Romans 2 and a Study in Genesis | Women's Rightly Divided Bible Study
Romans 2 and Lessons from Genesis
Israel hasn't learned the lesson of the giving of God's law, which is that we cannot keep it in the energy of our flesh. All religious people believe that they can keep God's law, but the reality is that they cannot. People cannot even keep the law of their own conscience. In fact people can't even keep just ONE of God's laws perfectly, in their flesh. Today, to help summarize the teachings in Romans chapter 2, we are actually going to look at some verses in Genesis regarding Israel's pride in trying to keep the law by their own fleshly efforts.
✝️ Abram believed God
In Genesis 15, Abraham (named Abram at the time) believed God's promises to him and God counted it for righteousness. Basically, Abram was saved by grace through faith alone.
Let's read the verses:
Genesis 15: 1-6 KJB
1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
It's important to also understand that the whole world at this time was full of unbelievers. Abraham might have been the ONLY believer at that time!
✝️ Abraham and Ishmael
Although Abraham was a believer, he gave in to his at-the-time unbelieving wife Sarah's suggestion to have a child with their maidservant.
Sarah will later on have faith in God because Hebrews 11:11 says,
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
This verse in Hebrews 11 may be progressive revelation because I haven't been able to find where exactly in the Old Testament that it says at what point Sarah actually believed God (unless I'm missing something? if you see anything, feel free to leave a comment on my blog). It appears that she may have believed God right before the promise was fulfilled which would mean that it took her awhile to finally believe.
When it was revealed to her in Genesis 18 that she would conceive a child in her old age, Sarah actually laughed within herself. Here is the amazing thing. The Lord was actually there speaking about it face to face with Abraham and she still hadn't yet believed!
Genesis 18 says,
1 And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him [two angels and the Lord Jesus Christ]: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life [at the appropriate time for Abraham and Sarah to have a child; a time when neither of them would naturally be able to conceive]; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord [she's referring to her husband and calls her husband lord! Talk about being submissive unto her husband!] being old also? [She believed IN God like many people do, but she did not yet BELIEVE God which makes a whole world of a difference in God's eyes]
13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? [Only God can read our minds and hearts so this was literally God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that they were speaking to and even eating with!]
14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. [She knew this was God yet stubbornly still didn't believe God!] And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. [You can't hide anything from God!]
So, back when Sarah had told Abraham to have a child with the maidservant, she was more than likely not a believer. She wanted him to conceive a child the only way she believed that it would be possible. Abraham, being a believer, should have known better but gave in to the flesh! He trusted in his own flesh instead of in God. This would result in some difficult consequences.
Genesis 16
1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: [again, she believed in God but hadn't yet believed God] I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
7 And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. [There was so much hatred and strife between the two women, that the Lord Himself had to step in! The only answer to our sin problem and the flesh is the Lord Jesus Christ]
9 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
10 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. [God was still gracious and merciful to her]
11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. [Interestingly, Hagar may have been a believer even before Sarah!]
15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
Now it's important to understand that Ishmael also represents people trying to keep the law in the energy of their flesh. Isaac will represent God's grace. Abraham didn't loose his righteousness in God's eyes but reeps the consequences of his actions for choosing to do things in the energy of his flesh, the result being Sarai and Hagar have major strife (but, God was also merciful and gracious even after this!).
✝️ Abraham now understands that he cannot walk perfectly with God by his own efforts.
In Genesis chapter 17, Abraham has learned that the flesh doesn't please God. Our works are as filthy rags.
Genesis 17
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: [Abram fell on his face because he knew and understood that in his flesh he could NEVER be perfect! He needed to believe and rely on God completely!] and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
In verse 11, God tells Abraham (now called Abraham and not Abram) to be circumcised. God instructed him and all future Jews to be circumcised because it was a way to set them apart from the Gentile Nations and also to teach them that the flesh needs to be "cut off", spiritually speaking, in order to serve God (though they were required to be circumcised physically as well). Throughout most of Israel's history, they would still not understand the entire purpose of circumcision!
✝️ Next, because Abraham and Sarah are both now believers, and they are now trusting God and not the "works of the flesh " and because they had both also reached ages to where it would be physically impossible for them to have children without God's miraculous intervention, God finally fulfills His promises to Abraham and to Sara.
Genesis 21
1 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Next week we will look at a few more examples from the Old Testament in Exodus to help us see how we cannot keep the law in the energy of our flesh.
Thank you Father God for showing us the truth in your word rightly divided, that no religious works of the flesh could ever save us. Thank you that through simple faith in Christ's death, burial and resurrection as atonement for our sins, we are saved and given eternal life! In Jesus's name we pray, amen.
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