The Bad News Concerning Judgment - Part 4 (Romans 2:1-16)
INTRODUCTION:
Today begins our fourth week in this passage of Scripture, a passage I had hoped to finish in one week, but God had other plans. Paul has packed a lot of information into these 16 verses and it is important truth that cannot be taken lightly but must be carefully studied and understood in the light of the rest of Scripture so that it is not misinterpreted.
So far, we have learned in this passage that there is absolutely no one who can escape God’s wrath and judgment. We are all guilty and condemned by God’s righteousness and we deserve His wrath and judgment for our sin. Two weeks ago, we began looking at the factors of God’s judgment, how does God judge, what is judged. First, we learned that God judges man according to his works, do the works of the one judged give evidence that he has received God’s gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone, or do they give evidence that you have refused God’s grace and rejected His offer of salvation. God will render or pay to each person according to their deeds either eternal life or everlasting punishment. We finished that up last week, then we began looking at another factor of God’s judgment and we learned that God judges impartially. It does not matter who we are, if we are Jew or Gentile, man or woman, famous or unknown, rich or poor, religious of not religious. God judges impartially, He does not give favor to some and withhold favor from others. The impartiality of God does not exclude His taking into account the amount of spiritual light that a person has or does not have. Paul gave us two distinct groups of sinners: those who did not have the opportunity to know God’s Law as revealed in Scripture, and those who did have the opportunity to know God’s Law as revealed from God to Moses and given to the people of Israel. We learned that those who did not have God’s written revelation of the Law sinned without the Law and will perish without the Law, but those who have the written revelation of the Law and sinned under the Law would be judged by the Law and condemned by the Law. We ended there last week at the end of verse 12. This morning we will pick up where we left off beginning in verse 13. We will continue to look at the factor of God’s impartial judgment but a judgment that takes into account the amount of spiritual light a person has or does not have. Then we will finish up this section looking at the another factor of God’s judgment that He will judge the secrets of men. Let’s pray and then get into the Scripture passage for the fourth time.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles again this morning to Romans 2:1-16 and we are going to read the whole passage again to pick up the context. Then we will begin looking more closely at verses 13-16. Please, if you are able stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
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)[1]
GOD JUDGES IMPARTIALLY (Romans 2:13-15)
Last Sunday I ended by saying, “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.”
Paul writes, “for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” (Romans 2:13, NASB95)[2] I find it humorous when people say that Paul and James were teaching two different Gospels, that Paul was teaching a Gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone and James was teaching a Gospel of salvation by works. Nothing could be further from the truth, both were teaching that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone that results in good works, the evidence of salvation. James says almost the same thing that Paul says here in verse 13. Listen to James words again, from our Scripture reading from this morning, James 1:22-25, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22–25, NASB95)[3] James and Paul are saying the same thing, that doers of the Word show the evidence that they are saved by grace alone through faith alone, they show by knowing and doing what the Word of God says that they belong to God.
Paul uses an interesting Greek word for the word translated “hearers.” He does not use the usual word for hearing, but a word that is used of those whose business is to listen. When I think of someone whose business is to listen, I think of a counselor or a doctor, first you listen, then you act. John MacArthur says it is like a college student whose main purpose is to listen in class to the lectures of the professor, but not only does he listen, he is also responsible to know what he heard and be able to retain it and understand it and be tested on it. If he were to only audit the class, he would merely have to attend the class, he listens but he is not accountable for what he hears.
In Paul’s day there were Jewish synagogues in every city where there were Jews, but the teaching was based on the man-made traditions that the rabbis had developed and written on over many centuries, many of these traditions had nothing to do with God’s Law. God’s Word was not expounded on, it was simply read and listened to with no explanation or application. When it came to the Law of God most Jews were like those who audit a college class, they were just hearers of the Word, but they were not accountable to it nor did they think they were responsible for it.
God through Paul here in verse 13 says that we cannot be mere hearers of the Word of God and hope that will be enough for us to escape judgment, the more we hear the truth, the more responsible we are for believing it and obeying it. So many believe that because they go to church on Sunday, because they listen to the Christian radio station and maybe go to a mid-week Bible study that they are Christians, but just like sitting in a garage does not make you a car, sitting in church every Sunday does not make you a Christian. Remember what James said in James 1:23-24, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (James 1:23–24, NASB95)[4] What James means is a superficial knowledge of God’s Word is not enough, if a person believes hearing God’s Word once or twice a week and then forgetting it the rest of the week is living a spiritual life, he is in reality living a spiritual illusion, thinking he is saved when he is not. I believe we have a lot of people in churches today that believe they are saved, but they are mere hearers of the Word and Paul says these hearers are not just before God, they will be condemned and suffer God’s wrath and judgment.
Paul says the doers of the Law will be justified. The doers of the Law are those who have come to God in repentance and faith, because they realize that the Law is impossible to keep apart from God and knowing that places them under a greater obligation to obey it. The true doers of the Law are those that come to Jesus Christ in faith, because the purpose of the Law is to lead men to Him. Remember what Paul said about the Law in Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24, NASB95)[5] Obeying the Law will not produce justification, for one reason we cannot obey it perfectly, Paul says that the Law leads us to Christ so that by faith in Him we may be justified. The doers of the Law are justified by their faith in Jesus Christ. Once we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ then by God’s eternal power and the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit our justification will be demonstrated by the evidence of obeying God’s Word. James in chapter 2:20-26 uses faith and works and justification in the same way that Paul does here. Both are using justification in the sense of completed or perfected salvation. The man, woman or child who truly obeys the Word of God proves by his Holy Spirit empowered obedience that he is truly saved by grace through faith and because of this on the day of judgment he will be recognized as justified. James ends his passage on faith and works working together to produce justification by saying in James 2:26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26, NASB95)[6]
Paul now turns his attention back to the Gentiles who did not have the opportunity to be hearers or doers of the Law because they never had the written Law of God. Paul wants us to understand that just because the Gentiles did not have the written Law this does not excuse them from eternal judgment and punishment. Paul had already established for us that the Gentiles, those who did not have the special revelation of the written Law of God did have the general or natural revelation of God in creation and that they instinctively know that they are guilty and deserving of God’s wrath and judgment. Paul in verses 14-15 gives us four reasons that these Gentile sinners are lost and guilty and condemned even without the written Law.
Paul writes in verses 14 and the first part of 15, “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…” (Romans 2:14–15a, NASB95)[7] The second reason that these Gentiles are guilty and condemned has to do with the first part of verse 15, “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts” (Romans 2:15a, NASB95)[8] Look throughout the history of our world, there have been people, unbelievers who have been honest, ethical people. They have conducted their businesses in honesty, as children and adults they have show respect to their parents, they have been faithful to their spouses, they have cared, protected and provided for their children and been generous to those in need. All of these are good things which God’s Word commends. Look at our legal system, it reflects some of God’s standard in making crimes such as murder, stealing, and other forms of immoral behavior wrong and illegal. Even in the Bible we read of pagans doing good things and in doing them knowing they were ethically good, proving that the knowledge of God’s Law was written in their hearts, at least the good works of God’s Law. For those people who do these good works but never put their faith in Jesus Christ, never receive the gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone, these good works will testify against them that they had the works of the Law written on their hearts and did not repent but rejected God’s offer of salvation.
Third, Paul writes that these Gentile sinners will be condemned because of their consciences. Paul writes in verse 15 that their conscience bears witness to God’s Law. The Greek word translated here as conscience is a word that literally means “to be aware of” or “to have knowledge with” or “co-knowledge.” The very idea behind this word is that man has a built-in sense of right and wrong that produces guilt. The problem with the conscience is that it can be desensitized, if it is neglected or resisted it will over time become more insensitive and can eventually stop producing guilt for wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the conscience bears witness to what is right and wrong and will condemn the sinner at the judgment.
Fourth, Paul writes that Gentile sinners are condemned by “their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” (Romans 2:15c, NASB95)[9] The conscience and this faculty of the mind are closely related. What Paul is saying is that the conscience provides the instinctive knowledge of what is right and wrong and then the unbeliever has the ability to decide if certain things are right or wrong. This is why we become angry when we see something done that we perceive to be wrong, such as when a child or an elderly person is taken advantage of or attacked or murdered. All humans are able to discern basic right and wrong.
Because of these four reasons the Gentile who did not have the opportunity to hear and know the written Law of God stands guilty before God’s judgment. The fact that this person does not turn to God proves that they did not live up to the spiritual light given to them by God. Paul in speaking to the men of Athens in Acts 17:22-26 told them if they sought for God, they would find Him. The prophet Jeremiah wrote these words of God, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13, NASB95)[10]
GOD JUDGES THE SECRETS OF MEN (Romans 2:16)
In verse 16 Paul returns to the final judgment which he had announced in verse 5 of this passage by calling it the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God. Here in verse 16 he refers to this by stating that “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:16, NASB95)[11] Let’s break this verse down a bit. “On the day” refers to the final judgment. “According to my gospel” refers to what Paul is beginning to describe for the church in Rome, he refers to it as his gospel because it is the gospel that he was commissioned by God to preach to the Gentiles, it is his gospel in the sense that it is the true gospel and not a false gospel. The gospel given to Paul by the Lord was a gospel that contained the bad news concerning judgment, which Paul had just shared with his readers.
And here we see another factor of God’s judgment, He will judge the secrets of men through the Judge of all the earth, Christ Jesus. In other words, God will judge the motive of man, the intent of his heart. God who knows all and sees all things, knows and sees the secrets of men, He knows every person’s motive for doing the things he does. He can judge in righteousness and truth whether or not the deeds done are truly good or bad, whether they come from the flesh, or through the enablement of the Holy Spirit.
David near the end of his life counseled his son, Solomon with these words, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9, NASB95)[12] The Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. Jeremiah wrote in Jeremiah 17:10, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10, NASB95)[13] God judges the intent, the motive of our hearts. Many throughout history, and many in our world today live very moral, ethical lives especially when compared to other people who do not live that way. But the goodness produced in the lives of morally good people is not the kind of goodness that satisfies God because nothing is truly good unless it is done from the motive of glorifying God and if it is done in His power. Anything and everything that is done in the flesh can only serve the flesh, because it is done in the flesh it is naturally stained with imperfection and self-interest. That which is done in the flesh cannot be done out of the only right motive which is to glorify God. Even when we seek to do good there is a selfish motive behind it, doing it to impress others, or to get rid of some guilt feelings, or because of peer pressure, or even so that you can feel better about yourself, all these are self-serving. Anything that you do that is not done for God’s glory and through His power by the Holy Spirit is sinful and unacceptable to Him. God judges the intent, the motive behind the good works.
In closing, let’s look at two different men in Scripture to see how God judges the motive of the heart. First, David, who committed some terrible sins while he was king of God’s covenant people, so while he was serving God. Just two of those sins were his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. Both of these sins were capital offenses and God could have demanded David’s life. God did not because David’s basic motive in life was not selfish ambition and unrighteousness, but to serve and worship God and bring Him glory. David was quick to acknowledge and repent of his sins before God, throwing himself on God’s mercy and grace. Second, Judas Iscariot, seemed pious and religious outwardly, he professed to be a follower of Jesus, but was completely self-centered. The intent of his heart was very different than what he looked like on the outside. He came to have contempt for Jesus Christ and for His gospel of grace. Judas disapproved of the direction the ministry of Jesus was headed in so much that he betrayed Him. Both these men lived their lives with very different motives, David wanted to glorify God, Judas wanted to have all the glory himself. The motives and intents of the hearts of these men were open and seen by the Lord God and their deeds and guilt will be judged for what they truly were and not for the way they appeared to other men.
CONCLUSION:
This passage of Scripture, Romans 2:1-16, teaches us that the life that is truly redeemed, the life that has received God’s gift of salvation by grace alone through faith alone will result in obedience to God’s Word, their will be evidence that the eternal power of God is at work in us by the empowerment of the indwelling Holy Spirit who will be producing in us the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk in. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be judged according to our works and the motive with which those works were carried out. By our faith seen in our good works we will be justified, and we will enter into the quality of eternal life.
The life that reflects no evidence of good works to the glory of God has no claim on eternal life. The one who has done good works out of selfish ambition, who has not obeyed the truth, but have rejected it to obey unrighteousness will go into everlasting punishment.
Right living, a life lived to the glory of God can only come from right motive, and that right motive can only come from a relationship with Jesus Christ who motivates our hearts through the Holy Spirit living in us to produce the evidence of genuine salvation. The lack of right living because there is no relationship with Jesus Christ is the evidence of a life that is lost and in rebellion against God. What does the evidence in your life say about you?
[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]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[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
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[9]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[10]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[11]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[12]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[13]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995