“No Partiality”


BIBLE READING: Romans 2

               As Paul continues into chapter two, he now turns his attention to the Jews that are hearing his letter.  If Romans 1:16 is the thesis of the entire book, then 2:11 is a secondary thesis.  Throughout chapter one and part of chapter two, the Jews in the audience were possibly sitting there with a smug smile listening to Paul tell the Gentiles how unrighteous they are.  But then, Paul says in verse 11: “For there is no partiality with God.”  On this particular statement, I can visualize Paul pivoting from the Gentiles sitting on one side, to the Jews sitting on the other.  He makes the point to them that now, just because you were physically circumcised, as in the covenant made with Abraham (Genesis 17), it does not mean they were right with God now.  He explains that the physical covenant made with Abraham now needed a spiritual parallel.  Now, it would be a circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).
               So, here in the first two chapters, Paul has leveled the playing field (“… no partiality…”) and made the ground much more fertile for the message to come.


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