Romans 2:9-16

Are we practicing what we are preaching?

Romans 2:9–16 “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

Main Proposition:

Statement of Doctrine or Application (SILVER BULLET)

“Are we practicing what we are preaching?”

Intro:

Statement of proposition

As believers in the 21st century we have been told the more we know the better, but when it comes to scripture as we are about to read it’s not only about being readers and hearers of the word, but the real question is are we practicing what we are preaching? From what we have read so far we know that God will judge every man and he will do it perfectly and justly. We know that every man has the general knowledge of God, but now Paul is going to talk more specifically about the Mosaic laws and how Christ will judge justly, but according to the Jewish law to the Jews and the moral conscience of the Gentiles.

Other texts that support

James 2:14-17

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

If you are a professing Christian yet you show no fruit from your life, you don’t live according to scripture what is the point? What does Christ say to that?

Works does not supply salvation BUT faith does supply works

John 5:28-29

28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

This shows us that everybody that has ever lived on Earth will be called to judgment.

Romans 14:12

12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

And when we are called to judgment what is going to be said? What are you going to say? What is Christ going to look at you and say?

Why does this matter?

We can’t just go through life thinking that we are good because we know God’s laws, His word and that’s it. It is easy to say “I’m good, I know God, I read his word, I memorize scripture.” It is a completely different thing to say I live for God. I live to please God and his son. I truly believe that Jesus Christ died for MY sins and I am forever grateful for that and because of that I am going to practice and live my life according to Scripture. What is the difference between the first and second part?

Main Point #1: God does not play favorites

Statement

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.

Prove

Paul is dealing with every conceivable objection which people may have when it comes to God’s wrath and judgment on men.

Verse 9:

“The Jew first and also the Greek (meaning every man)

These are going to be the punishments and the rewards

Just as the Jews were given the first opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel, they will be first to receive God’s judgment if they refuse.

Verse 10:

Describing the outcome of the believing-righteous

Once again “the Jew first and also the Greek” (meaning every man)

If you are a true believer that not just hears/reads the word, but practices it and believes in Christ we get glory, honor, peace.

Verse 11:

Why is that? Why do both groups here Jews (God’s chosen people) and Gentiles (Everyone else) have the chance to get the same outcome?

Because God shows zero favoritism.

God does not consider race, place or face to ever influence Him.

God does not lift up one higher than the other.

Humans do show partiality: If you are good looking, wealthy, influential you will 9 times out of 10 get better treatment than someone who does not have those markers.

For us it is way harder to give honest judgment because we can be influenced and tend to be more lenient with ourselves then others.

As we learned in Romans 2:2: God is always just

As we read these first three verses in this passage we can see and conclude that it is not the possession of the law that counts when it comes to salvation.

Verse 11 would have shocked these people because they considered themselves special because they are God’s chosen people.

They looked at Gentiles as blind, foolish, in the dark people, BUT if God found them guilty and they didn’t have the law then how much more guilty were the privileged Jews that did have the law?

Romans 2:2: God only judges according to truth

Romans 2:6: According to men’s deeds

Romans 2:!6: Judges the secrets of men

He sees what is in the heart.

Flowers in texts

Acts 10:34

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

There are no favorites when it comes to judgment. The criteria is set and the judgment will be set on: 1. Repentance of sin and 2. Faith in Jesus Christ

Ephesians 6:9

9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master[a] and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

Illustrations

So imagine your parents told you that you couldn’t leave the house on Friday night. They told you that not your siblings, but you ignore them because you’re feeling rebellious and you get caught. Both of you are going to get in trouble, but which one is going to get in the most trouble? The kid that was directly told hey you aren’t allowed to leave the house.

Apply or Confront

We are told today that right and wrong are all up to interpretation, but as believers in the 21st century we have access to the laws (Show them the Bible) and on top of it we have our conscience. We know what is right and what is wrong. Christ is going to judge us based on the law and our hearts.

Main Point #2: It is not enough to just hear or read the word

Statement

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Prove

Verse 12:

We have established the fact that God’s judgment is according to truth and Paul is about to tell us that each person will be judged by the light at which they were given.

Jews by the Law and Gentiles their conscience

The first thing I want to look at is the change of words from verse 12: “perish without the law” and “judged by the law”

What does Paul mean by this? It is the standard that God has given the Jew. It is higher and stricter than what applies to the Gentile.

God demands more from the Jew because he has given them a law

It is according to the light received. Whether people had a great light or not, they are still under condemnation and need to be saved.

So what can we pick up from this? Possessing the law isn’t a salvific advantage to the Jew. They still need to have faith in the Son of God. Hearing the law is no salvific advantage if you don’t do anything with it. Imagine going face to face with Jesus and him saying: “Why should I let you into the Gates of Heaven?” and your response is “I listened to every single John MacArthur sermon.” What do you think his response would be? Not a positive one.

Sin must be punished

Paul isn’t saying that people who had never heard the law get a free pass. He isn;t saying that they are saved based on the fact that they had not heard the law.

This isn’t justification or sanctification. We know we are only justified by Christ on the cross.

We are only talking about judgment

Verse 13:

Paul is addressing the group of those that think that merely listening to the law will grant them safety on the day of wrath.

Hearing the law is not enough

If one is a true believer they have Faith and that equals salvation and because of salvation you want to participate in what the Bible teaches and preaches. That faith will be demonstrated to be just by the evidence of their doing God’s holy law.

Fruit of our lives

Everytime that you or I hear the Gospel our responsibility increases

The more we have grown in grace and advanced in the knowledge of the Lord, again the greater is our responsibility.

That is the difference between someone that just listens or reads God’s Word and one that lives it out in their lives.

The sad thing is that the Jews had no fear for the wrath of God

Listening in their mind checked the only box they needed

The law demands obedience

Flowers in texts

1 Corinthians 9:20-21

20 To the Jews I became a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

James 1:22-25

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Illustrations

Running a traffic light knowing you shouldn’t have done that

Apply or Confront

I want to challenge you this upcoming week: I want you to write down the passages of scripture that you are reading, draw up a summary of what you read over the week and then I want you to write down how you can apply that passage to your life. If a passage talks about purity how can you make sure you are taking steps to stay pure, if you’re reading about the fall of Adam and Eve how can you better glorify God and Christ in redeeming you as a fallen person. The Bible is so applicable to our lives. We can’t just sit at church and think we are saved, we can’t just read the Bible and think we are good. All of that is good, but we are called to act on what we read. This matters because there are two roads the saved and the unsaved. The good news is that Jesus saves, but the bad news is that so many people can get so close to Jesus, but never taste salvation.

Main Point #3: All of our secrets will be known

Statement

14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Prove

Verse 14

Is it right that someone should be condemned by the law if he has never heard of it?

They aren’t judged by the law, but they aren't innocent either.

The law isn’t inscribed on the heart, but “the work of the law is written in their hearts”

Because the Gentiles occasionally practice the commands of the law, they thereby reveal that the commands of the law are known by them to be obligatory.

The purpose is to show that they know what the law commands.

They are aware of the social norms

They have a moral sense, consciousness and the ability to differentiate between right and wrong and good and evil.

Paul is describing gentile Christians who manifest the new life of the Spirit by their obedience to the law

Verse 15:

In addition to an innate awareness of God’s law, men have a warning system that activates when they choose to ignore or disobey the law. Paul urges believers to not ignore our own conscience or cause others to do the same because repeatedly ignoring the conscience’s warnings desensitizes it and eventually silences it.

They Gentiles are no more capable of fulfilling the whole law than the Jews were.

Nobody can

If you fail at one you fail at all.

Verse 16:

The day of judgment is going to be exercise by Christ

We are going to be judged not just by our actions, but according to everything that is true about us.

Luke 11:39: The Pharisee could make a good show because of his external actions, but we will be judged by every thought, every imagination, in our hearts and mind

The conviction occurs when the gospel is preached (accurately)

Righteousness is not works based, but it is according to works

Faith = Salvation + Works

Christ will judge the secrets of all, assuring that the judgment is truly impartial

“According to my gospel”: This is not his own personal message, but a message that is divinely revealed of Jesus Christ.

Flowers in texts

Jeremiah 31:33

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

1 Timothy 4:1-4

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Illustrations

Apply or Confront

We are all sinners, we all fall short in terms of work, but that does not give us an excuse to sin. We still have that internal warning system that blares when we are doing something that we know we shouldn't

Apply to their lives

Applications Points:

1. Get right with Christ

2. live to glorify God

3. be relieved that Salvation is not up to our own will