This week, Steve Jalsevac, Co-Founder and President of the Christian LifeSiteNews wrote: “I have lived in Canada for my entire life, and I’ve never seen a time like this in our country. Radically liberal bills are being passed left and right: from Ontario’s “totalitarian” bill that allows the government to seize kids from Christian homes, to the new national law that threatens prison for refusing to use someone’s “preferred pronouns.”. (http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3b519162c561a81f1ee4736a3&id=c29b1c1b4f&e=699df868f8 ). There used to be a time in Canada where the recognition of our nation’s Christian heritage meant that legislation, public discourse and popular media reflected a judeo-Christian worldview. So much has changed that there exists a “Great Divide” between a biblical worldview and popular ideas. At a time when people in this country celebrate its 150th anniversary, living as a Christian today in Canada should be such a clear contrast to what’s around us. Yet consciously or not, Christian by in large are so influenced by the world around them that they fail to notice how this has impacted their thought patters and actions.
From the beginning of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul has explained the nature of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For news to be classified as good, there must be a corresponding “bad”. There is “bad news” for the rejection of the “Good News”. There are consequences for individuals and societies for their actions.
In Romans 2:6–10 Paul draws a clear line between two classes of people, this “Great Divide” shows the only two classes that exist: the saved and the unsaved. He explains first 1) The Dividing of Deeds (Romans 2:6), then showing the differences between 2) The Deeds of the Unredeemed (Romans 2:8–9), and finally 3) The Deeds of the Redeemed (Romans 2:7, 10),
1) The Dividing of Deeds (Romans 2:6). Speaking of God’s righteous judgment:
Romans 2:6 6 He will render to each one according to his works (ESV)
Paul emphasizes in Romans 2:6–10, declaring plainly that God will render to each one according to his works/deeds (cf. Rev. 20:12-13). This is a quote from Ps. 62:12. It is a universal principle that humans are responsible for their actions and will give an account to God (cf. Job 34:11; Prov. 24:12; Eccl. 12:14; Jer. 17:10; 32:19; Matt. 16:27; 25:31–46; Rom. 2:6; 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; Gal. 6:7–10; 2 Tim. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 2:23; 20:12; 22:12). Even believers will give an account of their lives and service to Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). Believers are not saved by works but are saved unto works (cf. Eph. 2:8–10 [esp. 2:14–22]; James and I John).( Utley, R. J. (1998). The Gospel according to Paul: Romans (Vol. Volume 5, Ro 2:6). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.)
God does not judge on the basis of religious profession, religious relationships, or religious heritage. An issue on the day of judgment will not be whether a person is a Jew or Gentile, whether he is a heathen or orthodox, whether he is religious or irreligious, or whether he attends church or does not. An issue will be whether or not one’s life has manifested obedience to God. On that day “each one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). In his sovereign grace and love, God rewards (or condemns) people for their faithfulness in accomplishing what has been assigned to them (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Vol. 12–13, p. 92). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
Please turn to Matthew 7 (p.812)
The subjective criterion for salvation is faith alone, with nothing added. But the objective reality of that salvation is manifested in the subsequent godly works that the Holy Spirit leads and empowers believers to perform. Although justification is indeed by faith, judgment will be according to works. It is that the day of judgment will be a public occasion. Its purpose will be less to determine God’s judgment than to announce it and to vindicate it. The divine judgment, which is a process of sifting and separating, is going on secretly all the time, as people range themselves for or against Christ, but on the last day its results will be made public (Stott, J. R. W. (2001). The message of Romans: God’s good news for the world (pp. 83–84). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
A person’s actions form an index to their character and salvation status. Jesus explained this:
Matthew 7:15-27 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV)
• Starting with the example of false prophets, Jesus explains how the evidence of one’s life, called “fruits”, will indicate whether or not one’s message is consistent with the kingdom life of righteousness. Furthermore, a life of just an oral confession of Jesus as Lord does not always indicate a repentant heart. But mighty works in themselves are not proof of the Father’s will since they can come from sources other than God, including demons and human manipulation. The evidence of whether one is truly a believer is in whether one does the words of Jesus (cf. James 1:22–23 and 2:20–22). Disciples who build their lives on the bedrock of Jesus and his message of the kingdom of heaven are truly wise, regardless of the shifting cultural or religious fashions (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1834). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
It must be made clear, of course, that although Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, teaches that judgment is by works (2 Chron 6:23; Job 34:11; Ps 28:4; 62:12; Prov 24:12; Eccles 12:14; Jer 17:10; Ezek 18:20; Hos 12:2), Jewish literature (1 Enoch 41:1–2; Psalms of Solomon 2:16; 17:8; 4 Ezra 7:35; 8:33; 2 Baruch 14:12), and the New Testament (Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6; 14:12; 1 Cor 3:12–15; 2 Cor 5:10; 11:15; 2 Tim 4:14; 1 Pet 1:17), it nowhere teaches that salvation is by works. God will save whom He will save, and His sovereign grace completely excludes works righteousness (Jer. 31:31-33; ; Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Tim. 1:15-16). Salvation is not by works, but it will assuredly produce works. In Romans 2:1–16 Paul is not talking about the basis for salvation but the basis for judgment. He does not begin discussing salvation as such until chapter three. In Romans. 2:6-10, he is talking about deeds as one of the elements, or principles, God employs in judgment. He is discussing the evidences of salvation, not the means or basis of it. He is saying that if a person is truly saved, there will be outward evidence of it in their life. If one is not saved, there will be no such evidence. Every believer falls short of God’s perfect righteousness and sometimes will fall into disobedience. But a life that is completely barren of righteous deeds can make no proper claim to being redeemed. These verses speak of two very different paths. One is the path of good deeds, the end of which is glory, honor, peace, and eternal life. The other is the path of evil, the end of which is trouble, distress, wrath, and anger. The verses teach that a person is on either one path or the other (Boice, J. M. (1991–). Romans: Justification by Faith (Vol. 1, p. 226). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.).
Illustration: In April 1534, Jacques Cartier set out for the New World, as official agent of the King of France. Cartier was a man committed to the Christian faith and to prayer. (He) was known for his missionary zeal, and at the end of his first voyage to Canada, on July 24, 1534, he raised a thirty-foot high cross at what is now Gaspe Harbour, foreshadowing the coming establishment of the first Christian missions to Canada. Over the next two centuries, French settlers started churches and with churches came schools and hospitals. Elsewhere, Loyalists were granted land in the remaining British North American colonies. They were described by a later generation as having “values espoused by middle class Victorian Ontarians: patient persistence in the face of adversity, hard work, industry and faith in God (Norman J. Knowles, Inventing the Loyalists: The Ontario Loyalist Traditions and the Creation of Usable Pasts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. P. 97). One historian writes “the heroic fortitude displayed by the Loyalists as they endured unparalleled suffering and (hardships) were largely a part of their ardent love for the Bible and for the God of their Fathers” (George J. Hodgins, A History of Canada and Other British Provinces in North America. Montreal: J. Lovell, 1866. P. 144-148).
• With a love for God and a desire for the welfare of others through the spread of the Gospel, explorers from Europe left their homeland and came to Canada. Their efforts can be seen through institutions from educational, to medical care today.
2) The Deeds of the Unredeemed (Romans 2:8–9)
Romans 2:8–9 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek (ESV)
Here Paul contrasts those who prove by their good deeds that they belong to God with those who similarly prove by their bad deeds that they do not belong to Him. Those who do not belong to God manifest many evil characteristics, three of the general underlying ones Paul mentions in verse 8. The first characteristic of the unredeemed is that they are self-seeking/selfishly ambitious, a phrase that translates the single Greek word eritheia, the root meaning of which may have been that of a hireling. The idea is of a mercenary, who does their work simply for money, without regard for the issues or any harm they may be doing. Everything such a person does is for the purpose of serving and pleasing self. Certainly this fits the Bible’s emphasis that the basic problem of unregenerate person is their being totally wrapped up in themselves and having no place in their life for God. In an unredeemed state, “no one seeks God” (Rom 3:11). Only those who God draws unto himself, and place their trust in Him through Jesus Christ are capable of, or even want to, seek godliness.( Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 92). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).
The second and consequent characteristic of the unredeemed is that they do not obey the truth. The person who seeks their own way above all else naturally resists any other way, including God’s, which is the way of truth. Disobedience of the truth is synonymous with rebellion, and spiritual rebellion is what the Fall was all about and what fallen human nature is all about. The unredeemed are rebels by nature, the enemies of God (Rom. 8:7: cf. 5:10; Col. 1:21).
The third characteristic of the unredeemed is that they obey unrighteousness. No person lives in a moral and spiritual vacuum. One is either godly or ungodly, righteous or unrighteous. Jesus declared categorically that “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). And it can be deduced that no one serves no master. It is either God or another. And when one does not serve God, all other masters lead them to sin. Serving God means obeying God’s will! Serving another master means obeying sin. The road to hell is here very simply defined as the spirit of antagonism against the lordship of Jesus Christ. The unsaved person is by nature self-seeking/selfishly ambitious, and their enmity against God leads them to disobey God’s truth and instead to obey unrighteousness.
To such people God will render wrath and fury/indignation. Orge (wrath) has about it the idea of a swelling, such as the swelling of buds as the sap rises and in due course causes them to burst. This word is more readily applicable to an anger that proceeds from one’s settled nature (Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 119). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.). It signifies the strongest kind of anger, that which reaches fever pitch, when God’s mercy and grace are fully exhausted. It will mark the end of God’s patience and tolerance with unregenerate, unrepentant humanity in the swelling of His final, furious anger which He will vent on those whose works evidence their persistent and unswerving rebellion against Him. Fury/indignation (Thumos) represents an agitated, vehement anger that rushes along relentlessly. The root meaning has to do with moving rapidly and was used of a man’s breathing violently while pursuing an enemy in great rage cf. Ex. 10:28; Lk. 4:28-29; Acts 19:26-28; Heb. 11:27). On the final day of judgment God’s fury/indignation will explode like a consuming fire upon all rebellious humanity. God’s wrath and fury are promised to those who have turned from him, yet are claiming to have a special place with him. They will receive the wrath and fury that they thought would fall on others. (Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., & Wilson, N. S. (1992). Romans (p. 47). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.)
Please turn to Revelation 14 (p.1036)
Consequently, verse 9 states: there will be tribulation and distress for every human being/soul of man who does evil. Thlipsis (tribulation) has the root meaning of exerting extreme pressure, and is sometimes translated as affliction, anguish, or persecution. It is used of the persecution of the early church by the Jews in Palestine (Acts 11:19) and of the tribulation of the saints in general (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Rom. 5:3; 2 Thess. 1:4). Paul used it to describe his persecution in the province of Asia (2 Cor. 1:8), and it is used of the crushing of the grapes of wrath during the great battle of Armageddon (Rev. 14:18–20).
Revelation 14:14-20 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia. (ESV)
• Here we see the Lord’s gathering of nations in the valley of judgment because the harvest is ready for reaping (Joel 3:12–13). First with the grain harvest which shows the Son of Man’s gathering of believers (cf. Matt. 13:30) and the grape harvest which envisions the bloody judgement of the wicked. Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, came first as gospel sower (Matt. 13:37) but will return as just reaper (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2484). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.).
Further describing the plight of the unredeemed, in Romans 2:9, Stenochoria (distress) literally means “a narrow place” and came metaphorically to refer to severe confinement or constriction, and hence the idea of anguish or severe distress. Besides capital punishment, solitary confinement has long been considered the worst form of punishment, being the absolute, lonely confinement of a prisoner who is already strictly confined. Part of hell’s torment will be its absolute, isolated, lonely, and eternal confinement, with no possible hope of release or escape.
• I am struck with the federal governments aim to reduce solitary confinement for prisoners. The role of government is protection of the innocent and punishment of the guilty. In a small snapshot, it is to reflect biblical standards so people can get a foretaste of the eternal consequences of rebellion against God.
Paul uses the phrase the Jew first and also the Greek twice in this passage, and it is significant that the first instance relates to those who are condemned by God. Jews were used to thinking of themselves as being first in God’s sight. The typical Jew, in fact, believed that, with perhaps a very few exceptions such as Rahab and Ruth, Gentiles were by nature beyond the reach of God’s care and redemption. God had indeed chosen Israel above other peoples to be His elect nation. “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth,” He declared to Israel (Amos 3:2a). But He immediately went on to say, “Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities” (v. 2b). Israel will receive severer punishment because she was given greater light and greater blessing. As Paul here makes clear, the Jew first means that being first in salvation opportunity also means being first in judgment responsibility. Those self-righteous Jews who thought they were somehow protected from judgment because of their heritage will not only find that they will be judged; they will be first in line! (Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., & Wilson, N. S. (1992). Romans (p. 48). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.)
Illustration: This nation was founded from a principle in Psalm 72 where God would “have dominion from sea to sea”. Right now, the Criminal code says that you can’t disturb or interrupt a worship service while it’s underway. But Clause 14 of Bill C-51 removes protections for worship services. This is occurring in an environment where M-103 protects against undefined “Islamophobia”. For Christians who follow Jesus’ command to spread the Gospel, that would be a problem. In Ontario, under the newly passed Bill 89, the fear is that the government will be able to take children away from parents if they teach the increasingly unpopular biblical view on sex and marriage. Bill 28 has already eliminated “mother and Father” from Ontario law. From these to many others, as Canada celebrates 150 years since our Confederation, we also see an active renunciation of the ideals upon which this nation was founded. God has established a principle of judging those who claim to be under His rule. As severe as He has judged nations like Sodom and Gomorrah, He will be even harsher to those who have received so much of His blessings and word yet continue to blaspheme His holy name. The calling for believers to be salt and light in a dark world cannot be more urgent.
3) The Deeds of the Redeemed (Romans 2:7, 10)
Romans 2:7, 10 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. (ESV)
True salvation is manifested in a believer’s patience/perseverance in well-doing/doing good, and the highest good one can do is to seek for glory, and honor and immortality. Although those three terms seem to be used here almost as synonyms, they carry distinct meanings. Together they describe a believer’s heavenly perspective and aspirations. First, the highest and most wonderful desire of a believer is glory, above all, God’s glory (doxa). A person who does not have such a desire deep within them 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 to the glory of God is to manifest the very nature of God as a willing vehicle for His own divine working. A believer also seeks glory for themselves, not in the fleshly, self-seeking way that is common to fallen human nature, but by looking forward to their sharing God’s own glory some day when their 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 (cf. Phil. 3:10-14, 20-21). Moreover, this is in keeping with another basic theme that is found in Jesus’ challenge that the saints seek treasures in heaven rather than treasures on earth (Mt 6:9–21) and Paul’s exhortation to seek and think heavenly rather than earthly things (Col 3:1–2). The purpose of the Christian life is to work for eternal rather than earthly glory. (Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (p. 65). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
Second, a true believer seeks honor (time), again not the worldly honor that most people long for but the honor/approval that comes from God, the honor of His saying, “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21). This honor stands in contrast to the wrath that unbelievers will experience on the Day of the Lord (v. 5) (Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ro 2:7). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.).
Third, a true believer seeks immortality, the day when our perishable body “must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53).
Please turn to James 2 (p.1012)
Paul is not discussing how a person comes to salvation or how God produces Christlikeness in him. He is describing what the life of a true believer is like, pointing out that those divinely-bestowed qualities will eventuate in the final glory of the divinely-bestowed eternal life. Eternal life is not simply a quantity of life, although by definition it lasts through eternity. But even the unsaved will have eternal existence, an existence which will be everlasting death and punishment (2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 14:9–11). Eternal life, however, is first of all a quality of life, the life of God in His redeemed. Speaking of his own eternal life, Paul said, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20). A believer’s changed godly life is seen as confirming and validating his initial faith response. A changed life is the evidence of the indwelling Spirit of God (cf. vv. 10, 13; Matt. 7; Eph. 2:8–10; James 2:14–26 and I John) (Utley, R. J. (1998). The Gospel according to Paul: Romans (Vol. Volume 5, Ro 2:7). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.)
James makes the relationship between faith and works explicitly clear:
James 2:14–26 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (ESV)
• If someone says they have faith but lacks the resulting evidential works, one must doubt that they have been saved. It is not that works earn salvation, but that genuine salvation can be seen through works. How do we show to an unbeliever that God redeems? We show them with redeemed actions. One who claims redemption, but has no evidence of such, is the worst testimony for God and actually blasphemes God.
In His infinite justice as well as His infinite grace, God will be certain, as verse 10 concludes, that the glory and honor that is sought by everyone who does good will indeed be their reward. This peace that God divinely imparts is perhaps used by Paul as a synonym for the immortality the true believer seeks along with glory and honor (v. 7). The Greek word used here for peace (eirene), refers to perfect well-being that comes from God’s righteous work through Christ.( Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ro 2:10). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.)
Everything divine that the saint of God seeks they will receive. Again the apostle points out that the order of judgment will be that of the Jew first and then the Greek. The unbelieving Jew will be the first to be condemned (v. 9). Only after God has dealt with His chosen people will He deal with the Greek, that is, the Gentile.
The implication of this is plain: Tremble at the magnitude of what is at stake in your life! And trust Christ to bring you to the Father. And do you see what that implies? One of the reasons there is false faith is that some people think they are trusting Christ to bring them to the Father, when they don’t even want the Father. They want their sins forgiven and they want to escape hell, but they don’t want God. They don’t love him. The very notion of knowing him and loving and wanting him above all things is foreign to them. So they may say that they are trusting Christ to bring them to the Father, but, in fact, they are trying to use Christ to get the gifts of God, not God. Don’t do that. Love God. Want God. Cherish God. Delight in God. God himself is the Content and Goal of saving faith. Finally, when you trust Christ to bring you to the Father, you trust him to enable you to do whatever it takes to get to the Father. If there are good deeds that need to be done, you don’t turn from faith to works. You lean all the more on Christ who will work in you what is pleasing in God’s sight. When he died for you, he bought not only justification, but sanctification. (Since) holiness is needed, holiness will be given to those who trust him. Trust him. (Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God.)
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1991). Romans (pp. 127–135). Chicago: Moody Press.)
