THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
Romans 2:1-16
Do
you remember the story of David and Bathsheba?
David had coveted another man’s wife and, because he was the king, he
sent for her and took her. Then came the
bad news - she was pregnant. He clumsily
tried to have the affair covered up and when this did not work, he arranged the
husband to have an “accident.”
David
thought that the entire matter was carefully hushed until one day the prophet
Nathan showed up before his throne with a story. There was in his kingdom a poor man with a
single lamb which was considered to be a part of his family. There was also a rich man who owned great
flocks and herds. In order to entertain
some visiting nobility, the rich man had taken the poor man’s lamb and had
killed it.
As
David hears the story, he is filled with a righteous indignation. He declares that justice will be found only
in the death penalty. Suddenly, Nathan
points a bony finger at David and proclaims, “YOU art the man!”
Paul
does the same thing here in Romans.
Throughout
the first chapter, he has been showing how the pagan world stands condemned by
the wrath of a righteous God. Men are
condemned, not because they did not know God, but because they knew God and
because they then determined to reject God.
|
1:18 |
1:24 |
|
Men
rejected God and chose instead to worship idols |
God
rejected men, giving them over to their sin |
Up
to this time, the Jews within the congregation have been nodding their heads in
overt agreement and Paul beats up on the Gentiles.
He said that God gave them over in the lusts of their
hearts and the Jews all said, “Amen!”
He
said that God gave them over to degrading passions and the Jews all said,
“Amen!”
He
said that God gave them over to a depraved mind and the Jews all said, “Amen!”
Now
he says, “YOU are without excuse.” And
there is an uncomfortable silence in response.
“What do you mean when you say that WE are without excuse?” Paul says, “You are without excuse because
you have passed judgment upon the very sins which you yourself are committing.”
There
is an application here for those who are not Jewish. It is directed toward the man who sees
himself as being moral and upstanding.
It is the man who looks at himself as being better than the pagan.
GOD’S JUDGMENT LEAVES MEN
WITHOUT EXCUSE
Therefore you have no excuse,
everyone of you who passes
judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn
yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
And we know that the judgment of God
rightly falls upon those who practice such things. (Romans
2:1-2).
By starting with the word “therefore,”
Paul takes us back to the previous chapter where he has just delivered a
blistering condemnation against the pagan world of his day.
It is obvious that such
people were underneath the wrath of God and that such people need the
righteousness of God.
But what
about the moral person? The person who is not so
bad as the pagan? The person who is in
church every Sunday and who does not bow down to heathen idols and who has not
descended into homosexuality or other depravities?
This person is also
condemned. He is condemned because he is
also a sinner. As he points to the
wrongs of the pagan and says, “I’m not that bad,” he condemns himself. How does he condemn himself? The answer is back in Romans 1:32 - “although
they KNOW the ordinance of God...”
The fact that this person passes judgment is an indication that he knows
the ordinance of God and the standard that he ought to be keeping. He knows this standard, and yet he fails to
live up to this standard.
Here is the principle. God judges judgers. This is why we are warned against judging
others. It is because judgers get judged
and they get judged first.
Perhaps you remember the
Jimmy Swaggart scandal. The significant thing was not that he sinned
and fell, but that he had made it his business to judge and to condemn other
Christians.
Who are the judges of whom
Paul spoke? They are RELIGIOUS
people. And they are judged on the basis
of their religion. The judgers are judged.
God will not have to search
through His law looking for a basis to condemn you. He will be able to use the judgments that you
will have passed on others.
You see, when you judge
others, you are reflecting a standard of morality. And you will be found to be guilty of
breaking your own standards. The truth
is that we do not even live up to our own standards. Thus, the more you judge others, the more you
pass judgment upon yourself. Listen to
the words of a well-known American politician:
“This
administration has proved that it is utterly incapable of cleaning out the
corruption which has completely eroded it and re-establishing the confidence
and faith of the people in the morality and honesty of their government
employees. The investigations which have
been conducted to date have only scratched the surface. For every case which is exposed, there are
ten which are successfully covered up, and even then, this administration will
go down in history as the “Scandal-a-day Administration.” It is typical of the moral standards of the
administration that when they are caught red-handed with payoff money in their
bank accounts, the best defense they can give is that they won the money in a
poker game or in a crap game or that they hit the daily double. A new class of royalty has been created in
the United States and its princes of privileges and payoffs include the
racketeers who get concessions on their income tax, the insiders who get
favored treatment on government contracts, the influence peddlers with their
key to the White House and the government employee who uses his position to
feather his nest. The great tragedy,
however, is not that corruption exists, but that it is defended and condoned by
the president and other high administration officials. We have had corruption defended by those in
high places. If they won’t admit or
recognize that corruption exists, how can we expect them to clean it up?”
These
words were penned by Senator Richard Nixon in his attack on the Truman
Administration in the early 1950's. The
standard which he set in condemning another man came back to condemn him in the
Watergate Proceedings.
This
is what happens here in Romans 2. The
very words with which the moral man uses to condemn his pagan neighbor are used
to condemn him.
Back
in chapter 1, we saw that the pagan is “without excuse” (1:20). Now we see that the religious moralist is
also “without excuse.” The
standard which the moralist uses to condemn the ungodly has not been met by himself. He is like
the man who condemns juvenile delinquents for their crimes and then who gets
into his car and drives above the speed limit.
He is breaking the law in the same way those whom he has condemned broke
the law. He condemns the pagan for his
idolatry and then proceeds to make an idol of himself, putting his own
interests before those of the Lord.
Verse
2 brings this condemnation to the forefront when it says that the judgment
of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. The word translated “rightly” is kata aletheian — “according to truth.” This passage literally reads, “the judgment of God is according to truth as it comes on the
one practicing such things.”
Man’s
judgment is not according to truth. This
is why men will look at sin and conclude, “I’m okay, you’re okay.” Man’s judgment changes from day to day. Only God is the true judge.
GOD’S JUDGMENT HAS NO
ESCAPE
But
do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such
things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do
you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not
knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:3-4).
|
The phrase “think lightly”
is literally, “think down on.” It
describes one who looks with disdain upon the kindness of God. |
The
moralist believes that he will escape the judgment of God because he has been
relatively good when compared to a master criminal or to a murderer. In doing so, he ignores both the depravity of
his own sin as well as the riches of God’s kindness and patience.
Paul describes God as being
rich in three areas:
w Kindness
w Tolerance
w Patience
Our
problem isn’t that God is not kind or tolerant or patient. Our problem is that we think that we deserve
kindness and tolerance and patience. The
result is PRIDE. It ought to be
REPENTANCE.
Why
hasn’t God already judged the world in all of its wickedness and evil and
rebellion and sin? It is because of His
kindness and His tolerance and His patience.
It is because God is rich in these qualities. And God is being kind and tolerant and
patient so that YOU will have ample opportunity to repent. He says the same thing in 2 Peter 3:10.
The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is PATIENT
toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:10).
In
verse 15, Peter goes on to urge Christians to “regard the patience of our
Lord to be salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the
wisdom given him, wrote to you.” It
is possible that Peter was writing concerning this same passage which we are
studying.
This
is also a judgment against modern prosperity theology. Prosperity theology says, “I am enjoying
prosperity, so therefore God must be affirming my current lifestyle.” In reality, your prosperity is merely a
manifestation of the goodness and the tolerance and the patience of God. And it should be driving you to repent.
GOD’S JUDGMENT IS
ACCORDING TO OUR DEEDS
But
because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for
yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will
render to each person according to his deeds: 7 to those
who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality,
eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. (Romans
2:5-8).
There
is a future day of judgment coming. It
is described in two ways:
(1) It is a day of wrath.
We saw in chapter 1 that the wrath of God is currently
being revealed against unrighteousness and ungodliness. But there is also a future manifestation of
that wrath. It will be revealed in the
revealing of the righteous judgment of God.
(2) The revealing of the righteous judgment
of God.
God’s righteous judgment was revealed at the
cross. When Jesus died on the cross, the
righteous wrath of an infinite and holy God was poured out upon Him. He suffered God’s wrath in our place. But there is coming a future day when that
wrath shall be poured out again. It
shall be poured out upon those who, instead of hearing and believing the
gospel, stubbornly turned their hearts to unrepentance
to reject God’s Son.
The
teaching of the Scriptures is that there is a future day of judgment when God
shall judge the works of men. It is a
judgment of DEEDS. This judgment will
result in distinguishing two types of people.
|
Doers of Good Deeds |
Doers of Evil Deeds |
|
Character: By perseverance in doing good seeks for
glory and honor and immortality |
Character: Selfishly ambitious and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness |
|
Reward: Eternal Life |
Reward: Wrath and indignation |
There
is an obvious problem here. We have
always been taught that salvation is not obtained on the basis of any works
which are done, but only upon the basis of the grace of God. How then does Paul say that we are saved by
our deeds?
1. The Scriptures consistently teach of a final judgment which
is based upon men’s works.
For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is
hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
“For
the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and
will then recompense every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:27).
“Do
not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs
shall hear His voice, 29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to
a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of
judgment.” (John 5:28-29).
Therefore
do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes
who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the
motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
(1 Corinthians 4:5).
For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Whenever the Scriptures talk about how a man is saved,
it is always said to be through faith in Jesus Christ. However, whenever the Scriptures talk about
judgment, it is always based upon the works which a man has done.
2. Saving faith is always accompanied by obedience.
In Romans 1:5 Paul spoke of “the obedience of
faith.” Unbelief and disobedience
are interchangeable concepts. This is
seen in John 3:36 where we read that “he who BELIEVES in the Son has eternal
life; but he who DOES NOT OBEY the Son shall not see life.”
3. The quality of deeds mentioned in each of these passages
implies saving faith.
The man who perseveres in doing that which is truly
good is one who believes the promises of God concerning salvation. He seeks glory and honor and immortality, not
of the kind that is supplied by the world, but of the kind that is given by
God.
By contrast, the man who is selfishly ambitious,
seeking only what he wants rather than what God desires, is disobedient to the
truth. He denies the grace of God and disobeys
the calling of God that leads to repentance.
The reward for his actions is wrath and indignation.
4. This is a general description of those who are saved and
those who are lost.
What Paul is teaching is that a man’s faith will be
evidenced in his life. Saving faith will
always be accompanied by works. The good
deeds which are manifest in your life are the evidence of your true faith in
Jesus Christ.
GOD’S
JUDGMENT HAS A RELATIONAL PRIORITY
There
will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the
Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does
good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 2:9-10).
Notice
the priority of the Jew. Throughout
history, God has given grace first to His chosen people,
|
Doers of Evil Deeds |
Doers of Good Deeds |
|
Reward: Tribulation
and distress |
Reward: Glory and
honor and peace |
|
Character: Every soul
of man who does evil |
Character: Every man
who does good |
|
To the Jew first and also of the Greek |
|
Here is the principle. God always deals first with His people. When God blesses, He gives that blessing
first to those who are His people. And when God judges, that judgment falls first to His people. This is true, not only of
For it is time for judgment to
begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be
the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17).
What was true of
There is a chiastic parallel
here which takes us all the way back to verse 6.
|
Good: By perseverance in doing good seeks for
glory and honor and immortality, eternal life |
|
Good: Glory and honor
and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek |
||||
|
|
|
↓ |
|
|
↑ |
|
|
|
Bad: Selfishly ambitious and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation |
→ |
Bad: There will be
tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew
first and also of the Greek |
|
||
The fact of a relational
priority does not mean that God is showing partiality. This is seen in the next verse.
GOD’S JUDGMENT IS WITHOUT
PARTIALITY
For there is no
partiality with God.
For all who have sinned without the
Law will also perish without the Law; and all who have sinned under the Law
will be judged by the Law; 13 for not the hearers of the Law are just before God,
but the doers of the Law will be justified. (Romans 2:11-13).
The word translated
“partiality” is a compound word made up of the joining of two Greek words:
·
Prosopon is the word for “face.”
·
Lambano is the verb “to take.”
It means to “take at face
value,” to judge according to outward appearance. We have a saying: “You can’t judge a book by
its cover.” But we ALWAYS judge books by
their covers. And we tend to judge
people in the same way.
In our culture, we are taught
to seek the favor of men who are wealthy or powerful or intelligent. We judge men by their outward condition and
status. But God does not do this. He is impartial. He is not partial to Americans or whites or
rich or Presbyterians. He does not
consider the outward associations of man.
What He does consider are the
circumstances under which men have sinned and He judges them accordingly.
|
The Pagan |
The Religious Man |
|
All who have
sinned without the Law |
All who have sinned under the Law |
|
Will also
perish without the Law |
Will be
judged by the Law |
The
man who has never read or been told of the written Law of God will die apart
from that Law. We shall see in just a
moment that they will be judged according to that part of the law which is
written in their hearts. The man who
does know of the Law of God will be judged by that Law - a judgment not on how
much he has heard, but on how much he has DONE.
It
is the doers of the Law who will be justified.
You can be justified and receive eternal life on the basis of your
works. There is only one problem. No one has ever done this. We will see in chapter 3 that there is none
who has truly sought after God. And to
make matters worse, no one has ever even come close. No one has ever been justified in this way.
But
that is not all. Paul goes on to say
that the Jew will also be judged. This
came as a startling revelation to the Jews.
They believed that God was going to judge the pagans for their
immorality. But they thought themselves
as being above such judgment. They
thought that they would be accorded a special privilege from God because they
were the keepers and the guardians and the hearers of the Law. Now they are told that they are going to be
judged by that very same Law. Indeed,
having the Law not only means that he will be judged, but it means that he will
incur a stricter judgment, for he is that much more responsible.
There
is an application to us today. We could
say that the man who has been given the Gospel will be judged by that Gospel
and will be held accountable for an even greater measure of God’s truth.
There
is a warning here. It is not the hearers
of the Gospel who shall be justified, but the doers of the Gospel who shall be
saved. It is not enough to be a member
of a church. Or a
Presbyterian. Have you obeyed the
Gospel?
GOD’S JUDGMENT IS
ACCORDING TO MAN’S
For when Gentiles who do not have
the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are
a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in
their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately
accusing or else defending them... (Romans 2:14-15).
This
passage answers the question: “What about the man who has never heard the Law
of God? How will God judge such a man?
|
My friend, Sam Lamerson was speaking with a man one day who claimed to
be an atheist. |
Paul
has already said that unbelievers "know the ordinance of God"
(1:32). Now we read that they “do
instinctively the things of the Law.”
The Greek word translated “instinctively” is .
It is from the same root found in Romans 1:26-27 where we saw men and
women changing the NATURAL use of their bodies to that which is UNNATURAL.
You
can go anywhere in the world and you can find people who believe that there is
such a thing as right and wrong. God has
written this in their hearts. A man’s
own conscience bears witness of the fact that he has the Law of God written in
his heart.
But
that is not all. The truth is that,
while men have the idea of right and wrong, no one even goes so far as to live
up to his own ideas. All men have
experienced a guilty conscience. And
their own conscience has judged them as guilty before God. This will one day be affirmed.
GOD’S JUDGMENT INCLUDES
THE SECRET THINGS
...on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the
secrets of men through Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:16).
There
is coming a day when the heart of each man will be exposed. God will judge the secrets of men. That is what happened to David. He thought that he had covered up his sin
with Bathsheba and that no one knew of it.
But then the man of God came and revealed that which had been hidden.
There
is no avoiding of the judgment of God.
But you can be pre-judged by taking your sin to the cross. Confess it.
And repent of it. And find that
it has been removed.
This
is why Paul has told us about the coming judgment. He tells us the bad news so that we might
embrace the good news of the Gospel.
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