Welcome back to Paul’s rant against bad-behaving believers. It’s amazing to me that these words are 2000 years old, because they feel pretty on the nose for today. 

First he talks to those who judge others, literally everyone on a screen right now. “For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” Romans 2:1 He speaks of the grace and kindness of God is given, not only to justify us, but to bring us to repentance. He wants us to change our hard and impertinent hearts, so that we can actually be doing better instead of just knowing better. 

God promises that those who are patient in well-doing will be given immortality, but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey truth there will be wrath and fury. There are blessings and judgments for both Jews and Greeks based on obedience because God does not show partiality; our human hierarchy is meaningless to God. 

Knowing or not knowing the law doesn’t matter, it’s doing the right thing. Paul acknowledges that the Gentiles (the non-chosen) have consciences that distinguish between good and bad with the law written in their hearts. He calls out the believers even more because they have a written copy of the law to follow. Paul challenges us: do we just teach others, without teaching ourselves first? He uses larceny, adultery and idolatry as examples of areas where people say one thing and do another. My question is was he reading our newsfeeds when he wrote this? Corruption, infidelity and the worship of stuff are still our favorite sins.

The last section is about circumcision. In the tradition of Moses, it symbolized their family faith. In Western medicine today it’s practiced for hygienic purposes, so his argument can be unclear. Paul’s point is that having an external symbol without the internal change is a bad witness to the world. Declarations of belief without the accompanying practices is for the glory of men, and not God.