Romans 2:1-11--God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-11
English Standard Version

God's Righteous Judgment
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 practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice 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.

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These words should sound familiar as it sounds very much like part of what we already studied on The Sermon on the Mount and throughout the gospels that we have studied as well as some of the epistles.  We love to see our sin in other people and to condemn them for that which we are guilty of while trying our best to either hide that sin from the sight of others, pretending that it is not there, or somehow minimizing our own guilt--possibly even cloaking that sin in some appearance of godliness like the Pharisees did.  Paul knew about that because he was one of the Pharisees before his conversion.

But God judges rightly without hypocrisy for He is completely innocent and guiltless.  He also knows all things and nothing is hidden from Him, even the sin that happens in our hearts and minds and is never manifest into actions.  We know that God will be the Righteous Judge of the living and the dead and that all those who practice iniquity and make that their character, nature, and identity will not be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven.

We should not expect that we should escape from God's justice because somehow God will miss or overlook our trespasses and iniquities.  God is patient now to give us all a chance to come to repentance because of His deep, deep love for us and His abundant grace and mercy, but that doesn't mean that the Justice and Wrath of God don't exist and don't have their time and place.

2 Peter 3:8-10
English Standard Version8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Paul tells the people reading this letter that in their natural state they are simply storing up wrath against themselves for the day of judgment if the previous passage we studied yesterday describes them.  The wicked will not go unpunished.  He will judge each person according to their works--well, all of those outside of Christ will be.

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.

I don't want to parse every verse here as I think the idea Paul lays out is important that our hearts are exposed by if we seek to glorify God or ourselves.  This is the difference between the "natural man" and the "spiritual man" that we see Paul talk about in other epistles.  Everyone will stand before the Righteous Judge and will receive the proper judgment.  Those who lived and died in rebellion will go to the "torture chambers" of the Lake of Fire that were prepared for the devil and his angles.  Those who have been "born again" and Jesus talks about in John 3 with Nicodemus will receive not only eternal life, but glory, honor, and peace.  God shows no partiality (that is favoritism).  Jews will not simply escape because they are "children of Abraham" nor will Gentiles escape because they lived and died apart from the Law and "didn't know any better."  Paul is going to make the argument that both of those argumenta fall flat on their face.