Take a moment to read Romans 2:17-29 before reading the devotional below.
The book of Romans was written to the growing early church in Rome, which was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. In this letter, Paul at times directly speaks to Jews and at other times to Gentiles. Each group has specific faith-hurdles they need to overcome in order to understand what it means to follow Jesus. In today’s passage, we see that he has begun his theological argument with Jews in mind. He directly addresses them here, talking about this “special relationship” with God that they have had for all of history thus far. Indeed, the Old Testament makes it clear that God made a promise to Abraham and he made good on this promise by selecting the Jewish people as his special nation. They were meant to be a light to the nations around them, which sometimes happened and sometimes did not.
Paul is going after the spiritual pride of the Jewish people. If God has already chosen us, then we’re in the insiders’ club, right? Some American Christians think this way today — we forget that the outward appearance does not matter to God one little bit. If you go through a bunch of rituals or ceremonies but you are not actually doing the things God wants for you, what good is it? There is only one thing God is actually trying to accomplish in giving us the Bible and instructing us through it: a changed heart.
Here’s your freedom for today: the Holy Spirit transforms you. Somehow we continue to manage to make our Christian life all about performance, just like the Jewish Christians did in Rome. If I look the part, if I pray with the right words, if I go through the spiritual rites of passage… Yet your heart is what God is after. Your heart is a very protected space and you decide who you let in. Probably there are only a handful of people (or less) on this entire planet who truly know the contents of your heart. And even fewer (or none) know the things you are not too proud of that reside in there. When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and lead our lives, the Holy Spirit moves right into your heart. The process of change can be gradual, but the transformation work begins. He will keep kneading you like a piece of dough, pressing and shaping and maybe even tossing into the air in the wilder moments of life. He’s forming you and transforming you as much as you let him. When you let go of what everyone else is thinking and focus on the Spirit’s work, that’s when your heart and God’s begin to align.