Introduction
There is a survey called “The State of Theology” done every two years by two evangelical ministries in the US.
One statement that participants are to respond to is as follows:
Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.
The latest result was from 2022:
Among U.S. adults, 71% surveyed agreed with that statement while 21% disagreed. The rest are unsure. This is from the adult population in general.
But what about those who call themselves evangelical Christians?
65% agreed with the statement while 32% disagreed. Only 6% fewer Christians compared to the general population agreed with the statement while only 11% more Christians compared to the general public disagree.
And this is supposedly a nation where Christianity is prominent.
Here we are in a section of the Book of Romans that is making the point that no one is innocent.
Everyone is born a sinner and therefore, everyone stands condemned before God; there is none righteous and therefore, everyone needs the righteousness of God.
We have seen that unbelievers stand condemned before God (Romans 1:18-32), but then even people who know and agree with God’s laws are condemned.
The way the Bible presents this is that everyone will eventually have to face the judgment of God (Romans 2:2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 16).
I. The Hypocritical Judges Are Inexcusable (Romans 2:1-5)
We see that the hypocritical judges are in the same condemned state because they practice the very same sins that they are condemning the Gentile pagans for.
They are experiencing God’s kindness, forbearance and patience.
Rather than responding with a repentant heart, these people harden their own hearts regarding their own sins and in so doing, they are storing up the wrath of God that will be unleashed on the day of judgment.
These people are obviously unsaved.
They have not applied the knowledge of God savingly in their lives.
For the Jews, they know God’s law, but they have rejected Jesus as Messiah.
In our day, a person may know the Gospel and what Jesus has done for them.
But this knowledge has only reached their heads, but it has never reached their hearts to transform them from the inside out.
Therefore, they too stand condemned before God. In fact, God will hold them to a greater account than the ignorant Gentiles.
However, as Christians, we must not take God’s grace for granted either.
Later in Romans 6:1 Paul asks the question: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”
That seems to be a logical conclusion, but it is an unbiblical conclusion. That is why Paul answers: “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
A true believer cannot serve both God and sin.
So those who know the law should not have a false sense of security that God will give them a pass when it comes to the judgment.
Now notice that when it comes to judgment, Paul makes the point that …
II. The Righteous Judge is Impartial (Romans 2:6-11)
You see a similar relationship between vv. 6 and 11 regarding God’s impartial judgment.
Then you see in vv. 7 and 10 what those who do good will get.
And finally in vv. 8 and 9 what evildoers will receive.
We call this a chiastic structure.
The point of this section is at the beginning and end: God will judge each person impartially by the same standard, which is his works.
A. God is Impartial in His Judgment (2:6, 11)
We see in v. 6 that God will render to each one according to his works.
Paul may have Ps 62:12 in mind which says, “to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.”
First
Notice that the judgment will be according to actual performance, not according to one’s theory or intentions.
It is what they did with their hands, where they went with their feet, what they said with their mouths, what they looked at with their eyes, what they meditated on with their hearts.
Second
Notice that this will be a just repayment of their performance.
The word “render” literally means a payback.
This judgment will be a just and fair payback for performance because v. 11 says God shows no partiality. He will not judge according to nationality, by religion, by denomination.
Third
Notice that this judgment will be individually based. God will render to “each one” according to his works.
Someone says that “in the choir of life it is easy to fake the words, but someday every man will have to sing a solo before God.”
Verse 6 teaches that God will justly and fairly pay each individual back for his or her actual performance.
What is clear from this passage is that there are two, and only two, destinies in store for every person at the time of God’s righteous judgment.
B. Righteous People Will Be Rewarded (2:7, 10)
“Patience in well doing”: “a persistent lifestyle of godliness” (Moo).
Now Paul describes these people as seeking “glory, honor, and immortality” (v. 7). At first glance, it seems self-seeking.
Shouldn’t we be seeking God’s glory and honor? Why is Paul talking about seeking one’s own glory and honor? These are the things that await believers who are patient in well-doing.
Glory refers to God’s likeness, honor refers to God’s approval, and immortality refers to God’s unending life where they will never die.
This person is seeking to be like God, to live for God’s approval, and to obtain unending life.
If you remember back when we were in 1 Peter, he says in 1:7, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
In other words, when believers persist in their walk with the Lord, they will receive praise, glory and honor.
This is confirmed by Paul in 1 Cor 4:5, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
Remember that what awaits each believer is their glorification.
And this is the way Paul describes it in 1 Cor 15:53-54, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Verse 10 adds that these people will also receive peace.
In the past, I mentioned that when people put their trust in Jesus, they are also reconciled with God.
Remember that before coming to Christ, our relationship with God was destroyed by sin.
But through Christ’s finished work on the cross, our relationship with God was restored and now we have peace.
Paul would explain later in 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
C. Wicked People Will Be Punished (2:8, 9)
These people are characterized by selfishness, disobeying the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
It shows whose servants they are.
What awaits them is “wrath and fury” (v. 8), and “tribulation and distress” (v. 9). This has obvious reference to hell.
It is for “every human being who does evil.” There is no exception. No one escapes the judgment of God.
But you also see the repeated phrase, “the Jew first and also the Greek.”
Once again, as we have seen in 1:16, God reached out to the Jews first with the good news of salvation. As that good news has gone first to the Jews, so does the judgment go to them first for failing to respond to that word that went first to them.
But if they respond by putting their trust in the Lord, they will also be the first to receive eternal life.
“The Greek” is the representative term to refer to the Gentiles.
They who have sinned against God with a high hand will also suffer the wrath of God. But eternal life and peace for those who humbly turn to Jesus in saving faith.
It is common for righteous people who are suffering because of their faith in the Lord to look enviously at how the wicked people of this world are not only getting away with evil but seem to be prospering.
Just remember this: at the end of the day they will experience the wrath and fury, the tribulation and distress from the Lord.
Perhaps at this point you may be wondering, is Paul teaching that we can obtain eternal life by doing good works?
First
Paul very clearly states in Rom 3:20, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.”
So if he is saying here that good works can earn eternal life, then there is a contradiction to his teaching, which cannot be.
Second
Paul's main point in this passage is that God shows no favoritism to the Jews.
And he is using the repayment language to make the point that God is impartial. If anything, the Jews are doubly accountable because twice Paul says, “the Jew first and then the Greek.”
By putting the Jews first, he is also pointing out that the Jews have not lost their status as God's chosen people and that they are not exempt from judgment of God for their works.
In fact, their special privilege involves greater responsibility.
Third
Eph 2:8-10 teaches that individuals have to be saved first by faith through grace, not of their works (vv. 8-9) and then we can do good works (v. 10).
Therefore, the salvation which God gives by grace through faith alone inevitably results in good works. As such, good works are then both the goal and the test of salvation.
Fourth
We see only two categories of people here.
The only category of people who can be characterized as “by patience in well-doing” and those who can do good are Christians.
If Paul is presenting two categories of people who will be judged on that day, then there will only be Christians and non-Christians.
In other words, those who claim to be Christians ought to live out their lives in godliness, because those who are not are self-seeking, don’t obey truth but obey unrighteousness.
They are living consistently as unbelievers. Believers, on the other hand, are marked by persistent obedience to the Lord. It doesn’t mean they never fall into sin, but they don’t make it a practice.
They know their weaknesses and they seek God’s help to be delivered from their sinful ways rather than being deluded and deceived into thinking that they are ok.
The question is, which category are you in? What are you seeking after? (eg. the rich young ruler) Are you seeking God's way? (eg. Cain)
At the end of the day, even Christians will be judged for what they do for the Lord.
There is no license for Christians to continue living a life of sin just because grace covers all their sins.
The application for Christians is, “What are you seeking for?”
We know what unbelievers are seeking after, they proclaim it very clearly. But when you stand before God, and God is going to judge you for your works, what excuse will you give?
Nobody wants to be in the second category of people who will experience God’s wrath and fury.
Everyone wants to be in the first category.
To be in the first category, you have to put your trust in the Lord Jesus and turn from your sins.
That is what is required for true conversion: Faith and Repentance.
Christians are characterized as those who “by patience in well-doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortality.”
There is a persistence marked by true believers.
It doesn’t mean they don’t face discouragement that can be debilitating at times, but by God’s grace they get back up and continue to pursue God and press on.
Does this characterize you?
III. The Righteous Judge Judges by the Fair Standard of the Law (Romans 2:12-16)
The first word “for” in v. 12 connects directly back to v. 11 that God is absolutely impartial.
What follows in this paragraph is Paul’s argument that all people will equally be judged by God and that Jewish knowledge of the law gives them no advantage whatsoever.
Since we will be talking a lot about the law in this section and following, it is good for us to clarify what law Paul is talking about.
He is referring specifically to the Torah, given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.
A. Sinners Will be Judged by the Standard They Possess (2:12-13)
We see two distinct groups of people in v. 12.
Those who have sinned without the law would be the Gentiles and those who sinned under the law are the Jews.
Notice first that whether a person sinned without the law or under the law, they are all sinners.
Both Gentiles and Jews are sinners.
1. Gentiles Without the law (2:12a)
But the Gentiles do not possess the Mosaic law.
Paul describes these Gentiles as “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise” (Eph 2:12).
In 1 Cor 9:12, Paul says that Gentiles are “outside the law.” The result of their sinning outside the law is that “they will also perish (destroyed) without the law.”
The word “perish” signifies eternal punishment.
This is the same word found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
On the other hand, unrepentant sinners perish.
2. Jews Under the Law (2:12b)
Will the situation be better for the Jews since they do have the law?
Paul tells us that the Jews who “sinned under the law will be judged by the law.”
Paul emphasizes the universal sinfulness of mankind and therefore all are condemned.
3. Why the Jews Stand Equally Condemned (2:13)
Why will the Jews who possess the law be equally condemned?
V. 13 Because it is not enough to hear the law, but to do it.
The hearing of the law includes reading about it, hearing it preached, studying it.
None of these things will justify a person.
But what does justify a person is doing the law, obeying it.
The verse in James 1:22 comes quickly to mind: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jas 1:22).
Then later in 4:17 James says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
This world talks a lot about education.
The solution to many problems faced by mankind is education.
However, education may fill man’s head, but cannot change man’s heart and action.
So what if you know the law but do not do it?
Not only is it as good as not knowing the law, but in fact, it is sin.
Once again, Paul in this section does not show that man can be justified by perfectly keeping the law, but his point is to show universal condemnation because the standard God uses to judge mankind is the law.
B. Gentile Sinners Actually Possess the Law in Their Hearts (Romans 2:14-16)
1. “Ignorant” Gentiles Do What the Law Requires (2:14)
This section begins with another “for” where Paul will specifically explain those Gentiles who are “without the law” (v. 12a).
When Paul says that they “do not have the law,” as mentioned previously, it means that they are without the Mosaic law, but to say that the Gentiles are without law would not be true.
Paul says that “by nature they do what the law requires.”
The point Paul is making here is that unbelieving Gentile people can act in ways that are consistent with Mosaic law.
Have you noticed that most unbelieving Gentile people do not murder, unbelievers are encouraged to be filial to their parents, they consider stealing to be a bad thing.
In fact, some secular people demand high moral standards of themselves and others.
They have such a high view against corruption that they say that any gifts over $50 must be declared and paid in full, so as to avoid any hint of showing favors.
Any marital infidelity and you are out.
And any allegations of lying will be tried in the court of law.
And there is no sculpture of the 10 commandments on display outside the courthouse nor parliament house.
But these laws are consistent with what God demands.
When Paul says that then they are a law to themselves, he is using the word “law” now in a more general sense to refer to the demands of God.
By virtue of these Gentiles doing certain things that are in keeping with God’s laws, they evidence knowledge of divine moral standards and therefore, the Jews who have a knowledge of the law do not have a distinct advantage over the Gentiles.
2. “Ignorant” Gentiles are Guilty (2:15)
In v. 15 Paul continues to elaborate how the Gentiles are guilty before God even though they do not have the Jewish laws.
FIrst, they show that the work of the law is written on their heart.
What does this mean?
The key to understanding this is the phrase, “the work of the law.”
They know what the law requires to be done but they do not have God’s supernatural enablement to do it. They have the knowledge of the law but not the power to fulfill it.
This knowledge of the need to fulfill the law is evidenced in their conscience.
When you do something against your conscience, the result is a guilty feeling. This is the conscience bearing witness to the work of the law written on their hearts.
Next, Paul says that the guilty conscience results in conflicting thoughts that accuse them.
But one can always silence his conscience by excusing these thoughts.
And when they do this enough times, what results in what 1 Tim 3:9 calls a seared conscience, one that is unable to sound the alarm when wrong is done.
3. God Will Expose Every Secret of Every Man (2:16)
Then ultimately, their self-criticism in their lifetime will find its ultimate meaning in the final judgment mentioned in v. 16.
Just as the Jews will be judged by the degree to which they conform to the law, so the Gentiles will also be judged by the degree to which they conform to the law as revealed by their conscience and conflicting thoughts, even the deepest, darkest secrets will be revealed by God.
The fact that the almighty Judge knows the secrets of men shows that He is a Judge like no other.
All human judges need external evidence to make a judgment.
But God even knows what is in the thoughts of man who may have never been uttered to anyone else.
Some people go to the grave with their secrets and no man will ever know them. The greatest fear of some people is for their secrets to be made known.
They are very private people.
But on the day of judgment, everything will be exposed. Absolutely nothing will be hidden from the Almighty Judge of the universe.
This is according to the gospel that Paul teaches.
He taught in 2 Cor 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
My plea to you this morning is this:
Are you living a life that presumes on God’s grace? Have you taken God’s kindness to you for granted?
Many sitting in this room know God’s laws, but perhaps there are some here this morning who are like these unbelieving Jews.
There has not been a point in time when you have placed your trust in Jesus.
You have not turned from your sins.
When the secrets of your heart are exposed, you will evidence the fact that you belong to the second group of people: those that will experience the wrath and fury of God.
You should not wait, you can come before God this morning and humbly submit yourself to Him.
He invites and welcomes you to Himself.
Conclusion
The Lord will judge every single individual for his or her actual performance as a just and fair repayment.
At the end of the day, there are only two groups of people, those who have been saved by the blood of His Son and persist in well-doing and their repayment is eternal life.
Then there are those who are self-seeking, wanting their own way.
There is wrath and fury awaiting them.
Even if they are Gentiles, they still display a knowledge of God’s law when their consciences prick them.
One day, everything will be made known.
For Personal Reflection
Examine yourself. In what ways have you taken God’s kindness for granted?
How does this passage clarify who a true believer is?
How is knowing that our secrets will be exposed by God, in part, motive us to live consistent public and private lives?
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