Who is the religious person Paul is dealing with in Romans 2?
In Romans 2, the religious person Paul deals with is a religious Jew. Paul quotes, “Behold, thou art called a Jew, ye rest in the law, make us thy boast of God.” This was the primary religion Paul had to deal with, the third segment of humanity he addresses.
Les explains that in Romans 2 Paul, functioning like a prosecuting attorney, moves to the third segment of humanity: the religious person. This person is a religious Jew, because that was the primary religion Paul had to deal with. Paul says in verse 17, “Behold, thou art called a Jew, ye rest in the law, make us thy boast of God.” Les points out that religion is man’s attempt to somehow please God, and Paul himself was saved out of the Jews’ religion; as a religious person he had hated the very name of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity, by contrast, is never a religion but is God reaching down in mercy and grace to a lost human race.