{"id":1235,"date":"2009-09-27T21:29:21","date_gmt":"2009-09-28T03:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1235"},"modified":"2009-09-27T21:29:21","modified_gmt":"2009-09-28T03:29:21","slug":"romans-217-no-place-for-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-217-no-place-for-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 2:17 – No Place for Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 2:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Relying on heritage and obedience to the Law is futile.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed<\/span>\u201d is translated from the two Greek words ei de<\/span><\/em>. Some translations use the English word \u201cbehold\u201d as if this was the Greek word ide<\/span><\/em>, but there is no evidence for this in the most reliable manuscripts. The Greek words ei de<\/span><\/em> literally mean \u201cand if,\u201d indicating a conjunction with the previous thoughts and implying a first class conditional clause which means the statements are assumed to be true.<\/p>\n

The words \u201cyou are called<\/span>\u201d are translated from a single Greek word, eponomadz\u014d<\/span><\/em>. This is made up of epi<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cupon\u201d and onomadz\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto name.\u201d So, it literally means \u201cto name upon.\u201d It refers to the name upon which other names are added, like a surname that an entire family shares. The word is expressed here in the passive voice indicating that it is a name that others call them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRest upon<\/span>\u201d is a translation of the word epanapau\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of epi<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cupon\u201d and a form of anapauomai<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto give rest.\u201d Paul indicates that Jews have a blind, mechanical reliance on the Law to produce righteousness.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The early Christian believers in Rome, to whom this letter was written, took pride in being descended from Abraham. Many of them believed, similar to the Galatian Christians, that one had to be a Jew and obey the Law before one could become a Christian. Paul has spent the last 5 verses explaining why obeying the Law of Moses does not lead one to righteousness. He now will show these Roman Christians why being a Jew may, in fact, be a hindrance to becoming a Christian.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul made a very bold statement regarding righteousness:<\/span><\/p>\n

We<\/span> who are<\/span><\/em> Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.<\/span> (Galatians 2:15, 16<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

This justification (righteousness) does not come from resting on the Law, it comes by faith. Notice what he says in today\u2019s verse, \u201cyou are called<\/strong> a Jew, and rest<\/strong> on the Law, and make your boast<\/strong> in God.<\/span>\u201d Do you see the condemnation of pride implied in this verse? In the coming verses Paul will deal directly with that pride and will show how it is not external appearances which are important to God, but internal attitudes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As we have said before, there is no place for pride in a Christian. Pride focuses on self instead of on God. Pride is, in a sense, the very definition of sin. God wants us humbled before Him, relying on Him. Pride does not humble, it lifts self up. Pride does not rely on God, it relies on self. We have a big God, one who will judge the whole world. Let us humble ourselves before the Judge and plead for His mercy through the blood of Jesus Christ. Pride can\u2019t do that. Can you?<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 2:17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, Truth to Learn Relying on heritage and obedience to the Law is futile. Behind the Words \u201cIndeed\u201d is translated from the two Greek words ei de. Some translations use the English word \u201cbehold\u201d as if this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[517,518,504,519],"class_list":["post-1235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-boast","tag-jew","tag-law","tag-pride"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-jV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}