The Judgement of God

Introduction

There is one central theme to Romans chapter 2 and that is the judgment of God. Because we are all under God’s wrath for of our ungodliness and unrighteousness, we will all face judgment. I pointed out last week, that Paul uses a rhetorical technique called diatribe to build his case in this chapter. He debates with an imaginary opponent and answers their objections. We will be taking this apart piece by piece each week, but this morning, I want us to take a birds eye view of the whole topic of God’s judgment in Romans 2.

In our legal system, we have good judges and bad judges. As much as we want justice to be blind, as human judges we often fall short of our ideals. Guilty criminals get set free, innocent people sometimes end up in Jail, bribes are sometimes taken, witnesses lie, evidence is tampered with and injustice exists.

As an example, last year a man named Barry Jones was released from Arizona’s death row after nearly 30 years in prison. Barry has been accused of murdering his girlfriends 4 year old daughter who died of internal bleeding. His original lawyer failed to bring up medical evidence that showed the injury occurred when he was not around the little girl. Our system allows a post-conviction review during which he was assigned another lawyer. This state-appointed lawyer did not meet min requirements by the state to practice law and also failed to bring up the medical evidence. Finally under a federal habeas proceeding, the medical evidence was presented but the case was pushed back down to the state level. Eventually, the Arizona AG reviewed the evidence which showed that the girl had been hit in the stomach with a metal bar by some neighborhood boys which caused her death. This had occurred days before Barry was anywhere near the girl.

This story just shows that our human legal system is bound to fail because humans are involved in meeting out justice, but God’s justice is always perfect. As we work through the text sometimes we can lose track of the forest as we look at the trees. Sometimes you need to zoom out on the map so you can see where you are going. Paul is going to argue that God’s judgment is characterized by four things.

According to Truth

Romans 2:2 “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.”

We know this- Back in chapter 1, we saw that mankind knows somethings about God based on common grace. They know there is a creator though they deny it. They know he is powerful if he could create this world. The world also knows that God is a God of justice and his standards are based on facts. We know this by the witness of conscience.

How our judgment fails to be based on truth

We can fail to judge based on truth when we judge what hasn’t happened yet. “Innocent until proven guilty- Hitler illustration”

We can fail to judge based on truth when we read into people’s motives. 1 Corinthians 4:3–5 “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”

We can fail to judge based on truth when we don’t have all the facts.

We can fail to judge because we allow our relationship with the person to pervert justice.

Implications of God’s judgment according to truth

1. It is the right thing to do- People don’t like the doctrine of the wrath of God because they think God is not fair. We may not always agree with God’s judgment but Romans 3:4 “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”

Genesis 18:25 “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

2. Because God’s standards are according to truth, he cannot have varying standards for different people. He doesn’t have one set of standards for the Jew and then another for the Gentile.

3. He doesn’t change one moment and have one standard and then in another moment have another standard. James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

4. He isn’t deceived by outward appearance Luke 16:15 “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” He knows the truth of your heart. Maybe you have been good at acting like the good kid on the outside, but inside you are consumed with desire for sin. You long for the day in which you can be on your own and do what you want. He sees beyond your fake exterior to your heart.

God is going to judge us by how things really are, not by how we pretend them to be.

According to his deeds

Romans 2:6 “Who will render to every man according to his deeds:”

Revelation 2:23 “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

Many have mistaken these passages to teach that a person is saved by his works.

This does not fit with the context- Paul’s argument began with a presentation of the gospel which is received by faith. Romans 1:16–17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Paul cannot be contradicting himself.

Paul’s purpose in this section is to show that even the religious Jews are guilty before God. Romans 3:9 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;”

So why are we judged by our works?

The context of this entire passage is not about justification; Paul’s entire purpose is to show all guilty and condemned before God. He considers here what it is that condemns us: sin. You and I all work sin because we are sinners. When we have to give an account for our works, the works that will be found are merely sin. And it is because of those works of sin, that we will all be condemned. Works can’t save us but they can condemn a man.

Works are the fruit of salvation. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” James 2:17–18 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” Jesus earlier taught speaking of false teachers Matthew 7:16 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” The consistent principle of scripture is that what is in your heart will make its way out in your life. This is because we are a new creature. We are not what we once were. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A true believer is going to manifest some sort of change. I cannot quantify how much of a change that must be; that is God’s job, but the truth is that there will be a change. A believer is not perfect, but he is being changed by God.

Many have fallen into a heresy that defines faith as merely an assent to a basic set of facts. Faith is more than just believing intellectually the truths of the gospel. James says James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Faith is not merely believing some facts. Faith is placing our trust in Jesus Christ. There is no room for “easy believism” in Christianity. Many have assented to a certain set of facts, but they have never truly placed their faith in Jesus Christ. They are not saved and their lives show it.

The lost will appear before the judgment seat of Christ and be condemned based on their works.

For the believer, we will also be judged based on our works for rewards. 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

The point Paul is making here is that God is not going to merely accept men because they belonged to a certain nation or family. The proof of their faith is in their living. The proof is in the pudding.

Without respect of persons

Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.”

This point is really a subpoint under the heading judged by our works. God’s judgment will also be without respect of persons. That is an old way of saying without favoritism. The Jews thought that they were going to get off easy because they were Jews. God would be lenient on the nation of Israel and come down hard on the Gentiles. To ignore their works and give them special favors just because of who they are would be favoritism.

We see this phrase used by Peter in the book of Acts to show that God accepted the Gentiles who had placed their faith in Christ.

Acts 10:34 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:”

But here is the takeaway for us today: When it comes time for you to stand before the judgment seat of God, you will not be able to claim some special privilege. You cannot say, but my parents were Christians, or my dad was a preacher. You cannot even say, but I was a member of a Baptist church my whole life.

God does not let anyone off from facing judgment because of their heritage or ethnicity. He will not let you off because you are a wealthy, or influential, or likable person. Claiming to be a Christian isn’t going to save you. A person can claim to be christian and not be one.

Mark Minnick used this illustration: It is possible to be part of the choir and mouth the words. Meaning you can pretend to be part of the group, but someday you are going to have to sing a solo.

According to the gospel

Romans 2:16 “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

God’s judgment finally will be based on the gospel. Because if you have followed our discussion so far through chapter 1 and 2, you realize that there is no one who perfectly stands righteous before God.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

When all the tallying is done and your works are looked at and judged, no one will stand clean, able to enter God’s heaven on the basis of what they have done. The only way you will ever enter heaven is by faith in the gospel. See how Paul has returned back to the theme at the beginning of the book. We have no righteousness of our own to commend ourselves.

According to Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

The gospel is the only way you can have you sins forgiven and be saved from the judgment of God. But what is the gospel, We have seen this in other messages, but the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that if we place our faith in what Jesus did on the cross paying for my sin and his resurrection from the dead, if we trust, depend only on Jesus to save us; we will be saved.

You are condemned by your works, but you can only be saved by faith in the gospel. So the question that will matter the most in that moment is what did you do with Jesus Christ? The only way that God can righteously judge is by paying our debt for us. Someone has to bear the punishment for our sin and that is what Jesus did on the cross.

Conclusion

So many of us are Christians here today. So how does looking at God’s judgment have anything to do with me. I an not condemned Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Jesus told us in John 7:24 “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Righteous judgment means judging the way God does.

Do we judge according to truth? Is our judgment based on facts or feelings? Is it based on appearances or verifiable truth?

Do we judge according to deeds? How often do we judge people’s motives or their actions? Do we really know their hearts?

Are we willing to show grace around the gospel of Jesus Christ? Jesus took on him the pain and suffering that we deserved so that our relationship with God could be restored. Are we willing to bear the pain and suffering that others cause us in order to restore relationships? Can we show grace and mercy in the way we judge others?