ROMANS 2: 1-11
REPENTANCE IS PROVEN IN LIFE
(The Judgment of Visible Verifiable Deeds)
[Luke 18:9-14 / Matthew 16:27]
Every person comes with a basic knowledge of good and evil built into them or nothing could be agreed upon in society. That's why any ethical or moral person would heartily concur with the judgment the Bible has pronounced on the flagrantly immoral people just described in Romans 1:24-31. They obviously deserve judgment for their gross flagrant sins into which they have plummeted and into which they are attempting to pull society. That's easy.
Now what about other people whose lives don't bear the evidence that God has turned them over to the power of their corruption. How does God look at the more upright, moral, and religious person who has a sense of right and wrong and leads an outwardly virtuous life?
Does God consider those righteous who can still distinguish between right and wrong? No. Until a person recognizes that he stands guilty and condemned before God and that he is a sinner who does not meet God's standard of righteousness, there is no possibility of salvation. Only repentance that causes one to be severed from sin in a daily obedient life can lead to salvation (CIT).
I. Judge Self as You Do Others, 1-3.
II. The Judge's Truce on Judgment is Repentance, 4-5.
III. Judged By Ations, 6-10.
IV. Judged Impartially, 11.
Paul continues his search for the God-kind of righteousness with a general statement applicable to one and all in verse 1, but especially to the morally upright who keep a sharp eye out for the faults of others. "Therefore (for this reason) you are without excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."
Therefore refers to what Paul has just written in the last half of Chapter 1. The you means he is talking to everyone reading or hearing the Word. Here again he points out that all mankind stands "without excuse" before God. You are without excuse if you practice any of the sexual or social sins in Chapter One. Those who don't recognize their particular malady or inclination only prove that their mind or thinking has become depraved. Yet if you recognize these sins as evil you condemn yourself because to varying degrees you practice these same sins. It is easier to see sin in someone else's life than it is to see the ones in your own life.
[The word judge is , to pick out, separate, approve, determine, produce judgment, condemn. The word condemn, , means down judge. See the pharisee and sinner in Luke 18:9-14.] Whenever are justifiably angry about someone's sin, we should still be careful. We need to speak out against sin, but we must do so in a spirit of humility. Often the sins we notice most clearly in others are the ones that have taken root in us. If we look closely at ourselves, we may find that we are committing the same sins in more socially acceptable forms. For example, a person who gossips may be very critical of others who gossip about him or her.
The understanding of divine standards and human short-comings is emphasized in verse 2. "And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things."
You may judge yourself with favoritism but we know that God does not judge so. The judgment of God rightly or literally is according to truth and will be without error and without partiality. When God's judgment is executed on those who indulge themselves in sin, it is based in truth. His judgment is not founded upon mere appearances, pretensions, or professions but upon the truth of the case. Do not expect when God judges that it will be by some other standard than the truth (Jn. 7:24).
Verse 3 reads the thoughts of man. "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?"
The truth that God's judgment is just and will fall upon all who practice evil is so plain that it is folly to deny it. Only those that have sought acquittal from God by repentance will escape.
When my daughter does something wrong I discipline her. Yet I too am rebellious and selfish the same as her. Therefore my judgment is admitting to God that I too need to be disciplined. Whether the will of God is known by the law of Moses or by the voice of conscience, knowledge of His will is not enough, it is the doing of His will that counts.
When someone we know is caught up in some terrible crime or sin, we may show one of three attitudes. First, we can be indifferent, saying it's none of our business and the victim can solve his problem the best way he can. Second, we can show love and compassion, reminding ourselves that "there, but for the grace of I." Third, we can act "shocked," showing a holier-than-thou judgmental attitude toward the one caught in sin.
It is impossible to lift our self in God's sight by boasting how much better we are than someone else. "Good" sinners, if there is such a thing, need God's mercy as much as "bad" sinners who squander life in the gutter of perversion.
Churches are to be likened to lifeboats rescuing fellow strugglers, rather that luxury cruisers where members relax and complement themselves on their virtues while all around them multitude are drowning!
II. THE JUDGE'S TRUCE ON JUDGMENT IS REPENTANCE, 4-5.
The grounds on which the false expectation to escape judgment without acquittal is based on verse 4. "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?"
They - we think because we are not presently under God's judgment that we do not deserve to be punished. If we think that since we are not presently experiencing judgment that we do not deserve to be judged, or that maybe God doesn't care about our sinfulness then we scorn or look down upon the kindness, forbearance and patience of God.
Kindness, forbearance and patience express the divine order under different aspects. Kindness ( ) is goodness that shows in gentleness, showing favors, acts of kindness in general. Forbearance ( )is a truce, a temporary cessation of hostility until negotiations succeed or fail. Patience (µ µ ) is slowness in avenging wrongs.
The fact that you are not being punished does not mean that God does not exist or cannot punish or does not punish sin. The fact that His punishment does not immediately follow sin is not proof of His powerlessness. It is proof of His patience. We owe our lives to the kindness of God.
The kindness of God is designed to bring us to repentance. If it does not it is our own fault. We are responsible to understand - to know - that God's kindness leads to repentance. The kindness of God should make us willing to repent but does not force us to repent. He withholds our due punishment so we might recognize His kindness and have hope of forgiveness and turn away from evil. Notice that repentance, or the change of mind that cause one to change their life, is a product of realizing that God who should be judging you is not presently judging but being kind and asking if you will come to Him so He might change you.
Verse 5 attempts to startle the hard-hearted out of their lethargy of self deception. "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
Because people don't get immediate judgment from God some don't slow down in their sinning in spite of the fact that they know it is wrong. Thus the judgment they deserve for their deeds is growing and growing and will be delivered upon them as part of their eternal judgment. The words storing up, ( ) means laying up little by little be it reward or wrath. By holding unrepentantly on to their way of life they are treasuring up wrath for themselves.
They are taking the goodness of God as an invitation to sin rather than an incentive to repentance. Let us think of it in human terms. There are two attitudes to human forgiveness. Suppose a young person does something which is a shame, a sorrow, and a heartbreak to his parents, and suppose that in love he is freely forgiven, and the thing is never held against him. He can do one of two things. He can either go and do the same thing again, trading on the fact that he will be forgiven once more; or he can be so moved to wondering gratitude by the free forgiveness that he has received, that he spends his whole life in trying to be worthy of it. It is one of the most shameful things in the world to use love's forgiveness as an excuse to go on sinning. This is what so many people still do. The mercy and love of God are not meant to make us feel that we can sin and get away with it. They are meant to so break our hearts so that we will seek not to sin again. If the goodness of God does not lead us to repentance then we become hardened. The Bible always looks to the judgment as certain though not always immediate.
III. JUDGED BY ACTIONS, 6-10.
Verse 6 again emphasizes that God's judgment is based on actions. "Who will render to every man according to his deeds:"
Verse 6 is a quote from Proverbs 24:12. In the final analysis man will be justly judged according to the facts by One who knows them all. And it is by these facts that we are accepted or rejected. God will judge men neither according to their professions, nor their relations, but according to their deeds. The fact that every man is judged according to his deeds is taught throughout Scripture: Job 34:11; Ps. 62:12; Eccl 11:9; 12:14; Jer. 16:10, 32:19; Mt. 16:27, 25: 31-46; Jn. 5:28, 29; 1 Cor. 3: 12-15, 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7-9; Eph. 6:8; Rev. 2:23, 11:18, 20:12 & 13.
The wicked will be punished on account of their works and according to their works. The redeemed will be rewarded not on account of, but according to their works. The Apostle is not here teaching the method of justification but a principle of justice where by all men will be judged. Salvation is by grace alone but man is responsible for responding to grace with faith, and faith without works is dead (Jas. ).
The principle laid down in verse 6 is amplified in verses 7 & 8 where two all-inclusive classes are given. The first group listed in verse 7 is those who persist in doing good. "To those according to (their) endurance in (of) good work seek glory and honor and immortality, eternal life."
. The point toward which the argument is moving is the impartiality of the Judge and His judgment. He is not talking about a salvation by works for there is no such thing but neither is there such a thing as a salvation that does not work. A faith which does not issue forth in righteous deeds is not Biblical faith. The only way you can see a man's faith is by his deeds. Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruit." Faith is never separated from deeds, they are bound together. If one has faith he has deeds.
The highest and most wonderful desire of a believer is glory, above all, God's glory. A person who does not have such a desire deep within him cannot be a true believer. "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God," Paul admonishes (1 Cor. 10:31). To live for the glory of God is Christ-likeness or to manifest the very nature of God. As you give your self into God's hand you become the handiwork of God. There could be no greater reward.
A believer also seeks glory for himself, not in the fleshly, self-seeking way that is common to fallen human nature, but by looking forward to his sharing God's own glory some day when his salvation is perfected (see Rom. 8:21, 30; 2 Thess. 2:14; cf.; Ps. 17:15). We know that any "momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison" (2 Cor. 4:17) and that "when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then [we] also will be revealed with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). In seeking this heavenly glory it is really a seeking of Christlikeness.
The second group given in verse 8 are those who follow their own stubborn heart. "But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation."
Here we find the reason people do not obey the truth - because they are selfishly ambitious. When a person does not obey the truth automatically they obey unrighteousness. For the disobedient there will be wrath and anger. They will be objects of the wrath and anger of God on the day of final judgment, and forever thereafter. God's wrath reaches fever pitch when His mercy and grace are exhausted.
An obedient Christian does not live according to his own will or for his own pleasure. He lives according to the will of Christ and for His glory. A Christian seeks to submit himself to Christ and let Him rule his heart, his conscience, and his life.
Again a summary of the two categories of people in verses 9 & 10. First in verse 9 those who live for self. "(There will be) tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,"
For the disobedient there will be outward affliction and inward distress. We also understand that it is the soul, the eternal part of man, that is to suffer this penalty and not the body. Part of hell's torment will be its absolute, isolated, lonely, and eternal confinement in anguish with no possible hope of release or escape.
The phrase to the Jew first and also the Gentile, as the Gospel began with the Jews and went to the Gentiles (1:18), judgment shall begin with Jews and extend to the Gentiles. The Jews are first in privilege which means they are also first in responsibility. "To whom much is given much is required" (Luke 12:48).
The second group are those who live for God and His greater glory in verse 10. "But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greeks."
The judgment to the disobedient threatens death meaning eternal separation from God's goodness, glory, and blessing. Now God promises life to the obedient. A life of eternal glory, honor, and peace. God will make certain that the glory and honor sought by every man who does good will indeed be his reward.
Verses 7 & 10 are parallel except for the words peace and immortality so we look at them as synonyms. Both are divinely imparted. With respect to punishment and with respect to reward the fact will be considered that the Jews had been privileged above the Gentiles. (1:16; 3:1f; 9:4f).
IV. ALL JUDGED IMPARTIALLY, 11.
The main point is that the same standard of judgment will be for everyone as verse 11 indicates. "For there is no partiality before God."
When we stand before God He will not show any favoritism. Partiality ( µ ) is "lifting the face." The idea 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, unable to see who is before her and thus will be judged only on the evidence heard.
God will not favor me just because I'm a pastor or because I come from a nice family or because I'm a good guy or have a nice personality or am friendly or can tell a great joke. I, as anyone else, will be judged according to my deeds. Any doctrine which tends to produce security in sin is false.. Whether we be lost or saved there will be no partiality when we stand before God. (Acts 10:34; Duet. 10:17; Zech. 19:7; Job 34:19; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:24; 1 Pet. 1:17)
CONCLUSION
Perseverance in God's will is the hallmark of genuine believers. Those who seek God's honor persist in doing good deeds. Their reward will not necessarily be here in this time, but in eternity. Likewise judgment is usually reserved for eternity.
Why? In His kindness, God holds back His judgment, giving people time to repent. It is easy to mistake God's patience for approval of the wrong way we are living. Self-evaluation is difficult, and it is even more difficult to expose our conduct to God and let Him tell us where we need to change. But as Christians we must pray constantly that God will point out our sins, so that He can heal them. Unfortunately, we are more likely to be amazed at God's patience with others than humbled at His patience with us.
Although God does not usually punish us immediately for sin, His eventual judgment is certain. We don't know exactly when it will happen, but we know that no one will escape that final encounter with the Creator. (John 12:48 & Revelation 20:11-15).
