2 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. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man-you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself-that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 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? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
We have seen in the previous chapter that God has given all men a revelation of Himself and some of His attributes through the creation of nature. We have also seen what men do with this knowledge of God. They suppress it and substitute the worship and honoring of God with the worship and honoring of idols, which dishonors God. God is pouring out His wrath, his righteous anger and punishment, on mankind who suppress the truth. Man would rather not be subject and held accountable to a God that will actually demand righteousness from His subjects. Man sees the righteous and holy God and prefers to have gods that are less intrusive, less demanding, and quite frankly, easier to control than the Almighty God. Because of man’s dishonoring of God, God gives them over to their own desires, and man spirals downward into dishonorable, unnatural, and depraved actions and thinking.
Pastor Donald Barnhouse states in his commentary on Romans that we need to go from the fact “that all men are sinners to the terrible consequences of that fact. We must see that the inevitable result of our sinfulness is the certainty of God’s judgment upon all unrighteousness.”[1] When we know that judgment and condemnation follow from sin, then and only then will we as human beings be brought to the tremendous realization that we need a Savior, and must run to him if we are to avoid God’s coming wrath.
However, there are some people who undoubtedly will say that, “I am not like that! I am a good person. I do what is right, and I live a good life.” In fact, these people probably criticize and correct others based on their own sense of morality. They may or may not know God, but nonetheless see themselves as obeying the law of their conscience and expecting everyone else to do the same. These next two lessons in chapter 2 of Romans address these particular righteous moralists. These people include both Jews and Gentiles who see themselves as superior to other people. Paul understands that some people will look at those in chapter 1 and know that they are better than that. The first chapter of Romans was the definite statement that all men were without excuse because God had written His truth and knowledge throughout the splendor of His creation. In the first half of the second chapter Paul will show us that we are also without excuse because God has written His truth and knowledge on the conscience of all mankind. Read the rest of this entry »
