Contributor: Leye Olayiwola

Introduction

In our study last week, we had an in-depth study of Romans 1:28-32 where we considered the consequences of willful and deliberate sin. We looked at the results of not retaining and embracing the knowledge of God, the products of depraved minds and the very subtle way that people can be supporters of evil. We make further progress in our study of the Book of Romans today as we deliberate on God’s Righteous Judgement.

How often do we hear people say, “Don’t judge me!” or “You are judging me!”. Well, Paul in his letter to the Roman Christians addresses the topic of Judgement in Chapter 2. Why should we be careful about judging others? How’s God’s judgement different from Man’s? How does the nature of God influence His judgement? These and many more will be discussed in today’s study.

Verse 1: “Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically]  judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce]”.

1. Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge: In Romans 1, Paul pointed out the sin of the most notoriously guilty. He now speaks to those who are generally moral in their conduct. Paul assumes they are congratulating themselves that they are not like the people described in Romans 1.

A good example of this mind set is Jesus’ illustration of the Pharisee and the Publican. If we take those figures from Jesus’ parable, Paul spoke to the Publican in Romans 1 and now he addresses the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14).

2. For in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself: After gaining the agreement of the moralist in condemning the obvious sinner, now Paul turns the same argument upon the moralist himself. This is because at the end of it all, you who judge practice the same things.

1. As we judge another person, we point to a standard outside of our self – and that standard condemns everyone, not only the obvious sinner.
2. Practice the same things: Notice that the moralist is not condemned for judging others but for being guilty of the same things that he judges others for. This is something the moral man would object to (“I’m not like them at all!”), but Paul will demonstrate this is true.
3. Hypocrisy is excusing in ourselves what we condemn in other people!

Verse 2: According to truth: This has the idea of “according to the facts of the case.” God will judge (and condemn) the moralist on the basis of the facts.

Verse 3: The point is made clear: if the moralist is just as guilty as the obvious sinner how will they escape the judgment of God? You is emphatic in the question, “[do you think] you will escape the judgment of God?” Paul bears down here, letting his reader know that he is no exception to this principle. Paul knew how to get to the heart of his readers. “Our exhortations should be as forked arrows that stick in men’s hearts” Hebrews 4:12

Verse 4:

I. Or do you despise the riches of His goodness (kindness), forbearance (tolerance), and longsuffering (patience): Paul points out what the moralist himself presumes upon the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God, which all should bring the moralist into a humble repentance instead of an attitude of superiority.

i. Goodness may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our past sin. He has been good to us because He has not judged us yet though we deserve it.

ii. Forbearance may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our present sin. This very day – indeed, this very hour – we have fallen short of His glory, yet He holds back His judgment against us.

iii. Longsuffering may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our future sin. He knows that we will sin tomorrow and the next day, yet He holds back His judgment against us.

iv. Considering all these, it is no surprise that Paul describes these three aspects of God’s kindness to us as riches. The riches of God’s mercy may be measured by four considerations:

1. His greatness – to wrong a great man is a great wrong and God is greatest of all – yet He shows mercy.
2. His omniscience – if someone knew all our sin, would they show mercy? Yet God shows mercy.
3. His power – sometimes wrongs are not settled because they are out of our power, yet God is able to settle every wrong against Him – yet He is rich in mercy.
4. The object of His mercy: mere man – would we show mercy to an ant? Yet God is rich in mercy.

v. Knowing how great God’s kindness is, it is a great sin to presume upon the graciousness of God, and we easily come to believe that we deserve it.

II. Forbearance and longsuffering: Men think of this as weakness in God. They say things like “If there is a God in heaven, let Him strike me dead!” When it doesn’t happen, they will say, “See, I told you there was no God.” Men misinterpret God’s forbearance and longsuffering as His approval, and they refuse to repent.

“It seems to me that every morning when a man wakes up still impenitent, and finds himself out of hell, the sunlight seems to say, ‘I shine on thee yet another day, as that in this day thou mayest repent.’ When your bed receives you at night I think it seems to say, ‘I will give you another night’s rest, that you may live to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus.’ Every mouthful of bread that comes to the table says, ‘I have to support your body that still you may have space for repentance.’ Every time you open the Bible the pages say, ‘We speak with you that you may repent.’ Every time you hear a sermon, if it be such a sermon as God would have us preach, it pleads with you to turn unto the Lord and live.” (Spurgeon)

III. Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance: Many people misunderstand the goodness of God towards the wicked. They don’t understand the entire reason for it is to lead them to repentance.

Men should see the goodness of God and understand: God has been better to them than they deserve; God has shown them kindness when they have ignored Him; God has shown them kindness when they have mocked Him; God is not a cruel master and they may safely surrender to Him; God is perfectly willing to forgive them; God should be served out of simple gratitude.

Verse 5: I. You are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God: Because of this presumption on God’s graciousness, Paul can rightly say that the moralist is treasuring up… wrath in the day of wrath.

(i) The moralist thinks he treasures up merit with God as he condemns the “sinners” around him. Actually, he only treasures up the wrath of God. “Just as men add to their treasure of wealth, so dost thou add to the treasures of punishment.”

(ii) As men treasure up the wrath of God against them, what holds back the flood of wrath? God Himself! He holds it back out of His forbearance and longsuffering! “The figure is that of a load that God bears, which men heap up more and more, making heavier and heavier. The wonder of it all is that God holds any of it up even for a day; yet he holds up all its weight and does not let it crash down on the sinner’s head.”

II. In the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God: In the first coming of Jesus the loving character of God was revealed with greatest emphasis. At the second coming of Jesus the righteous judgment of God will be revealed most clearly.

Verses 6-7: Will render to each one according to his deeds: This is an awesome and fearful thought, and it condemns the moralist as well as the obvious sinner. Eternal life to those: If someone genuinely did good at all times, he could merit eternal life of his own accord.

Conclusion:

Salvation is not works based, but condemnation/judgment is. – Some Scriptures can be a bit confusing because they share bits and pieces of the story, but not the entire thing. Verse 7 is like this. Taken only by itself it appears to be teaching works-based salvation. However, when weighed against the scores of passages (including some later in Romans) teaching justification by grace through faith, it clearly cannot mean that. It is only showing one piece of the puzzle and that is the works. The person doing good works will receive eternal life. But why can they do good works? Why can they actually please God? We know that no one can please God by themselves. This person can only do these things because He has already trusted in Christ and been saved. These are evidences of his salvation, not the cause. Salvation doesn’t depend on works because if it did no one could be good enough. Our works can’t save us, but they can condemn us.

This study is culled from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/romans-2/

https://studyandobey.com/inductive-bible-study/romans-studies/romans2-1-16/