The Bad News Concerning Judgment - Part 3 (Romans 2:1-16)
INTRODUCTION:
The past two Sundays we have been looking at the bad news concerning judgment, the fact that all are guilty and condemned and deserve God’s wrath and judgment. Last Sunday we began looking at one of the factors of God’s judgment, the fact that God in judgment will render to each person according to their deeds or their works. Last Sunday we looked at those whose works in this life were the evidence of their salvation, not the means of salvation, but the evidence that they had been saved by grace alone through faith alone. We referenced Ephesians 2:8-10 where Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8–10, NASB95)[1] The result of receiving the gift of God’s salvation is it will produce good works for the glory of God in our lives, these good works are produced by the power of God with the enablement of the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer. When God judges these good works, the result is eternal life, which not only refers to the quantity of life, that it lasts forever, but also refers to the quality of life, being in the presence of God, enjoying communion with God for eternity.
This morning we will begin by looking at God’s judgment of those who have not received the gift of God’s salvation, then a quick look again at those who have, then we will look at another factor of God’s judgment, the fact that He judges impartially, and we will only get through the first part of that factor. Let’s pray and then read our passage again.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:1-16 and let’s read the whole passage again this morning, but my message will begin with verse 8. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 2:1-16,
“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:1–16, NASB95)[2]
GOD JUDGES ACCORDING TO WORKS (Romans 2:8-10)
In verse 8 Paul turns his attention to those who are not saved, those who have not repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. So, he contrasts those whom he described in verse 7, those who are redeemed by God and proved that they belong to God by the evidence of their righteous deeds or works, with those who do not belong to God which is proved by the evidence of their evil characteristics, Paul gives us three of these characteristics of an unsaved person in this verse.
The first of the traits given to us by Paul of the unredeemed person is that he or she is selfishly ambitious. This phrase “selfishly ambitious” is one word in Greek and it has the idea of seeking your own way without regard to the results. John MacArthur describes it this way, “The idea is of a mercenary, who does his work simply for money, without regard for the issues or any harm he may be doing. Everything he does is for the purpose of serving or pleasing self.”[3] Selfish ambition certainly is everywhere in our society today, as people seek to fulfill their needs and wants without considering anyone else. We definitely live in a “me” society. God’s Word teaches that the basic problem with mankind is that he refuses to repent of sin and that he is totally wrapped up in himself and has no room or place in his life for God. Life is about me and what I can get out of it for myself.
The second characteristic that Paul gives us is that this unsaved person does not obey the truth. This person is looking for his own way and rejects any other way that may be suggested to him, this includes God’s way, which is the way of truth. To disobey the truth is the same as being rebellious. Rebellion is what brought us into our sinful state, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were rebelling against God, they were saying that God’s way was not good enough, they wanted to go their own way. Because of this the unsaved are rebels by nature, they are enemies of God.
Third, Paul says that the unsaved obey unrighteousness. There are only two choices and every person must decide either to be godly or ungodly, righteous or unrighteous. We will serve someone, the godly and the righteous will serve God which means that they will obey God’s will for their lives. The ungodly and unrighteous will serve masters that lead to sin, their ultimate master is Satan, serving him means obeying sin, even though you might believe you are your own master, that is just a lie or deception of Satan, he is your true master.
This lifestyle of selfish ambition, rebelliousness against God and disobedience to God’s truth and instead obeying unrighteousness is a lifestyle headed for hell, to torment forever and ever. Paul writes that God will render to the man on this path for his wicked works, wrath and indignation.
The word translated “wrath” is the same word that is used of God’s wrath in the book of Revelation. This is the strongest kind of anger that comes when God’s mercy and grace has been fully expended. This wrath will come when God’s patience and forbearance, that withholding of judgment against unrepentant mankind runs out and He will pour out His furious anger on those whose works show their constant and unwavering rebellion against Him.
Indignation speaks of an anger that is stirred up and spewed forth suddenly and violently. The Greek root of this word has to do with moving rapidly, overtaking everything in its path. We read about this kind of anger when we were in the book of Revelation. On the day of wrath and the revelation of God’s righteous judgment God’s indignation against sinful, unrepentant, rebellious mankind will explode like a consuming fire, it will be like a dam bursting and flooding everything in its path and wiping everything out with the massive wall of water bursting forth. Once this wrath has been poured out it will then subside.
Paul goes on to say that there will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil. Tribulation is a word in Greek that speaks of extreme pressure, often it is translated as persecution, affliction, anguish. This is the word used in Scripture to describe the persecution of certain people, like the persecution of Jews and Tribulation saints in the end times. The word distress speaks of being confined or constricted. This is the judgment that the unrepentant, rebellious sinner will suffer. I believe part of hell’s torment will consist of being confined, isolated and alone in your torment and suffering.
This will be the judgment of the Jew and the Greek who are in rebellion against God and persist in their evil deeds. Paul writes to the Jew first, which is significant when we are speaking of those condemned by God for their sinfulness and wickedness. The Jews believed that they were safe, they were God’s chosen people, but since they were first to have the opportunity for salvation, this means they are also first in judgment.
Returning once again to those who are saved by grace alone through faith alone whose lives prove this by their righteous deeds, by their doing good. When we understand the righteous standard of God and the righteous deeds that God requires for which men will be judged, these righteous deeds are even impossible for a believer to do in his own power. Like salvation itself which is a gift of God’s grace, the righteous deeds that it produces are made possible by God’s sovereign grace alone as the believer is empowered by the Holy Spirit working in his life. The only way that anyone can produce righteous deeds in their life is to possess the righteousness of Christ, which comes through faith alone in His death and resurrection on our behalf, when we trust Him then we receive His righteousness and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who empowers those righteous works in us and guides us to seek to obey God’s Word in all we do. God’s judgment is then based on the righteousness of Christ in us and the good or righteous deeds done through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. God renders to everyone who does good, proving their salvation, glory, honor and peace. The glory that the believer is seeking in doing good, the honor of receiving commendation for honoring Christ in doing good, and peace which possibly also speaks of our eternal life, our immortality because when we will be in the presence of God we will be at perfect peace. Paul says, this too is for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Again, this is because the Jew was the first to have the opportunity of salvation and to those who put their faith in God’s Son for salvation, they shall enjoy all the benefits of those who belong to God. Paul’s use of the Greek is his way of distinguishing between the Jews and everyone else. All who were not Jews in Paul’s world were Greek in language and culture. If Paul wanted to distinguish between the Greeks and non-Greeks, he would speak of them as Greeks and barbarians. But here he wants to distinguish between the Jews and the Gentiles.
GOD JUDGES IMPARTIALLY (Romans 2:11-15)
In speaking of God’s judgment of Jews and Gentiles, whether that be a judgment that leads to God’s wrath and indignation or a judgment that leads to glory, honor and peace, Paul introduces another factor of God’s judgment which is with God there is no partiality. God’s judgment is impartial. The Greek word “partiality” literally means “to receive a face.” In other words, it means to give consideration to a person because of who he or she is. God does not do this, and our own justice system is supposed to be impartial as depicted in our statues of lady justice, if you have ever seen the statue of lady justice she is blindfolded, showing that she is unable to see who is before her so she is not tempted to show special favor or undue disfavor because of who she is judging. This same idea is conveyed in the saying: “Innocent until proven guilty.” I wish it were true that our human courts were completely impartial, but as long as our judges and lawyers and jurors have sin natures, we will not be able to be completely impartial. But that is not true of God’s judgment, because He knows all things and see all things and because He is perfectly righteous, it is not possible for His judgment to be anything but perfectly impartial. Physical appearance, popularity, fame, education, religious affiliation has absolutely no bearing on God’s judgment in regard to a person’s eternal destiny. God being impartial is seen throughout the New Testament. Let me just share with you two examples: Paul writes in Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7–8, NASB95)[4] Who a person is or whether he is a Jew, or a Gentile will have no bearing on what he reaps at God’s judgment. Peter also cautioned his readers, “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;” (1 Peter 1:17, NASB95).[5]
In understanding God’s impartiality, it must be understood that this does not exclude God from taking into account the amount of spiritual light a person may or may not have. Paul mentions two groups of sinners in verses 12-15 and we are not going to get through all of this, but let’s look at verse 12. The first group is those who never had the opportunity to hear or know God’s law as revealed in Scripture, and the second group is those who had this opportunity, the Law of Moses as it was revealed from God through Moses to the people of Israel, to the Jews. Those without the Law then refers to the Gentiles.
Paul is not saying that the Gentiles have no knowledge of God, because they have the general revelation of God as seen in creation, God has shown forth His eternal power and divine nature in what He has made and because built into mankind is a knowledge of God. Paul writes that these Gentiles who do not have the Law, who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law. In other words, these Gentiles will be judged according to their limited knowledge of God, which is the majority of mankind throughout all of history. They are held accountable because they have the witness of God’s general revelation in creation and they have in their hearts and in their consciences a built in understanding of right and wrong and because of this they are guilty. They will perish without the Law. The Greek word translated “perish” speaks of destruction, but not extinction. It speaks of ruin or loss, not the ruin or loss of being, but the ruin or loss of well-being. It is also used of something that is ruined and is no longer usable for it intended purpose, so it is destroyed or discarded. This is a perfect description of the man who is judged in his sinful state. All mankind was created by God for His glory, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, but when man refuses to come to God for salvation, he loses the opportunity for redemption, redemption is God transforming man into what he was intended for, the glory of God. Sinful man who refuses God is no longer usable for his intended purpose, he is fit only for condemnation and destruction.
The unsaved Gentile will perish, but Paul already said the same was true of the unsaved Jew, but for the unsaved Gentile without the Law his eternal tribulation and distress will be less than that of the Jews, who are responsible before the Law, having possessed the written revelation of the Law of God. To whom much is entrusted, much is required. Speaking of his fellow countrymen, Paul says that all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. The person who has not had the benefit of knowing or hearing God’s Law will be judged according to their limited knowledge, but the one who has had the benefit of hearing and knowing the Law of God will be held more accountable for that benefit. Paul is teaching the Jews that possessing the Law brings greater responsibility, possessing the Law and hearing it is not enough, if the Law is not obeyed then you are worse off than those who did not have the Law. Because you can read and hear God’s Law, you will be judged according to your greater knowledge about the Lord.
What about you and me, what about those who have access not only to the Old Testament and to the Law written there, but also have access to the New Testament gospel? These are all included in this second group to be judged according to the knowledge that we have received. For those who have the New Testament we even have a greater knowledge of the Lord than the Jews Paul was originally writing to in his day and will be held still more accountable. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, he denounced some cities in Israel who not only had the Law of God but also had the privilege to meet Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who had taught in these cities and performed many miracles in these cities and yet they rejected Him as their Messiah and King. Matthew 11:20-24 records this incident for us, it says, “Then He [Jesus] began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.’” (Matthew 11:20–24, NASB95)[6] Though all the unsaved of history will end up in the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever, Paul and Jesus teach that there will be varying degrees of torment based upon the spiritual light that a person has or does not have. For those who waste the spiritual opportunity given to them, greater torment is in store for them. We who have the Word of God have a great advantage above those who have never had such an opportunity, but to have the greater advantage and fail to heed the Word of God will make you more accountable in the day of wrath and the revelation of God’s righteous judgment.
CONCLUSION:
I am going to stop here, every week I think I am going to get through the rest of this passage, but Paul has so much packed into this one passage concerning God’s judgment. Next week we will finish up this part of chapter 2.
As we think about this passage we certainly want to be in the group who is found on judgment day doing good, those who have received salvation through grace alone by faith alone, we want to be those who have repented of our sin and in faith believed that Jesus Christ died for us, that He paid the penalty for my sin by His death on the cross, suffering God’s wrath against sin on my behalf, that He was buried proving that He had died, that His body was the sacrifice for my sin, and then on the third day rose from the dead proving that sin had been paid for and death had been conquered. When we believe this God will produce in us the evidence of good works that prove we belong to Him, and when we are found doing good, we will receive glory, honor, and peace on the day of judgment.
Part of doing good is sharing the gospel with others, and warning those who have heard it that they need to heed what it says because if they refuse it, they will be judged for what they know, and their judgment will be more severe. Let us do good by speaking the words that bring glory, honor, and peace in eternity.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1991
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995