The Post-Mortem of a Hypocrite (Rom. 2:17-24)
In a past sermon from earlier in this chapter (on 2:1-4), we considered the danger of hypocrisy. But in this text, we see that the apostle is revisiting this sin and applying it directly to his kinsmen, the Jews. Paul’s point, we must remember, is to set before us a mirror in which we can see ourselves for what we are – sinners by nature and by practice – and to take away every excuse humanity puts up to avoid the reality that we are not right, that we are by nature exposed to and already under the judgment of God because we are ungodly and unjust. It turns out that hypocrisy is not only endemic to corrupt human nature – we are all guilty of it in one way or the other – it is also one of the things that keeps us from seeing ourselves for what we are. Hypocrisy is a symptom of moral blindness, a sickness that makes us think we are well when we are not. So it’s no wonder the apostle comes back to this. He wants us to be utterly convinced that we desperately need the salvation acc
