Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter 2 as we continue our study through this powerful letter that Paul wrote to the church in Rome. Keep in mind that we are in a section that deals with condemnation. I know, real encouraging. But this is vital to the Gospel message. You see, Paul is acting as a prosecuting attorney with man on trial. And Paul, in Romans 1:18-3:20 is going to show us that the whole world is guilty before God. Man falls far short of the perfection that God requires. As Donald Grey Barnhouse put it, this is “The opening arguments of the prosecution in the case against unredeemed mankind.”
And in Romans 1:18-32 we saw how the unrighteous heathen is condemned by creation because creation testifies that there is a God. Man knows this but he willfully suppresses that truth and ends up worshiping the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Yes, they see themselves as wise but Paul says that they are fools. And the reality is, the Greek word that Paul uses here in Romans we get our English word, moron from! They end up believing a fairy tale that life came into existence apart from God, from non-life and evolved into the millions of life forms we see today!
This morning we will be looking at Romans chapter 2 and specifically we will be looking at verses 1-16. The focus here is the self-righteous moralist is condemned by his conscience. You see, God has placed in each of our heats what is right and what is wrong. We can short-circuit that, we can become insensitive to those things, but it does not change the fact that we are still condemned! Let me explain it like this and I think you will see what I mean. We are told:
A man consulted a doctor, “I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me,” he complained.
“And you want something that will strengthen your willpower?” asked the doctor.
“Well, no,” said the fellow. “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.”
- Bits & Pieces, May 27, 1993, p. 21
How sad and yet how true that is. We don’t want to feel bad about doing evil, but God has placed that in our conscience so we will obey Him and we don’t need to suppress that, we need to obey what He is showing us and we will see that this morning. With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 2, starting in verse 1 as Paul is speaking against the self-righteous, the hypocritical moralist and how his own conscience condemns him before God.
Please keep in mind that Paul is not speaking of salvation here. He is talking about sin and on the basis of man’s sin God will judge him. Obviously these principles of judgment are not the basis of salvation, they are the basis of judgment. You see, before you can speak of salvation, you need to know what you are being saved from. That just makes sense, doesn’t it? Now, let’s dig into these verses and see what the Lord has for us this morning.
VERSE 1
Paul opens up with the word, “Therefore,” which links us back to what Paul just finished writing about. All the immoral behavior that filled man’s life comes flowing forth and the reason is simple, because he has rejected God.
Paul put it like this, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:28-32.
So mankind, the self-righteous moralist sits on his throne looking down upon the sins of others and he judges them for their sin, their behavior. And please understand that the Greek word used for “judge” is KRINO and it means to judge to condemnation. In others words, “Let them have it God. They deserve it. Look at their behavior, how despicable! They deserve what you give them, they deserve Hell!” Or you can take God out of it and they are just getting what they deserve.
There are those who feel this way and maybe some of you have felt this way or are feeling this way right now. And Paul jumps on that. You see, he is saying, “Wait a minute here folks. You so-called moral people, you who are judging the sinner, do you really think you are so innocent!” You see, when you judge someone you are determining what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. In other words, when you point your finger at another person, you are only condemning yourself!
“Not me, I don’t’ practice those things!” Really, because Paul tells us, “for you who judge practice the same things.” And please understand that the word “same” comes from the Greek word AUTA and the idea behind this word is not the same exact things but what you are doing is just as bad, just as awful, just as depraved as what you have been accusing others of doing! And thus, you will be judged for your sin.
J. Vernon McGee put it like this in his commentary on Romans. He wrote:
If someone does not measure up to the standard of your little group, you condemn him. I know some churches where members can get by with lying, with being gossipers, and with being dishonest, but they couldn’t get by with smoking a cigarette! They would be condemned for that. My friend, when you judge other people, you are assuming the position of judge. God is saying that by the same token that you have the right to judge other people by your standards, He has the right to judge you by His standards. If we could see ourselves as God sees us, we could see that we are obnoxious; we are repugnant!
What contribution can you and I make to heaven? Would we adorn the place? I get the impression from some people that heaven is going to be a better place when they get there – yet the earth has not been a better place since they have been here! My friend, you try to deny God the same privilege you have of sitting in judgment on others. Well, God is going to judge you, and He won’t judge you by your standards, but by His standards. Does that begin to move you? It out to, because I have found that we don’t come up to God’s standards.
- J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, Romans, p. 656
God’s standard is perfection and thus, you can’t reach up into heaven. You can’t say that I am better than this person because that is not the standard, but God has reached down to pull you up because you are a sinner incapable of saving yourself. Thus, this is all accomplished through Jesus Christ, we can’t do it but He has done it for us!
VERSES 2-3
On this verse, I like the way that Donald Grey Barnhouse paraphrases it, as he says in this powerful way:
“You dummy – do you really figure that you have doped out an angle that will let you go up against God and get away with it? You don’t have a ghost of a chance. There is no escape. Do you understand? No escape – ever. And this means you – the respectable person, sitting in judgment upon another fellow creature, and remaining unrepentant yourself.”
Blunt, yes, but I think you get the point and many times we need to hear it that way so it gets through to us. God knows the truth about us, He knows what we have done, are doing, and will do and apart from Christ, we will face His judgment. It is as Paul said in Hebrews 4:13, “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” You can’t hide anything from God!
We love to look down upon others and condemned them for what they are doing and yet, we have no problem living in sin. In fact, our sin tends to look so bad when others are doing it! You see, the problem is the standard that we have set, a standard of righteousness and that bar is set in such a way that we can attain it and yet, others don’t have a chance and that is the point! But Paul says that you will not escape God’s judgment as you live in this self-righteous life-style. Paul, in Galatians 6:7-8 tells us, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Now many feel that this is not fair, that God will judge them, they don’t think that is right. They feel that they are a good person, yes, not perfect, but at least good. That is a faulty premise to start from. The Bible tells us that none are good, not even one! But let’s say, just by chance you were a good person. Folks, that is not the standard that God has set, the bar is much, much higher than just being a good person. The bar is set at PERFECTION!
Yes, it is unattainable for any of us. For me, it would be like putting the high jump
bar at 7 feet, which is unattainable for me unless I used a ladder! And looking at all of you, I think I can safely say that the 7-foot bar on the high jump is unattainable for you! Thus, apart from Christ you will face His judgment and it is fair because it is based in truth. God does not judge us unfairly but He gives to us exactly what we truly deserve, that is justice.
In Psalm 9:8 we are told, “He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.” Also, in Psalm 96:13 we are told, “For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.” He is judging the world with His truth, according to the Word of God and thus, you are without excuse! This is not some scare tactic by God. This is a reality. God says what He means and He means what He says!
Also, some see God as this angry, vindictive God whose soul desire is to punish people. He just sits up in heaven waiting for someone to cross that line and then, BAM! That is not the God we love and serve and it is not the God of the Bible. From the Old Testament through the New Testament you will find God’s love flowing rich and deep. You will see his grace and mercy extended to man.
And if you want to see the heart of God for sinful man, a great portion of Scripture is Ezekiel chapter 18, where we are told starting in verse 20, “‘The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. . . . Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live? . . . Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!’” Ezekiel 18:20, 23, 31-32.
I don’t know about you, but when I read this I see a loving Father, a loving God who is heartbroken over the condition of man. In fact, God is pleading with sinful man, specifically here in Ezekiel He is speaking of Israel, to turn from their wicked ways, to turn back to Him! But if we refuse, if we reject Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He will judge us because He is a righteous judge. If he didn’t judge us for our sins, then He would be unrighteous. But don’t miss the point. His desire is to save you from your sins and He has done everything possible to save you, even sending His Son to pay in full the penalty for your sins and now it is up to you to receive Him into your life. If you don’t His wrath will come upon you!
VERSE 4
Here we see God’s love for sinful man. You see, God delay’s His judgment so that sinful man can have every opportunity to turn to Him. It is the richness of His goodness in that He loves sinful man, not their sin, but He loves us! We see the richness of his forbearance in that He holds back His punishment against sinful man. We see the richness of His longsuffering in that He holds back His judgment against sinful man even though we provoke Him continually!
It is out of all that we see God’s desire that we would repent of our sins. The Greek word is METANOIA and the basic idea is this, “It is a change of mind which produces a change of attitude, and results in a change of action.” In other words, you were walking in sin and all of a sudden God gets a hold of your heart and you turn to Him, you do an about face, a 180 degree turn away from sin and towards God and you begin your walk with Him. God hates sin and you are in agreement with Him, your heart is sensitive to His heart. And it is the goodness of God, His forbearance, and his longsuffering that leads you to repentance!
I like the way that Spurgeon put it in regards to God drawing us to him like sheep to a shepherd instead of driving us like cattle. He said:
“Notice, dear friends, that the Lord does not drive you to repentance. Cain was driven away, as a fugitive and a vagabond, when he killed his righteous brother Abel; Judas went and hanged himself, being driven by an anguish of remorse because of what he had done in betraying his Lord; but the sweetest and best repentance is that which comes, not by driving, but by drawing: ‘The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.’”
There is another problem with God’s goodness, His forbearance, His longsuffering and that is the conclusion that some people take it to, a very wrong conclusion. Some feel that “God doesn’t care what I am doing!” Others feel that, “God can’t do anything about what I am doing!” And lastly and really a bad conclusion also, but many feel that, “God approves of what I am doing!” Folks, that can’t be farther from the truth. Now, why do they feel that way? Look at the next verse.
VERSE 5
They are doing this because their heart is hard. Paul uses the Greek word SKLEROETA and we get our English word “sclerosis” from it. We are probably most familiar with arteriosclerosis or a hardening of the arteries. If it is bad enough it will send you to the grave and the same is true if you continue to harden your heart towards God, you will face His judgment and be eternally separated from Him!
Thus, Paul is warning the self-righteous moralists not to fool themselves because judgment is coming! In fact, during this time when God is longsuffering, patient towards you, if you repent then you will be blessed. If you don’t, then you are storing up for yourself wrath and the idea is that of a balloon that is slowly being filled with water and it will reach a point when it will finally be full and it will burst. Your sin, the things you do in this life will be stored up until it is full, and apart from Christ, you will see his righteous judgment!
Now Paul is going to compare those that are saved with those who are not saved, those who have received the righteousness of Christ in their lives by faith and those who are self-righteous.
VERSES 6-10
The word, “render” speaks of payback and it has nothing to do with salvation, that is not what Paul is speaking about here. I do realize that some feel it does speak of our salvation and as you read these verses you may come to that conclusion, that we are to work our way into heaven. The more you do, the better chance you have of making it into heaven. But that would go against what the over 150 New Testament passages tell us, that salvation is based solely upon the finished work of Christ, it is a free gift given to us by God. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, PERIOD!
What I am going go do here is break this down and look at the saved person and the payback that they receive and then the unsaved and the payback they receive.
A. THE SAVED PERSON
First of all let’s look at one of the most familiar passages that deal with our salvation not being of works and then one other so you don’t miss the point. In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
And in Titus 3:4-7 Paul once again tells us, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Here’s the thing. Works don’t save us, they have never saved anyone. Works are a product of our salvation, the evidence for our faith, the fruit you might say that is born in our lives. James reminds us that faith without works is dead! He is not saying that works save us, but again, it is the evidence for our faith. And remember that before we were saved, God did not accept all the good we had done. In Isaiah 64:6 we are reminded, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Our righteousness, all the good we do is like filthy rags before a holy and righteous God. Jesus reminds us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Again, apart from Christ we could do nothing, nothing that He would accept!
I do understand that many feel you have to do good works to be saved. They even felt this way in Jesus’ day. In John 6:28 we are told, “Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’” So here it is, this is what we must do, Jesus is going to tell us how much good work we are to do to get into heaven, so listen carefully! “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’” John 6:29. So the first good work and the only good work for salvation that we are to do, if you want to call it work, is to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, that He is the Savior, we are to believe in the Gospel message, that is the work that God desires of us!
And, as I have said, it is out of that work, our salvation that we just read, that God not only works in us but works through us, our salvation is worked out in the things we do for Him, our service unto Him and to man. Good works will naturally flow from our lives. And the rewards we receive is not salvation because we are saved in Christ, but it is the crowns that we will receive at the judgment seat of Christ, the Bema seat, not condemnation but rewards for our service unto Him. And I believe we will take those crowns and place them at the feet of Jesus because He is the one who has enabled us to do these things in the first place. So don’t miss the point, our good works are a result of our salvation and not our salvation being the result of our good works!
B. THE UNSAVED PERSON
For those who don’t know the Lord, are not saved, they too will be judged for their works, but not for rewards or crowns, but for judgment. The reason being is simple, Jesus tells us this in John chapter 16 as He speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:8-11.
The only sin that will send a person to Hell is the sin of rejecting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But why is that? Because you have rejected the only One who can forgive you of all your sins! “Hey, wait a minute, I’m a good person!” We have already talked about this, you are not a good person, but Jesus said here in John the only righteousness that the Father will accept is the righteousness of Christ and we fall far short of that on our own. The only way we can have the righteousness of Christ is by faith and then His righteousness is placed into our life by faith. But, if you reject Him you will see Him no more but He will judge you for your sins, you will be punished for them!
You can read of this judgment in Revelation 20:10-15, where we are told, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
You see, you go to Hell because you have rejected Jesus and then, at the Great White Throne Judgment God will look at all the works you did in this life, not to save you, but to determine the degree of punishment in the Lake of Fire where you will spend eternity apart from Christ. That may not seem fair but in this life you wanted nothing to do with God and thus, He is giving to you what you desire!
And notice what Paul says here in Romans, that if you reject Christ, you are self-seeking because you are not obeying the truth. Jesus tells us that He alone is the way and if you reject the truth you are self-seeking, that is the way it is folks, you are doing your own thing instead of obeying the Lord and you will suffer the consequences for your actions!
VERSE 11
I am so thankful that God, in His judgment is not a respecter of persons. Everyone is treated fairly, justly. There is no consideration for race, color, social status, wealth or poverty, influence; God is impartial, not like we see many times in our court systems. And folks, this idea of God being partial was even thought about in Jesus day as some of the Rabbis taught, “God will judge the Gentiles with one measure and the Jews with another.” That is obviously wrong, it is not true. God is impartial! We are all judged by the same standard, apart from Christ all will die in their sins! And thus, I am even more thankful for His grace and mercy that He extends to me, to you through Christ!
VERSES 12-13
Paul is saying that if you don’t have the Law of God, you still will be judged and the focus here is the Gentiles. For those who have the Law, the Jews, they will be judged by the Law and we will look at this next time but if you will live by the Law then you will be judged by it and you must keep it perfectly, you can’t mess up on one of the Laws of God or you are guilty of them all. Impossible? Yes, and that is the point and again, we will look at that next time.
But how can the person who does not know the Law be judged for his actions, that just doesn’t seem fair? How can he be judged for his sins? Paul is going to expound on that in the next few verses and he will show us that our conscience condemns us!
VERSES 14-15
God has placed in our hearts the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong. We may not know the Law of God, but we do know what is good and what is evil. We know not to steal, lie, commit adultery, murder and-so-on.
If that is true, and it is, how can people do the most heinous crimes and not feel anything? Paul tells us in I Timothy 4:2, “speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” Yes, our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong but we can harden our hearts to this and short-circuit the system, short-circuit our conscience in a sense so that we no longer are sensitive to what God has placed in our hearts, what is right and what is wrong. Yes, the heart is evil, but there is still in there that knowledge of right and wrong.
Here’s how it happens. As you repeatedly ignore your conscience, the warning, you desensitize yourself and eventually your conscience is silent to the evil that you are doing, you have no feelings!
Thus, the self-righteous moralist is condemned by his conscience because he knows what is right and what is wrong. Many struggle with this as they are in an adulterous relationship, they are cheating, they are doing what they know is wrong but they don’t want to surrender to God. They just want those feelings to go away! And sadly, if you do that enough, they will go away. But even if those feelings do go away, that does not change the fact that you are condemned before God, look at the next verse and you will see what I mean.
VERSE 16
It does not matter how good you think you are, God knows even the secrets in your heart. You may fool others but God knows what is going on inside of you, your thoughts and thus, you will be judged. The self-righteous moralist is condemned by his conscience because he knows what is right and what is wrong and he chooses not to obey God, he refuses Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you struggle with this, with a hard heart, listen to what Paul says in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Listen to how The Amplified Bible puts these verses, “For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”
God’s Word cuts away the hardness of your heart if you will let it. But that truly is the problem; we must allow God by His Spirit through His Word to soften our hearts, not only for salvation but for our walk with Him, that we don’t harden our hearts to Him!
And Paul tells us that this is all according to his Gospel. Don’t come to the conclusion that Paul had a different Gospel, he is saying that this is the Gospel that God gave to Him and it is the Gospel that the other disciples were preaching, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! You see, you are either saved through this Gospel or you will be judged according to the Gospel. Sadly, many today have hardened their hearts to God and it is seen in their actions. As I close this morning, listen to this story and you will see what I mean. We are told:
The early morning crash of a Brink's armored truck on a Miami highway in January held up a mirror to our nation's cultural decline. While the driver and a fellow Brink's officer lay bruised and bleeding, a festive atmosphere broke loose outside the truck as thousands of dollars blew in the breeze.
Motorists stopped in rush hour traffic, then scooped up cash before resuming their commutes to the office. Thousands of crisp bills and shiny coins rained down an overpass onto a Miami neighborhood. Below, mothers with babies grabbed coins and piled them into strollers. An elderly woman filled a box. A young schoolgirl dumped her book bag and loaded it with coins and bills.
Onlookers and participants had plenty of justifications and rationalizations.
“Which is more moral,” asked one resident of the impoverished neighborhood, “to return the money and leave your children improvised-or maybe send them to college and enrich the family for generations”
“We deserve a little something,” said another.
“The Lord was willing for it to happen here,” one man commented. “There’s a lot of poverty. It was a miracle.”
Police estimated that more than 100 people helped themselves to money during the melee. Middle class on their way to work made off with thousands.
Was this a shocking event? It shouldn't have been. What happened in Miami was born out of a cultural drift that has left us unsure of absolute right and wrong or at least unwilling to live by such a code. We reward rule-breakers and ridicule those who extol morality. Life's ultimate reward is money and having it is the end to our worries.
Ralph Reed said that the 1996 presidential election was about the character of the American people. Maybe the Miami incident says more about that character than we care to consider.
There were some heroes on that day in Miami. Several people came forward and turned money over to authorities.
“I have children, and I needed to set a good example,” said Faye McFadden, a mother who earns $5.00 an hour at a department store. “It was important for me to do what I felt was right.”
Herbert Tarvin, 11, came forward after his teacher at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School lectured students about making the right decision. He went to police with 85 cents.
“I knew it was wrong for me to keep anything,” Herbert told a television reporter, “and I knew if I kept it I would have been stealing.”
Manny Rodriguez, a firefighter who recovered a bag containing $330,000 in cash, summed things up pretty well.
“People were almost killed in that truck and people are calling it a blessing from God. That wasn't a blessing; it was a test. The rich, the poor, the middle class-everybody should have a conscience.”
- Source Unknown
Isn’t it amazing how we can harden our hearts to what the Lord has placed in our conscience and we can do all kinds of things that are wrong and even feel that it is a blessing from God! How wrong that is and we see it that way until we are in the middle of sin and then it doesn’t seem that bad. Be careful, but sensitive to God; keep your heart soft towards Him!
We have seen in this portion of Romans this morning Paul condemn the self-righteous moralist as he is condemned by his conscious, knowing that he is a sinner, he is not perfect. And so, we see two kinds of lives here; the redeemed life that reflects holy living, not perfect but their desire is to serve the Lord and live their life to please Him; and the unredeemed life that lives for itself, to satisfy the flesh, living an unholy lifestyle and yet thinks they are good, thinks they are saved! Genuine salvation is based upon a relationship with Jesus Christ and that is then manifested in the things we do, the fruit that is born in our lives!
I pay that you would receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior if you don’t know Him this morning. That the righteousness of God that is from heaven will flow into your life and you can enter into that everlasting relationship with Him. Because, if you don’t, then you, a self-righteous moralist will be condemned by your conscience before God!