20240811 Romans 2:1-5 - Why “Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough
The Book of Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome to Vertical Church
Acts 2:42 (LSB)
And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Our vision is to be a multicultural church for all ages
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
Our desire is to make disciples of all nations, to full fill the Great commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment: to love God with all our heart soul, mind, and strength
Teaching the Bible verse by verse
Sharing our faith with a lost world
Praying with boldness
While God is sovereign over creation and over redemption, he has given the church the responsibility of preaching the gospel so the lost might hear the gospel and receive a new heart, a new soul, a new will, and the ability to believe by faith that Christ is their Savior
Loving God and showing the world that we are Christ’s disciples by loving one another
The authority of the Bible - Scripture alone is the written and complete revelation of God, written through holy men who were inspired, and superintended by the Holy Spirit
All true worship is vertical, it is directed to God, it is for the glory of God, and it is to be seen as an offering to God
Come join us in creating a church of families, young adults, and individuals who have come together to create a church of biblical teaching and biblical relationships.
Call to Worship - Matthew 13:24-30
Matthew 13:24–30 (LSB)
24 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Scripture Reading - Romans 2:1-5
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Introduction:
The parable of the wheat and the tares
One of the ways that Satan attacks the Church is to deliberately place false believes in the assembly of the righteous
Those who claim to be righteous. Those who claim to be saved by good words. Those who claim to be moral and base this on a comparison between themselves
Romans is written to both Jewish and Gentile believers. Paul teaches tru doctrine in order to produce true faith and tru living
Each chapter of Romans builds on the previous chapters. You can’t understand Romans 2 unless you understand chapter 1 and so on
In a church of both Jewish and Gentile believers, Paul wants them to understand:
The necessity of the gospel
The power of the gospel
And especially, who needs the gospel
In a 1st century church of Jewish and Gentile believers and in a church in 2024 made up of those who have been raised in church and those who are new to church, Paul shows in chapter 1 that all men and women are under the righteous judgments of God and need the gospel
In chapter 2 Paul will show them that those who are Jewish and raised under the Law, or those who have held to a strict moral standard are not more righteous than those who have come out of idolatry and pagan immorality
In Romans 1 Paul tells us that the gospel is the proclamation of the life, ministry and work of Jesus Christ Jesus is the Savior who through his perfect obedience and sinless life, who through his active obedience to the Law and his passive obedience of humbling himself and dying as our sacrifice and substitute has obtained salvation for everyone who comes to Christ for salvation through faith.
Paul states in chapter 1 that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, a salvation that is by faith from the moment of salvation until the day we die.
Paul then states that before we were in Christ we rejected the gospel, in fact we intentionally suppressed the truth of the gospel.
And this suppression of the gospel allows the radical corruption of our sinful nature to not only turn away from God but to turn to every form of sin and sinful behavior.
Now in the first part of Romans 2 we meet those who say that the gospel is unnecessary
First we meet those who say the gospel is unnecessary for them because of their morality.
Then we we will meet those who say the gospel is unnecessary because they follow the Law, the commandments of the Hebrew scriptures
Then we will meet those who say that the gospel is unnecessary because of their Jewish lineage
And this will cause Paul to say in chapter 3 that all have fallen short of the glory of God, there is no one righteous, no not one.
And so, for the next few chapters Paul will continue to convince his readers that all men, all women, the entire world is under the wrath of God. In the first chapters of Romans Paul will say again and again that if you think you are in any way deserving of eternal life because of something you did or something you are, then you are gravely mistaken.
Before we get to the good news of justification by faith alone, Paul will pull us through the next few chapters and show us that the holy standard of God’s law is impossible to attain apart from Christ and there is judgment looming over all of us.
Romans 2:1-5 - The Hypocrisy of Moralism and the Impartiality of God
Ism - a philosophy of life, a worldview, a way of life and thinking that affects all we do Theism, Hedonism, Relativism, Pluralism, Monasticism
Paul repeats three terms in these verses that appear in chapter 1:
You are without excuse (2:1)
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Those who practice such things(2:2)
2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.
32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
The day of wrath (2:5)
5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Paul is confronting those who say that they do not need the gospel because of their goodness, their morality, the history of religion
I’m talking to you, I’m talking to all of you. Don’t think I’m talking about someone else
In order to see this let’s read carefully through verses 1-5
Romans 2:1–5 (LSB)
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Paul is making 4 statements concerning those who think they do not need the gospel because of their moral goodness:
(1) You practice the same sin (2:1)
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
The hypocrisy of moralism - are you truly sinless?
The “But I say to you’s” of Jesus
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 “Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last quadrans. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(2) You’ll suffer the same judgment
2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God?
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God?
God’s judgment is just and based on truth “rightly falls” - if there is no equal justice there is no justice at all
It’s foolish to think that what you have done will someone allow God to overlook other sin in your life
You cannot escape
(3) You resist the same kindness of God (2:4)
4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
(4) You are storing up the same wrath (2:5)
5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
You are in the same boat.
You cannot forgive your sin
Do you take God’s kindness lightly?
Do you think because God is kind there will be no judgment?
Do you think that asGod’s child He overlooks your sin?
Romans (Wrath Stored Up)
In explaining our sin in relation to God’s wrath, Paul uses a banking metaphor. If we begin to save our money, taking a small portion of each paycheck and putting it in the bank, we are building up, slowly but surely, a treasure; we are saving up for a rainy day. Just so, every time we sin, we add an indictment against ourselves, treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. Do we really believe that? I do not think the world believes it. Every day that we sin without repenting, we are depositing future wrath into the account of God’s judgment.
Some people think, “If you go to hell, you go to hell. What is the difference?” A professor of mine once said that the sinner in hell would give everything he owned and do anything he could to make one less the number of his sins during his lifetime, because he will be judged according to his deeds. There are various degrees of punishment in hell because hell is where God manifests his perfect justice, and the punishment always fits the crime. If someone commits thirty sins, he is going to be punished thirty ways. So long as our hearts remain hardened, we add to the indictment moment by moment.
Now may the Keeper of Israel keep you. May God our Father keep you from stumbling. May the Son of God keep you near the cross. May the Spirit of God keep you from idols. Amen.
Communion
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was being betrayed took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.
beginning in verse 1, I gave you five statements last time, and I’m just gonna walk back through those and I wanna make sure that you got these because we’re gonna expand the fifth and final statement here. In verse 1, Paul says, “You practice the same sin. Therefore, you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things.” He’s referring back to the end of chapter one.
You practice the same things, just different manifestations of the same thing, different extent of the same thing, but you’ve been weighed in the balances, and you’ve been found guilty of the very same sin, and then second, in verses 2 and 3, you’ll suffer the same judgment, he says. Verse 3, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?” It’s a rhetorical question implying the negative answer, no. You will face the same judgment. You’ve committed — you’ve practiced the same sin, you suffer the same judgment. Verse 4, “You resist the same kindness or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness?” Then in Verse 5, “You store up the same wrath. You are storing up wrath until the day of wrath.”