https://youtu.be/I-Q7Kb8M53c
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans last time we finished Rom 2:18 with the Expanded Translation "And knows his (God's) will, and approves those superior things, since he is instructed from the law."
These verses are describing a moral unbeliever who thinks they are superior because they "keep the law."
Rom 2:19; "and " translated from "de" is another enclitic particle that is used to indicate the close relationship between the clauses. We have another transition indicating that we are moving on to another related concept.
"having been persuaded is translated from the perfect active indicative of "petho." The NASB translates it as "are confident."
This is a perfect tense that includes a present meaning. The perfective present denotes the continuation of existing results. The active voice: the self-righteous legalistic Jew produces the action of the verb.
At the time in which Paul wrote they were trying to keep the law for salvation, but their self-righteousness only produced condemnation rather than justification. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of historical reality of reversionism among Jewish unbelievers.
They were maladjusted to God's justice and they have no relationship with God's integrity, but they have a been persuaded that they do
"you yourself " from the reflexive pronoun "seautou," is used as the subject. Then the present active infinitive of the verb "eimi" translated "are."
Our translation so far is "and having been persuaded you yourself are." The progressive present tense of "eimi" denotes the action of the verb in progress, or in a state of continuous action.
"a guide of the blind" from the accusative singular of the noun "hodegos" that acts as a predicate nominative but in the accusative case to match the accusative case of the subject. It is correctly translated "a guide."
Then the descriptive genitive plural from the adjective "typhlos" translated "blind" or "blind ones." The adjective acts as a noun, it's in the plural, and this is what happens to arrogant people, they become blind.
"a light to those who are in darkness" literally, word for word " phos ton en skoto," "light of the in dark,"
Expanded Translation: " having been persuaded you yourself are a guide of blind ones, a light in darkness."
This is a distortion of the true doctrine of Israel as a priest nation. This distortion takes the maladjusted Jew and gives him a role that is totally incompatible with his legalistic reversionism.
This what eventually happens in every priest or client nation in the devil's world and it is what has happened in the client nation USA. The evil people running the USA at this time hate the country because they hate Christianity that is the basis of its founding.
In our verse the evil Jew in his arrogant self-righteous reversionism even though he is a citizen is actually not a part of the priest nation. In fact, he is destroying his own nation just like what the democrats in the USA are doing.
This arrogance and self-righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, the legalists, finally destroyed the Jewish priest nation twelve years after Paul wrote this verse to the Romans.
A priest nation is a national entity under the principle of divine institution #4 (nationalism) that is responsible for the custodianship of Bible doctrine.
Before Israel such custodianship involved divine revelation apart from scripture. Since Israel has become a nation it is involved in authorship, custodianship, and dissemination of the TNACH that was God's written Word.
Additional custodianship was assigned to Israel in the formation of the New Testament, since most if not all of the writers of the New Testament were Jews. During the time of the formation of the New Testament the priest nation function was transferred from Judah to the Roman Empire as a client nation.
A client nation is a synonym for a priest nation, but there is one slight difference. The priest nation of Israel had the Levitical priesthood that was a specialized priesthood functioning in the nation.
But nations in the Church Age do not have a specialized priesthood because the Church Age has a universal priesthood where every believer is a priest so the term client nation is used.
However ever since the time of written scripture God has always had and always will have a priest or a client nation. The terms client nation and priest nation emphasize God's logistical grace that during the Church Age is being deployed through Gentile client nations like the USA.
A client nation to God is a nation under God's protection because it has a large pivot of mature believers who have divine viewpoint thinking from their inculcation of God's Word of truth under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
Rom 2:20; describes their arrogant emphasis on superficiality, or a teacher's delusion. "a corrector" the accusative singular of "paideutes" that means training and instruction through discipline as is necessary for children. The prefix "paid" refers to children so a literal translation is "child instructor."
"of the foolish" from the objective genitive of "afrone" that means "unthinking, foolish or ignorant." Translation: "A child instructor of the unthinking ignorant."
The Jews regarded the Gentiles without the Mosaic Law as ignorant and foolish but the self-righteous unbelieving Jew was also ignorant but even worse he was arrogant.
He had a perception of the law that he distorted. And not only did he distort it in relationship to his own life but he proceeded to try to teach those distortions to the Gentiles.
"a teacher of infants," "didaskalon" is the word translated "teacher." Self-righteousness can only make converts for self-righteousness. A self-righteous person always superimposes his self-righteousness on everyone around him. Plus the objective genitive plural of "nepios," that means a baby, infant or someone who is immature.
"having" from the present active participle of "echo." This is a descriptive present tense that describes the Judaisers who followed Paul around so they could contradict his teaching. The active voice, the arrogant self-righteous Jews produce the action of the verb.
"the form of knowledge" from the accusative singular direct object from "morphosis" that means an outward form or appearance, an embodiment, formulation, or any connotation of forming or shaping.
It refers to the superficial and that is what it connotes here. This is a verbal noun that denotes the activity of shaping, or the result of this activity. In other words, whatever is fashioned or formed always has an external connotation so it is describing something that is without substance, or "superficial.
"of knowledge" is the descriptive genitive singular from "gnosko," meaning knowledge. The self-righteous legalist is using the Mosaic Law, or actually distorting the Mosaic Law, to promote and sponsor his legalism.
Therefore he has "gnosus" of the law but he does not have "epignoisis" of the law. If he was a believer he would be using the law correctly and establishing a relationship with the integrity of God on the basis of grace and faith not works
But instead, as an unbeliever learning the law by rote he is using it as a system of self-righteous works that are the very antithesis of grace and the very antithesis for the purpose of law.
In other words, he understands the law only in a human frame of reference; he does not understand the doctrinal implications of the law in its relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ and adjustment to God's justice for salvation.
"And the truth in the law" a connective "kai," translated "and" plus the descriptive genitive singular from "aletheia" that means truth or doctrine.
There is also the definite article "ho" translated "the" that refers to something that is well known to the reader, namely doctrinal truth and the prepositional phrase "en" plus the locative of "nomos;" "and the doctrine in the law."
Expanded Translation Rom 2:20;"A child instructor of the unthinking ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having a superficial form of knowledge and the doctrine in the law."
What we have here is the arrogant self-righteous teacher's delusion, that results in arrogant emphasis on superficial details.
The primary purpose of the Mosaic Law is condemnation, but the legalistic Jewish teacher in his arrogance distorts it into a system of commendation by fastidious production of moral works.
The Mosaic Law reveals how to adjust to God's justice but the legalistic self-righteous Jew rejects epignosis gospel, distorting its contents into a system of arrogance and self-righteousness thereby distorting something wonderful into a system of tyrannical evil.
The Judaisers and the Pharisees, the unbeliever scribes of Israel, used moral observations rather than doctrinal interpretation that would relate to God's grace and unfailing love.
From Jewish legalism and superficial form of knowledge of the law, came the rabbinical traditions and the Talmud where superficialities distorted the true doctrinal content of the law.
This is the arrogance, the corruption, the distortion, and the evil of the Judaisers.