You can summarize the first two chapters of Romans this way: In the first chapter Paul says that people who do bad things are sinners. A lot of Christians can read the first chapter of Romans and feel pretty good about themselves. We'll say something like, "well, at least I'm not a murderer." Or, "I don't gossip...a lot..." There are something like 22 sins listed in this chapter.
Christian people tend to be loving, kind and generous people; they certainly are not God haters. So for us, Paul writes Romans chapter 2. In this chapter Paul teaches that good people are sinners, too.[1]
Romans 2:1–11 (NKJV)
After looking at all the sins that we can get drawn into, we in the church must be very careful about getting on our high horse and condemning the world around us. The is one verse in the Bible we need to fully understand and know:
Romans 3:23 (NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This verse applies equally to the most foul month murderer as well to the most saintly saint. We must realize that all have offended a most holy God. Paul is turning the tables around. In chapter one of Romans we can clearly see that it applies to oh so many in the world around us. Paul was writing to the Romans from the city of Corinth. Corinth was sin city. Corinth made Las Vegas look like a Sunday School Picnic. No doubt, Paul had seen it all. It is easy to point out the sins of the evil doers around us.
Paul uses a style of writing called the diatribe using question and answers to make a point. The unknown person Paul was referring to was probably representative of the Jews in Rome, and very possibly the pious and morally straight Gentile believer. I can hear the Jews and the morally straight and pious believers in Rome cheering Paul and saying "amen" to everything he said in chapter 1. But now Paul shift gears pick out a new target.
Romans 2:1 (NKJV) Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
In chapter 1 Paul was talking about those who had a natural revelation of God. That is the God we see in nature and the universe around us. It is even the God we see in moral conscience we display. This is something everyone in the world has experienced. However here in chapter 2, Paul is addressing those who not only have natural revelation, but special revelation has well. To the Jews, God chosen people, special revelation has been given. The believers in Rome had special revelation as well because they have heard the Gospel.
We also have God’s special revelation in that we have His word in our hand. Those that reject God, rejected His son Jesus, who is the subject of God’s special revelation, is at risk for the greater condemnation.
Now remember, Paul is talking to the believers in the church at Rome. Those who judge and condemn those in the world around us, will be judged by the same standards. But, wait a minute. I did not commit all the stuff listed in chapter 1.
According to the Believer’s Bible Commentary: The sins of cultured people are essentially the same as those of the heathen. Although a moralist may argue that he has not committed every sin in the book, he should remember the following facts:
1. He is capable of committing them all.
2. By breaking one commandment, he is guilty of all.
James 2:10 (NKJV) For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
3. He has committed sins of thought which he may never have committed in actual deed, and these are forbidden by the word. Jesus taught that the lustful look, for instance, is tantamount to adultery [2]
Matthew 5:28 (NKJV) But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Those in the church are guilty of sins of thought, word and deed. Are we any better, than those in chapter 1? This is what Paul is pointing out.
Romans 2:2–3 (NKJV) But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
God judges according to the truth. Many in the world claim to be moral, but who defines what is moral and what is not? God sets that standards. We were never asked to vote on what is moral. And herein lies the problem, the world’s definition of morality have crept into the church. Whether it is living together or having sex and babies outside the holy bonds of marriage, or watching senseless violence on the TV and having the world’s morality piped into our living rooms. We, who call ourselves Christians, are no better than the rest of world.
“the judgment of God is according to truth.” God knows all truth. And God knows the deep recesses of our hearts. Be very carefully when you justify yourself or your actions by saying God knows your heart. You bet he does, and it’s a frightful thing. Listen to what God says about the human heart:
Jeremiah 17:9–10 (NKJV) 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
There is absolute truth in the universe. In many places in the OT, it refers to God as the “God of truth.” And the NT tells us that Jesus is truth. (John 14:6). Is there something we know that God doesn’t?
“And do you think . . . that you will escape the judgment of God? According to Romans 1:20 and Romans 2:1, we are without excuse. In word, deed or thought, we are guilty of doing the same things of many of the sins listed in chapter 1. Just because our names are on the church membership rolls does not exempt us from God’s judgment.
Romans 2:4 (NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
The purpose of God’s kindness, his many blessings, His patience with us, is not to punish us, but to lead us into repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
We who are Christians must live a life of repentance. I am far from where God wants me to be. I miss the mark daily. I find myself repenting and striving to do better each and every day. But for those who think that walking the aisle, praying with the pastor, getting dunked in the Baptismal pool, that they are set, and now they can continue life as before with the assurance of heaven, they are sadly mistaken. These things we do to indicate an internal change. A changed life is the best indicator of a saved soul.
Considering God’s patience with us, His grace and mercy, we should not be smug as holier than the rest of the world, rather we should be greatly humbled that Almighty God would consider us. But for those who think that now God owes them because they have done God a favor, Paul continues and says:
Romans 2:5–6 (NKJV) But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
We need to be forever humbled before God, asking for His forgiveness in everything we fall short in, daily. And here is the judgment of God: “will render to each one according to his deeds.” Paul is quoting from numerous places in the OT. Let me list just a few:
Proverbs 24:12 (NKJV) If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?
Psalm 62:12 (NKJV) Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.
Hosea 12:2 (NKJV) “The LORD also brings a charge against Judah, And will punish Jacob according to his ways; According to his deeds He will recompense him.
This hold true in the NT as well. For we know all will be judged. There are several different judgments.
We know about the Great White Thone Judgment at the end of time for the condemned, found in Revelation 20.
We know Jesus will divide the sheep from the goats when he returns, and that in and of itself is a judgment, found in Matthew 25.
And we know there will be the Judgment Seat of Christ for the saved, where rewards will be given out:
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
All will be judged. There will be those who will be in heaven by the skin of their teeth. And I believe there will be a certain amount of regret in heaven for not doing what could have been done:
1 Corinthians 3:13–15 (NKJV) each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Paul talks about reward or crowns in heaven. Simply knowing Jesus ought to motivate us to do good works. Understand, since the Bible tells us only God is good, we cannot do any good thing unless He does it through us.
Romans 2:7 (NKJV) eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
We can only to those things continually if we have the Spirit of God. We cannot, as Paul make very plain in the chapters that follow, do this on our own. Here again, the evidence of a life that is saved is a life that is changed. Paul tells us to:
Philippians 2:12–13 (NKJV) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
But for others:
Romans 2:8–9 (NKJV) but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
To those who know more, who know the gospel, above that of natural revelation, yet refuse, there is a great punishment. Notice it mentions to the Jew first, because they have a greater accountability and responsibility before God. The same thing applies to those who have God’s special revelation of knowing the Gospel.
Romans 2:10 (NKJV) but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
We are called, we were save from God’s judgment, but we were also save for good works. We were called to bring honor and glory to God. But make no mistake, God will judge all.
Romans 2:11 (NKJV) For there is no partiality with God.
God has revealed Himself to all. All will be accountable, all are without excuse. Yes God knows the condition of our hearts. A dangerous prayer we ought to praying is from the psalms:
Psalm 139:23–24 (NKJV) 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
As god reveals the sins, shortcomming and evils within each of us, we must ask God to remove it and ask for forgiveness:
1 John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In doing so we are in the process of sanctification, which means becoming more holy. God calls us to be holy.
Just by being here today, God hold you accountable for the word that you know, for the revelation he has given you. What will you do with that knowledge? It’s all about trusting Jesus, keeping our eyes on him and doing His will. What will you do today? We can pass from the judgment of the condemned which is to come. Jesus said:
John 5:24 (NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Will we trust Jesus today.
[1] https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/evil-doesn-t-win-daren-mitchell-sermon-on-sin-184798?ref=SermonSerps
[2] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1681.
