Romans 2 Day 2!!!

First of all, i want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! to everyone reading this!!! it really means a Lot 2me that people participate in this Bible Study! and now let's get down to the nitty gritty ;)
I wanna tell you guys a little somethin' about this book. Paul was a Roman citizen ad this entire book is the letter he writes to the church in his Rome. This is hometown. He lived here for a long time and was very educated, He studied the old testament and followed it religiously. literally. then he became a true Christian. God found him in the most insane way and he never turned away. He served the Lord and wrote this letter to his family back home. This letter is to all the people that he used to be just like!! This is the letter that he writes to his family that he knows are in the wrong.
Paul starts off talking about those who pass judgment. he says that you who pass judgment are no better than those who you judge to begin with. He says that God is the one that judges with truth. That means that only his judgments matters and you who judge will be judged even more severely than u judged to begin with. yea...
That's heavy stuff man!! i really believe this week that our youth group needs to hear that! and i pray that nobody reads this and says that it doesn't apply to them, because it does.. a lot. All of us judge so we all need to hear that... it's not okay. God is gonna come down on all of us for this!! we are what we call others. remember that "takes one to know one" thing that we used to play?? well it really applies here... whaddaya think?? am i just talking or does somebody hear me on this??

also, verse 4 tells us a lil' somethin' about God's kindness. Paul tells us "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" Yes sir'ee!!! lol. okay this is what i get from this verse: People sometimes think that God is a God of love and forget hs judgement side, but the truth is that they are very closely intertwined. God's us leads us to repentance. b/cuz he loves us we repent.... not b/cuz he loves us we tell ouselves that we are flawless... do u guys agree with me?? what do u make of that verse?
the second thing that really made me think is around verse 12. The age old battle between faith and works. verse 13 tells us that we have to obey the law not just hear it. He, of course, is talking to the Roman jews who considered themselves already holy and.. worthy of God's love because of their ethnicity and circumcision; however, this verse calls to DO something. We cannot just sit around and read the Bible and go to church and be Christians automatically. We gotta walk the talk. Do what we know is right? But what if we don't know what's right? well, verse 15 tells us that even the gentiles who knew no law could abide by it since they have consciences, the truth is in their hearts.
I have never understood circumcision! like i was so confused. i thought.... so when guys are born their parents cut off.... what??? lol ANYWAYS!!! the last half of the chapter talks about circumcision and the truth is that it has nothing to do with any of that stuff. Circumcision is the old school annointing. By... doing whatever you do, you are "made holy" or made to be a servant of the Lord. Well Paul was VERY straight up w/ all the guys that thought they were great cuz their junk was cut off. he told them that it only has value if u abide by the law (v. 25). as soon as u break the law it would be as if u were never circumcised to begin with! This again brings up that gnawing question: faith or works? You guys tell me. What do you think? Paul talks endlessly about faith w/o works and all... but we know we can never DO enough good to be worthy of God, soo???
i think i'll end with a bible verse. in fact it's the last one of the chapter. dont 4get to leave ur thoughts.
Romans 2:29 --No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.