circumcision because they're obedient. Now, this is really the continuation of Paul's thought earlier about

In verse 14, remember, he says, He goes on in verse 15 to say, And so they don't have as much revelation as you, Paul says to the Jews, but they're responding better to what they do have than you are to your greater revelation. And so that's preferable to God.

They're obeying God the best they know how, according to what he's written on their hearts. Verse 27, he says, So you have this great revelation, and you boast in your circumcision, but you disobey the law. That's counted as uncircumcision. But there are those who are uncircumcised who respond better to God than

even though they have less revelation. And so now Paul says, now, aren't they going to judge you? They're going to stand in judgment of you and say, hey, we knew less, but we followed it better. You knew more. Why didn't you follow what God has given? And so there will be Gentiles who judge Jews because they responded better to what God had been speaking to their hearts. You can maybe consider the example of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. He was a Gentile, a Roman soldier, but he feared God.

And notice what happened. God appeared to him, instructed him to go get Peter to hear the gospel and be saved because he responded well to the law that God had written upon his heart. Those who have less revelation and seek God genuinely will judge those who have more revelation but do not seek God genuinely. Now listen, transferring this over to us today, as believers, we have the word of God. We have great revelation.

We have baptism. We have communion. We have the great privilege of being here on a Wednesday night and studying the scriptures. We have been given so much. But if we live in disobedience, all of those things really don't matter. There's not value in them if we disregard them. And if we disregard all the great revelation that we have received, well, those who have less revelation will stand in judgment of us.

when they respond better, even though they have less revelation. You could play with this a little bit in your mind. You might have some strong feelings, and some people do, and I'm not trying to pick on anybody, but you might have some strong feelings, let's say, against the Catholic Church. And you might make your boast in the Word of God, and you might rest in that, and you might have all kinds of passion about that. If you...

are not living in a right relationship with God. You might know the truth better, but that doesn't actually make you in a better place as far as God is concerned. If you're disregarding God, if you're not living and walking with Him. And so it could be that, well, that group, there's some in that group that you're passionate against and you know the truth better than they know the truth, but they could actually stand in judgment of you and

If they're responding to God better, even though they have less revelation, I mean, you could say that across the world. Pick any religion. Pick any continent. Now, I'm not saying there's other ways to God. I'm not saying that at all. But I'm saying that in the midst of the world, there is people, in spite of all the things that they're being taught, they're hearing from God and they're responding to God. They have less information, less revelation, perhaps. But they're responding better. Yeah.

And things are happening like Cornelius and God's hooking them up and connecting them with him and teaching them what's right. And they're responding, they're obeying God, even though they have less. And we have great privilege and we can easily make great boasts just like the Jewish people did. But if we're not living it out, it doesn't fulfill the law. It doesn't meet the requirements. It doesn't measure up. Obedience is better than sacrifice. These external things don't satisfy God.

They don't satisfy our need. Again, the question is, has your religion changed your heart? The gospel is not about external changes. There are external changes, but they happen because there's internal changes. And the external things are the result. And so many times we're trying to fix the outside, but not addressing the heart, which that's the real important thing. That's what needs to be changed.

If you haven't changed heart, yes, you will do these things. But doing those things doesn't change your heart. Outward religion does not fulfill the law. It doesn't measure up to God's requirements. And fourthly, found in verse 28 and 29, the contrast now, inward religion pleases God. Outward religion, outward Judaism, outward Christianity, it doesn't please God.

He's not impressed by all of our great sacrifices. He prefers obedience to sacrifice. Verse 28. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. So he says, here's real Judaism. It's not outward. It's not external. It's not about the physical circumcision.

It's about the circumcision of the heart. It's about a change of heart. Notice in verse 29, he talks about the change in the heart. He talks about the spirit and he talks about praise from God instead of from men. Now, outward religion is external. It's a circumcision of the flesh. It's a work of the flesh. It's the product of our own efforts, our own resources. And the result is praise from people.

Maybe the only people we get praise from is ourselves. We're real proud of ourselves. Maybe some people look on and say, wow, that person's really doing good. Like the Jews in Paul's day looked at the Pharisees like, wow, they're the best of the best. But it's external. It's outward. It's not sufficient. It's not pleasing to God. Inward religion, it's internal. It's of the heart. And it's not a work of the flesh. It's a work of the spirit.

It's a work that God has to do in us. It's not a work that we do for God. It's a work that God does for us. And then we get our praise, not from men, but we get praise from God. Transferring it over to the parallel for us as believers today. Inward religion pleases God. To be called a Christian, to be named a Christian, to do all the external things that Christians do. What do Christians do?

Well, they go to church, they wear Christian clothing, they try to cuss a lot less, they put bumper stickers on their car about Jesus or Harvest Crusade or something like that. You can do all those external things and there's no change. Well, we read the Bible, we talk about Jesus, we say praise the Lord. These are all external things. What really has to change is the heart. That's real Christianity. Real Christianity is

Yeah, maybe you do put a bumper sticker on your car, but because God's changed your heart. Maybe you do try to swear less because God's changed your heart. Maybe you do say, praise the Lord, because God's changed your heart, and you really do praise the Lord. Maybe you do go to church. Maybe you do read the Bible. Yes, praise the Lord.

Those external things flow out of a heart that is changed. But if we're just cultural Christians, like they were just cultural Jews, we just do all the external things. Well, this is what we do because we're Christians and we think we're safe. We think we're okay. We think that's what God wants, but that's not what God wants and it doesn't satisfy him. It's not sufficient and it won't get us into heaven. It won't give us peace. It won't give us joy or patience or long suffering or gentleness or self-control.

That has to be a work of the Holy Spirit in our heart. I would ask you to consider Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 6. It says, The context here of Deuteronomy chapter 30, God saying, if you rebel against me and you get caught up in

and oppression and bondage because of your rebellion against me. From there, if you repent, then I'll deliver you and I will circumcise your heart. And notice the results of a circumcised heart. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul that you may live.

When we talk about having your heart circumcised, when we talk about inward religion, we're talking about repentance from sin, turning to God, and he does a work in us. And the result is we love God with all of our heart and with all of our soul. And so it's not some, you know, vague thing that we can't really understand. What does it really mean, inward religion? What does it really mean, real Christianity? Well, here's what it means.

that you love God first and foremost. You're most passionate about Him more than anything else. You care about Him more than anyone else. He's first with all your heart, with all your soul. You're going to pursue Him and walk with Him and know Him, and that's going to be the whole desire and goal of your life. That's what real Christianity is. We can do all the external stuff and not have that. And if we're missing that, we don't have right relationship with God.

We've got to have that heart, that heart that's changed by God to love God, to pursue Him and put Him first. Real religion changes your heart. God does a work. It's internal and it's pleasing to God. We don't get praise from men necessarily. Maybe we still do, but most importantly, we get praise from God. God approves when it's our heart that's changed. But we don't get praise from God when it's the external that's changed.

But our hearts is not right with God. We do lots of things on the outside. Jesus told the religious leaders, he says, you guys wash the outside of the cup, but the inside is gross and disgusting. That's not pleasing to God. That's not pleasing to anybody. You come to my house, I give you a cup that's clean on the outside and disgusting on the inside. It's got mold and spiders. And here, have a drink of water. I won't get any praise from you. That's not pleasing to anybody.

The real change has to be within. Hey, if the outside's dirty, but the inside's clean, that's what really matters. That's what God's looking for. He's looking for a changed heart. And how does that happen? Well, we got to give ourselves to God. We got to turn to him, repent. We can't change our heart. We can do all these outside things and try to change our heart, but it doesn't change our heart. We have to give ourselves to God. We have to surrender. And he is the one who changes our hearts.

Would you turn with me? I want to finish up in Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, and actually the worship team, you guys can come on up and get ready for our closing worship set. But I wanted to share a thought here from Philippians chapter 3. Paul is, of course, speaking to the Philippians, and he gives them a warning in verse 2 of Philippians 3. He says, Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, and beware of the mutilation. Then he goes on in verse 3 to say, For we are the circumcision.

So watch out for dogs, evil workers, and the mutilation. Those who, in Paul's day, were demanding, hey, if you want to be a Christian, you've got to be circumcised. Paul says, let me correct that thought. He says, we are the circumcision, notice, who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, in the external. This is how you can know that you have a heart that's changed.

You worship God in the spirit, you rejoice in Christ Jesus, and you have no confidence in the flesh. Paul goes on then to say, look, I have all kinds of reason to have confidence in the flesh. I'm a Hebrew. I did all these religious things. I did all these outward things. I practiced all these things. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees. But then notice what he says in verse 12. He says, not that I have already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me. Here's the result of

of real circumcision, circumcision of the heart. It's not a, well, I did that one time a long time ago. You know, I said that, and so I don't have to worry about my heart anymore. Paul says, look, I don't consider myself that I've attained. In the next verse, verse 13, I don't count myself to have apprehended.

I don't hold on to the past things that I've done. I don't hold on to the external things that I've done. I forget those things. I put them behind me and I'm reaching forward to the things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And he says, therefore, let us as many as are mature have this mind. And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal this to you. Paul says, we are the circumcision. But that doesn't mean that I'm saying I've arrived. I have everything I need. My heart's already complete.

No, I'm pushing forward. I'm reaching forward. I'm not finished yet. Those external things, the things that I've done, that's not enough. That's not completion. I need to keep pressing forward. And if you're going to be mature, have this mind, he says. Again, it's really easy for us who are mature. We've been around for a long time. It's very easy for us to get caught up in cultural Christianity. And we stop allowing God to change our hearts. And it's not sufficient. It doesn't work.

We have to take on the heart of the Apostle Paul here. Do you count yourself to have not apprehended? I'm not there yet. God, I still need you to work in my heart. I still need you to change my heart. I still need you to mold me, to shape me. That needs to be our attitude. And so as they close us in this last song, I would ask you, does your religion change your heart?

Are you in the process of being changed? Do you keep yourself in that place of being changed? Paul says, we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit. That's what we're gonna do. Usually we take this time to minister to one another. No, you just need, I just need to sit before God and ask him to change my heart, change your heart and worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

and so as they lead us in these two songs you do that you sit with the lord and repent and god says if you repent i'll circumcise your heart and you'll love me with all of your heart and with all of your soul let's learn to do that as we worship him we pray you have been blessed by this bible teaching the power of god to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and bible study resources