ROMANS 2:1-6

This chapter gives 7 principles by which God judges. Look for them as we go through the chapter. Also, this chapter zeroes in on those of us who consider ourselves morally good. How do you think God sees us?

There are several future judgments in the Bible. In the order that they will happen, here are 3 of them. 1.) The judgment seat at the resurrection of the body of Christ, I Cor 4:5; II Cor 5:10.

2.) The judgment of the nations at Christ’s return to earth, Mat 25:31,32.

3.) The great white throne judgment of the lost, 1000 years after Christ’s return, Rev 20:7,11-15.

The judgment referred to in this chapter is #3, the judgment of the works of the people who are not in the book of life. (Paul tells us how to get into the book of life in Romans chapter 3.)

There are two sides to human nature, and therefore tend to be two kinds of people. The parable in Luke 18:9-14 clearly shows these two types. One kind is obviously a sinner, and the other kind tries to cover up the sin with good. Chapter 1 addressed those who are obviously sinners, and now chapter 2 looks at the other side who tend to be religious, judgmental and self-righteous.

The "things" in verses 1, 2, and 3 refer back to the sin listed in the last half of Chapter 1. Now for the verses..............

1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

(Vs 1) People try to hide their own faults by comparing themselves to others who look worse. But it is inexcusable to look down on others, because none of us is without sin. God sees right through all such cover-ups.

Read Mat 7:1-5 and Rom 14:10-13. It is clear that we are not to judge other people. However, John 7:24; I Cor 2:15 and Phil 1:9 says we should judge. Is this a contradiction? No, we should judge and condemn doctrine and behavior that is bad, but we are not to judge or condemn people. That is God’s job.

(Vs 2 & 3) God is a righteous judge, Deut 32:4. We know that God will judge all sin "according to truth". (Principle #1 about God’s judgment). This includes the sin of those who consider themselves good people. As Adam found out, the wages of even one sin is death, (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23), and all have sinned, (Rom 5:12). The final death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire, (Rev 20:14,15).

(Vs 4) God’s "goodness" is His grace, His gentleness and kindness to us that we do not deserve, (Eph 2:4,5). His "forbearance" is His tolerance and self restraint in not avenging every sin immediately, (Rom 3:25). His "longsuffering" is His patience in holding back that dreadful day of wrath, (II Peter 3:9,15).

"Repentance" is a reversal, a change of mind. Many think repentance means to stop sinning. But God does not expected people to stop their sins in order to get saved, for that is impossible. The only thing an unsaved person can do is sin, (Rom 8:7-8 &14:23b). Others think repentance means to be sorry for sin, or to confess sins and ask for forgiveness. It is critical to understand that repentance simply means a reversal in thinking.

For example, in Mat 21:23,31,32, Jesus addresses some church people of His day, and says that the publicans and harlots will go into the kingdom of God before them. Notice it is the church folks who need to repent, not the publicans and harlots. What do they need to repent of? They don’t get drunk, sleep around, etc. But they ignored the word of God! They need to change their minds about the word of God and recognize their guilt before God. That is usually harder for religious people than for publicans and harlots.

It is the same here in Romans 2. God’s goodness should lead a person to change his mind (repent) about his own goodness, and see his sinful condition. Otherwise, people are not motivated to get saved from the penalty of sin.

(Vs 5) "Hardness" means callous and stubborn, "impenitent" means a lack of sorrow for guilt.

The more a person hardens himself against the truth about himself, the more wrath he accumulates and will experience in eternity. Is 30:1 says they "add sin to sin." So there are degrees of punishment. Mat 23:14 shows that false religious leaders have "greater damnation". Mat 11:24 says it will be more tolerable for some than others in the day of judgment. (This is Principle # 2 about how God judges.)

Some teach that the unsaved are only judged for rejecting salvation, but these verses show that if people do not accept God’s provision to forgive their sins, then each sin is added up against them. As Eph 5:6 shows, "because of these things (sins) cometh the wrath of God on the children of disobedience."

(Vs 6) God judges according to man’s deeds. Rev 20:11-15 is a judgment of works (deeds). (This is Principle # 3.) As we’ll see next time, no one’s works can stand in the judgment of a righteous God, so we desperately need to get into the book of life some other way.

(Definitions are taken from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.)

M. Dent

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