When Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome he knew well the difficulties associated with living as the Lord’s light in the midst of a dark world. He also knew what it was to live in a world with competing ideas, even ideas that once came from God; this is what Paul addressed in chapter 2. The problem was not (and never has been) God, but those who identify themselves with God. This the Jews did. As Paul addressed the Jewish mindset, he addressed that which plagues man in general, and not just the Jews; that which plagued them (and us) is hypocrisy. With regard to their way of thinking, they insisted on having others obey the standard in Moses’ Law, but those insisting did not even live by the standard they affirmed. This hypocrisy brought discredit to them and to the Lord they so readily promoted. Moreover, the Jewish mindset was a mindset that did not even understand the purpose of Moses’ Law; they placed emphasis on physical obedience when there should have been emphasis placed upon the heart, that is, they were to obey from the heart the Lord’s will (2:28-29). With the heart properly motivated, godly obedience follows naturally.