Repentance Is Proven In Life Series

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.