2:21,22
Paul then lays the charge, if you have such wisdom and enlightenment, why do you not live by it yourself? Three specific charges are then laid, theft, adultery and robbing temples. We may wonder “did they actually do these things?” The answer is probably yes. With regard to adultery, Paul may be thinking of the words of Jesus that looking at a woman lustfully is like adultery. They may not have broken into people’s houses, but there are many other ways to “steal”. In Malachi God accuses them of robbing God.
2:23,24
The root of the problem was that they saw the Law as a light to show up all the evils of Gentile society. They should first have used to highlight their own sins. As Jesus said, first take the log out of your own eye before you try to take the speck out of someone else’s eye. Instead they boasted about the Law, but frequently broke it and dishonoured God. In fact the Old Testament records numerous times when Israel brought dishonour to God.
2:25
Circumcision was a sign that Jews were part of the covenant, but instead of realising what circumcision was all about they took pride in being circumcised and made it into an idol. They did not realise that while circumcision was part of the Law, it was only of value if they actually kept the Law. If they did not keep the Law then they were no better off than the uncircumcised.
No comments:
Post a Comment