God's Judgement. Series

Romans 2:1- 16. God’s Judgment

In our culture today there is a huge mentality to pass judgement upon others we always no best, a mentality which says’ “I am in the right and you are in the wrong.” Whether it is the accident compensation racket with the endless afternoon adverts which pump out slogans like, “where there is blame there is a claim.” Or in the current court proceedings of McCartney and Mills, in regard to Mills financial package. The press have been unable to attend and so have come up with a euphoria of speculation, making unwarranted judgements upon the events taking place in court.

I am sure both McCartney and Mills are fighting their corner, pointing the finger at each other. But in reality when we start to point the finger at others, there will always be two pointing back! Matt 7:3. As Jesus said, Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

1. PASSING JUDGEMENT, BE CAREFUL 2:1 .YOU THEREFORE, HAVE NO EXCUSE, YOU WHO PASS JUDGEMENT ON SOMEONE ELSE FOR AT WHATEVER POINT YOU JUDGE THE OTHER YOU ARE CONDEMNING YOURSELF, BECAUSE YOU WHO PASS JUDGEMENT DO THE SAME THINGS.

Paul has previously described to us the deepening depravity in the Gentile 1: 18 -32 world and now he will EXPLAIN that nobody has the excuse to point the finger at others not even the religious Jew 2:1- 29 or the moral criticizers of the DAY for not all Gentiles were debauched: AS HE INCLUDES BOTH Jew and gentile in this section too.

His purpose in doing so is to show that they are equal in sin and equal in salvation, there wasn’t any room for pointing the finger at the sin in others without examining their own hearts. Paul is turning away from the shamless depraved to the world of the self righteous Jew and gentile.

The Jews were a people who had received God favour in the past v4 thought they were right with God and yet were storing up God’s righteous judgement v5 self righteously pointing the finger at others who were committing idolatry, involved in homosexual practices to all sorts of depravity v29 -31 . Paul is saying there will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil to Jew and Gentile v9

Even the moral Gentile: Roman stoic Philosopher Seneca was a man who exalted moral virtues; he exposed hypocrisy, he preached the equality of all human beings, he acknowledged the pervasive character of evil....he practiced daily self examination, he ridiculed vulgar idolatry, he assumed the role of moral guide... v1-16 And yet he was found to have committed adultery with Julia Livillia, agreed to the murder of Agrippina’s Claudius wife and was involved in the Pisonian conspiracy a plot to kill Nero.

I wonder how many of us gathered here today have become the moral critics or religious zealots of the 21st century ... Paul has turned away from the totally depraved 1:32 to the man and women who sit in judgement upon others v 1,3 so be careful Paul is saying to us we are without excuse to pass judgement upon others because when we do he is telling us we do the same things “We all sin. But what is worse for these people is unlike the others 1:32 who approve of such things – they find themselves condemning yet doing the same things UTTER HYPOCRISEY.

How often have you found yourself pointing the finger at others? BE CAREFUL WE ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE often when we pass judgements upon the faults in others - often we are excusing the faults we find in ourselves. Okay we might not be molesters or murders, But what Paul is simply getting over is that BEFORE WE START POINTING THE FINGER we need to look at ourselves.

1. The Good test power point. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

The fact of the matter is we look at ourselves better than we ought, we consider ourselves, law abiding, good citizens, charitable and we have a huge tendency as human beings to compartmentalise sins into degrees of depravity. This in turn causes us to point the fingers at others without looking into our own hearts (Religious /morally upright people are prone to it )

Paul is saying here to Religious and moral that when it comes to their position before God Jew and Gentile basically every human being on the face of this planet is on a level playing field (Premier league and non –league) None of us have any excuse to pass judgement upon others without looking into our own hearts first.

Jesus 8: 1- 11 Read. (disregarded the law without arresting the man, (lev 20:10,Deut 22:22) When we react in such a way to sin in others is to act as though we ourselves have never sinned, Jesus is teaching us if we are to expose sin in others we should do so in a spirit of offering compassion and forgivenessress like Jesus did himself.