Law Of The Lord Series

Romans 2:11-16. 11 For God shows no partiality. 12 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 it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (ESV)

The story is told of an ancient Roman ruler named Brutus the Elder who discovered that his two sons were conspiring to overthrow the government, an offense that carried the death penalty. At the trial the young men tearfully pleaded with their father, calling him by endearing names and appealing to his paternal love. Most of the crowd who had gathered at court also pleaded for mercy. But because of the severity of the crime, and perhaps because being the ruler’s sons made the men even more accountable and guilty of worse treason, the father ordered and then witnessed their execution. As someone has commented about the incident, “The father was lost in the judge; the love of justice overcame all the fondness of the parent.”

Romans 2, addresses the character of God in dealing with the Law of the Lord. Paul continues to talk about “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (v. 5). “The day of wrath” refers to God’s final judgment of sinful humanity. Peter refers to it as “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7), and Jude as “the judgment of the great day” (v. 6). Paul explains that it will occur at the second coming of Jesus Christ, “who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1). At that time “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:7–8).

Our pluralistic environment raises pointedly the question of the basis for those fundamental moral norms by which a society governs itself. “Positive” law—that is, specific law enacted by a lawgiver or lawmaker—must have a universal basis if it is to be universally applicable or avoid being arbitrary. On what basis, for instance, can a democratic society decide to require all its citizens to refrain from stealing from other people? Granted the incredible variety of ethnic, national, and religious traditions represented in, for instance, (Canada), what underlying moral code can be discovered that justifies such a law? Under the impetus of such issues, the tendency increasingly is to base positive law on the notion of “the common good.” But that idea is slippery and open to being imposed on the minority by the majority. For instance, the government of the Netherlands and now even in Canada, have decided that it is in the common good to allow people to put to death aged and sick relatives (Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (pp. 88–89). Zondervan Publishing House). Health Canada released the Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada (2021). The report stated that there were: 10,064 assisted deaths in 2021 up from 7603 in 2020. Approximately 1740 euthanasia deaths were based on loneliness and isolation. As a society, as a church and as individual believers who are charged by God with caring for people, this should not be. (https://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2022/08/ontario-euthanasia-numbers-continue-to.html)

God has revealed Himself in what He has created, including implanting His moral law into the human heart. His law codifies His moral standard. Yet every sin is cosmic treason against what is both revealed and understood. One day the opportunity for repentance will end. At that time God will execute His perfect judgment. The law of the lord outlines the criteria that God will employ in final judgment. Last week in Rom. 2:6–10, we saw how deeds will be examined to determine judgement Now in Romans 2:11-16, we see how God will judge sinful humanity 1) Impartially (vv. 11) through what was 2) Illuminated (v. 12-15) and based on their 3) Intention (Romans 2:16).

Through the law of the Lord, God will Judge Sinful Humanity:

1) Impartially (Romans 2:11)

Romans 2:11. 11 For God shows no partiality. (ESV)

Prosopolemptes (Partiality) means literally “to receive a face,” that is, to give consideration to a person because of who he is. That exact idea is seen in the popular symbolic statue of justice as a woman blindfolded, signifying that she is unable to see who is before her to be judged and therefore is not tempted to be partial either for or against the accused. Sometimes she is also pictured with her hands tied, suggesting she cannot receive a bribe. Unfortunately, there is partiality even in the best of human courts, but there will be none in God’s day of judgment. Because of His perfect knowledge of every detail and because of His perfect righteousness, it is not possible for His justice to be anything but perfectly impartial. Such things as position, education, influence, popularity, or physical appearance will have absolutely no bearing on God’s decision concerning a person’s eternal destiny. In warning masters to be considerate of their slaves, Paul reminds them that “both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him” (Eph. 6:9). “He who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done,” the apostle assured the Colossians, “and that without partiality” (Col. 3:25). Peter admonished his readers, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth” (1 Pet. 1:17). Clearly the point which Paul wanted to make after vv. 3–5, and to make emphatically, was that for (one) to rely complacently on the fact of a knowledge of God and of God’s will, as though a merely formal knowledge (that is, a knowledge which is not existential, which stops short of obedience) were enough, is folly, since God’s judgment will take account of human deeds (Cranfield, C. E. B. (2004). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (p. 152). T&T Clark International.)