You’re the Man! (And So Am I)
Romans 2:1-16
Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Romans 2. I know! You kind of feel like we are starting a brand new series, after five weeks in Romans 1. But actually, we are still in the first section of our outline of Romans. If you remember a few weeks ago, I gave you a very basic outline of Romans. The overall theme is The Righteousness of God. That’s what every part of Romans is about. And we are in Section 1: The Wrath of God. And we will be here through chapter 3, verse 20.
Now if you were here last week, you probably feel like you got hit with both barrels on the wrath of God. We talked about sexual sin, both heterosexual and same sex. We talked about God giving people over to the lusts of their hearts, then to dishonorable passions, and finally to a debased mind. We ended with the picture of the Gentiles “not only doing these things,” but giving approval to others who practice them. And I painted the word picture of the Roman Collisseum, filled with people giving their approval to the horrible acts of violence they saw in the arena.
I bring them up because after the sermon, I had one person (my brother Allen) text me and say, “Great sermon, but the Collisseum wasn’t actually built until after Paul was dead.” So, we all need people like that in our lives. Thanks, Allen!
But in any case, we might get to the end of a chapter like Romans 1 and say, “Way to go Paul! Way to get after those horrible Gentiles. Sexual perverts, deviants—man, you really let them have it! Way to not pull any punches.”
Some of you said similar things to me after the sermon last week. You congratulated me on speaking the truth about “those people.” One person even came up to me and told me about a news show she was watching about the son of a prominent politician, and how that particular person’s disgusting behavior perfectly illustrated what I was saying about the downward spiral of our culture.
1. Intro: The problem of the invisible tape recorder
Now, that is certainly one response to Romans chapter 1. But there is a problem. Let’s look again at the first few verses of Romans 2:
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
This is what theologian Francis Schaeffer called “The problem of the Invisible Tape Recorder.” He said, “Imagine that each one of us has an invisible tape recorder hanging around our necks.” (we got Josh a voice-activated recorder for Christmas so he could record classroom lectures and listen to them later). So, to update Schaeffer’s analogy a little bit, imagine that you have a voice activated recorder hanging on a lanyard around your neck. And it makes a recording of everything you say in judgment about someone else. Every time you point out when a politician gets caught lying (which means you’d probably need a couple of terrabytes of storage on this recorder!). Every time you comment on the latest story about a celebrity scandal.
Every time you point out the neighbor who’s kids aren’t well behaved.
Every time you yell at another driver who is distracted.
This invisible voice recorder keeps track of every single thing you ever say in judgment of someone else.
And at the end of your life, you stand before God, the righteous judge, and God says, “All right. I’m going to be completely fair. I am going to play your recordings, and I will judge you on the basis of what your own words say are the standards of human behavior.”
How would you do? Well, most of us would be like a deer in the headlights. We would want to rip off the voice recorder and stomp it into pieces.
Because the truth is, as John Stott pointed out in his book, The Message of Romans,
We work ourselves up into a state of self-righteous indignation over the disgraceful behavior of other people, while the very same behavior seems not nearly so serious when it is ours, rather than theirs.
2. From third person to second person (v.1-3, 2 Sam. 12:1-9)
And so here is the genius and the billiance of the Apostle Paul. I want to point out a huge difference between chapter 1 and chapter 2 that you may not have noticed the first time around. Look at the pronouns.
In chapter 1, from verse 18-32, you see a whole bunch of third person pronouns. You can see it just in verses 29-32:
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Do you see it? In the entire passage, you’ve got four “theirs;” six “them’s”; TWELVE “they’s”; and two “themselves.” Twenty four thrid person pronounce in all.
But right away, when you flip to chapter 2, you see the shift, don’t you:
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
In just the first seven verses, there are ten “you’s”; one “your,” and two “yourself’s”: thirteen second person pronouns. When Paul says, “You have no excuse, O man” in verse one, and “Do you suppose, O man” in verse 3, that means that every one of us has to stop and say, “Wait a minute… I’m the man!”
This actually answers a question some of you might have had about the way Paul structures the book of Romans. In Romans 1:16, Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” And maybe after last week you were asking yourself, “well, if its to the Jew first and then the Greek, then how come Romans talks to the Greek first—the Gentile—in chapter one, and then talks to the Jew in chapter two? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
And the answer is that Paul is talking to the Jew in chapter one. He’s talking to the morally upright, law-keeping, circumcision observing, Jew in chapter one. But he’s talking to him about the Gentiles. Now why would he do that?
I think Paul is using the same strategy in Romans 1 that Nathan the prophet used in 2 Samuel. Flip over there for a minute. You may be familiar with the situation. King David has just committed adultery with another man’s wife. Her name was Bathsheba, and her husband was Uriah, one of David’s most trusted generals. Well, they find out that she is pregnant. And after David unsuccessfully tries to get Uriah to come home so he can sleep with his wife so they can cover up the fact that she’s pregnant with David’s kid, David puts Uriah up on the front lines of a battle so he can be killed. Basically the king of Israel commits adultery, then murder.
In 2 Sam. 12, Nathan the prophet confronts King David. Look how he does it. He tells him a story.
“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,[a] and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
Well, King David gets into this story, right? And when Nathan finishes the story, verse 5 says that “David’s anger was greatly kindled,” and he says to Nathan, ““As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,”
That’s when Nathan drops the hammer: “You are the man!” Not like, “Woo hoo! Way to go David! You da man!” Instead, its more like, “Hey David—you’ve got an invisible tape recorder around your neck, and by your own words, God has judged you.”
Through the prophet, God tells David, I gave you everything. You are king. You have Saul’s throne, his house, and his wives. I’ve promised to establish my throne through your house, so that one of your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel. Verse 8b-9:
8 And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?
So I think Paul was just using a time honored strategy. You want to deal with self-righteous, pompous, self-satisfied religious people? Get them to be righteously indignant about someone else’s sins. And then, right at the point where they are saying their loudest amen’s about what a bunch of reprobates and degenerates and perverts everyone else is, pull this number on them:
[Hold up a mirror]
You’re the man. You’re the woman. I’m the man. By your own words on your little invisible tape recorder, you have said they deserve to die.
3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
The thing is, they did suppose that. The Jews really did believe that because they were Jews, because they had been set apart by God, because they had the law, because they had been circumcised, that they could live their lives however they wanted to and still escape the judgment of God. One rabbinical tradition actually taught that Abraham himself sat at the gates of hell to make sure that no Jew entered in, ragardless of their deeds. In an early book by Justin Martyr called “Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,” Trypho says, “They who are the seed of Abraham according to the flesh shall in any case, even if they be sinners and unbelieving and disobedient towards God, share in the eternal kingdom.”
Now at this point, you might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with me? I’m not the degenerate pagan you were talking about last week. So are you saying I’m the self-righteous legalist Paul is describing this week?
Well, maybe. Listen to the way Martyn Lloyd Jones describes the person Paul is writing to in Romans 2, Lloyd-Jones says that they are the kind of person who would say,
“Look back. Across our long history is there anyrthing more plain and clear than the fact that God has blessed us, that God loves us? We do not say we are perfect, but look at the way He has blessed us. Look at the way He has led us. Look at the way He is still blessing us now. He has not only done it through the centuries, He is still doing it and will always do it.
Lloyd-Jones is talking about the Jew here. But haven’t you heard the same thing from your neighbors? “Do you consider yourself a Christian?” Well of course. “I’m from Alabama. This is a Christian nation. I grew up in a Christian home.”
Oh, beloved people of God, if you hear nothing else this morning, hear this. There is no such thing as a Christian nation. Growing up in a “Christian home” means absolutely nothing unless you are describing an orphanage. Alabama Baptist Children’s Home is, technically, a Christian home. But you are not a Christian simply because your parents are Christian. God only has children, not grandchildren.
And if you think you are ok simply because you aren’t as bad as the people Paul described in Chapter 1, then let me say it again, as gently but as forthrightly as I can: [hold up mirror again.] You are the man. And so am I.
I want to be clear that I do think God has blessed our nation. I would rather live in the United States than anywhere else in the world. I can’t wait to go to Israel this week, but I promise you, I don’t want to stay there. Why not? Two words: Conecuh Sausage. One Word: Bacon.
The purpose of God’s kindness, (v. 4)
God has blessed our nation. But he hasn’t shown us favor because we are a Christian nation. No, I believe he has shown us favor in order to draw us to himself. Look at verse 4:
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Listen, because this is so important. God has not blessed us because He likes us better. And by us I mean your family, our community. Our nation. God has shown us kindness in order to lead us to repentance. We have it backwards. We think, “Well, God has blessed me, so He must approve of me.” No. God is blessing you in order to draw you to Himself. And the only way to come to Him is through repentance.
But we hate that word repentance. How dare anyone suggest that we should be sorry for our sins. How dare anyone suggest that you aren’t a good person, and that God’s going to usher you into His heaven simply because you’ve never killed anyone, or slept around, or you’re not gay, or you pay your taxes, or you teach your kids to say “yes sir and no sir,” or you drop a five dollar bill into the offering plate every Sunday, and in December, sometimes even a twenty?
My life is just fine, you say. And God must be okay with me, because look how he’s blessed me.
Paul says that when you do that, you are presuming on the riches of God’s kindness. “Presume” is actually a pretty weak translation. The better translation is “despised.” You despise God’s kindness. You have contempt for it. It’s the same word Nathan the prophet used when he rebuked David—“Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in His sight?”
The penalty for rejecting God’s kindness (v. 5-6)
And in verses 5-6, you see the penalty for despising God’s kindness.
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works:
See, you have to remember Paul’s entire argument. This section is about the wrath of God. And according to verses 18-19, God’s wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Not just the Gentiles and the sexually impure and the homosexuals. It’s revealed against the unrighteousness of so-called “good people” as well. In Paul’s world, those “good people” were the Jews who believed their culture would be enough to get them into heaven.
For us today, it’s the cultural Christian who sees no need for repentance, no need to honor God with their lives, because they are “good people.”
God’s wrath is being stored up against “good people.”
Hell is filled up to the brim with good people.
Jesus said that on the day of judgment, there will be a bunch of good people to whom Jesus will say, “depart from Me; I never knew You.” He says, in Matthew 7:21,
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.’
You’re like, hang on—people who prophesy in Jesus’ name might not make it? People who freakin’ CAST OUT DEMONS in your name might be told, “Depart from Me. I never knew you”?!?
Did they repent? Did they turn away from their sin? Did they look on their sinful hearts and hate them as much as God does?
Or did they assume that they grew up in a Christian family, and they live in a Christian nation, and they know all the Christian catchphrases, and they do a lot of good, Christiany things, that because of all that God’s gonna say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
If that is the case, then, yes. On the day of judgment, Jesus will say, “Depart from Me, you worker of lawlessness.”
Faith and Works: Is Paul Contradicting Himself? (v. 6-16)
There is so much more to cover in these verses, but our time is getting away from us. I had intended to to get through verse 16, and Cody, I’ll leave it to you to either unpack 12-16 or just pick up with verse 17 next week, but here is where I want to leave us:
Verses 6-8 say,
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Some of you might be saying, hang on. I thought we were saved by grace. Now suddenly Paul seems to be saying we are judged by our works. Is he contradicting himself here?
There are others who have said, “Ok, so this must be God’s plan for the Jews. Since they are God’s chosen people, maybe God makes an exception for them, and they will be judged by their works.
So let’s be clear. We are not saved by our works. Paul has just said that the righteousness of God is from faith for faith (1:17). Ephesians 2:8-9 says it is by grace that we are saved, not by works.
And as for this being a special loophole for the Jews—no. Peter was speaking to the Jewish rulers and elders in Acts 4 when he said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
It is still sola gracia—by grace alone…
Sola fide—through faith alone…
Sola Christus—in Christ alone….
Paul is not saying we are saved by our works. He is saying we will be judged by our works. We are back to the invisible tape recorder again: If you yourself do not measure up to the standards you expect from everyone else, you are going to be judged by that.
And if you do not immediately see how much trouble you would be in on that standard, then you really need to have a conversation with someone who knows you and loves you, and ask them if you have a higher standard for others than you have for yourself.
Because you need to repent. God’s kindness has been leading you to repentance. And you need to ask yourself who is on the throne of your life. Is it you, or is it Jesus? Verse 7 says that “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality--”
Whose glory? Your glory? Whose honor? Your own honor? No—it is only those who are seeking to glorify God with their lives that will inherit eternal life. It is only those who are honoring God with their actions that inherit eternal life. Verse 8 says that those who are self-seeking and disobedient and unrighteous will inherit the wrath and fury of God.
The fact is, you can’t read Romans 1 without reading Romans 2. Romans 1 shows us that bad people are unrighteous and need Jesus. But Romans 2 shows us that good people are unrighteous and need Jesus.
Good will never be good enough, because your own righteousness is as filthy rags. And the scariest thing about being a good person, and pastoring a church full of good people, and living in a small southern town that is full of good people, is that many of you have never considered that you need to repent.
God is patient with you, hoping that His kindness will lead you to repentance. But there are some of you sitting here this morning who are absolutely convinced that all this talk of repentance is really just for the crackheads and meth-heads and gangbangers and perverts and sex traffickers and politicians and liberals and drug dealers and adulterers and child molesters and crooks and hookers and whores. But the gospel has news for you. [hold up mirror]
You’re the man. And so am I.
