ROMANS CHAPTER 2 VERSES 9-29 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS - ALL ARE WEIGHED EQUALLY IN GOD’S BALANCE EVEN THE JEW (PART 6)
PART [A]. THERE IS NO FAVOURITISM WITH GOD AND HIS ASSESSMENT IS JUST
{{Romans 2:9 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,
Romans 2:10 but glory and honour and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek
Romans 2:11 for there is no partiality with God.”}}
Paul is now beginning to draw all that he has been saying to a conclusion before bringing the whole world in guilty before God in Chapter 3. Last time we looked at the two states in verses 7 and 8. There are only two states in scripture and there are no grey areas. There is good and bad; righteousness and wickedness; saved and lost; in God or not in God; heaven and hell; and so many more one could list.
Paul continues this contrast he used in verses 7 and 8 but he reverses the order. You remember in verse 7 it was the righteous ones mentioned first; now it is the wicked mentioned first. What about those who are evil? How do they fare? Well when you look at the world, they are doing very well in most cases. In these days the very wicked people are in politics and leadership legislating for wickedness at an alarming rate.
It can be a distressing thing for Christians to see the advance of evil and the seemingly happy position of those who practise wickedness. That problem is not new. Asaph wrote a Psalm expressing a problem he had with the position of wicked people that had almost caused his foot to slip and then would be his defeat. He said this of them – {{Psalm 73:3-9 “for I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked for there are no pains in their death and their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness. The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock, and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth.”}}
If he had continued along that track then he would have been in all sorts of trouble, and even wondered about his own life when he said this – {{Psalm 73:13 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence,”}} but then he reached a critical point in his life – {{Psalm 73:16-17 “When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God. Then I perceived their end.”}}
That was the TRUE perspective. When his eyes were on the Lord, then all was made clear. When his perspective was correct he confidently could say this – {{Psalm 73:18-22 “Surely You set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form. When my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant. I was like a beast before You.”}}
In this evil world, evil men prosper but what is a blink of an eye compared with eternity? The end of the wicked is a tragic and lost conclusion in hell and then the lake of fire. There is no middle ground. Paul says it very clearly without using the terms I did. These people who do evil will have tribulation (trouble) and distress. They will have great anguish. Wickedness may triumph over goodness in our world but we look beyond this present life.
To end verse 9 Paul then introduces the division between Jew and Gentile. The Jew always comes first because the Jews had greater privileges as the rest of this chapter declares. In the long run, it matters not if one is a Jew or non-Jew. All who do evil fall under the condemnation of God. One will not be able to claim special opportunities when it comes to judgement. Some think because they have been to a church they are accepted; some think they will be fine because their parents were Christians. It will make no difference. The soul that sins will die and that means every single person (physically) and the unsaved (spiritual death; the second death).
PART [B]. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
Let us see the next verse. {{Romans 2:10 “but glory and honour and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”}} What this verse says is not true in the world, for many Christians do not have that as their position but are persecuted with more and more tortured and killed. These great heavenly blessings are ours on account. Christians do not have glory or honour in a wicked world but these are pledged to us in the next life. In both verses 9 and 10, the eternal state is what is being described.
How wonderful it will be to share in Christ's glory and to be honoured by Him and to dwell eternally in His peace. All that is undeserved. It is all because of grace. Nowhere in scripture does it say we deserve the good things of God. It can’t say that because we forfeited the good things. It is only because of the love of God combined with grace that God took us from the gutter of sin and gave us what we did not deserve. However it does say in scripture that the wicked deserve what they get as this one verse in Revelation declares – {{Revelation 16:6 “for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.”}}
PART [C]. THE JUSTICE OF GOD CAN NEVER BE UNFAIR
{{Romans 2:11 “for there is no partiality with God.”}}
Verse 11 is the conclusion for verses 9 and 10. God takes these actions rightfully because He is entirely impartial and there is absolutely no bias in God’s justice, for to act on bias would mean an inconsistent God.
Justice and holiness are so closely related for God must judge according to His holiness, or if you like, then according to His righteousness. Nothing whatever tainted or unclean or unholy can abide God’s presence and it must be expelled from the presence of a holy God and be penalised and judged. That is what should have happened to us but the Lord Jesus Christ intervened between the justice of God and us, and through His death on the cross, He died the death that we deserved. It is called substitution, and He atoned for our sins. God now declares us holy and righteous, all carefully covered by Paul in {{2Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,”}} and that was the message Paul preached as an ambassador of Christ urging people to be reconciled to God.
When we face the Lord at the judgement seat of Christ, be absolutely certain that His righteous assessment of our lives for Him will be totally impartial. When the great and terrible judgement occurs at the great white throne we may be sure that all the verdicts in judgement will be true and impartial.
Sadly there is partiality of many kinds in churches. Favouritism is shown to some while others are neglected. God hates partiality among those called the people of God. The Apostle James takes up that issue head on.
PART [D]. DEFINITIVE STATEMENTS AND PUTTING THE SPOTLIGHT ON THE JEWS
Up to this point Paul has been universal in writing as he was led by the Spirit of God. The whole of mankind has followed the downward path. Now the attention falls on the Jew, on Israel if you like.
{{Romans 2:12 “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.”}}
Firstly comes a definitive statement about the sinner. If one sinned, and not being under the Law of Moses, such as the Gentiles, then that person perishes outside the Law. He is judged by other standards.
If one sinned and is under the Law as was each member of the Jews, then his judgement standard is the Law of Moses. He will be condemned by the Law, and in the end will perish just like the Gentiles.
PART [E]. A FURTHER CONTRAST – WHAT LEADS TO JUSTIFICATION?
{{Romans 2:13 “It is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
Romans 2:14 When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
Romans 2:15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
Romans 2:16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”}}
These verses look at hearers and doers and where they all stand. Verse 13 is most important. Paul knows that in the synagogues the Law is read and people would hear the words of the Law. Hearing is one thing but obeying is altogether a different thing. Three passages come to mind here. {{Isaiah 6:10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive for THEIR EARS ARE DULL AND THEIR EYES DIM, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”}} Also {{Isaiah 42:20 “You have seen many things but you do not observe them. Your ears are open, but none hears.”}} God speaks but none wants to hear. God does not deliberately shut people’s ears so they can not hear. The sinfulness of their lives shuts the entry of God’s word and they bar up their own ears with soundproofing. God will not force them. People may listen but they refuse to take notice. That is stubbornness and Israel was infamous for its stubbornness.
What we have just said about taking no notice of the word God gives is what James describes – {{James 1:22-25 “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves, For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, FOR ONCE HE HAS LOOKED AT HIMSELF AND GONE AWAY, HE HAS IMMEDIATELY FORGOTTEN WHAT KIND OF PERSON HE WAS, but one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.”}}
Justification is closely bound to obedience. Those who are doers in humility will be blessed, and accepted. Well, that is all okay for the Jew who has the Law and chooses to obey or disobey, but what about the Gentiles? That is an interesting one and Paul infers that Gentiles who do what is righteous and presumable obey a moral law of right and wrong, these Gentiles, not having the Law of Moses, are justified without the Law. I suppose that same principle can be applied to the question we are sometimes asked, “Are those primitive people saved who have never heard the gospel?” Some of that answer is found in Romans 1 and some is this passage.
In verse 15 – “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,” the qualification is made for those from the Gentiles who do not have the Law of Moses. Those Gentiles who do the things that are righteous, have that written in their hearts and confirmed by their consciences. Conscience is faulty but if that is all one has, being in pagan cultures never having heard of Jesus, then God will use that according to the limited light the person may have. We in the western world sometimes get too judgemental of others, especially some legalistic Christians in churches and just condemn those who have not had the privileges they themselves have.
Verse 16 wraps it all up, for the day God judges will be a great time of sifting. We can not speak of the secret conscience of the pagan in the darkest areas or of the educated Gentiles who never had the gospel. All will come to light by the Judge of the earth who will do right. God knows the secret recesses of the human heart and conscience. What this passage is clear on, is that it is doers of what is right/righteous who will be accepted.
PART [F]. THE SPOTLIGHT EXPOSES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE JEWS IN THE FIRST CENTURY
Although I said the first century, this condemnation can be applied for most of Israel's history. Through Abraham great privileges came to his offspring, the revelation and blessings of Jehovah in their land. However, great privilege brings great responsibility and greater accountability. PUT HERE FROM DEUTERONOMY THE BLESSING AND CURSING.
We will read the next 6 verses in Chapter 2 -
{{Romans 2:17 “If you bear the name ‘Jew’, and rely upon the Law and boast in God,
Romans 2:18 and know His will, and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,
Romans 2:19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
Romans 2:20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,”}}
{{Romans 2:21 “you, therefore, who teaches another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one should not steal, do you steal?
Romans 2:22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”}}
Paul lists a number of outcomes related to knowledge of the Law but these become points of judgement against the Jew. The Law either approves or condemns. These Jews being addressed considered themselves as great examples. These are the specific points Paul selects –
They relied on the Law.
They boasted about their reliance on the Law.
They knew His will.
They approved all the necessary things.
They considered themselves instructed from the Law.
They were guides to the blind, the ones with no or less knowledge.
They acted as lights to the people in darkness.
They thought they corrected the foolish.
They were teachers of the immature.
They considered they had the knowledge and the truth.
Isn’t that a great list, a favourable list if you are genuine and faultless, and those things you are actually doing. But what if those are the claims you make but you fall short in nearly every one of them, and worst still, if you break what you claim to be, and do?
Walk into the light and let the light reveal who you really are. Do that to these Jews and you get something ugly. Look at verses 21 and 22. These very same people who preached against stealing, were themselves robbers. They committed adultery. They accepted the wages of idols. They stood condemned by their own actions.
To say and believe one thing yet do the opposite makes you a hypocrite. They are no better than Achan who took the accursed thing but walked as if all innocent. They were hypocrites. This word hypocrite comes from the Greek play actors, who when they were playing a role in a play, would hold up a mask in front of their face to portray the character being played, the image of that character being on the mask. They were who they were, but in acting, pretended to be someone else. We use the word two-faced. Hypocrites.
That made these Jews hypocrites, grossly self-righteous who would condemn others but actually condemned themselves. Hypocrisy is not just the taint of those Jews. It also belongs to the church. Those who claim to hold to the teachings of the bible condemn themselves by doing what the bible rejects. The Uniting Church of NSW claims to follow the teachings of Christ but it supports Aboriginal activism, supports the Voice, supports the whole environmental movement, supports homosexual marriage and gay rights, and supports and participates in the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras.
We have great responsibility because we have the bible and must be humble and led by the Holy Spirit to uphold the bible’s teachings.
PART [G]. HYPOCRISY LEADS TO DISHONOUR
{{Romans 2:23 “You who boast in the Law, do you dishonour God through your breaking the Law?
Romans 2:24 The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written.”}}
The question asked has only one answer – YES! One’s hypocrisy causes the name of God to be mocked and to use Paul’s word, blasphemed. You have heard people say, “What a hypocrite. He goes to church and does these things.” Our lives are the book the unsaved read so what sort of book do we show? God’s people must be very diligent in these matters because the world judges ruthlessly and loves to blaspheme His glorious name. Do we stumble? I think you know we do, and then we have lowered the flag.
James talks about stumbling – {{James 2:10-11 “for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law,”}}
PART [H]. WHO IS A JEW IN PAUL’S ARGUMENT HERE?
(1). WHERE DOES THE JEW STAND?
{{Romans 2:25 “Indeed circumcision is of value, if you practise the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Romans 2:26 If therefore the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision,
Romans 2:27 and will not he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?”}}
If a Jew, being circumcised, sins against the Law then he might as well be as a pagan Gentile. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant in the body and is only of value if the Law is kept perfectly. If a pagan Gentiles keeps what the in the Law then he is better than the circumcised Jew who breaks the Law.
(2). WHERE DOES THE JEW STAND?
{{Romans 2:28 “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly. Neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh,
Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God.”}}
Paul concludes with this strange statement about the “inward Jew” and related circumcision to the heart through believing, and not to the body. Therefore the true Jew is one who follows God, born again through the Spirit and not by the keeping of the Law.
None of this dismisses the future blessing of Israel and the position of the Jews therein given through the eternal covenant to Abraham.
Next time there will be a seperate message for the whole of Chapter 2 of Romans.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
