Romans Chapter 2 Verses 1-8 - Messages In Romans (Part 4) - All Are Guilty And Wrath Is Stored On Account Series

ROMANS CHAPTER 2 VERSES 1-8 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS (PART 4) - ALL ARE GUILTY AND WRATH IS STORED ON ACCOUNT

[A]. THE INTRODUCTION

{{Romans 2:1 “Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judges practises the same things, Romans 2:2 and we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practise such things. Romans 2:3 Do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment upon those who practise such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”}}

The Apostle in Chapter 1 has just outlined the downward collapse of the human race because of sin. We looked at the six points of the progressive fall of us all in Chapter 1 and the chapter concluded with a list of sins resulting from the fact that “God gave them over”. Three times in Chapter I we read of that term as mankind became more isolated from God and more sinful. As man departed from God he added a deeper and deeper level of sin to his fall, and if you remember, the bottom of the ladder, was the adoption and practice of homosexuality. That is as far as man will fall. From then on sins only intensify.

We are in the last days of the Church age and we are seeing such an intensity of sinfulness. Do I really need to outline to you the awful things that are being legislated for by Australian governments, and they are just the same as elsewhere in the world. Man is universally sinful with the same sins that blacken society today. Corruption is everywhere spewing its vileness all over. For those of you who might follow the Congressional hearings in the United States, you have come to realise the White House and judiciary are dwellings of evil and lies.

Well that is no surprise, and Canberra is much the same. It is the automatic consequence of sin’s development. What has caused that development? Life is a bit like a tug of war and the two teams are righteousness and wickedness. When one is weakened the other rises. In the 1800s in some nations there was a turning to God and righteousness prevailed, but when righteousness fails, then sin rises up and wickedness will overtake a nation, for sin is a reproach to all people.

We live in these days because not only is righteousness failing, but governments are passing laws to support wickedness and outlaw righteousness. There is a pall of gloom and darkness ascending from the pit of hell and smothering any semblance of good in society. That is the state of the world and Paul was very clear in telling us the reason why we find ourselves in that position.

[B]. THE WORLD AND ALL INDIVIDUALS IN IT ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE

Now we come to Chapter 2 of Romans where the start of the chapter is actually the follow on from Romans 1. Remember what we say about that word “therefore” that introduces this chapter. Ask “What is it there for?” We understand Chapter 1 and now Paul draws applications from that.

ROMANS 2:1. Without excuse. There is not one single person on this planet with a true excuse for rejecting God. Every single one is guilty and the unsaved will stand before God in total guilt of rejection. People will be judged according to the light given to them. In our society there is so much gospel light and the bible is freely available. There will be no excuse for refusing God or His claims.

In verse 1 Paul looks at another aspect of guilt, and that is the guilt of the critic; of the judgemental person who is self-righteous in his own eyes. Just think for a moment of a court magistrate who has before her a man arrested for speeding while under the influence, and hands out a guilty verdict and treats him harshly, but when court is ended that same magistrate privately drinks with friends and drives home under the influence of alcohol. She thinks there is no chance of being caught because she is in a rural area where she knows the police do not patrol.

Is she guilty because she was not caught? Yes, she is. She had just condemned a man for an offence yet she went out and committed the same offence herself. That is what verse 1 is raising. Paul stated the conclusion of the matter – “for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judges, practises the same things.”

Consider this. A couple of houses away from you there is a homosexual couple and you condemn them for their sin, but not to their faces. You walk the highway of self-righteousness. Is that condemnation justified? Well, in a sense it is because we can condemn sin, but you have condemned people for that sin. Can you do that? No way can you do that if you are just as guilty. The one who might condemn the homosexual couple gets drunk at home about once a week.