CONDEMNATION (CONTINUED)
WHY THE HEBREW IS CONDEMNED (2:17-3:8} The verses in this section (2: 17-3:8) are aimed directly at the Jew. Three key words support this: 1. "Jew" (2: 17, 28, 29; 3: 1, 9) 2. "Law" (2: 17, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27) 3. "Circumcision" (2:25-29; 3: 1) The claim to being a Jew was based on his possession of the Law and the fact that he was circumcised in keeping with God's command to Abraham (Genesis 17:10-14). Re peatedly they boasted, "We be Abraham's seed" (John 8:33) and "Abraham is our Father" (John 8:39). John the Baptist cautioned the Pharisees and Sadducees not to brag on the fact that Abraham was their father (Matthew 3:9). Then, too, because the Jew was chosen to be the reposi tory of God's Word, namely, the Law, he considered himself in a specially privileged position with God. He used the Scriptures to support his claim that God loved Israel above all the Gentile nations of the earth (See Deuteronomy 7:6- 8). There was an ancient tradition that Abraham sat beside the gates of hell and would not permit a circumcised Jew to pass through. He was sure that all the seed of Abraham would enter the eternal kingdom. What Paul discusses in this portion of his Epistle to the Jew was like a slap in the face. Paul covers the ground thoroughly leaving nothing to the imagination. William Barclay sees Paul introducing here the idea that Jewishness is not a matter of race and circumcision. Jewish ness is a matter of conduct. He wrote, "There is many a so-called Jew who is a pure descendant of Abraham, and who bears the mark of circumcision in his body, who is no Jew at all. And equally there is many a Gentile who never heard of Abraham, and who would never dream of being circum cised, who is Jewish in the real sense of the term. To a Jew this would have sounded like the wildest heresy." The Jews could easily applaud Paul for proving the Gentiles worthy of God's judgment, but they could not picture themselves as deserving of the same. So the Holy Spirit guides Paul step by step to prove that the Jew as well as the Gentile is a guilty sinner in God's sight and must therefore be judged. 237440 67
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