No Secrets (Romans 2:1-16)

Introduction

So far in our study of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, we have re-discovered the power of the gospel and the righteousness of God that is revealed to us by His grace and mercy through Christ Jesus. Then, in the second half of chapter one, we listened to Paul remind us that the wrath of God has been revealed to all humankind. It is a wrath that is justified by the holiness of God and the depravity of all of humankind. As the prophet Isaiah announced centuries before Paul wrote, “There is none who are righteous, not even one!” God’s holy righteousness and justified wrath upon the sinfulness of humankind is revealed in His Son and in creation itself, so that every person is without excuse. The revealing of God’s wrath and humankind’s depravity heightens the need for the gospel. There is no hope for redemption apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last Sunday, in that second half of chapter one, we were astonished by the debauchery of the Greco-Roman world, the context of Paul and that struggling church in Rome. But we also noticed the stunning similarities between Rome’s context and our present-day America.

As we turn the page to Romans 2, we are sick to our stomach from reading that list of sinful behavior at the close of chapter one. Turning our attention back to our own mad, mad world, like you, the brazen rebellion against God’s law, God’s moral ethic and standard, that I observe every day makes my skin crawl. It breaks our hearts, and even stirs up deep contempt for this dark world. We all find it easy to complain and criticize. Immorality seems to have gotten out of control. We throw our hands up in despair, and if we’re not careful, we will find ourselves echoing the voices of those indignant disciples in Luke 9:54, who said to Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

It is this human nature to pass moral judgment on other people, that Paul addresses in today’s passage.

Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:9-14 comes to mind:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Paul’s “therefore” in 2:1 points us back to that deplorable list of sinful attitudes and behavior, and therefore reminds us: we are all sinful and deserving of God’s wrath. What follows “therefore” is a warning: While we definitely need to speak the gospel truth to our world, we need to make sure we have integrity. Too often, the secular world is justified in its accusing the church as being a bunch of “critical moralizers”, as John Stott puts it. We need to be careful and humble in our response to the lost world. Nothing blinds a person more than the certainty that only others are guilty of moral faults.

Paul switches focus from God’s wrath to God’s judgement. He does so for two reasons:

to remind the sinner that God’s patient compassion on the sinner is temporary,

and to warn the religious to not be too quick to judge others, lest you also are judged, as Jesus also said.

The Main Ideas

1. When we judge others, we expose ourselves to the same judgment. (2:1-4)

We all have this strange weakness of character: the tendency to be critical of everyone except ourselves.

this is inexcusable

this is self-condemning

God’s judgement is based on truth, not self-exaltation.

it is according to the facts of our lives, not our lips

it is according to the standard of God’s Word, not our morality.

Those who judge others cannot escape God’s judgment.

in judging others we judge ourselves because we are also guilty of such sins in that deplorable list.

God’s judgment is certain: we cannot flee it.

2 Samuel 12:1-14 David agreed that the rich man who killed the poor man’s pet lamb deserved to die. But having passed judgment on another, he quickly learned from Nathan that he had judged himself. “You are the man!” declared the prophet. You have taken the lamb (Bathsheba) of the poor man (Uriah) for your own pleasure. In judging another, you have judged yourself. God’s judgment is based on truth. It is inescapable, whether one is rich or poor, king or pauper.

Those who judge others despise God’s grace and mercy.

God is benevolent.

God is restrained

God is good, patiently leading sinners to repentance

2. God’s judgement is righteous (2:5-8)

The sinful human heart is stubborn, and stores up God’s wrath against it (2:5-6

Eternal life is promised to … (2:7)

those who persist in doing good

those who seek glory, honor and that which is eternal

God’s wrath and anger are promised … (2:8)

to those who are self-seeking

to those who disobey truth and obey unrighteousness

3. God’s judgment is impartial (2:9-11)

Those who do evil (character) will experience eternal terror (9)

Those who do good (character) will experience glory, honor and peace (10)

God does not give preferential treatment to anyone (11)

4. Every person is accountable to God’s judgment (2:12-15)

God created humankind with a conscience (12, 14-15)

Those who know God’s law must obey it (12-13)

5. God’s judgment makes public what has been kept secret (16)

As someone (Dr. Waights G. Henry, Jr.) put it: “The past remains with us. For good or ill, what we are is a result of what we have done.” To illustrate this point let us consider an example from the life of the Duke of Windsor. Someone asked him if they could show film taken from various segments of his life for continuous and public showing. He agreed to allow them to show continuous footage from his life so long as he could censor the film. The film that he had before censoring was 60,000 feet long. When he finished his censoring, only 12,000 feet remained in the film. (Dr. Waights G. Henry, Jr. Begin Where You Are. Atlanta: Joint Radio Committee: The Methodist Church, 1960, p. 5).

Now if you do the math you will conclude that he cut out 80% of the film. If someone were to approach those of us in the adult bracket of the audience and make us the same offer, how much film of our lives would we censor?

Nothing can be censored from God’s view. Everything we try to keep secret, God will judge. Our lives are an open book to God.

The good news for those of us who are in Christ is, that all of our sin has been forgiven and throw into the sea of forgetfulness. We will be judged according to our good works, not our sin. But for those who were stubborn and refused to sin, judgment day will be the most terrifying day of their lives, as all of their sin, public and private, will be laid before them and judged by God.

What this means for us

We should ask the Lord to remove the beam from our eyes. (Matthew 7:1-6)

Matthew 7:1–6 CSB

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

We should imitate God’s mercy for sinners. (Psalm 103:8)

Psalm 103:8 (CSB)

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.

We should live the truth we speak. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Ephesians 4:14–15 CSB

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.