{"id":1268,"date":"2009-10-06T20:21:12","date_gmt":"2009-10-07T02:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1268"},"modified":"2009-10-06T20:21:12","modified_gmt":"2009-10-07T02:21:12","slug":"romans-224-visible-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-224-visible-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 2:24 – Visible Evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 2:24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

The actions of some Christians bring shame to our God.<\/p>\n

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

The word \u201cblasphemed<\/span>\u201d is transliterated from the Greek. That is, the Greek word is brought directly over into English. The Greek word is blasph\u0113me\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of a form of blax<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cslow\u201d or \u201cstupid\u201d and ph\u0113m\u0113<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201crumor\u201d or \u201cfame.\u201d It refers to \u201cabusive or reviling words, especially an attack on someone\u2019s name or reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGentiles<\/span>\u201d is translated from ethnos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ca race\u201d or \u201ca tribe.\u201d It is used by Jews to refer to anyone who is not a Jew, implying idolatry and ignorance of God. It was used by early Christians in a similar way in reference to those who are ignorant of God.<\/p>\n

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

For the past few verses Paul has been telling the Roman Christians (and us) that talking about faith and a relationship with God means nothing unless that faith is put into practice. It doesn\u2019t matter how much we know about God and about what He expects of us if we aren\u2019t putting it into action. Now he takes it one step further. He says that not only did the Christians in Rome dishonor God by not keeping the Law, he says that they are the reason that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles. In this case, the term Gentiles is a reference to those who are not Christians. It\u2019s one thing to be known as the people of God. It\u2019s quite another to be known as the people of God but live such a life that God is disparaged because of you.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this verse Paul says \u201cas it is written\u201d but he does not specifically mention where it is written. The implication is that he was quoting scripture but he recognized that these people knew the scriptures well enough that he didn\u2019t have to quote it. He may have been talking about one of the following passages:<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> is<\/span><\/em> blasphemed continually every day<\/span>. <\/span>(<\/span>Isaiah 52:5<\/span><\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore say to the house of Israel, \u201cThus says the Lord GOD: \u2018I do not do<\/span> this<\/span><\/em> for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I <\/span>am<\/span><\/em> the LORD,\u2019 says the Lord GOD, \u2018when I am hallowed in you before their eyes<\/span>.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span> <\/span>(Ezekiel 36:22, 23<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that to those who are unsaved and know we are Christians, we are God\u2019s representatives. The way we behave reflects directly on our God. What they see in us may be all they know of God. What kind of a God do we portray?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I\u2019m once again reminded of a saying I heard as a young Christian, \u201cIf you were convicted for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, would there?<\/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 2:24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. Truth to Learn The actions of some Christians bring shame to our God. Behind the Words The word \u201cblasphemed\u201d is transliterated from the Greek. That is, the Greek word is brought directly over into English. The […]<\/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":[144,542],"class_list":["post-1268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blaspheme","tag-gentile"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-ks","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268","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=1268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}