Conviction
As I listened to the apologetics talks at a conference, I kept thinking, "I know exactly who needs to hear this!" I couldn't wait to get home and tell my friends how I knew that they were wrong about everything that they believed. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 explained my approach, "We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God."
In this passage, Paul reaches the conclusion of his first main argument. He recognizes that many Jewish people who have followed him this far might be discouraged. He's defended the value of God's gifts to Israel, but also pointed out that they do not provide a get-out-of-jail-free card. Neither Jews nor Gentiles can claim to be better than the other before God. The problem throughout has been the universal tendency to think other people are sinners, and we are righteous. Paul wraps up his argument by quoting five different psalms and the prophet Isaiah. It's as if he gave the sermon and then revealed the texts he was preaching from at the end. We can only conclude "I am a sinner." In context, most of these psalms were the prayers of people who saw themselves as righteous, asking God to judge the people they saw as wicked. But Paul quotes them to show that there is no one who is righteous, not even one. If you pray the Psalms to prove that you are spiritually superior to someone else, then you are not reading them the way Paul does. At the conference, I didn't ask if there was any proud thing that God needed to change in me. Paul shows that sin encompasses every part of who we are, including our feet, throat, tongue, lips, mouth, and eyes. We forget God in our speech, actions, and thought. But if we read Paul's piling up of quotations as cause for despair, we don't know the story he's quoting from. N.T. Wright points out that in every chapter that Paul quotes, "The surface meaning of the text is clear, that all who are 'under the law' are condemned as sinners; but the subtext is saying all the time, 'Yes; and in precisely this situation God will act, because of the divine righteousness, to judge the world, to rescue the helpless, to establish the covenant.'" For instance, in Romans 3:15-17, Paul is quoting Isaiah 59:7-8. The indictment seems comprehensive and final. But then in Isaiah 59:20, the prophet promises, "'The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.' This is the LORD’s declaration." Paul knows this promise is about Jesus (look ahead to Romans 11:26). No one is righteous, so God rescued us.
What does Paul say about the body parts in verses 13-18? Why do you think he picked those?
How does not fearing God change how we talk about people?
What does it tell you about God that he rescues people who use his words against him and others?
What's one truth in Scripture you've used to attack others? Pray, "God, show me how to apply the Bible to myself. I want to be humbled before you. Please rescue me."
Source:
N. T. Wright, "The Letter to the Romans," in The New Interpreter's Bible, vol. 10 (Abingdon, 2002).