The Patience, Judgment and Praise of God
Romans 2.1-29
Romans 2.1-29
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
The twentieth century was the bloodiest century in history; more people were killed in violent conflict, persecution and war during that century than in all other centuries of recorded history. The major conflicts of the century included the mass murder of 6 million Jews under the Nazi regime, 20 million Russians killed by Stalin, and millions killed at the direction of Mao Zedong. Nearly 20% of the population of Cambodia was executed under the despotic rule of Pol Pot, 800,000 Tutsis were killed in Rwanda, and 30 million children were aborted in America alone. Ironically, most people have become inured to this tragic record and think of the modern age as one of progressive enlightenment. Popular opinion suggests that mankind is evolving socially and morally. There is a persistent, albeit mistaken, belief that societies can navigate their way through this immoral morass through legislation. Modern education (based on John Dewey’s pragmatism), scientific innovations and philosophical naturalism are the icons of the age, but they offer nothing to abate the self-destruction of mankind. Technological development without internal constraints on avarice, lust, false pride and fear will only hasten the fateful day of Armageddon. The survival of the world does not depend as much on people being educated as it does on their being saved!
GENTILE & JEWISH SINNERS (Romans 2.1-3)
It is apparent to most informed people that the world is in a mess; what is not universally agreed upon is the solution. Paul’s opening argument in his letter to Roman believers sets forth the premise that everyone is alienated from God. There are essentially two classes of people: the Greeks (or Gentiles) who are ignorant of God’s special revelation (i.e. Scripture), and the Jews, those entrusted with the revelation of God’s moral and spiritual requirements.
Paul tells us that the Gentile, though he is not the recipient of special revelation, nevertheless knows something about God’s attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature. These things are plainly evident through natural revelation (cf. Psalm 19.1-6). The Gentile, therefore, cannot justify his behavior before God because he possesses truth about God that requires him to live a morally upright life and to give appropriate acknowledgment to God. Not only does the Gentile fail to do these things, he knowingly embraces the lie as the truth. The result of this behavior is that God gives the Gentiles up to the folly of their own conceit. What is true for the Gentile is also true for the Jew. In Romans 2 Paul sets up a dialogic narrative with a “Jewish moralist.” Though it is a hypothetical Jewish dialogue partner (cp. 2.12, 17) with whom Paul interacts in Romans 2, the self-righteous Gentile ought not to be excluded. Just as the Gentile is found wanting in personal holiness, so too the Jew who is the guardian and pedagogue of God’s law is proven to be deficient in holiness. The Jew will not escape God’s judgment merely because he is a descendant of Abraham or because he intends to obey the law. It was a commonly held belief that Jewish identity guaranteed individual salvation. Such ethnic confidence fostered spiritual presumption.
Paul levels the playing field with his opening statement: Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Paul says that God’s judgment rightly fall on such hypocrites. God is impartial in his judgments (Romans 1.11), he judges everyone, Jew or Gentile according to their behavior. In this section (vv. 2.1-5) Paul emphasizes that, though God’s justice is equitable, he is also kind and forbearing. He does not desire to condemn people, but that they should repent of their sin and be saved. However, those who refuse to turn from their wickedness are amassing a storehouse of God’s wrath for themselves (1.5). Like the Gentiles in Romans 1.20, 32, the Jews are also without any legitimate excuse for their sinfulness.
Those who take offense at what is presumed to be Christian judgmentalism are fond of misusing Matthew 7.1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Paul is not guilty of falsely judging hypocrisy. Rather he is passing proper judgment on sin. The Bible does not fault the believer for passing judgment against sin; indeed, he is instructed to do so (e.g., 1 Corinthians 5.9-13; 2 Corinthians 6.17; 1 Thessalonians 5.12-14). Paul warns his hypothetical interlocutor that the very sin that he condemns in others is the very sin that he commits. It is that sin which brings him under condemnation, not his hypocrisy. God’s judgment falls upon people who practice sin, not on those who rightly identify sin.
THE KINDNESS AND PATIENCE OF GOD (Romans 2.4)
Paul rhetorically asks the question, Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Paul indicts the Jews for their hypocrisy and presumption, but he also cautions them not to continue on this course of action. God’s patience kindness is designed to encourage repentance. Paul cautions his dialog partner to rely upon God’s special favor towards Israel to secure his salvation. Paul’s contemporaries were undoubtedly influenced by the wisdom literature of the inter-testamental period, “But thou, O God, art gracious and true, longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things, for if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy power; but we will not sin, knowing that we are counted thine” (Wisdom of Solomon 15.1-2). “Certainly the Old Testament encourages God’s people to regard God as merciful and forgiving (e.g., Psalm 145). But the assumption of God’s special favor toward his people had already in the Old Testament period become a source of false security for those within Israel who were not living faithfully within the covenant, as the preaching of the prophets abundantly indicates” (Douglas Moo, Romans, p. 133). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; even temporal judgments are goads to encourage people to repent: Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33.11).
THE GREAT DEVIDE (Romans 2.5)
Children are prone to view the world in black and white – they have difficulty distinguishing the nuances of morality, or what grownups see as the grey areas. The world, so they say, is too complex to be easily compartmentalized into neat little moral categories. Many, if not most, adults endorse some form of moral relativism. Several decades ago, Joseph’s Fletcher’s popular book, Situation Ethics, gained popularity as it advocated such a worldview. As difficult as it may seem on occasion for people to discern right from wrong (cp. James 4.17), the Bible clearly defines right from wrong and declares that a day is coming when everyone will be judged for what they have done (Romans 2.6-10; cp. John 5.25; 2 Corinthians 5.10). The person who lives a self-centered life and is disobedient to the truth will be subject to God’s wrath and fury. He will face an eternity of tribulation (the objective punishment of God) and distress (the subjective response to suffering). However, the person who avails himself of God’s kindness and forbearance and seeks glory and honor and immortality, will be given eternal life; he will receive glory, honor and peace. There is, as it were, a moral / spiritual cause and effect that has an eternal consequence.
Amusements and innocuous diversions represent the great dangers of life in America. People occupy themselves with all sorts of things that do not prepare them for heaven. Americans are intoxicated by entertainment; they are impervious to the flickering flames of judgment that await them. It would be well to remember that tombstone epitaph, dear reader, keep heaven and hell, before thy eye, for none is fit to live, but who is fit to die? Paul is emphatic that after death there are only two destinies: eternal life concomitant with glory and honor and peace, and eternal death accompanied by God’s wrath, fury, tribulation and distress. So often death comes without warning. So the urgency of Paul’s counsel is to live in the present with an eye to your final destination. Paul wrote, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2.19-20; cp. Romans 13.11-14; Philippians 1.21, 3.10). There is such a very short time to serve Christ, so make your life count for His kingdom.
FAITH BASED SALVATION (Romans 2.6-11)
This section (vv. 6-10) invites the question, whom does Paul have in mind? Is he speaking about the faithful Jews and moral Gentiles, non-Christians or Spirit led Christians. Paul’s statements, that the righteous will live by faith (Romans 1.17) and For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3.20) preclude the possibility of any kind of salvation through works alone, so how do these statements about a seeming works based salvation comport with emphatic statements that justification is by faith alone (e.g., Romans 4.4, 5; 5.1-2)? There are two positions that seem to be consistent within the framework of Romans and the larger corpus of Paul’s letters. First, there are those who believe Paul has in mind Christians who, empowered by the Spirit, are able to live a life that is characterized by good works. For example, John Piper writes:
“God does indeed give eternal life to those who persevere in obedience not because this obedience is perfect or because it is the basis or the merit of eternal life, but because saving faith always changes our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit so that true believers persevere in doing good. In other words, a changed life of obedience to God’s truth is not the basis of eternal life, but the evidence of authentic faith which unites us to Christ who is the basis of eternal life” (John Piper, sermon notes on Romans, December 6, 1998). While what Piper says about the Christian life is true, it does not seem to be Paul’s immediate point.
The promise of eternal life to those who do good and seek after glory, honor and immortality is legitimate; however, the power of sin precludes anyone except Christ from living such a life (2 Corinthians 5.21). Paul’s fundamental supposition is that no one by his good works will be granted access to heaven, because no one’s works are completely fulfills God’s demands. Paul summarizes his thoughts on the universality of sin with this comment, For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: None is righteous(Romans 3.9; cp. 4.4, 5). Douglas Moo clarifies this passage with the following comment:
“The context strongly suggests that Paul is not directly describing Christians in vv. 7 and 10. Paul’s purpose in 2:6-11 is to establish the principle that God will judge every person on the same basis – by works, not by religious heritage or national identity. Paul’s focus is on the standard of judgment. It is a continual seeking after eternal rewards, accompanied by a persistent doing of what is good, that is the condition for a positive verdict at the judgment. Paul never denies the validity of this principle, but he goes on to show that no one meets the conditions necessary for this principle to become a reality” (Moo, p. 142).
Paul makes his point clear: God shows no partiality. It will become readily evident that no one trusting in his or her own merit will have any claim on the mercy of God. The righteous by their faith will live (Romans 1.17). Such a faith brings the believer into fellowship with God; thus, as Paul later declares: Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4.4-5). Also, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. … For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5.1-2; 6-8).
THE PRAISE OF GOD
When I was in high school I recall my mother telling me that if I applied myself to my studies there was nothing in life that I could not do. There is an unspoken law of achievement: the person who can defer personal gratification the longest achieves the greatest goals. The Christian life is to some extent one that is motivated by deferred gratification. Scripture teaches that the believer has a hope laid up for him in heaven (Colossians 1.5; cp Philippians 3.20; 1 Peter 1.4). So the Christian is encouraged to lay aside those things that might hinder him from running a good race. Jesus, the model for a life of faith, endured the cross in order to lay hold of the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12.1b-2). This is not to say a godly life need be unpleasant – quite to the contrary (Philippians 4.4) but its greatest delight lies in the future. The Christian knows that one day he will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so he makes it his goal to please the Lord (2 Corinthians 5.6-10).
CLARIFICATION OF GORD'S IMPARTIALITY (Romans 2.12-16)
We read in Romans 2.11 that God judges impartially: Gentiles who sin without the benefit of knowing the Mosaic law will not be judged as though they were required to know it. Citizens of the commonwealth of Israel were entrusted with the law and they will be judged by it. Both Jews and Gentiles will be judged for what they have done. The Gentiles will damn themselves because they violated their own conscience and the Jews will be condemned because they broke the law they held forth as God’s inviolable word. At first reading it almost seems that Paul is suggesting that salvation might be obtained through the righteous behavior of either the Gentile, who is constrained by an inward compelling, or by the Jew, whose life is governed by the Mosaic law. Such is not the case. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say that those who are innocent without of the law will live just as those who are found innocent under the law will live. Paul’s contention is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23). It is not enough to revere the Law of God; to hear it and recite it will not secure a person’s salvation; he must obey it implicitly and explicitly. Only through such obedience can a person be spared the righteous judgment of God. The truth of the law is upheld either by obedience to it or in the judgment that ensues from it.
Some interpreters think that Romans 2.14-15 is descriptive of the Spirit filled Gentile Christian who, as a new creation in Christ, adheres to the precepts of the Mosaic law even though he has not been instructed in it. An alternative view suggests that these Gentiles are unbelievers whose occasional obedience to the law results from an understanding of natural law. Though this is good, it is not an adequate basis for salvation. Natural law is a byproduct of general revelation. There is no indication here that Paul has in mind Jeremiah 31.33-34, But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. It is highly unlikely that Paul would describe Christians as a law unto themselves. To the contrary, the believer is subject to the Holy Spirit and he thereby fulfills the law (Romans 13.8-10; Galatians 5.14).
The conscience of the unbelieving Gentile is conflicted by the self-evident truth of natural law. Thus, he is intrinsically knowledgeable of the moral norms that are consistent with the Mosaic law. Paul is not suggesting that an individual’s conscience is the genesis of what is morally normative, but a person’s natural sense of right and wrong is self-condemning. There is a universality to the dictum, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The necessary consequence of this maxim must minimally include “honor your father and mother,” “you shall not murder,” “you shall not commit adultery.” Paul makes it clear that sporadic obedience to the law does not result in salvation. This is evident because while everyone is prone to self-justification, nevertheless their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. The conviction of a guilty conscience that plagues the unbeliever will only prove to be additional validation of Christ’s judgment (John 5.25).
A GUIDE TO THE BLIND (Romans 2.17-24)
Paul identifies the Jews by name as the object of his diatribe (Romans 2.1-16). By now the reader knows that God uses the same standard for judging both the Jew and the Gentile. The Jew who prides himself as being an object of God’s special favor is guilty of hypocrisy. His guilt results from his presumption to instruct those ignorant in the things of God even while he himself fails to learn from that same law. How can he boast about keeping the law when he is guilty of breaking the law? Of course, the Jew did not believe that keeping every rule of the law was absolute necessary; it was only necessary that he intended to keep the law and that he would make sacrifices for violations of the law. However, Paul’s understanding of the law was far more far-reaching than that of his contemporaries. In Galatians 3.10-14 he writes, For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the cruse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, “cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” – so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
"Paul takes a more radical viewpoint of what “doing the law” involves. Because he denies any salvific value to the Mosaic law and the covenant of which it is a part, he recognizes that it is not enough – and never has been – to seek to do the law, however sincerely. For, from the first, it has been faith in the promise of God, and only faith, that justifies. This being the case, only a perfect doing of the law would suffice to justify a person before God. True, an insistence on perfect obedience is a departure from the Jewish view, but this is just what Paul has implied by putting Jews and Gentiles on the same footing with respect to works and judgment in 2:1-16. What he says here plainly implies that the covenantal structure within which the Jews thought their sins could be taken care of was itself denied by Paul. The enormity of God’s Son being crucified led Paul to take a far more pessimistic view of human sin than was typical of Judaism: sins that, for the Jews, simply needed to be atoned for within the covenant meant for Paul a breaking of the covenantal structure itself." (Douglas Moo, Romans, pp. 156-157)
Paul rightly identifies the Jews as a people of the book who boast in God. This is not a bad thing (cp. Jeremiah 9.23-24). As a people who adhere to the principles of the Torah they claim to know God’s will, having been instructed from the Mosaic law. Because of this, they viewed themselves as qualified guides for those wandering about in spiritual darkness. It was their responsibility to teach the ignorant and the novice. Such an assumption was not without warrant. Indeed, it was God’s intent that the Jews should bear witness to himself. However, Paul follows up his observations with a penetrating and convicting question: you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? The question is not rhetorical or open ended; the grammatical construction of the question requires a negative response. His accusations are more pronounced when he asks whether they steal, commit adultery, or rob temples. Now one might presume that his hypothetical Jewish dialog partner might indignantly answer no to each one of these indictments. The charges, on the surface, seem ludicrous. Most “good” people would not be guilty of these accusations. But Paul knows that the requirements of the law demand more than a superficial obedience; they necessitate an obedience to the intent of the law and this necessitates a pure heart (cp. Romans 2.29).
Every Jew knew that obedience to the law required adhering to its intent. For example, the eighth commandment, you shall not steal, does not merely means you don't take what is not rightfully yours, but it addresses the larger issue of all kinds of possessions. The conflict with Naboth and Ahab in 1 Kings 21 is illustrative of a man’s covenantal inheritance and his right to property and another man’s desire to take it from him. The eighth commandment requires that the believer honor God with his possessions (Malachi 3.6-17); it means he is obligated to care for the poor (Isaiah 10.1-2; 58.6-7). Ownership is a relative good, not an absolute good. Stealing is the desire to gain for oneself what is not rightfully his, be it money, property, services, status, comfort, or undeserved praise, to name just a few things. The truly righteous man or woman has a faith dependence on God. Those who pursue a righteousness that comes from obedience to the law have only an appearance of righteousness (Romans 9.30-32; cp. Philippians 3.7-11).
A MATTER OF THE HEART (Romans 2.25-29)
Just as the law has no salvific value for the Jew if he does not keep it, neither is circumcision of any value unless his heart is changed and he obeys the law. “Circumcision, like the law, was a sign of the Jew’s privileged position as a member of the chosen people, participant in the covenant that God established with Abraham (Gen. 17). Later Judaism claimed that ‘no person who is circumcised will go down to Gehenna,’ and the importance of the rite throughout the Second Temple period [post Old Testament 400 BC – 70 AD] suggests that this view was prevalent in Paul’s day also” (Moo, pp. 166-167).
Not only does Paul attack the Jew for his violation of the law he declares that the Gentile who keeps the law even though he is physically uncircumcised will be regarded by God as one who is circumcised in his heart. What is of primary importance is the inward transformation – that which comes from a heart that is circumcised. The outward cutting away of the flesh is a covenantal symbol of that which is internal. When Moses instituted this in Israel, he explained it thus, Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn (Deuteronomy 10.15-16; cp. 30.6; Jeremiah 4.4). Practically, it is illustrated in the contrast between Saul, Israel’s first king, and David, Israel’s second king. Saul had the stature of a king (1 Samuel 10.23-24), but he did not have the heart of a king. David had the stature of a shepherd, but he had the heart of a king: The LORD said to Samuel ,“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16.7). The true believer seeks praise from God, not from men.
GENTILE & JEWISH SINNERS (Romans 2.1-3)
It is apparent to most informed people that the world is in a mess; what is not universally agreed upon is the solution. Paul’s opening argument in his letter to Roman believers sets forth the premise that everyone is alienated from God. There are essentially two classes of people: the Greeks (or Gentiles) who are ignorant of God’s special revelation (i.e. Scripture), and the Jews, those entrusted with the revelation of God’s moral and spiritual requirements.
Paul tells us that the Gentile, though he is not the recipient of special revelation, nevertheless knows something about God’s attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature. These things are plainly evident through natural revelation (cf. Psalm 19.1-6). The Gentile, therefore, cannot justify his behavior before God because he possesses truth about God that requires him to live a morally upright life and to give appropriate acknowledgment to God. Not only does the Gentile fail to do these things, he knowingly embraces the lie as the truth. The result of this behavior is that God gives the Gentiles up to the folly of their own conceit. What is true for the Gentile is also true for the Jew. In Romans 2 Paul sets up a dialogic narrative with a “Jewish moralist.” Though it is a hypothetical Jewish dialogue partner (cp. 2.12, 17) with whom Paul interacts in Romans 2, the self-righteous Gentile ought not to be excluded. Just as the Gentile is found wanting in personal holiness, so too the Jew who is the guardian and pedagogue of God’s law is proven to be deficient in holiness. The Jew will not escape God’s judgment merely because he is a descendant of Abraham or because he intends to obey the law. It was a commonly held belief that Jewish identity guaranteed individual salvation. Such ethnic confidence fostered spiritual presumption.
Paul levels the playing field with his opening statement: Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Paul says that God’s judgment rightly fall on such hypocrites. God is impartial in his judgments (Romans 1.11), he judges everyone, Jew or Gentile according to their behavior. In this section (vv. 2.1-5) Paul emphasizes that, though God’s justice is equitable, he is also kind and forbearing. He does not desire to condemn people, but that they should repent of their sin and be saved. However, those who refuse to turn from their wickedness are amassing a storehouse of God’s wrath for themselves (1.5). Like the Gentiles in Romans 1.20, 32, the Jews are also without any legitimate excuse for their sinfulness.
Those who take offense at what is presumed to be Christian judgmentalism are fond of misusing Matthew 7.1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Paul is not guilty of falsely judging hypocrisy. Rather he is passing proper judgment on sin. The Bible does not fault the believer for passing judgment against sin; indeed, he is instructed to do so (e.g., 1 Corinthians 5.9-13; 2 Corinthians 6.17; 1 Thessalonians 5.12-14). Paul warns his hypothetical interlocutor that the very sin that he condemns in others is the very sin that he commits. It is that sin which brings him under condemnation, not his hypocrisy. God’s judgment falls upon people who practice sin, not on those who rightly identify sin.
THE KINDNESS AND PATIENCE OF GOD (Romans 2.4)
Paul rhetorically asks the question, Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Paul indicts the Jews for their hypocrisy and presumption, but he also cautions them not to continue on this course of action. God’s patience kindness is designed to encourage repentance. Paul cautions his dialog partner to rely upon God’s special favor towards Israel to secure his salvation. Paul’s contemporaries were undoubtedly influenced by the wisdom literature of the inter-testamental period, “But thou, O God, art gracious and true, longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things, for if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy power; but we will not sin, knowing that we are counted thine” (Wisdom of Solomon 15.1-2). “Certainly the Old Testament encourages God’s people to regard God as merciful and forgiving (e.g., Psalm 145). But the assumption of God’s special favor toward his people had already in the Old Testament period become a source of false security for those within Israel who were not living faithfully within the covenant, as the preaching of the prophets abundantly indicates” (Douglas Moo, Romans, p. 133). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; even temporal judgments are goads to encourage people to repent: Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33.11).
THE GREAT DEVIDE (Romans 2.5)
Children are prone to view the world in black and white – they have difficulty distinguishing the nuances of morality, or what grownups see as the grey areas. The world, so they say, is too complex to be easily compartmentalized into neat little moral categories. Many, if not most, adults endorse some form of moral relativism. Several decades ago, Joseph’s Fletcher’s popular book, Situation Ethics, gained popularity as it advocated such a worldview. As difficult as it may seem on occasion for people to discern right from wrong (cp. James 4.17), the Bible clearly defines right from wrong and declares that a day is coming when everyone will be judged for what they have done (Romans 2.6-10; cp. John 5.25; 2 Corinthians 5.10). The person who lives a self-centered life and is disobedient to the truth will be subject to God’s wrath and fury. He will face an eternity of tribulation (the objective punishment of God) and distress (the subjective response to suffering). However, the person who avails himself of God’s kindness and forbearance and seeks glory and honor and immortality, will be given eternal life; he will receive glory, honor and peace. There is, as it were, a moral / spiritual cause and effect that has an eternal consequence.
Amusements and innocuous diversions represent the great dangers of life in America. People occupy themselves with all sorts of things that do not prepare them for heaven. Americans are intoxicated by entertainment; they are impervious to the flickering flames of judgment that await them. It would be well to remember that tombstone epitaph, dear reader, keep heaven and hell, before thy eye, for none is fit to live, but who is fit to die? Paul is emphatic that after death there are only two destinies: eternal life concomitant with glory and honor and peace, and eternal death accompanied by God’s wrath, fury, tribulation and distress. So often death comes without warning. So the urgency of Paul’s counsel is to live in the present with an eye to your final destination. Paul wrote, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2.19-20; cp. Romans 13.11-14; Philippians 1.21, 3.10). There is such a very short time to serve Christ, so make your life count for His kingdom.
FAITH BASED SALVATION (Romans 2.6-11)
This section (vv. 6-10) invites the question, whom does Paul have in mind? Is he speaking about the faithful Jews and moral Gentiles, non-Christians or Spirit led Christians. Paul’s statements, that the righteous will live by faith (Romans 1.17) and For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin (Romans 3.20) preclude the possibility of any kind of salvation through works alone, so how do these statements about a seeming works based salvation comport with emphatic statements that justification is by faith alone (e.g., Romans 4.4, 5; 5.1-2)? There are two positions that seem to be consistent within the framework of Romans and the larger corpus of Paul’s letters. First, there are those who believe Paul has in mind Christians who, empowered by the Spirit, are able to live a life that is characterized by good works. For example, John Piper writes:
“God does indeed give eternal life to those who persevere in obedience not because this obedience is perfect or because it is the basis or the merit of eternal life, but because saving faith always changes our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit so that true believers persevere in doing good. In other words, a changed life of obedience to God’s truth is not the basis of eternal life, but the evidence of authentic faith which unites us to Christ who is the basis of eternal life” (John Piper, sermon notes on Romans, December 6, 1998). While what Piper says about the Christian life is true, it does not seem to be Paul’s immediate point.
The promise of eternal life to those who do good and seek after glory, honor and immortality is legitimate; however, the power of sin precludes anyone except Christ from living such a life (2 Corinthians 5.21). Paul’s fundamental supposition is that no one by his good works will be granted access to heaven, because no one’s works are completely fulfills God’s demands. Paul summarizes his thoughts on the universality of sin with this comment, For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: None is righteous(Romans 3.9; cp. 4.4, 5). Douglas Moo clarifies this passage with the following comment:
“The context strongly suggests that Paul is not directly describing Christians in vv. 7 and 10. Paul’s purpose in 2:6-11 is to establish the principle that God will judge every person on the same basis – by works, not by religious heritage or national identity. Paul’s focus is on the standard of judgment. It is a continual seeking after eternal rewards, accompanied by a persistent doing of what is good, that is the condition for a positive verdict at the judgment. Paul never denies the validity of this principle, but he goes on to show that no one meets the conditions necessary for this principle to become a reality” (Moo, p. 142).
Paul makes his point clear: God shows no partiality. It will become readily evident that no one trusting in his or her own merit will have any claim on the mercy of God. The righteous by their faith will live (Romans 1.17). Such a faith brings the believer into fellowship with God; thus, as Paul later declares: Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4.4-5). Also, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. … For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5.1-2; 6-8).
THE PRAISE OF GOD
When I was in high school I recall my mother telling me that if I applied myself to my studies there was nothing in life that I could not do. There is an unspoken law of achievement: the person who can defer personal gratification the longest achieves the greatest goals. The Christian life is to some extent one that is motivated by deferred gratification. Scripture teaches that the believer has a hope laid up for him in heaven (Colossians 1.5; cp Philippians 3.20; 1 Peter 1.4). So the Christian is encouraged to lay aside those things that might hinder him from running a good race. Jesus, the model for a life of faith, endured the cross in order to lay hold of the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12.1b-2). This is not to say a godly life need be unpleasant – quite to the contrary (Philippians 4.4) but its greatest delight lies in the future. The Christian knows that one day he will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so he makes it his goal to please the Lord (2 Corinthians 5.6-10).
CLARIFICATION OF GORD'S IMPARTIALITY (Romans 2.12-16)
We read in Romans 2.11 that God judges impartially: Gentiles who sin without the benefit of knowing the Mosaic law will not be judged as though they were required to know it. Citizens of the commonwealth of Israel were entrusted with the law and they will be judged by it. Both Jews and Gentiles will be judged for what they have done. The Gentiles will damn themselves because they violated their own conscience and the Jews will be condemned because they broke the law they held forth as God’s inviolable word. At first reading it almost seems that Paul is suggesting that salvation might be obtained through the righteous behavior of either the Gentile, who is constrained by an inward compelling, or by the Jew, whose life is governed by the Mosaic law. Such is not the case. Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say that those who are innocent without of the law will live just as those who are found innocent under the law will live. Paul’s contention is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23). It is not enough to revere the Law of God; to hear it and recite it will not secure a person’s salvation; he must obey it implicitly and explicitly. Only through such obedience can a person be spared the righteous judgment of God. The truth of the law is upheld either by obedience to it or in the judgment that ensues from it.
Some interpreters think that Romans 2.14-15 is descriptive of the Spirit filled Gentile Christian who, as a new creation in Christ, adheres to the precepts of the Mosaic law even though he has not been instructed in it. An alternative view suggests that these Gentiles are unbelievers whose occasional obedience to the law results from an understanding of natural law. Though this is good, it is not an adequate basis for salvation. Natural law is a byproduct of general revelation. There is no indication here that Paul has in mind Jeremiah 31.33-34, But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. It is highly unlikely that Paul would describe Christians as a law unto themselves. To the contrary, the believer is subject to the Holy Spirit and he thereby fulfills the law (Romans 13.8-10; Galatians 5.14).
The conscience of the unbelieving Gentile is conflicted by the self-evident truth of natural law. Thus, he is intrinsically knowledgeable of the moral norms that are consistent with the Mosaic law. Paul is not suggesting that an individual’s conscience is the genesis of what is morally normative, but a person’s natural sense of right and wrong is self-condemning. There is a universality to the dictum, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The necessary consequence of this maxim must minimally include “honor your father and mother,” “you shall not murder,” “you shall not commit adultery.” Paul makes it clear that sporadic obedience to the law does not result in salvation. This is evident because while everyone is prone to self-justification, nevertheless their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. The conviction of a guilty conscience that plagues the unbeliever will only prove to be additional validation of Christ’s judgment (John 5.25).
A GUIDE TO THE BLIND (Romans 2.17-24)
Paul identifies the Jews by name as the object of his diatribe (Romans 2.1-16). By now the reader knows that God uses the same standard for judging both the Jew and the Gentile. The Jew who prides himself as being an object of God’s special favor is guilty of hypocrisy. His guilt results from his presumption to instruct those ignorant in the things of God even while he himself fails to learn from that same law. How can he boast about keeping the law when he is guilty of breaking the law? Of course, the Jew did not believe that keeping every rule of the law was absolute necessary; it was only necessary that he intended to keep the law and that he would make sacrifices for violations of the law. However, Paul’s understanding of the law was far more far-reaching than that of his contemporaries. In Galatians 3.10-14 he writes, For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the cruse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, “cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” – so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
"Paul takes a more radical viewpoint of what “doing the law” involves. Because he denies any salvific value to the Mosaic law and the covenant of which it is a part, he recognizes that it is not enough – and never has been – to seek to do the law, however sincerely. For, from the first, it has been faith in the promise of God, and only faith, that justifies. This being the case, only a perfect doing of the law would suffice to justify a person before God. True, an insistence on perfect obedience is a departure from the Jewish view, but this is just what Paul has implied by putting Jews and Gentiles on the same footing with respect to works and judgment in 2:1-16. What he says here plainly implies that the covenantal structure within which the Jews thought their sins could be taken care of was itself denied by Paul. The enormity of God’s Son being crucified led Paul to take a far more pessimistic view of human sin than was typical of Judaism: sins that, for the Jews, simply needed to be atoned for within the covenant meant for Paul a breaking of the covenantal structure itself." (Douglas Moo, Romans, pp. 156-157)
Paul rightly identifies the Jews as a people of the book who boast in God. This is not a bad thing (cp. Jeremiah 9.23-24). As a people who adhere to the principles of the Torah they claim to know God’s will, having been instructed from the Mosaic law. Because of this, they viewed themselves as qualified guides for those wandering about in spiritual darkness. It was their responsibility to teach the ignorant and the novice. Such an assumption was not without warrant. Indeed, it was God’s intent that the Jews should bear witness to himself. However, Paul follows up his observations with a penetrating and convicting question: you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? The question is not rhetorical or open ended; the grammatical construction of the question requires a negative response. His accusations are more pronounced when he asks whether they steal, commit adultery, or rob temples. Now one might presume that his hypothetical Jewish dialog partner might indignantly answer no to each one of these indictments. The charges, on the surface, seem ludicrous. Most “good” people would not be guilty of these accusations. But Paul knows that the requirements of the law demand more than a superficial obedience; they necessitate an obedience to the intent of the law and this necessitates a pure heart (cp. Romans 2.29).
Every Jew knew that obedience to the law required adhering to its intent. For example, the eighth commandment, you shall not steal, does not merely means you don't take what is not rightfully yours, but it addresses the larger issue of all kinds of possessions. The conflict with Naboth and Ahab in 1 Kings 21 is illustrative of a man’s covenantal inheritance and his right to property and another man’s desire to take it from him. The eighth commandment requires that the believer honor God with his possessions (Malachi 3.6-17); it means he is obligated to care for the poor (Isaiah 10.1-2; 58.6-7). Ownership is a relative good, not an absolute good. Stealing is the desire to gain for oneself what is not rightfully his, be it money, property, services, status, comfort, or undeserved praise, to name just a few things. The truly righteous man or woman has a faith dependence on God. Those who pursue a righteousness that comes from obedience to the law have only an appearance of righteousness (Romans 9.30-32; cp. Philippians 3.7-11).
A MATTER OF THE HEART (Romans 2.25-29)
Just as the law has no salvific value for the Jew if he does not keep it, neither is circumcision of any value unless his heart is changed and he obeys the law. “Circumcision, like the law, was a sign of the Jew’s privileged position as a member of the chosen people, participant in the covenant that God established with Abraham (Gen. 17). Later Judaism claimed that ‘no person who is circumcised will go down to Gehenna,’ and the importance of the rite throughout the Second Temple period [post Old Testament 400 BC – 70 AD] suggests that this view was prevalent in Paul’s day also” (Moo, pp. 166-167).
Not only does Paul attack the Jew for his violation of the law he declares that the Gentile who keeps the law even though he is physically uncircumcised will be regarded by God as one who is circumcised in his heart. What is of primary importance is the inward transformation – that which comes from a heart that is circumcised. The outward cutting away of the flesh is a covenantal symbol of that which is internal. When Moses instituted this in Israel, he explained it thus, Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn (Deuteronomy 10.15-16; cp. 30.6; Jeremiah 4.4). Practically, it is illustrated in the contrast between Saul, Israel’s first king, and David, Israel’s second king. Saul had the stature of a king (1 Samuel 10.23-24), but he did not have the heart of a king. David had the stature of a shepherd, but he had the heart of a king: The LORD said to Samuel ,“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16.7). The true believer seeks praise from God, not from men.