The Fairness of God
Text: Rom. 2:12-16
Introduction
1. Illustration: "God never excuses sin. And he is always consistent with that ethic. Whenever we begin to question whether God really hates sin, we have only to think of the cross, where His Son was tortured, mocked, and beaten because of sin. Our sin!" (Francis Chan).
2. One of the great truths of the Gospel is that God is fair, in fact, He is more than fair. If truth be told, He is only unfair to Himself.
3. He gives us what we do not deserve and doesn't give us what we do deserve.
4. Paul makes it clear in our text that God is fair to...
A. Those With The Law
B. Those Without The Law
5. Let's stand together as we read Rom. 2:12-16.
Proposition: On the day of judgement we can be assured that we will all be judged both fairly and justly.
Transition: God will be fair to...
I. Those With The Law (12-13).
A. Merely Listening Doesn't Make Us Right
1. Life is not fair, and if you think it is obviously you have never watched a professional football game!
2. The good thing for us is that God is fair, you know, unlike referees!
3. That is the point of this portion of Paul's letter to the Romans. God is fair and just and no one has an advantage over another.
4. In v. 12 Paul says, "When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it."
A. The Gentiles and the Jews are separated here in this verse as those with the Law of Moses and those without it.
B. Those who are outside will be destroyed without it and those with it will be judged by it.
C. The first part was something the Jews always used against the Gentiles and was a part of their feeling of superiority towards them.
D. Kind of like kids on a playground..."we have the Law and you don't, nanna nanna boo boo!"
E. However, the second part of the verse serves to remind the Jews that the Law was actually a detriment to them because they were never able to keep it, and for that reason they would be judged.
F. The key point to this verse is that both the Jews and the Gentiles sinned equally, one outside the Law and the other with it, and as a result they would both have to pay the consequences.
G. The Gentiles have sinned outside of the Law and would be judged accordingly, because they have sinned against God.
H. But the Jews have sinned too, from inside the Law, so they would be judged by it.
I. One group are destroyed and the other are judged. So there is really no advantage for Jews in having the Law.
J. There is a strong message in there for the church today because many church goers who think that merely by being active in church gives them a distinct advantage before God.
K. Unfortunately, there will be some church people who will have a rude awakening as did those in Matthew 7:23 (Osborne, 67-68).
L. Matthew 7:22-23 (NLT2)
22 On judgment day many will say to me, "Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name."
23 But I will reply, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.
5. Paul then further strengthens his argument by saying in v. 13, "For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight."
A. This verse tells us why the Jews will be judged for not keeping the Law.
B. You cannot be just a hearer of the Word, you also have to be a doer of the Word in order to be declared right before God.
C. James 1:22-24 (NLT2)
22 But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
23 For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.
24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.
D. Here Paul introduces a verb that we will see frequently in Romans, rendered in the NLT as "make us right."
E. It is a legal term meaning that God makes a legal decision, declaring the repentant sinner righteous or innocent because of the sacrifice of Christ for them.
F. No one could be truly justified by keeping the Law, but Jews are held accountable for their actions (Osborne, 68).
G. You see the problem with trying to keep the law is that we can't...no one can!
H. Isaiah 64:6 (NLT2)
6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
I. So then there is no real advantage in having the law if it is impossible to keep it!
B. Judged For What We Know
1. Illustration: Paul very much emphasized that we are responsible to others. Not responsible for them but to them. We are held to a high standard (at least we should be) by our own conscience, by others, and by God.
Too often we make excuses such as not knowing that something was happening. "I don't know if my clothes have been made by children in foreign countries making pennies a day so that I can enjoy inexpensive clothing." "We claim that we don't know often because we look the other way. We don't want to know. We don't want to have a higher standard. Ignorance is bliss. Don't ask. Don't tell. I can't possibly be held accountable for something that I didn't know about. Yes and no. Here is a matter of conscience and freedom. We have so many opportunities and resources to find out information even when companies don't want us to know and want us to remain ignorant. I believe that we each will be held accountable for much more sin than the church has in the last century really told us about. If we have looked the other way. If we have not even made the effort to get the real story. When we refuse to investigate, I believe we sin. We fail in our witness. We fail to uphold God's standards of justice and mercy. Will Jesus say to us, "I never knew you." "But Lord, we preached salvation in your name. We prayed for people. We worshipped you. We sang your songs." "But I never knew you."
2. As Christians we will be held accountable for what we know.
A. Luke 8:21 (NLT2)
21 Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”
B. You can know this book from cover to cover, but if you don't do what it says it does you no good!
C. You can be able to quote chapter and verse, but if you don't practice it you are missing the point!
D. Like James said it's like looking at yourself in the mirror and walking away forgetting what you look like.
E. If you don't practice the Word knowing it is of no advantage for you.
F. Like a wise Bible teacher told me years ago, "don't tell me about your faith, show it to me!"
G. The Word of God is a great thing, but we have to put into practice.
H. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT2)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
I. But it does us no good if we read and then ignore it!
Transition: God is also fair to...
II. Those Without The Law (14-16).
A. When They Instinctively Obey
1. Paul now goes to the other side of the fence. He goes from those who have the law and choose not to obey it to those who don't have the law and still do what is says.
2. In v. 14 Paul says, "Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it."
A. Paul is saying here that even though the Gentiles don't have the Law of Moses, they do have an internal law and it is evident by the way they live.
B. They had a certain instinctive sense of right and wrong that enabled them to do what the law required.
C. They may not know God, but they have that inner sense that tells them they were doing something wrong (Osborne, 68).
3. Then in v. 15 Paul says, "They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right."
A. Because of this internal sense of right and wrong the Gentiles became a law unto themselves.
B. Paul says that they demonstrate that God's law is written on their hearts.
C. Paul's point here is that the Jews have no advantage over the Gentiles by having the law, because have their own form of it written on their hearts.
D. The Jews had laws written on stone tablets, but the Gentiles had the law written on a tablet made of flesh.
E. In other words, both groups of people stand before God on equal footing.
F. Again, we must not be fooled into thinking that Paul is saying the Gentiles will be saved by their works.
G. Back in the end of chapter 1 he makes it clear that the works of the Gentiles leads to divine judgement.
H. His point here is that both Jews and Gentiles will stand before God on equal footing.
I. The idea of conscience here is more of a Greek concept rather than an a Hebrew one and it refers to that inner awareness of right and wrong.
J. This conscience tells the person if what they are doing is a good thing or a bad thing.
K. It tells a person the right thing to do and convicts or convinces them when they make a bad choice (Osborne, 69-70).
4. Paul then concludes this section in v. 16 where he says, "And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life."
A. The only way to truly judge a person is to judge his or her secret life.
B. Some actions that appear good may be wrongly motivated; other, less visible actions may be done with good intentions.
C. And this is the way both Jews and Gentiles will be judged. In the end, God will judge.
D. Nothing will have to be explained to God. His judgment will be perfect, based on his perfect knowledge of every action and every motive. God will judge through Jesus Christ.
E. The gospel Paul preached included the wonderful message that though judgment is coming, it will be conducted through Christ's mediation.
F. For those who are trusting in Christ for their righteousness, God's judgment does not include the fear of exposure and punishment.
G. As Paul later says joyfully, "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus!" (Barton, 587).
B. Practice What You Preach
1. Illustration: You probably didn't know I watched or that my eyes did see
That you have practiced what you preached
And you influenced me.
You spoke your words with power
and you caused me to believe
I thank my God for men like you
for you influenced me.
You taught me by the life you lead
your actions were the key
that changed my whole existence
yes your love influenced me.
And now I'm on the journey to be all that I can be
I thank you, Sir, my teacher friend, for you influenced me.--copyright 1985 SPF
2. As Christians we are called to live a life worthy of our King.
A. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (NLT2)
11 So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.
12 Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
B. We have the Word of God and it tells us how to live in order to give honor and glory to God.
C. We also have that inner sense of what's right and wrong.
D. We also have the Holy Spirit, God himself, living inside of us guiding, directing and impressing on us what we should and should not do.
E. For this reason, we need to live a life worthy of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
F. For this reason, we need to live a life worthy of the Lamb of God.
G. For this reason, we need to live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
H. We have no excuse to not do what God has told us to do.
I. We have no excuse for not walking the walk and talking the talk.
J. Let us resolve to live a life that says to the world I belong to Jesus!
Conclusion
1. Paul makes it clear in our text that God is fair to...
A. Those With The Law
B. Those Without The Law
2. TWO THINGS TO REMEMBER...
A. IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO READ AND STUDY THE BIBLE, WE ALSO HAVE TO DO WHAT IT SAYS!
B. TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN MUCH WILL BE DEMANDED. GOD WILL HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT WE KNOW. SO WE MUST LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF JESUS.
