Lawson Romans 2

True and False Circumcision – Romans 2:25-29

OnePassion Ministries May 2, 2017

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For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God (Romans 2:25-29). This study focuses upon the subject of circumcision and requires that we, first, lay a foundation before this passage will make sense to most of us. In order to do so, we are going to walk through the entire Bible to uncover the mandate and necessity of true circumcision. Admittedly, this religious rite is not a normal part of our life as Gentiles. Consequently, we do not give this practice much thought. In order for us to understand Paul’s message on circumcision in Romans 2:25-29, we will do an overview of this subject from the rest of the Bible. Understanding circumcision is a part of our having a comprehensive understanding the gospel. As we approach this subject, let me remind us that we are in the first section of Romans, which deals with the condemnation of the human race by God. This underscores every person’s desperate need for the gospel. Beginning with Romans 2:17, Paul began to specifically address the Jew. In verses 17-24, he said, “You who are the Jew, who have the Law, why do you teach others the Law and do not follow it yourself?” In verse 25, Paul goes for the jugular. He pokes his finger into the apple of the eye of the Jew and addresses the one issue in the Law in which the Jew took the most pride. This is the practice of circumcision upon infant Jewish boys. Starting in verse 25, Paul will make a distinction between true and false circumcision. A Biblical Survey of Circumcision Circumcision was an integral part of the nation of Israel, starting with Abraham, the father of God’s chosen people (Genesis 17:11-14). It was required of every male Jewish boy that on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin of his male organ was to be cut as a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. This command was reinforced in the Mosaic Law, which declared, “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:3). This practice was intended to be a picture of what must happen to the heart, just like baptism is a picture of the reality of salvation. The foreskin was cut with a sharp knife, signifying that this person is to be set apart to God. This pictured the reality that one must have his heart pierced and cut to the core by the sharp two-edged sword of the word of God. The heart must be set apart to God. It is a picture of the new birth, a picture of conversion. The physical circumcision is a picture of the spiritual circumcision that must take place in the life of every believer. Circumcision in Deuteronomy In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reissued the Law a second time to a new generation that was poised to enter into the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wanderings. The word “Deuteronomy” means ‘the second giving of the Law,’ or ‘the second Law-giving.’ The generation in the wilderness with Moses had received physical circumcision, but their hearts had not been circumcised by the Holy Spirit with the word of God. Moses said, “So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16). In this verse, an uncircumcised heart meant that one was stiff-necked. To be stiff-necked pictured a stubborn ox that will not submit to a master. When the master tried to place the yoke around its neck, the ox hunched up its shoulders, so that his neck refused to receive the yoke. To be stiff-necked meant that the ox would not submit to the yoke of it master. The ox was resistant and refused humble itself. Simply put, he would not submit to the authority of his master. In this passage, Moses said this wilderness generation is stiff-necked. They would not submit to the lordship of God over their lives. They refused to surrender their life to God. Instead, God said that they must circumcise their heart. They needed to have their heart pierced, which involves the painful conviction of sin. This excruciating piercing must accompany their entrance into the kingdom of God. From this, we learn that no one giggles through the narrow gate. No one skips their way flippantly into the kingdom. All who come do so by mourning over the painful awareness of their sin. This, in turn, leads to rejoicing at the relief that is found in the grace of God. The book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons preached by Moses with multiple messages. In one of his later sermons, Moses expounded the sovereignty of God in this spiritual circumcision. This is something for which man is responsible, but only God can do. Moses said, “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart so that you may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6). This latter aspect referred to their children as they would come under the influence of the truth of the gospel. Three times in this one verse, Moses stressed the heart. If their heart was not circumcised, they remained spiritually dead. An unconverted heart had no spiritual life. This was the necessity of heart circumcision. Without their heart being circumcised, they were separated from God and without spiritual life. This heart circumcision represented them being set apart to God, by the Holy Spirit, in the new birth. Circumcision in Jeremiah The prophet Jeremiah said, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart” (Jeremiah 4:4). The prophet is not requiring an adult to perform the surgical procedure of physical circumcision on himself. He is talking about the real circumcision which is spiritual. In other words, it is not enough that they were circumcised as an infant. That is not going to gain anyone entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The unbeliever who is thickheaded and stiff-necked must circumcise their heart. Such spiritual surgery will remove the foreskin of their heart. That is to say, this procedure will remove their sinful resistance to God and refusal to submit to His authority over their lives. Spiritual circumcision will remove their unbelief and cause them to place their faith in God and His gospel. If a person does not have their heart circumcised, notice the second half of verse four. God says, “Or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds” (Jeremiah 4:4). The foreskin of one’s heart is what caused one to live a sinful, rebellious life. The heart must be cut with deep conviction of sin. The only two-edged sword sharp enough to penetrate the thick foreskin of their rebellion against God is the word of God. This is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). When it comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, it is an invincible weapon in the hand of the one who wields it. The prophet Jeremiah says that the imperative of knowing God must be the real experience of every heart. God spoke through Jeremiah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me’” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). The priority is upon the heart being turned to God. Jeremiah then resumed his discussion on circumcision. He wrote, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised’” (Jeremiah 9:25). This refers to those who are physically circumcised, but who are not spiritually circumcised. A Jew could have been physically circumcised, but it is counted for nothing if he was not spiritually circumcised. Days are coming when God will punish those who are circumcised, yet uncircumcised. It is exactly the same today, with those who have been baptized, but who have not been spiritually baptized. You can be baptized in water, but not be a true believer. Having the physical ceremony brings no redemptive reality to a person’s life. One must have the spiritual circumcision of the new birth. In the end, this divine punishment will come, “for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart” (Jeremiah 9:26). All the Gentile nations are uncircumcised, both physically and spiritually. This is a double uncircumcision. On the other hand, Israel is circumcised physically, but uncircumcised spiritually in the heart. That means, they are physically circumcised, but spiritually unregenerate. They are in the commonwealth of Israel, but not in the spiritual kingdom of God. They have participated in the ritual in their body, but have never had the reality in their heart. Circumcision in Ezekiel God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, “When you brought in foreigners uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh” (Ezekiel 44:7). A distinction is made between the Gentiles, who were the foreigners, who had not been circumcised either physically or spiritually. The prophet recorded, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh…shall enter My sanctuary’” (verse 9). In order to come into the presence of God in the sanctuary, one must be a true worshiper of God. Such a person must have a heart that has been circumcised, meaning it must be cut, convicted, and converted. Every person who would worship God must have a heart that has been pierced by the word of God. This spiritual surgery would bring a person into submission to the Lord so that he will no longer be stiff-necked of heart. Circumcision in Acts In Acts 7, Stephen preached that incredible sermon before the Sanhedrin, comprised of the seventy Jewish leaders and the high priest of the nation Israel. Stephen gave an extraordinary walk through the spiritual history of Israel, where he came to the summation of his sermon. In verse 51, he addressed the unbelieving, unregenerate leaders of the nation of Israel, when they were in spiritual apostasy. In their recent past, they had crucified their Messiah in rank unbelief. Stephen said to them, “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did” (Acts 7:51). He pointed back to everything we previously examined in Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel about being uncircumcised. Tragically, the nation Israel had a longstanding history of being circumcised, yet being uncircumcised. There had always been a believing remnant within the nation, but the rest of the nation remained uncircumcised of heart. Circumcision in Galatians Galatians 6:15 is a key verse in which Paul said emphatically, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision.” This means, there is no saving value whatsoever in physical circumcision. The apostle continued, “but a new creation” (Galatians 6:15). This is to say, the only thing that matters before God is that a person is born again and becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus. Paul talks elsewhere about becoming this new creation. He writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). To become a “new creature” is a metaphorical expression for the new birth. In the New Testament, we continue to see these terms of circumcision and uncircumcision that were introduced in the New Testament. False teachers known as Judaizers had come into the churches in Galatia after Paul left this region on his first missionary journey. These false workers of evil were trying to put unbelievers and believers back under the Mosaic Law. They were telling people that in order to enter into the kingdom of God, they must be circumcised. Paul began his epistle to the Galatians saying that this teaching is another gospel. He said, let these false teachers be anathema, or perish eternally in hell. He concludes by telling the believers to forget circumcision and uncircumcision. All that matters is that they are a new creature in Christ Jesus. Circumcision in Ephesians This subject of spiritual circumcision resurfaces again in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The apostle said, “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hand” (Ephesians 2:11). The Jews looked down their long, self-righteous noses at the Gentiles. They called them uncircumcised, meaning unclean. There is a note of intentional sarcasm here. Paul called the circumcised Jews, “so-called ‘Circumcision.’” They had been physically circumcised, but they had not had the real circumcision. They only had the circumcision of their flesh, which did not count for anything in their eternal relationship with God. They must have the circumcision of their heart in order to enter in the kingdom of heaven. Paul says this “so-called ‘Circumcision,’” is “performed in the flesh by human hands.” He dismissively said that this surgical procedure is not the real circumcision. Instead, the circumcision that put one in a position of acceptance with God is not performed in the flesh by human hands. Rather, it is performed in the heart by the Spirit of God. Circumcision in Philippians In the book of Philippians, Paul again addressed the Judaizers who came into the church and tried to put those in the church already converted back under the Mosaic Law. They taught that they must work their way into the kingdom. He described these false teachers in a three-fold manner. The apostle wrote, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision” (Philippians 3:2). Paul calls these false teachers “dogs” because they are unclean. In this day, dogs roamed the streets of Middle Eastern cities, going from one heap of rubbish to the next, spreading disease and filth, as they ate the leftover scraps. They visited the dunghills and ate their own filth. Paul calls these false teachers “dogs,” because they are unclean, spreading their false teaching that one must to be circumcised to gain entrance into the kingdom of God. These “evil workers” are the “false circumcision,” referring to the same group of false teachers. They are the ones who are spreading the damning heresy of the false circumcision. Paul makes the clear distinction between these unbelievers and those who are true believers. “For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). When Paul refers to them as being “in the flesh,” he makes an intentional allusion to their practice of cutting the male organ. By stark contrast, Paul said that we put no confidence in the flesh. There was a time in Paul’s pre-conversion life when he did put confidence in the flesh. He confided, “I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more” (Philippians 3:4). He expounded a litany of reasons why he once placed confidence in his flesh. The number one reason why he trusted in his own efforts to give him a right standing before God was that he was so properly brought up as an Israelite, even being circumcised on the eighth day. Though he had been circumcised in the flesh, there came a time in his life in which he no longer trusted in such external symbols of religion. He realized that these physical rituals meant nothing in regard to finding acceptance with God. He came to understand that what is most important was for God to perform spiritual surgery upon his heart. He must have his old heart cut to the core. His old flesh must be removed, and God must give him a new heart. God must put His Spirit within him and cause him to obey His word. Circumcision in Colossians This golden thread of truth concerning the need for spiritual circumcision runs through the entire Bible. This would be so easy for us, who are non-Jews, to be reading our Bible and hydroplane over this teaching without realizing the full impact of what Paul was saying. In the book of Colossians, we see the apostle address a mixture of Old Testament and New Testament teachings that was trying to put the believers back under the Law. False teachers had come into the church and were imposing a mixture of humanistic philosophy (Colossians 2:8), Jewish legalism (2:16), bodily asceticism (2:18,21), and subjective mysticism. Each aspect was a foul, polluted stream that flowed into one dirty river, known as the Colossian heresy. Paul confronts this heresy head-on. He wrote, “And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands” (2:11). If you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ, He circumcised you with invisible hands. Here, we see that the need for your heart to be circumcised is not merely an Old Testament teaching. This truth is still applicable to us in the New Testament. The invisible hand of God must bring the piercing to the heart. There must be “the removal of the body of the flesh” (verse 11). Here, “flesh” refers not to physical flesh, but to a person’s sinful flesh. The only way for this old man to be removed is by the spiritual circumcision that was performed by Christ in the new birth. This open heart surgery occurred on the day of Pentecost, “When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37). This word “pierced” (katonusso) means that one would take a butcher knife and thrust it into the heart of another. Anyone who has ever been saved has had the sharp instrumentality of the word of God fillet them. They have been cut to the core of their being, bringing them under conviction of sin. They feel their desperate need for the grace of God in the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. This is all a deep work of God in the unbelieving heart. Circumcision in the Day Admittedly, there are countless people who do not trust in circumcision for their salvation. But they trust in other religious rituals. They rely upon their water baptism to give them a right standing before God. They put confidence in their coming to the Lord’s Table. They rely upon other religious activities that are a part of the New Testament church. They look to walking forward down the center aisle of the church. They rest in joining the church. Let us be clear, there is no salvation in these physical acts. There is no baptismal regeneration. It is only a picture of what the Spirit must do. Even the Lord’s Supper is but a picture of the reality of our drinking the blood and eating the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ in saving faith. All that matters is the heart. The point we must take from this is that God is after your heart. If the heart is right, the life will be right with God. If the heart is wrong, the life will be wrong with Him. Solomon says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus commanded us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30). Throughout the day, as we are thinking about our walk with the Lord, we must remember that our spiritual life begins with our heart. Afterward, it proceeds to the exterior behavior of one’s life. Certainly, the outward sanctions of our lives are important. But it is only genuine if there is the reality of a circumcised heart behind it. With this as an introduction, let us now come to our passage in Romans 2. I have three headings to help us study these verses. In verse 25 is the circumcised. In verses 26-27 is the uncircumcised. And in verses 28-29 is the true circumcision. I. The Circumcised (2:25) First, Paul addressed the Jew who has been physically circumcised. The apostle said, “For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law” (verse 25). The only way the Jew can rightly practice the Law is to have a new heart. And the only way to have a new heart is to be spiritually circumcised. Circumcision is of value only if it is a sign that pictures the reality of a heart that has been rent asunder. When a person has undergone a heart circumcision, they will practice the Law. They will not practice it perfectly, but they will practice it habitually, because you have a new heart. Paul continues, “But if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision” (verse 25). This means, physical circumcision is of no value. If a person’s heart has not been changed and there is no life change, then to be circumcised has no value. It is as though you are uncircumcised before God. That is the argument that Paul is making. II. The Uncircumcised (2:26-27) Paul next addresses those who are the uncircumcised, which are the Gentiles: “If the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” (verse 26).  The only way for the Gentile to keep the requirements of the Law is to have experienced a spiritual circumcision that gives him a new heart in the new birth. He will keep the requirements of the Law, not perfectly, but habitually and continually in a new lifestyle that loves God and lives in obedience to His word. The argument is though he has never been physically circumcised, he has experienced the spiritual reality of what circumcision pictures. It is as though he is circumcised, because he has received the real circumcision, which is in the heart. The apostle continues, “And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?” (verse 27). This refers to the Gentile, who was never physically circumcised, but will judge the one who has been circumcised. This is because the former has received the true circumcision of the heart. The one who is spiritually circumcised “keeps the Law.” This is in the present tense. The idea is an ongoing, daily life pattern of obeying the moral requirements of the Law from the heart. The answer to that rhetorical question is yes. His manner of life will judge the unregenerate Jew. In reality, it is God who judges. This Gentile is standing with God in this judgment. The manner of his circumcised heart and his new life stands as a judgment against those who have received a physical circumcision, but have never had a spiritual circumcision. III. The True Circumcision (2:28-29) Paul concludes this section by addressing the true circumcision in verses 28-29. This truth should be clear to the believers in Rome. “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh” (verse 28). This circumcision is referring not to what is “outward”, but to true spiritual circumcision of the heart. Being made right with God is not found in the outward circumcision of the flesh, but of the heart. A true Jew is not a Jew with only a physical circumcision, but one who has been spiritually circumcised. Verse 28 reveals what true circumcision is not. The following verse explains what it is the true circumcision. The negative denial is found in verse 28, namely what it is not. Now, the positive assertion is found in verse 29, that is, what it is. There can be no misunderstanding in what Paul says. “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (verse 29). This refers to a true, completed, authentic Jew. “The letter” refers to all the different requirements of the Law that one must keep externally by his own self will. True circumcision must be performed by the Spirit, not by human hands. Paul then concludes, “and his praise is not from men, but from God” (verse 29). If one is a Jew, he is going to receive applause from other Jews, who have also been physically circumcised. But what matters is not the praise that is from men, but from God. There is a pun taking place here, because the word “Jew” (Ioudaios) means ‘praise,’ which is derived from the tribe of Judah. True praise from God can only come for a true Jew. Have You Received the True Circumcision? As we bring this study to conclusion, the important question for you is: Have you been circumcised by the Spirit? Have you experienced the true circumcision? You must be inwardly circumcised in order to find acceptance with God. The good news is that God is not requiring you to undergo a physical circumcision, but a spiritual one. This surgical procedure is a biblical metaphor for the regeneration of the soul that produces conversion. Regeneration is God’s part. Conversion is man’s part. It is the heads and tails of the same coin. The rest of the New Testament will give us a distinction in the order of salvation, but here, with spiritual circumcision, it is all that matters.

Condemned By the Law- Romans 2:17-24

OnePassion Ministries April 25, 2017

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But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written (Romans 2:17-24). The book of Romans contains the most theological explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ found anywhere in the Bible. Found in these chapters is the doctrinal framework that provides us with a comprehensive understanding of the good news of our salvation in Christ. We are in the first major section of the book, which reveals mankind’s need for the gospel. Paul is laying a massive foundation upon which he will build our towering salvation. The taller the skyscraper, the deeper must be the foundation. When Paul teaches about the gospel, he will soar to the heights of heaven, but first he must lay a firm base. You have to know the bad news before you can appreciate the good news. No one can be saved until they know their true need for the gospel. In this lesson, we find ourselves in the middle of the section on condemnation, which explains our desperate need for salvation. When we will come to the section on justification (Romans 3:21-5:21), Paul will soar to the heights of heaven as he teaches us about the perfect righteousness that God imputes to believers in Jesus Christ. But presently, he is tightening the screws of our condemnation before God. He is driving the nails down deep into our understanding so that the truth is very securely fastened in our thinking. The Condemnation of All As we come to this section in Romans 2:17-24, Paul transitions from addressing the Gentiles to addressing the Jews. In verses 12-16, Paul focused on the one without the Law. This was referring to the pagan Gentile, who has never heard the Law or the gospel. He said the Law was written upon their conscience and upon their heart. They are without excuse in their life of sin. In verse 17, the first word is “But,” indicating Paul is making a sharp contrast from what he previously said. When he writes, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew,’” Paul shifts to addressing the Jew. He is putting his arms around all of humanity and reveals the universal condemnation of all mankind, both those who have never heard the Law and even those who have the Law. Whether you are a Gentile or a Jew, whether without the Law or with the Law, whether you have never heard the gospel or whether you have heard the gospel, all people are under divine condemnation and in desperate need of the salvation that God gives in Christ Jesus. But specifically, Paul’s focus is now directed to the Jew. The similarities between the Jew and those who live in America are quite clear. The Jew grew up in a privileged nation in which there was an abundant exposure to the word of God and some degree of external morality. This is very similar to living in America with its great opportunity to hear the word of God. There are vast numbers the world who do not live in a nation like this. But for those in America, and especially for those in what I would call the buckle of the Bible Belt, in the south, there is an abundance of opportunity to hear the gospel. People grow up hearing about God, morality, and righteousness, though many never hear the true gospel in America. As we look at verse 17, there are points that will hit very close to home for us who live where the word of God is made known. We can put ourselves into the sandals of these Jews who have grown up in a privileged place of hearing the revelation of God. Paul will argue that if we do not act upon this knowledge and believe in Jesus Christ, then, in reality, we are worse-off than those without the knowledge of the gospel. There will be a greater judgment for those who have the light of the truth but do not act upon it. I am going to give you an outline for Romans 2:17-24 that will help us see the framework of this passage. In verses 17 and 18, there are four privileges. In verses 19 and 20, there are four practices. In verses 21 and 22, there are four charges. Then in verses 23 and 24, there is one judgment. This outline will serve as a skeleton upon which we will put the meat and flesh as we work our way through each verse. I. Four Privileges (2:17-18) Paul begins in verse 17 with four privileges. He writes, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’” (verse 17). The word “but,” as I have already mentioned, pivots from the previously mentioned Gentile without the Law. He now turns his attention to the Jew who has the Law. There is a bit of sarcasm as Paul says, “If you bear the name ‘Jew,’” because he is implying that they are not a true Jew. In other words, they are a Jew in name only, but not in heart reality. A true Jew would be one who is born-again. A true Jew would be one who is not only circumcised in the flesh, but circumcised in the heart. Paul will talk about this distinction in being circumcised physically, yet being uncircumcised spiritually at the end of this chapter (verses 28-29). When he says, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew,’” there is an intent of making an indictment that Paul makes. He is pointing out they are, in reality, a Jew in name only, that is, by their heritage and natural birth, but not by faith. They Received the Law The first privilege Paul mentions is they “rely upon the word” (verse 17). This is their greatest privilege, because of the special revelation they have received in the Law. No one can be saved without special revelation, and the Law is a part of this special revelation. The Law is mentioned a total of nineteen times in Romans 2:12-27, ten times in verses 12-16, four times in verses 17-24, and five times in verses 25-27. The reference to the Law is a dominant feature in this section. When Paul says “the Law,” he is referring to the Law of God, given to Moses at Mount Sinai and received before Israel entered the Promised Land. The Law can be divided into three sections: the moral law, the ceremonial law, and the civil law. The moral law is how the Jew was to live, the ceremonial law is how a Jew was to worship and approach God, and the civil law contains how the Jew was to function as a nation and society. When Paul mentions the Law in verse 17, he is referring to the moral law as succinctly stated in the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are still directional for our lives today. All ten commandments are repeated in the New Testament, and nine out of the ten are still binding upon us as originally given. The only one that has been fulfilled is the Sabbath requirements. Therefore, I do think you can eat in a restaurant on Sunday. I do think you can mow your backyard on a Sunday. I do not think we are still under the Mosaic requirements on the Sabbath. But the other nine still pertain to our spiritual lives today. We would be an antinomian if we did not hold to the teaching of the Ten Commandments. God should be first in our lives. We should not have graven images of God or take God’s name in vain. We must honor our father and mother and not steal. We must not commit adultery, and we must tell the truth. We must not covet within our heart. Who would argue that those truths do not have direct effect upon our lives? They Boast In The Law The second privilege of the Jew who has the Law is that they can claim a special relationship with God. Paul continues that those with the Law “boast in God” (verse 17). They boast in having this special relationship with God, because the have received the Law. God has revealed His will to the Jew, and they know the holy character of God. They Know His Will in the Law The third privilege is that the Jew knows God’s will. Paul writes, “and know His will” (verse 18). The Law reveals the will of God for their lives. He reveals how they are to live. The Law reveals the way God wants them to live. They know how God desires for them to conduct themselves. They Approve the Law Fourth, those who have the Law “approve the things that are essential” (verse 18). More than posses and know the Law, the Jew gives hearty approval to what is in it. They fully affirm the teaching of the Law as from God. The Jew approves the things that are essential in living for God. Because the Jew has the Law of God, he knows what is most essential to God. He approves what is fundamental in glorifying God and pleasing Him. The Purposes of the Moral Law Because the Law is emphasized in this section, I want to pause for a moment and give five purposes of the moral law of God. One, the Law reveals the character and attributes of God. We see in the Ten Commandments God’s holiness as He makes moral distinctions between what is holy and what is unholy. We see His righteousness as He promises His reward for obedience to His commandments and punishment for disobeying them. We see His sovereignty in the Law as He makes known His right to command our lives. We see His love in the Law, as He reveals the path that leads to abundant living. The Law directs us into the center of His will. We learn much about God by simply looking at the Ten Commandments. Two, the Law reveals the sinfulness of man. We are measured by the Law and are found to fall short of the glory of God. The Law is like ten plowshares that break up the hardened soil of our hearts. The Law prepares the heart to receive the seed of the gospel so that it may be received into our hearts. When our heart is hardened by sin, the seed of the gospel merely bounces off the surface. There is a necessary place for the use of the Law to bring about conviction of sin. Consider how Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler. How did Jesus evangelize? He used the Law to show the sinfulness of the heart. There is a proper use of the Law to reveal the sinfulness of man. Three, the Law is to be a tutor to lead the sinner to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Law is that which points us away from ourselves in order that we would look to Jesus Christ. Christ is the only One who obeyed the Law perfectly. Because Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law, He Christ alone can forgive our offenses against the Law. Christ alone can give His perfect righteousness that He achieved under the Law. Four, the Law is a restraint to evil in society. It is a limited restraint, but nevertheless, it does serve to some degree as a restraint. That is why we want laws in a general way to say you cannot kill, you cannot steal. If you come into a courtroom, you should tell the truth. The law does function as, in some limited way, a restraint of evil. Five, the moral law of God reveals the will of God. It points us into the very center of God’s will. It tells me how I should relate to my parents. It tells me what I should teach my children. It shows me how I am to work. It shows me how I am to be content. It shows me how I am to use my mouth and my lips. The moral law of God is like a moral compass that is pointing us into the will of God. Paul does not discard the Law in New Testament times. He says that the Law is written upon every person’s heart. The Law reveals the things that are essential. The Law gives the knowledge of the will of God. This is very much a privileged position to know the Law and to have access to the commandments of God. It reveals those things that are pleasing to God. It shows those things that lead us into the very center of His will. Paul begins with these four privileges that the Jew enjoys by knowing the Law. II. Four Practices (2:19-20) In verses 19-20, Paul advances his argument from four privileges to four practices. We notice that these Jews who have the Law are not inactive. They are active in ministering the Law to others. They are teaching the Law, preaching the Law, and passing down to their children the Law. Paul says in verse 19, “and are confident that you yourself are.” This confidence brings about a false assurance to the Jew. Just because they have the Law and are using it, even telling others about it, it does not mean that they have taught themselves the Law. They are preaching it to others, but they have not applied it to their own life. Paul will list four practices of the Jew in rapid fire succession. There are no verbs in these statements, but simply short, pithy statements of how the Jew is active in ministering the Law to others. A Guide to the Blind The Jew is confident that they are, number one, a guide to the blind. The “blind” refers to those who are without the Law. It refers to the Gentiles, the pagans, and those who are outside the community of the faith. To be a “guide to the blind” means to be a teacher to those who are without the Law. It means to bear witness to those who do not have special revelation in the written word of God. In this sense, Paul says they are a “guide to the blind.” As Paul writes this, the nation of Israel was not the missionary force to the world God intended them to be. They had become a spiritual cul de sac, a self-contained holy huddle. They were not going out into a lost world and trying to reach the surrounding nations with the truth. They were smug and self-content in hoarding the Law for themselves. As Paul says this, he is using sarcasm, almost prodding or shaming them. When he writes what they are doing, in reality, he is prodding them in what they should be doing, but were not doing. They have become an inner circle unto themselves, a holy huddle. That is an awful place to be. In reality, these four practices are what the Jew ought to be doing with the Law, but were not. A Light in the Darkness Second, Paul says they are “a light to those who are in darkness” (verse 19). Being in “darkness” does not refer to physical darkness, but to spiritual darkness. It refers to those who are without the knowledge of the Law. God declared that Israel was appointed to be a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). Christ Himself became the ultimate fulfillment of this passage, when He declared, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12). He then sent out the disciples to preach the light of the gospel to all the nations. Because Israel had failed in this mission, Christ commissioned the church to preach the gospel and be a light to the nations. Do you remember when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel there? Rather than obeying, he went in the opposite direction. He tried to go as far away as he possibly could. He was filled with prejudice and did not like the Ninevites. He believed they were wretched sinners who did not deserve the word of God. He wanted to horde the Law and keep it within the nation. The best way Jonah knew to keep the truth to himself was to get on a ship and go in the opposite direction to Tarshish. Paul says the Jew is “confident that you yourself are a… light to those who are in darkness” (Romans 2:19). In reality, they are not actually doing this. This was an indictment of the nation that they were not passing on the Law as God required that they should. A Corrector of the Foolish Paul then drives the nail deeper into the board, stacking up the indictments like pancakes. He says they are confident that they are “a corrector of the foolish” (verse 20). The “foolish” refers to those who have worldly wisdom. This refers to those who sat at the feet of Aristotle, Plato, and the Greek philosophers and presumed that wisdom was found in the brilliance of the Greek intellectual mind. They needed to be corrected of such foolishness. Paul says that the Jew was supposed to be teaching the Law, the wisdom of God, to these foolish men. A Teacher of the Immature Fourth, they are falsely confident that they are “a teacher of the immature” (verse 20). The “immature” refers to spiritual babes who are lacking the knowledge of God’s word. This could have referenced the generations of children in Israel, who needed to be taught God’s Law. Deuteronomy 6 says, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one…. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them” (Deuteronomy 6:4,6-7). The Israelites were to teach the younger generations, those who were immature, the Law of God. The Privilege of Knowledge Paul concludes verse 20 by saying that the Jew practices these things because they have the Law. He writes, “Having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth” (verse 20). They were to be a guide, a light, a corrector, and a teacher because they possessed the Law. This was their intended purpose, but they failed to be this to themselves. When he says, “the embodiment of knowledge and truth,” Paul is referring to how the Law gives the knowledge of God and man. The Law gives the knowledge of one’s need of salvation through Christ. The Law gives the knowledge of how a believer is to live his life. The Law contains the embodiment of the knowledge of the truth. What a privilege that the Jew has had this knowledge entrusted to him. In like manner, there has been a stewardship entrusted to us of this same knowledge of the truth. There are places on the other side of the earth that do not have this knowledge of the Law and truth. You are in a privileged place to know the truth. I do not know that there is a place on earth that is more privileged than where many of us live, with access to the Bible and its truths. We could easily place ourselves in the place of the Jew who Paul is addressing. Have you been born again? Have you exercised saving faith in Jesus Christ? Do you have more than just the embodiment of knowledge? Do you have the truth in your heart by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ? III. Four Charges (2:21-22) Paul has said there are four privileges and four practices, and he now comes to four charges. The four practices that we just looked at were a backhanded way of giving four charges, but now he is much more direct. Paul begins, “You, therefore.” Like any great preacher, Paul gets to the “you.” His message becomes very personal. For those of you who preach or teach the word of God, there has to come a point in your preaching and teaching where you become extremely personal and get to the “you.” Where are “you” as it relates to what we have been discussing? That is what Paul is doing in verse 21. Do You Teach Yourself? Paul says, “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?” (verse 21). The Jew was good at running everyone else’s life. But Paul wants to know how they are at running their own life. They were good at telling others how they need the Lord. But do they teach themselves how much they need the Lord? This statement is in the form of a question. The implied answer is negative. Paul puts this in the form of a provocative question to cause their self-examination. He wants them to run a self-audit of their own spiritual life in order to see their own spiritual bankruptcy. They have not been applying the Law to themselves. They should know how holy God is. Likewise, they should know how sinful they are. They should know their desperate need for a mediator to stand between Holy God and their sinful life. They should know of their need for the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel. Do You Steal? In the second charge, Paul says, “You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?” (verse 21). It is as though Paul is putting the religious Jew on the witness stand and examines him with questions. Paul’s appeal in this statement is to the eighth commandment. He is still dealing with the moral Law. The eighth commandment says, “You shall not steal.” Paul is using the Law to drive the Jew away from his self-righteousness into the sober realization that he is in desperate need of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This time, Paul’s question implies a positive answer. “You who preach that one should not steal, you do steal?” The Jew may claim to act righteously, but he is still a thief, because he robs God of His glory. He does not put God in the very center of his life. He robs God of His glory, because he has not repented of his sins and believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He has robbed the poor of what he should give in benevolence and kindness. He is a thief in his own heart by robbing God and others of what rightfully belongs to them. Do You Commit Adultery? As we come to verse 22, Paul continues to advance his argument by asking soul-searching questions. In verse 22, he begins, “You who say.” Please note the parallelism here. In verse 21, he said, “You who teach” and “You who preach.” Now in verse 22, he says, “You who say.” In a sense, he is saying almost the same thing, but using alternate words to pry deeper into the thinking of the reader. “You who say that one should not commit adultery” (verse 22). That is the seventh commandment in the Law. Paul will not let go of the Law. I want to say again, we need more appeal to the Law in our evangelism and Christian living. Again, Paul’s question implies a “yes” answer. Just as Jesus did, Paul is bringing this charge of committing adultery against those who have the Law. Do You Rob Temples? As Paul brings his fourth charge, please note how aggressive Paul is in exposing sin. Most preaching today pulls back from this kind of exposure. Most witnessing today pulls back from exposing of sin in the life of other people. Paul says, “You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (verse 22). Again he is appealing to the Law in the first and the second commandment. “You shall have no other gods before Me” and “you shall not have a graven image by which you worship Me.” The answer is, yes. They may say, “But we are not going to the Canaanite temples and taking idols. Therefore, we are not breaking the first and the second commandment.” But Paul’s reasoning is, yes, you do break the first and second commandment. You have idols in your heart. You have allowed other things in your life to become more important than God. An idol is anything you love more than God, fear more than God, and serve more than God. An idol may even be something that is intrinsically good, but is elevated to a place of primary importance that belongs to God alone. Your job can become an idol. Your ministry can become an idol. Your family can become an idol. Your health can become an idol. If that is what you spend your time daydreaming about, investing in, and being preoccupied with, then it has taken the place of prominence in your life that should be reserved exclusively for God. Paul clearly implies that nothing should be more important in your life than God. He should be at the very center of your life, and you should obey and follow Him. This is a charge from Paul that, yes, you do have idols in your life – things that are more important to you than God. He is leaving them indicted before God and charging them with sin just like he charges the pagan heathen with sin. Even you who sit under the teaching of the word of God and have access to the word of God, if you have never applied it to your own life, first by repentance and faith, then you are in the same boat as the man who has never even heard the gospel. IV. One Judgment (2:23-24) This now leads to one grand judgment, one great indictment, found in verses 23 and 24. These verses may have seemed to be somewhat difficult to follow. But in Paul’s mind, they are highly structured. Paul is highly linear in his thinking. What he writes here is laid this out in logical fashion. In these verses, Paul brings his argument to a bottom-line summation. Paul writes, “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” (verse 23). The Jew boasts in his possession of the Law. He boasts in his knowledge of the Law. He boasts in his ministry of the Law, in his teaching, preaching, and speaking of the Law. But despite all this ministry with the Law, the religious Jew is nevertheless a lawbreaker, just like everyone else. He is no better than the man on the other side of the globe who has never heard the gospel. He is in the same category. You, too, are a law-breaker, and because you are a lawbreaker, the wages of your sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because you are a lawbreaker, you are under the curse of the Law (Galatians, 3:13). The curse of the Law is death. You have broken the Law. You have not simply made a mistake. You are a lawbreaker. You have violated the Law of God. You are an offender of the Law, you are guilty of the Law, and you are condemned by the Law. When one breaks the Law, Paul writes, “you dishonor God” (verse 23). That is not a small indictment, but a serious charge. Dishonoring God occurs when we honor other things more than God. This takes place when something else is placed before God. When you break the Law, you are a flagrant dishonorer of God. Paul is tightening the noose and setting the knot, so that when he gets to the gospel in the next chapter, people are going to be sprinting to receive it. They are going to be running to the gospel and falling at the feet of Christ, begging for mercy. But Paul does not stop there. In verse 24, he concludes by quoting from the Old Testament. This shows that his indictment is nothing new. It is not strange new teaching in the New Testament. This is not something that only recently came onto the scene a few years ago with the public ministry of Christ and His death. This truth goes back to Old Testament times. Paul’s reasoning is, “I thought you knew the Law so well. I thought you were well versed in the Old Testament.” He now quotes from Isaiah 52:5, “‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, because of you,’ just as it is written” (verse 24). To dishonor God leads to blaspheming God before others. Again, there is a note of intended sarcasm in this statement. The Jew, who is a guide to the blind, is actually blaspheming God to the blind. The Jew, who is a light to those in darkness, is, in reality, blaspheming God to those in darkness. The Jew, who is a corrector of the foolish and a teacher of the immature, is actually blaspheming the name of God by his superficial religion. The Jew had adopted a religion of selective rules keeping. He did not have a religion of the heart, but only that of an external façade. His heart had never been circumcised by the Lord. He had never been born again and birthed into the kingdom of God. In reality, he had stiff-armed God and kept Him at a distance. He continued to live his outwardly moral life in which there was no conviction of sin, no need of repentance, no need for self-denial, and no need for self-humbling. He had a religion of convenience, where he was not disturbed by God. In reality, the unconverted Jew was a blasphemer of the name of Holy God before the unsaved Gentiles, the very ones he was to be reaching with the message of salvation. He was compounding his guilt and judgment when he stands before God. He has been given so much truth, but squandered so much. The Jew was entrusted with the treasures of heaven, but he buried them. He refused to repent and turn away from such hypocrisy. He kept his religion on the outward façade of his life. He would not allow the truth to penetrate into the depths of his soul. He would not allow the Law to open up his soul. He would not permit the Law to drive him to Christ in repentance and faith to receive His mercy. Conclusion What are we to learn from this passage? First, the necessity of personal, saving faith in Jesus Christ. To only know about God without coming to faith in Jesus will still condemn you. You must be born again. Second, we should note the importance of personal obedience to the word of God. Be careful to practice what you preach. Your life should reflect the gospel that you share with others. Third, we see the importance of bearing witness with the word to those without the word. Jesus Christ has charged us, His followers, to share the gospel with all the nations. Let us not be like the Jews, who knew God’s word, but hoarded it and failed to share it with others.

Those Who Have Never Heard- Romans 2:12-16

OnePassion Ministries April 20, 2017

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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 just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus (Romans 2:12-16). As I teach and preach the word of God, certain questions inevitably are raised. Among those most frequently asked is: What about those who have never heard the gospel?  How do they stand before God? Will God grade them on a curve? Will God judge them in comparison to a moderated standard of morality? Will God measure them by others in their culture? If they are religious and sincere, can that gain them acceptance with God? Inevitably, as I talk to unbelievers, these same questions seem to always be present. Today’s study in Romans will be helpful for us, because it will equip us to better interact with to others about those who have never heard the gospel. Romans 2:12-16 is the signature text in the Bible on this controversial subject. We are going to use these verses to walk through the book of Romans, seeing how God deals with those who have never heard the gospel The testimony of Scripture is clear that all unconverted people are under the wrath of God. Paul writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). This is true, not only of those who have heard the gospel and rejected it, but of those who have never heard the gospel. They are deservedly under the wrath of God. The verb “is revealed” is in the present tense. This means that at this very moment, wherever an unbeliever is on the earth – whether he has heard the gospel or not – he is already under divine wrath. Every person is either a believer in Christ, or under divine wrath. There is not another category in which someone could find themselves. There is no middle ground. All people have received general revelation from God, which makes them without excuse before Him. Paul makes this very clear, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:19). God has revealed Himself to every person on earth with general revelation, which gives the definite knowledge that God exists. General revelation also tells us something about what God is like. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Every person on earth, whether they have heard the gospel or not, is directly accountable to God, being without excuse. They know that there is a God, whether they admit it or not. Any critically thinking person can look at creation and realize that there must be a Creator. This is proven by the simple truism, “Out of nothing, nothing comes.” If there is something created, that presupposes and necessitates that there was an original first cause, an uncreated entity. That uncreated entity is none other than God Himself. The Creator’s thumbprints are all over what He has made. Anyone can look around at creation and clearly see what God is like. Creation testifies that God is awesome. He is powerful. He is orderly. He is perfect. We have already talked about this, but we need to remind ourselves, as we begin our investigation of Romans 2:12-16, that all unbelievers everywhere are under divine wrath because of their sin. With this as a backdrop, let us consider the case that Paul makes against those who are without the Law. That is, they have never heard the truth of the gospel. What can be said about them? I. They Have Sinned Without the Law (2:12a) First, this passage tells us that even those without the Law have sinned. It is crystal clear, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish” (verse 12). Those who have never heard the gospel are not innocent. Neither are they found to be righteous before God. They are sinners who have rebelled against God, and who are in defiance against Him. Like those who have heard the gospel and have refused it, they nevertheless have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. “Sin” (hamartia) means ‘to miss the mark.’ It is the idea of an archer aiming his bow and arrow at a target, firing it, but missing the mark. This is what sin is. It is failing to hit the mark of God’s perfect holiness with one’s life. Such people are not in a state of innocence, but are unrighteous. II. They Will Perish Without The Law (2:12b-13) Second, all who are without the Law will perish. “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law” (2:12). The word “also” is very important, because it indicates whether you have the Law or whether you do not have the Law. Without the gospel, you are going to perish. “Perish” (apollymi) refers to eternal destruction, eternal punishment, and eternal damnation. This is a very strong statement. It does not say that they will be saved. It says they will perish without the Law. According to 1 Corinthians 1:18, they are already perishing right now. They are self-destructing by their own life lived without God. They are like a cheap sweater that is unraveling as they live their life. Doers Will Be Justified Verse 13 is an explanation of the end of verse 12. Law. Paul says, at the end of verse 12, “All who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” This refers to Jews who have received the moral law from God. It has been passed down from generation to generation, read in the synagogue and memorized. They are “under the Law,” meaning they have the Law and are directly accountable to the Law. They have sinned and will be judged by the standard that is in the Law. Verse 13 begins with the word “for,” which means it is an explanation of the end of verse 12. “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified” (verse 13). This does not mean that there are people who can keep the Law, obey the Law, and therefore be justified by God. The whole book of Romans makes it crystal clear that would be a wrong interpretation of what Paul is saying. Even in the context of the passage, verse 13 is talking about those who keep the Law but are not justified by keeping the Law. Verse 13 is saying that if you are more than a hearer of the Law, if you are a repenter and a believer in Jesus Christ, who is presented in the gospel, then you will immediately begin to live in obedience to the Law of God. Just because you have the Law does not mean that you are right with God. You have to be a doer of the Law to prove that you are right with God. The Obedience of Faith Paul has already established this truth at the very outset of the book of Romans. In Romans 1:5, he talks about the obedience of faith, which means the obedience that comes from faith or the obedience that is produced by faith. All true faith is an obedient faith. There is no such thing as faith that is disobedient. All true saving faith produces obedience. James 2 is also abundantly clear on this matter. Obedience is a very important fruit of salvation. Faith is the root, obedience is the fruit. It is a cause and effect. Even Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father” (Matthew 7:21). Verse 13 is addressing those who have repented of their sins and have true, genuine, saving faith in Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel. They are known as doers of the Law, and they alone are justified by God. Those who do not obey the Law are unconverted. They may be religious, but they are lost. We would say today that they are lost church members, unconverted religious people who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They are those who have sinned under the Law and they are judged by the Law. III. They Instinctively Know To Do The Law (2:14) Third, they instinctively know what is in the moral law of God. When we come to verse 14, we come back to Paul’s original argument, which is found in the first part of verse 12. These are those who are without the Law, who have not received special revelation, who have never heard the gospel. “For when the Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves” (verse 14). They instinctively and intuitively know the difference between right and wrong. This is not referring to the ceremonial law and the civil law. It is referring to the moral law of God contained in the Ten Commandments. They instinctively know they should honor their parents. They instinctively know they should not steal. They instinctively know they should tell the truth. They instinctively know that they should love other people and show compassion to others. They instinctively know it, because God has written it upon their hearts. IV. They Have the Law Written In Their Heart (2:15a) Fourth, as we come to verse 15, we see that God has written the Law upon their hearts. Paul writes, “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts” (verse 15). Those without the Law instinctively know to do what is in the Law, because God has written it upon their heart. The invisible finger of God has written His Law upon the tablet of every human heart. It is a limited knowledge of the Law, not enough to be saved, but it is enough to condemn. Because God has written the Law upon the tablet of their heart, they are held accountable to God for the choices that they make. As we will see, they are held accountable before God, not just for their deeds, but for their very thoughts, conscience, and secrets within them. Verse 15 shows that they are accountable to God for the Law that is within them. They are not off the hook or in no man’s land. They are not without accountability to God. As a quick footnote, those who have the Law do have a stricter accountability to God, because they have a greater light. Those without the Law, that only have the Law written upon their heart, have a lesser accountability, but nevertheless, it is an accountability. The Bible is clear that it would be better to have never heard the truth than to hear the truth and reject it. V. TheY Have an Accusing Conscience (2:15b) Fifth, they have a conscience that bears witness to them of right and wrong. “And if they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness” (verse 15). Their conscience is giving a clear and strong testimony regarding what is right and what is wrong. Every person on earth has a conscience. A conscience is that which instinctively tells you when you have crossed the line and violated the Law, or when you have kept the Law. Your conscience is like a smoke alarm that goes off in the middle of the night that wakes you up and alerts you when something is wrong. Your conscience is like feeling pain in your body when you have broken your ankle. You need to know that you have broken something, and pain is your friend because it tells you that something is broken. That is the roll of the conscience. The Strength of Your Conscience Your conscience may be clean, your conscience may be guilty, your conscience may be weak, your conscience may be strong. It just depends upon how many stop signs you have been running as the Law of God is telling you, “Stop, stop, stop.” There comes a point where the conscience becomes seared, as with a hot iron, and it no longer feels what it once felt. There is now no moral restraint, there are no brakes in the car, and you speed down the highway of sin. That is a seared conscience. But as you humble yourself and keep the Law, that strengthens your conscience. You become more sensitive to even the little things. I have people who will call me after I have had a conversation with them and say, “Would you please forgive me? I should not have said this or that.” I may not even be aware anything wrong took place. It is because their conscience is so sensitive, because they have been walking in the truth and walking with the Lord. For other people, it would take a sledgehammer across the forehead for them to even ponder the thought that what they are saying might be blasphemous. They have worn the brakes off their car, because they have been plowing through their conscience until they have little to no conscience left. They openly bring their sin out of the closet, they do not hide it anymore. They proudly tell people of the sin they have been doing. Earlier, they had enough moral restraint to hide it, but now there is no longer that shame. They now flaunt their sin. The inner thoughts of those without the Law are accusing them of their sin. The Scripture says, “their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (verse 15). Their thoughts are both accusing and defending them. Their thoughts are connected to their conscience, and their conscience is bearing witness of their thoughts, accusing them of wrong doing. It is bringing conviction and pressing down. They feel a sense of guilt, which is telling them that they need to get right, because something is wrong. There is a false guilt, but there is also a true guilt. Guilt is one way you know that you have violated your conscience. Your conscience is connected to the Law of God written upon your heart. This person without the Law, this person who has never heard special revelation, has a conscience that is accusing them before God. “Or else defending them.” Every so often they help old ladies across the street. Every so often they fold the laundry for their mother. Every so often they do some right things. But they are also doing that which the Law written in their heart forbids. They think they are doing good things, but those good things will not save them from condemnation. It only takes one sin to stand guilty before God. VI. They Will Be Judged By God (2:16) Sixth, even those without the Law will stand on the last day before God. This passage says, “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (verse 16). There will not be a reprieve or stay of judgment for those who have never heard the gospel. There will be no settling out of court for those without the knowledge of the gospel. They will have their day in court, where they will stand before God. When Paul refers to “on the day,” he addresses that final day at the end of time. He already addressed this day in Romans 2:5. The day is so dramatic and graphic that Paul only needs to refer to it as the great day looking on the horizon. He writes, “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” (verse 5). This is the day of judgment. Those who have never heard, those who are without the Law, will still stand before God on that last day. They will no only appear, but will be weighed in the balances by God. On that day, they will be weighed against the standard of the Law written on their heart. Please note, this does not say they will be saved, but they will be judged. Paul writes, “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge” (verse 16). There will not be a different standard for those who have not heard. They will be judged by the gospel. The gospel includes not only the message of salvation, but also the message of condemnation. The truth of the good news necessitates the truth of the bad news. There can be no good news if there is not the corresponding bad news. The bad news of the gospel is found in Romans 1:18 through 3:20. It is the foundation upon which the gospel is built. The bad news of condemnation is inseparably bound together with the good news of salvation. These two can never be separated. The believing sinner has to be saved from something. He cannot only be saved unto something. The truth is, he is saved from the wrath of God and condemnation. Paul writes that “on that last day they will be judged according to my gospel” (verse 16), which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The importance of this statement is the judgment will not be by the morality of others sinners, how they compare to other people. They will not be judged on the curve to see if they have done more good than bad. They will be judged by the gospel, and the gospel commands that all men everywhere repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those without the Law will nevertheless be judged by God. I have already alluded to this, but in here it could not be any more clear. Paul writes, “God will judge” (verse 16). This does not say they will be saved or pardoned by God. Nor does this say that they will be given a second chance by God. Rather, Paul maintains that they will be judged by God. Those without the Law will be strictly judged in accordance to the Law written upon their heart. Those without the Law will have their secrets exposed and judged. Paul asserts, “God will judge the secrets of men” (verse 16). It is not just their deeds that will be made subject to divine judgment. Far more exposing and condemning, it is their secret thoughts that will be brought out into the open and condemned. Who could possibly stand innocent and acquitted before God when their secret thoughts are made known before God? Paul confirmed, “Their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (verse 15). What will be on trial goes deeper than just their actions that violate the Law of God written on their heart. It is their attitudes, their motives, their hidden thoughts, their selfish ambitions, revenge, anger, and hatred. All of that will come out into the open before God on the last day. The evidence will be overwhelming for those who are without the Law. Those who are without the Law will still be judged through Christ Jesus. At the end of verse 16, Paul says that those without the Law will be judged “through Christ Jesus.” The truth is that God has given all judgment to His Son. It is before the Son of God that every person without Christ will stand. In John 5:22 it says that God has appointed all judgment to His Son. In Revelation 20, at the great white throne judgment, Him who sat upon that throne is Jesus Christ. It will be before Jesus Christ Himself that all without the Law will stand. Conclusion As we conclude our look at these verses, we see that even those without the Law are under sin and its curse. Paul will conclude the larger section in which this passage is found, “For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” ) Romans 3:9). The “Greeks” refers to those without the Law. Despite being without this special revelation, they nevertheless are under sin. Therefore, they are under the curse of the Law, which is eternal death or the second death. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Even those without the Law are still under this curse. If they die without Christ, they have no other recourse but to pay this penalty in hell forever. All mankind has Adam’s original sin imputed to them. This includes those who have never heard the gospel. Paul teaches, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). When Adam disobeyed God, his original sin was charged to the account of every person who would ever be conceived in the womb of a woman. Again, this includes even those without the Law. The mere fact that infants die in the womb confirms that Adam’s sin has already been imputed to every person. Otherwise, there could never be death in the womb. Even the infants of those who have never heard the gospel are not immune to death. Over six thousand years ago, Adam’s sin was charged to every person who would ever be conceived in their mother’s womb. If that sin was not imputed to that child in the mother’s womb at the moment of conception, that child would never die. This is why there are miscarriages. Through Adam’s one act of disobedience, the many were made sinners. That includes not only those who are under the Law, but also those who are without the Law. Every person who enters into this world already has Adam’s sin charged against them. This puts them in a state of death at the moment of their conception. As a result, those who have never heard or read the Law are in desperate need to have the gospel preached to them. Paul writes, “How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14). That is a rhetorical question, and the obvious answer is they cannot. No one can call upon Him in who they have not believed. You cannot believe in that which you have not heard. The answer is they cannot hear unless someone tells them. No one can be saved without hearing the gospel. Whether it is a pastor, a parent, or a businessman bearing witness of the gospel, someone must share the good news if others are to be saved. Paul continues, “How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’… So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:15,17). This is why we must be resolutely committed to the cause of gospel preaching, one-on-one witnessing, and world evangelism. You do not have to go to the other side of the world to meet people who have never heard the gospel truth. You can just walk across the street and meet people who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. There are many in churches who have never heard the truth. In these places, church is show time, it is entertainment, or it is dead ritual and empty routine. You do not have to go to Africa, China, or India to find people who have never heard the truth. They live right where you are, and they remain in need of the pure, simple, saving gospel message. What Paul addresses in Romans 2:12-16 is talking about the vast majority of people on planet earth. This is not describing a small pocket of people. There are billions of people in the world today who are without the Law. Untold numbers have never heard the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they have the Law written upon their heart. Consequently, their heart is accusing them, that they have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard. They will stand before God at the judgment on the last day, just like every other unbeliever. At that time, all of their secrets, their thoughts, ambitions, lusts, and motives will be brought out into the open. The entire record of their lives will be made known. It will be Jesus Christ before whom they will stand. In that day, they will have no self-defense whatsoever to give. The only hope they have is in this world now, for us to take the gospel to them while they are still alive. Those who have never heard the gospel are not just on the other side of the earth. They are in your zip code. They work in your office. They marry into your family. They live in your neighborhood. They think they have to work their way to heaven. They think they have to say Hail Mary’s to get to heaven. They think that they have to go to church a certain number of times and do good to certain people in order to meet a standard in which they will find acceptance with God. They are still on the treadmill of self-righteousness and have no concept of the saving grace of God. It is our responsibility to share the gospel with these people.

The Moralist Condemned, Part 2 – Romans 2:6-11

OnePassion Ministries March 31, 2017

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If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Romans 2 and let me welcome those who are watching us livestream. Literally, everywhere I go, people come up to me and say they’re watching on livestream. Thank you for being a part of this study. You’re really sitting around the table with us and we’re in Romans 2 and I wanna begin by reading what’s gonna be our passage that we’ll look at today and the heading on this is really part two from what we looked at last time, the moralist condemned and the moralist is the person who is outwardly very moral, but inside their heart, they’re just as corrupt as the person who is involved in deep sin actions of sin and so Paul wants to address the moralist now, that don’t think that you will escape the wrath of God if you’ve not been born again. I do want to read this, but before I read this, let me just remind us — get a walking start, 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.” You’re in the very same boat as these immoral people at the end of chapter 1, and then the fifth and final statement is, “You will be judged by the same principle.” That leads us now into verse 6, and this is where we find ourselves. Let me read this passage, beginning in verse 6, “Who will render to each person according to his deeds? To those who by perseverance and doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life, but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, they obey unrighteousness, wrath, and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good. So, the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.” Now, these verses really need some explanation, but once we have this unfolded before us, I think you’re gonna see how powerful these verses are, and it’s a very simple little outline to follow under you will be judged by the same principle. I.               THE PRINCIPLE First in verse 6, is the principle. Verse 6, states the principle by which every person in the world will be judged both believer and unbeliever. Now, in verse 6, I’m gonna read it again, “Who will render to each person according to his deeds.” This is a direct quotation from Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12 and the reason Paul quotes it from the Old Testament is to show us it’s always been this way. This is the way God has always operated. This is not something new in the New Testament times. He quotes from the Old Testament to show how timeless this principle is. Now, every word of verse 6 begs for some kind of comment. When he — it starts off with the word who, which is a reference to God. God is the last word of verse 5, and we call that the antecedent. The executor of this judgment is God himself. God is the one who will render this judgment. The word will speak to the certainty of it. God will render to each person according to his deeds. It is absolutely certain this is going to happen. Then the word render, means to pay as wages. It means to give a recompense for work done. It would be like if I came over to your house and I mowed your yard, then you would give me a certain amount of money as payment. Not as a gift, I’ve actually earned this. I’ve worked hard for this and what you would give me would be my recompense. That’s the very word that is used here and there’s gonna be a payday someday. There is going to be a payoff, in which God will render, note, to each person. That speaks to both the individuality of it and the universality of it. I guess that’s a word. Every single person will be rendered according to his deeds and what we’re gonna find in this passage, not only unbelievers, but also believers. We all need to pay attention to this. Then, he says, according to, which means in direct proportion, to his deeds, and his deeds speak of the accountability of this. The word for deed is a Greek word that means according to his labor, according to his work, according to his actions, according to the things he has done, according to his industry or his business, and the word has all of these meanings. This is the principle that Paul is establishing here. Now, we need to remember that God is keeping impeccable records on every person’s life. Every deed, every action of every person in the entire human race, God has it all recorded in his book and just for a moment, if you wanna turn with me to Revelation 20, I mentioned, I just preached on this this past Wednesday night and I think it would be good just for me to draw our attention for a moment to Revelation 20:11, this is at the end of time. In Revelation 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne.” Great speaks of its power, white speaks of its purity, throne speaks of its purpose. “And him who sat upon it,” referring to Jesus Christ, “from whose presence Earth and Heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the dead, the great and the same.” The great referred to people who have lived with great influence and great power in human history whose names are well known to us around this table as well as the small, the little insignificant people who live little insignificant lives and we don’t even know who they are, they will all stand before the throne, every unbeliever, and books were opened and these books are the detailed record of every action and every deed and every thought and every motive of every unbeliever in the history of the World and this is the evidence that will be presented in this court on that day. Every idle word, Jesus said, men will render account of it in the judgment and then he said another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, please note, according to their deeds. So much sin, so much judgment and it will not be the same for everyone and there will be degrees of punishment in hell according to degrees of evil deeds that were done by unbelievers. This is a terrifying passage. Verse 13, “And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it and death in Hades gave up the dead, which were in them, and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown in the Lake of Fire.” This is the second death, the Lake of Fire, and if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the ultimate fulfillment for unbelievers of the passage that we are reading in the Book of Romans. Come back to Romans and we see the principle established. Now, not only will this be so of unbelievers, there is a judgment for believers, also, and if you’ll come to Romans 14:10-12, we will read of the judgment for our deeds when we stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ and in Romans 14:10, “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” The you refers to believers and we, too, will stand before the Lord, and we, too, will have our live and our ministry examined and scrutinized by the Lord, and there will be a judgment for our works as Christians and as believers and rather than there being degrees of punishment for the unbeliever, there will be degrees of reward for the believer. For those of us around this table, there will be different degrees of rewards given at the judgment seat of God according to how strategically and purely we have invested our lives in the things of God and in the purposes of God. Now, we will never stand in the judgment for our sins. There’s now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but we will stand in judgment and there will be a scrutiny of how we invested our time, our treasure, and our talent for the things of God. Come back now to Romans 2, that is the point that Paul is establishing. This is the principle. I want everyone to understand that this principle is applicable not only to the unbeliever, but also, to us as believers, and if you want another cross reference, 2 Corinthians 5:10, says, “Therefore, we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each many may receive a recompense for the deeds done in his body whether good or worthless.” All right, now, verse 6 is the principle. II.             THE APPLICATION Verses 7-10 is the application and as we look at versus 7-10, and these are just an initial reading of these versus, they’re a little hard to understand. What is Paul saying here? Here’s what he is saying. The believer will have this principle applied to them and that’s verses 7 and 10. The unbeliever will have the principle applied to them and that’s verses 8 and 9. And this is what we call an a, b, b, a argument, a, b, b, a. This will go believer in verse 7, unbeliever verse 8, unbeliever verse 9, come back to believer in verse 10. It’s called a chiastic argument. THE BELIEVERS DEEDS Now, he starts in verse 7 and he says, “To those who,” this is referring to believers, “by perseverance in doing good, only a believer perseveres in doing good,” and this presupposes the new birth. This presupposes a new heart with a new direction and with new affections. The word perseverance here, this is the mark of the true believer. You’ve heard of the perseverance of the saints? We know the five doctrines of grace. This is the fifth and final doctrine of grace. The perseverance of the saints. This is one passage that teaches the perseverance of the saints. It means to endure with constancy and steadfastness throughout the entirety of one’s Christian life. Now, we just have to go to two cross references. Come to Hebrews 3:14, I mean, after all, this is a Bible study, right? Hebrews 3:14, just for us to see that perseverance and doing good identifies the elect and identifies those who are true believers. Hebrews 3:14, the writer of Hebrews says, “For we have become partakers of Christ.” Another way to say this, we have become believers in Jesus Christ. We have received Christ and are partakers of Christ. If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. You have heard me say before “the faith that fizzles before the finish had a flaw from the first”. Let me repeat that. The faith that fizzles before the finish had a flaw from the first, indicating that was not a true believer. That a flawed, counterfeit faith, if you do not persevere faithful all the way to the end, because God is the author of saving faith and when God grants saving faith, it is a faith that causes one to persevere in obedience throughout the entirety of one’s life. That’s just Bible doctrine. Now, Colossians 1:22-23 is the other passage and we just need to touch on this very quickly, but what we see is the consistency with which scripture teaches this, and trust me, there’s 20-30 other verses we could hit. This is just a little mountain peak. Colossians 1, look at the beginning of verse 21, “You were formally alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” Verse 23, “If indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established, and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard.” It couldn’t be any more clear. The one who is a true believer begins in the faith, perseveres in the faith, continues in the faith, and there is a finality at the end of their life in doing good and in pursuing godliness. There may be seasons of pockets of carnality, times of being tripped up, doesn’t mean perfection. This is the direction that a true believer is headed. Period. Paragraph. Continue to look at this with me, now. Come back, now, to Romans 2, and I’m going to try to keep us in Romans 2 now. Verse 7, “To those who by perseverance in doing good.” This word doing, I just had to look it up and this is a Greek word that means labor, toil, and work. It’s a very strong word. There’s no passivity in this word doing. It speaks of labor to the point of exhaustion, labor, toil, work, and the word good, means that which is upright and honorable before the Lord and morally excellent. True believers persevere throughout the entirety of their Christian life in doing good and here we see that this habitual conduct reveals the condition of one’s heart. You’ll know them by their fruit. Now, continue to look at this, because this is so good. “Seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life.” Now, this word or this verb, seek for, is in the present tense, meaning they are habitually, continuously keeping on seeking for glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. Now, this needs some explanation, because I know what you’re thinking is what I was thinking. It’s like, we’re not supposed to seek our own glory, right? It’s not about us, it’s about God. This glory here is actually a glory that we do seek. It points to our final stage state of glorification that Paul will have much to say about in the rest of the Book of Romans and in reality this seeking for glory is seeking for the glory that God will give to us in Heaven as we will share in his character and we will become like his son, the Lord Jesus Christ and just to take you quickly to a couple passages, Romans 5:2 says, “The out working of justification by faith is that we exult in hope of the glory of God.” That refers to not giving praise to God. That refers to our being glorified in Heaven and becoming fully conformed to the image of his son, Jesus Christ. We are seeking this. We are seeking this right now, to become more like Christ, and to become more Godly right now in the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we live our Christian lives, because we are followers of Christ and we are seeking that future day when we will be fully conformed into Christ’s likeness. Now, the next word is honor. Do you see that? We are seeking glory and honor. This is not an honor for ourselves. It is an honor that God will give to us on the last day when he says, well done, good and faithful servant, and you’re gonna wanna hear that from the Lord on the last day. This honor is honor that comes from God to us on the last day as he recognizes our faithfulness in doing good works. This is the Lord’s approbation on the last day and then he says, “immorality” and that is referring to the resurrection. That we will be raised in a resurrection body in which we live forever and ever and ever with God and then he says, “eternal life” and this is really the full and final realization of our salvation. Eternal life really begins the moment we’re born again. The life of God is put within us, but this is pointing to the final outcome of this life with God when we will be glorified, when we will receive honor from him when we will receive immortality from him in a resurrection body, and we will receive the final phase of eternal life, life in the very presence of God in Heaven forever and ever. Now, this is true not of unbelievers. This is true of believers and we as believers are those who pursue good deeds, we practice good deeds and we will be judged for our good deeds. This is quite a motivation for us to be serving the Lord and to be obeying the Lord and to be doing God’s work. R. C. Sproul writes an article and every Tabletalk magazine that is entitled “Right Now Counts Forever” and I want to tell you how you live your Christian life right now counts forever and we can’t be lulled to sleep by grace and just think it doesn’t matter how I live as a Christian. No, it does matter and on the last day, we’ll face the record and we’ll give an account to the Lord and some of us will have built with gold, silver, and precious stones and others of us would have built with wood, hay, and stubble, but the last day will test the quality of each man’s work according to what he has done and some will receive greater reward than others, because they were far more engaged in what God had for them to do. Now, let’s just keep pressing on this and one last comment before I press to the next verse. I just want to stress this that real obedience will receive a real reward on the last day. Your obedience is a very important matter to God. Now, as we come to verse 8, verse 8 begins with the conjunction but and this tells us we’re shifting from believers now to unbelievers. This word but makes a stark contract with the preceding verse. In verse 8, he will now talk about the application of verse 6 to unbelievers. Verse 7 was the application of verse 6 to believers. Verse 8 is the application of verse 6 to unbelievers. THE UNBELIEVERS DEEDS “But to those who are selfishly ambitious,” this refers to unbelievers, and different translations translates selfishly ambitious in different ways, but the idea is you just still are living for yourself. You have never denied yourself. You have never died to self. You have never come to the end of self. You’re still doing what you want to do, how you want to do it, when you want to do it, with whom you want to do it. You’re not living for Christ, what he wants you to do. You’re living for self and he says, “But to those who are selfishly ambitious,” and now he identifies them with a negative and positive. There can be no misunderstand with whom he is addressing. He says, “They do not obey the truth” and that’s in the present tense. They keep on not obeying the truth. It is a big picture of their life. It’s a snapshot of their entire life. It’s not a movie of every incident of their life, it’s one big picture, snapshot. It can be characterized, they do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness. Please note everyone lives a life of obedience. You’re either living in obedience to the truth and God or you’re living in obedience to sin and unrighteousness. Everyone is a slave. You’re either a slave of God for righteousness or you’re a slave of sin for unrighteousness. No one in the purest sense is just doing their own thing. Every one of us has a master. Either Jesus Christ is your master and you are serving Jesus Christ and following him or sin is your master and you are living in open sin and you do not obey the truth and you are obeying unrighteousness and there’s not a middle category. Now, this is a very strong text and we saw the same a couple of months ago when we looked at Romans 6:16 and it really begs to be read right now. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves to obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey either of sin, resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness, but thanks be to God, that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed? Everyone is obedient to their master and you either have Jesus as your master and you now follow him in obedience to the truth or you have sin as your master and you are living in obedience to unrighteousness. That very clearly is what verse 8 is teaching. Now, he goes on to talk about the recompense or the reward that unbelievers will receive for not obeying the truth and for being selfishly ambitious and for obeying unrighteousness and here is the unfolding payback from God when God judges them for this kind of a lifestyle, wrath, indignation, tribulation, distress. \ THE UNBELIEVERS REWARD That’s the payback. That’s the wages that they have earned and that is the paycheck they will receive. The word wrath is a Greek word, I’m going to pronounce it, because you can hear an English word in. You can hear the word orgy. Heated passion, in an orgy it’s heated wrath. It is heated divine passion. Holy passion and it speaks of the violent anger of God against the ungodly and the word indignation, means much the same. The idea is boiling up. Something is so heated and so hot that it’s boiling up and bubbling up and that is the angry, heated passion of God against the wicked, because God is a holy God, and all that is antithetical to his holy character. He strongly reacts against it and he pours out vengeance against all that does not conform to his character and in those who are outside of Christ and then he throws in there will be tribulation and distress for every soul, and every soul here refers to an unbeliever who does evil. This is the antithesis of what we saw in verse 7 of the one who seeks to do good deeds. This, now, is the mark of the unbeliever who habitually does evil and the word does here is a very strong word and it means to perform, to work, it’s in the present tense. This one continually does evil and the word evil doesn’t need much comment, but it is that which is wicked, that is which is bad, corrupt, and depraved. What we have here is the principle in verse 6 being applied to two different groups. First to believers who seek to do good deeds, then to unbelievers who are continually performing evil deeds and both will receive a recompense. Believers will receive reward. Unbelievers will receive punishment. According to the measure and the number of works that they perform. For the believer, good works. For the unbeliever, evil works. Now, continue to look at the end of verse 9. It’s kind of an interesting thing he concludes with, “Of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” Now, that’s interesting, because we read in chapter 1:16, that the gospel will go first to the Jew, then to the gentile. What this is saying judgment will come first to the Jew, then to the gentile. We ask why? Because they have had greater light. They have rejected greater light. Therefore, there is greater accountability and greater responsibility. There will be greater judgment depending upon the measure of light of the truth that you have had. That is why he adds that. Now, in verse 10, he comes back to the believer. We know that because verse 10 begins with the word but. Again, a strong contrast, stark contrast, but, and now this is what comes to the believer who seeks to perform good deeds, glory, which is praise from God, affirmation from God on the last day, and being conformed more fully in our final state to the character of God. Paul says in Romans 8:30, “Those whom he called, he justified and those whom he justified, he glorified.” This is that glory, but glory and honor, this is a repetition of verse 7, he’s already said that. This is a literally device meaning inclusion, where you finish the argument the way you begin the argument. In other words, you start by saying something, then you say other things, and then to end, you come back with what you started with. It’s a very effective teaching method and that is what Paul is doing here. He is coming back to the beginning of his argument. Glory, honor, and now he says peace and peace speaks of two things, one it speaks to the wellness of our soul and it speaks to the tranquility of our soul and in Heaven, there will be no sorrow, no pain, no illness. It will be a state of pure and perfect peace. Now, what is the mark of the one who receives from God glory, honor, and peace? He says to everyone who does good. He repeats this emphasis on deeds. Please see the focus on deeds that is running throughout this entire chapter and this is something that is really not addressed today in many, even reformed, circles. There is such an emphasis on grace and rightly so, but at times, there is a neglect on the importance of the deeds that we perform, and people go, “Performance. See, you’re just on a Pharisees treadmill.” You need to read this passage to see how important deeds are for the believer in order to receive a measure of glory and honor and peace on the last day from God and so, verse 11, we’re seeing the principle, we’re seeing the application, third is the explanation, verse 11. III.           THE EXPLANTION Here’s the explanation for verse 6, for there is no partiality with God. This means God will judge both the believer and the unbeliever, both the Jew and the Greek. There’s no partiality with God. God will judge everyone on the last day. That’s why I think of this verse often for me, James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing as such we shall incur a stricter,” what’s that last word? Judgment. There is a stricter judgment if you teach Sunday school. It will be stricter for some than for others, but there is a judgment that is coming even for us as Christians. This is a strong passage that as I’ve looked at it the last couple of days, has really kinda grabbed me by the collar and grabbed me by the lapels and it’s just kinda drawn me up straight in my chair as I need to be reminded of this that obedience is very important to God. Obedience is very important in my life and it’s very important in your life and the deeds that I do. I mean, we can’t just sit back on a sofa and be a spiritual couch potato and we have to be in the game and we’ve got to be doing what the Lord has put in front of us to do. I’m going to wrap up now. Participant:                 As you look at your life, it is with awe and fear and trembling, specifically, when you consider what you’ve already done and the time you’ve wasted. There’s a gravity, there’s a weight to it. There’s also a pleading with the Lord that he would, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, empower me to stay on the right path, to encourage me — to energize me to walk in these good works that he’s prepared beforehand. To truly — in this passage, there’s a battle that goes on in each one of our minds daily as a believer, am I going to satisfy myself or am I going to seek to live obedient to him? That’s the battle and that’s the — it’s the awesomeness of the calling. I think that sometimes we view salvation and we think, we were lax and we think we’re good, but we don’t realize and think what — time is limited and we’ve gotta redeem the time. I mean, that’s what this is for the believer. I really like your cross reference to Ephesians 2:10. “God has prepared good works for us to walk in.” There is an accountability on our part to perform these good works that he has prepared for us to walk in. That’s good, Mark. Thank you. Someone else? Grant. Participant:                 I wanna get your take on what you were saying in the beginning about greater judgment from believers, but also this idea of greater reward for believers, and I’ve heard multiple opinions about this, but what’s kind of the take on if there’s going to be, tiered system of believers, how is it going to be in Heaven? I guess, as a human being, we would think, I’m gonna have envy of somebody else or I’m gonna have regret about something I didn’t do. What do you think about when we’re all perfect at the end how that’s gonna look? We’re gonna receive an approbation and we’ll also receive crowns. Now, we’re — this crown is gonna be cast back at the Lord’s feet. We’re not gonna be strutting around Heaven like it’s a letter jacket. In Heaven — no, we’ll have this crown. We’ll cast it back at his feet, but you’re gonna want some crowns to cast back at his feet, and he says, “Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to each man according to,” I think it’s his deeds. I need to even check myself on that, Revelation 22:7, but — ask me the follow up question, ’cause I wanna be — I missed it by a verse here. Why am I having trouble finding in my own Bible? Anyway, he’s coming back and his reward is with him. How about that? Participant:                 Yeah, verse 12? Is it verse 12? Participant:                 “Behold”, this is Jesus talking, “Behold, I’m coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one”? Yes thank you, Eric. “Behold, I’m coming quickly, and my reward is with me to render to every man according to what he has done.” I mean, that means something. I mean, how this is gonna look and flesh out, there’s not gonna be any envy in Heaven. In fact, I will be excited for you to receive great reward. I mean, almost like a stadium cheering the team on the field when it wins. There’s no envy in the stands. There is excitement. That is the excitement we will have for one another as we are recognized by the Lord for our good deeds. Ask me something else on that Grant. I’ve told you more than I know on that. Yeah, someone else? Participant:                 I think grace is such a huge emphasis, and it should be as you mentioned, and I think of a story where a young lady told me and I think it applies to­ this. I know in my life where she was in a counseling session with Christian women somehow and this woman said, “I’m a Christian. I can go ahead and get an abortion, because God will forgive me.” The tendency, I think, in our sinful nature is to think, okay, I’ve got this hall pass to live and do whatever I want, because I’ve got this forgiveness, and I mean, that’s — it’s in my own life. There’s just not enough, because we want balance. We don’t want to get too far this way or that way, but it’s so important we talk about teaching the whole council of God, not just this, but all of it. This is something that we don’t talk about much. Yeah, no, we don’t. Participant:                 Why not? I think we’re drawn probably most easily to passages that talk about grace and forgiveness and, again, rightly so, but that we pass over verses like this to get to those verses, and it isn’t being a pastoral emphasis to encourage people, and again, rightly so, but we also need a fire lit under us as well to motivate us, and I know grace is a motivation, but so also is judgment a motivation as well, and it’s not either/or, it’s both/and, and so it would be incomplete if we only spoke of grace and it would be incomplete if we only spoke of judgment. It’s both grace and judgment should be great motivators in our Christian life. The sense of accountability before God, but also the sense of his forgiveness and empowerment in our lives. Allen, what do you think? Participant:                 I think about what Kevin was saying, there are people that think like that, that you have a _____ to do whatever you want, and that’s evidence of your lack of knowledge of scripture. Your preacher or someone failed you. You failed on your own, and I guess a wakeup call for all of us that we have people that we’re teaching, you need to let them know what this means, exactly, what’s the application? And as you were saying, the good news, there’s also bad news. Bad news or what made the good news really good news and then for us is knowing what the scripture says. It is really important and, as you were saying, there’s gonna be a stricter judgment and if you’re in front of a group of people, you have the responsibility of knowing this exactly. What does this mean for me and for you? Yeah. No, absolutely. Thank you, Allen, for that — reinforcing that. _____, how does this strike you? Participant:                 I feel a great tension in the verses, because when I look at the — I desire to persevere and do good, but I often see myself giving — having evil thoughts and just the internal struggle that I have. I just — just thinking about Paul in a few chapters about — Yeah, Romans 7. Participant:                 The desire to do good and just so thankful that this perseverance in doing good is all contingent upon Christ’s imputed righteousness and that — my entrance into Heaven is not contingent upon my good works, my rewards might be, and I’m just — I feel a great tension in the midst of the verses, just personally as I set an example in my heart and thoughts. Uh-huh. Sure. We persevere in reality, because the Lord is persevering with us. Participant: Philippians 1:6. And in us. Being confident of this very thing that he who began a good work and you shall perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus and then in next chapter Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work within you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” It’s this tension, human responsibility and divine sovereignty and that tension. Participant:                 And you said the encouragement and judgment and there’s encouragement and grace and we’re not — 2 Corinthians 5:15, is one of my favorite verses on this motivation, “And he died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.” _____ _____. I strive to do good works, because I know that I’m right with God, and I want to honor him in what he has already accomplished on my behalf. Participant:                 I think you make a note of that, ’cause that’s just a heart thing, right? Yes. Participant:                 Because you can still play the outside and be wrong on the inside and that’s the battle — That’s the pharoses. That’s the pharoses. [Crosstalk] Participant:                 I want you to do it for the outside to prove myself, instead of a proper response for what Christ has done for our — [Crosstalk] Participant:                 Still that tendency a Christian or my life to check the boxes, but I’m not where I need to be. Yeah. Participant:                 You quoted precious stone, woods, straw from 1 Corinthians 3 about fire revealing it at the end, which is — which is right on what you’re talking about. Yeah, it is. I mean, it’s the same foundation, which is Christ, and we build up with different materials, and some build with gold, silver, and precious stones, others with hay and stubble, and says, the fire will test the quality of each man’s worth. Now, Rick, you’re kind of a builder, aren’t you? Participant:                 Uh-huh. See, I feel like I may have a little gold and a lot of hay. Participant:                 I gotta fix something. Yeah. Let me tell you, you’d rather have a handful of gold than a truck full of hay. That’s why he says he will test the quality, not the quantity. We in America and in American churches, we’re into quantity. Bigger is better. God is into quality and he will test the quality of each man’s work and —­ think about this. Gold, silver, and precious stones go through the fire. In fact, it actually purifies the gold, the silver, and the precious stones. They last and he says, they shall receive reward. The wood, the hay, and the stubble, when the fire is put to it, and it pictures the Lord testing us on the last day by fire. It will be consumed, because they are combustible and it says, “They will be saved, yet so as through fire.” And the idea is ­­— I mean, there’s no reward. I mean, you poorly invested your Christian life. You’re saved, yet so as through fire. That’s a challenging passage I would think for all of us that we’ll stand before the Lord one day and each man will be rendered according to his deeds. We gotta be in the game and we gotta widen our stride and pick up our pace. Participant:                 No neutral. You can’t — I mean, there’s just no room for neutrality. In fact, if you’re neutral, you’re going backwards, and it’s like you said, there’s only so much time, as Mark said, and Jonathan Edwards has an incredible sermon, called The Preciousness of Time, that really launched the great awakening, and he just talks about when you waste time, you now have less time to do more work, and you just don’t wanna get in this catchup mode. Who else? Participant:                 One of my favorite verses as one who’s reformed is 2 Peter ­ Yeah, yeah. Participant:                 I mean, we’re elected, we’re chosen, and we wanna confirm that. I think that goes along with really the gift of assurance. If we look and we’re living like one who is the elect, it’ll confirm and _____ to us that we’re — that we are new creation, that we don’t look like we once did, and we’re not still walking with the power of the flesh, but I love that verse. It goes along with, I think, _____ to say, if you’re not sure if you’re part of the elect ­— if you don’t know if you’re part of the elect, make sure that you are. It’s a great _____. Yeah. No, he got a way — yeah, I’m just looking here at that passage you just quoted and the previous verses talk about those things by which we make certain our calling and election. One of which is perseverance. In fact, it’s mentioned twice in the previous verses. Yeah. You can know that you’re one of the elect by your pursuing that which is pleasing to the Lord, because the non-elect are not doing that. I see that it’s 8:00. Anyone else have a parting word of wisdom for us? I wanna thank you for all that you’ve contributed and I want to thank those who’ve watched with us on this study. Let me pray. Father, thank you for this study this morning and for these verses. I pray your spirit would be the primary teacher in what we’ve taught and what we’ve discussed. I pray great clarity, even greater clarity, would be brought into focus in our thinking and in our lives. Father, thank you that you have changed our affections and you have changed our direction by the new birth and that you’ve put us on the new path. Father, we pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.

The Moralist Condemned, Part 1 – Romans 2:1-5

OnePassion Ministries March 24, 2017

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Who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:6-11). This is the second part to our study of Romans 2:1-11, in which we are examining ‘the moralist condemned.’ In these verses, Paul is addressing the condemnation of the person who is externally moral, but who is internally as corrupt as the person who is involved in gross immoral sins. Paul continues his address to the moralist, warning him that if he is not born again, he must not think that he will escape the wrath of God. The Indictment Against the Moralist In our last study, we noted that Paul made five declarative statements regarding the moralist who believes that the gospel is for others, but never for him. First, the apostle stated that the moralist practices the same sin as does the one who leads a degenerative lifestyle. He notes, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (verse 1). Here, Paul is referring to those mentioned at the end of Romans chapter one. He charges the moralist with practicing the same sins. These iniquities will be different manifestations of the same sins. But the moralist has been weighed in the balances, and has been found guilty of committing the same sin. Second, Paul maintains that the moralist will suffer the same judgment. Paul says, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” (verse 3). This is a rhetorical question raised by Paul that implies a negative answer. The moralist will not escape the same judgment as everyone else. He, too, will have his day in court before Jesus Christ. Third, Paul adds that the moralist resists the same kindness. He continues his prosecuting case, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness?” (verse 4). The moralist disregards the many expressions of the mercy of God that should have led him to repentance. God has been so good to him that he has failed to see his need for grace. Fourth, the apostle argues that the moralist is storing up the same wrath as the immoral sinner. He asserts, “You are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath” (verse 5). The moralist is in the very same boat as the outwardly immoral people mentioned at the end of Romans 1. Fifth, Paul states that the moralist will be judged by the same principle of judgment as everyone else. Beginning in verse 6, “Who will render to each person according to his deeds” (verse 6). In this study, I want to unpack verses 6-11, which elaborate on this same truth. What follows is Paul’s explanation of the divine judgment upon the moralist by the exact same standard as the reprobate. I. The Doctrinal Instruction (2:6) The principle by which God will judge every person in the world, both believers and unbelievers, is it will be according to their deeds. Paul writes concerning God, “Who will render to each person according to his deeds” (verse 6). This is a direct quote from Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12. The reason Paul quotes from the Old Testament is to show that this standard in judgment has always been this way. This is the way God has always operated. This proposition is not something new in New Testament times. Paul quotes from the Old Testament to show that this principle of judgment is timeless, the same in every age. Verse 6 begins with the word, “Who” (os), which is a reference to God. The last word of verse 5, which is the antecedent, is “God.” The Executor of this judgment is God Himself. God is the One who will render this judgment. The next word, “will” speaks to the certainty of this judgment. God will render to each person according to his deeds. It is absolutely certain this is going to come to pass. The word “render” (apodidomai) means ‘to pay what is due as wages,’ ‘to give a recompense for work done.’ If I was contracted by you to perform some work, you would render to me a specific amount of money as payment. That remuneration is not a gift, but wages earned. What you would give to me is my recompense. That is the word that Paul uses. This is to say, there is going to be a future payday when God will render “to each person.” That teaches both the individuality and the universality of the judgment. Every single person will be rendered according to his deeds. This recompense is not only for unbelievers, but believers, as well. Every individual will receive their pay off from God according to their deeds. Paul says this rendering will be “according to” (kata), which means ‘in direct proportion to,’ “his deeds.” This speaks of the direct accountability that each person in the world has with God. That it will be measured by “his deeds” means it will be in proportion to his labor. In other words, he will receive for what he has worked. The payoff will be according to what he has earned by his actions. He will be paid off according to the things he has done, or according to his industry. Without exception, every man will be judged by God according to the things he has done. This is the universal principle that Paul is establishing. The Great White Throne Judgment God is keeping impeccable records on every person’s life. Every single deed of every person in the history of the entire human race is recorded in God’s book. For every unbeliever, Revelation 20:11-15 reveals what will happen at the end of time. The apostle John writes, “Then I saw a great white throne” (verse 11). “Great” speaks of its power, the Supreme Court of heaven and earth. There is no higher court of appeal. Its verdict is final and irreversible. “White” speaks of its purity, as perfect justice will be dispensed in that day. No inequity will be administered. No distorted evidence will be admitted. “Throne” speaks of its purpose. This will be a place of strictest justice. There will not be one drop of mercy in this day, only inflexible judgment. This scene unfolds, “And Him who sat upon it.” “Him” refers to Jesus Christ. All judgment has been entrusted by the Father to the Son (John 5:22). Every knee will bow to the Lord Jesus (Philippians 2:9-11). The apostle John explains, “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (verse 11). So terrifying is this scene that every unbeliever will shrink back in horror. “And I saw the dead, the great and the small” (verse 12). “The great” refers to people who have lived with great influence and power in human history, whose names are well known. “The small” refers to the little, insignificant people, who lived little, insignificant lives. We do not even know who they are. They are all “standing before the throne, and books were opened” (verse 12). These books contain the detailed record of every action, every deed, every thought, and every motive of every unbeliever in human history. This is the indisputable evidence that will be presented in court on that day. Jesus said that men will render an account of every idle word in the judgment (Matthew 12:36). John continues, “and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds” (verse 12). According to the nature and amount of the sin, there will be the corresponding judgment. The severity of the punishment rendered will not be the same for everyone, because the deeds will not be the same for everyone. There will be degrees of punishment in hell according to the degrees of evil deeds that were done by unbelievers. This is an alarming passage. “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death in Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds” (verse 13). Here again, we read the emphasis upon this final judgment being according to one’s deeds. “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (verses 14-15). This is the ultimate fulfillment for unbelievers of what we are reading in the book of Romans. Judgment for Believers Not only will there be a judgment according to deeds for unbelievers, there will also be a judgment for believers. In Romans 14:10-12, we read of the judgment for the believers’ deeds, when we stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. Paul writes, “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (verse 10). According to the context, “you” refers to believers, who live and die for the Lord (verse 8). We, too, will stand before the Lord and have our lives and ministries examined by the Lord. As Christians, there will be a judgment for our works, and rather than there being degrees of punishment as with every unbeliever, there will be degrees of reward for every believer. There will be different allotments of reward according to how strategically and purely we have invested our lives in the things of God. As believers, we will never stand in the judgment for our sins. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). But we will stand in judgment, and there will be a scrutiny of how we invested our time, our treasure, and our talent for the things of God. This principle is applicable, not only to the unbeliever, but also to the believer. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “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.” Romans 2:6 declares the principle that each man will be judged according to his deeds. II. The Practical Application (2:7-10) In verses 7-10, Paul gives the practical application of doctrinal instruction stated in verse 6. The apostle is saying that the believer will have this principle of judgment applied to them in verses 7 and 10, while the unbeliever will also have the same applied to them in verses 8 and 9. This is an A, B, B, A literary arrangement called a chiastic structure. So Paul first addresses the believer in verse 7, then unbeliever in verses 8 and 9, and finally the believer in verse 10. It is called a chiastic argument. 1. The Believer’s Deeds (2:7) In verse 7, Paul addresses believers, “To those who, by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Only a true believer perseveres to the end of his life in doing good. This statement presupposes what is not mentioned, that this one has experienced the new birth with a new heart, new direction, and new affections. This is a signature passage that teaches the perseverance of the saints. The word “perseverance” (hupomone) is one distinguishing mark of the true believer. The perseverance of the saints is the fifth truth of the doctrines of grace. This doctrinal teaching means that the elect will endure with constancy and steadfastness throughout the entirety of their Christian life. In other words, perseverance in doing good works identifies the true believers. The writer of Hebrews says, “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end” (Hebrews 3:14). Another way to say this is, we have become genuine believers in Jesus Christ if we continue in faith firm to the end. On the other hand, the one who does persevere in the faith, but falls away from his profession gives evidence of having never been converted. It has been said, “The faith that fizzles before the finish had a flaw from the first.” This pithy maxim restates the truth that the one who falls away before the end was not a true believer. If a person does not persevere faithful to the end, he had a counterfeit conversion. When God grants saving faith, it is a trust in Christ that causes one to persevere in obedience throughout the entirety of one’s life. There is a consistency with which the rest of Scripture teaches. There are many other verses we could site, but we will look at one more. Paul writes, “You were formally alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach – if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established, and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard” (Colossians 1:21-23). The one who is a true believer begins in the faith, continues in the faith, and perseveres in the faith. They press on unto the end of their life in doing good and pursuing godliness. There may be seasons of cooling off, times of falling into sin, but those are not overall characteristics of their Christian life. A true believer perseveres until the end. When Paul writes in Romans 2:7, “to those who by perseverance in doing good,” this word “doing” (ergon) is a Greek word that means ‘labor, toil, work.’ It is a strong word that is the antithesis of being laid back. There is no passivity in this word. It speaks of labor to the point of exhaustion. The word “good” (agathos) means ‘that which is upright and honorable, morally excellent.’ True believers persevere throughout their Christian life in pursuing what is honorable and virtuous. The Pursuit of Glory This lifelong pursuit reveals the genuineness of one’s conversion. Paul says those who persevere in doing good, “seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” The verb “seek for” (zeteo) is in the present tense, meaning the believer is continuously seeking for glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. Of course, we are not supposed to seek our own glory. But this “glory” to which Paul refers is the glory that we must seek. It points to our final state of glorification, when we are, at last, in glory with Christ. Paul will have much to say about the glory that awaits us future sections of Romans. In reality, this seeking for glory is seeking for the glory that God will give to us in heaven. In that day, we will become like His Son, Jesus Christ. The certain outworking of conversion is that “we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). This does not refer to our giving praise to God, but to our being glorified in heaven. In that last day, we will be fully conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Presently, we are seeking to become more like Christ. In this life, we are pursuing living in a godly way. But beyond this life, we are looking to the future hope of glory when we will be fully conformed into Christ’s likeness. The next word that we must seek is “honor” (time). This is not an honor for ourselves, but the honor that Jesus Christ will give to us on the last day when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). We long to hear that from the Lord on the last day. This is the honor that comes from Him on the last day when He recognizes our faithfulness in doing good. This will be the long awaited approbation of the Lord on the last day. Then Paul adds, “immortality” (aphtharsia), which means ‘incorruptibility.’ This is the future state that awaits us after the resurrection. Our body will be raised in a resurrection body in which we live forever with God. Then Paul says, “eternal life,” which is really the final realization of our future salvation. Eternal life begins the moment we are born again, when the life of God is put within our spiritually dead soul. Here, Paul is pointing to the final outcome of our salvation, when we will be glorified and receive honor from God. Then we will receive immortality from Him in a resurrection body. We will receive the final phase of eternal life, which is life in the very presence of God in heaven forever. As believers, we are to be “doing good,” and we will be judged for it. This should be quite a motivation for us to be serving the Lord, obeying Him, and doing His work. R.C. Sproul wrote an article in every Tabletalk magazine entitled “Right Now Counts Forever.” This is the eternal perspective with which we must be living our Christian life, because right now does count forever. We cannot allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep by grace. We must never presume that it does not matter how we live our Christian life. On the last day, we will face the record and give an account to the Lord for what good we have done. Some will have built their lives with gold, silver, and precious stones. Others will have built with wood, hay, and stubble. The last day will test the quality of each man’s work according to what he has done. Some will receive a greater reward than others, because they were far more engaged in doing good. I want to stress that obedience from the heart will receive from Jesus Christ an eternal reward on the last day. Our obedience is an important matter to God and should be to us. 2. The Unbeliever’s Deeds (2:8a) Paul begins verse 8 with the conjunction “but,” which reveals that we are making a shift in focus. We are turning from addressing believers to unbelievers. “But” marks a stark contrast from the preceding verse. Paul will now address what he presented in verse 6 and apply it to unbelievers. He writes, “But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness” (verse 8). “Selfishly ambitious” (eritheia) can be translated in different ways, but the main idea is a person who is still living for himself. He has never denied himself. He has never died to self. He lives however he wants to live. He does whatever he wants to do, with whom he wants to do it. This person is not living for Christ or what He wants him to do. He is strictly living for himself. There can be no misunderstanding whom Paul is addressing. These people, he says, “do not obey the truth.” This is in the present tense, indicating they continually do not obey the truth. This is the big picture of their life. Paul continues, they “do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness” (verse 8). Please note that everyone lives a life of obedience. A person is either living in obedience to the or living in obedience to unrighteousness. In this sense, everyone is a slave in bondage. Everyone is either a slave of God and obeying righteousness, or a slave of sin and obeying unrighteousness. In the purest sense, no one is free to do their own thing. Every one of us has a master, either Jesus Christ or sin. If you do not obey the truth, you are obeying unrighteousness. There is no middle category. Later in Romans, Paul writes, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:16-17). Here, the apostle affirms that everyone is a slave who obeys his master. He either has Jesus as his Master and follows Him in obedience to the truth, or he has sin as his master and lives in obedience to unrighteousness. That is precisely what Romans 2:8 is teaching. 3. The Unbeliever’s Reward (8b-9) Then Paul describes the recompense that unbelievers will receive for not obeying the truth. This is the divine payment they will receive for being selfishly ambitious and obeying unrighteousness. This is the payback from God when He judges them for their sinful lifestyle. It will be “wrath and indignation” (verse 8). Further, there will be “tribulation and distress” (verse 9). This is the wages that they have earned, and this is the paycheck they will receive. The word “wrath” (orge) is a Greek word that sounds like the English word ‘orgy.’ In an orge, there is heated passion among the revilers. This word describes the heated wrath of divine passion against unbelievers. It describes the violent anger of God against the ungodly. The word “indignation” (thumos) means much the same. It conveys the idea that something is so hot that it is boiling up. Here, it is the angry, heated passion of God against the wicked. God is a holy God, and all that is antithetical to His holy character provokes His strong reaction. This pictures God at the boiling point, pouring out vengeance against all that does not conform to His morally perfect character. Concerning unbelievers, Paul writes, “there will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek” (verse 9). “Every soul” refers to the unbeliever who “does evil.” This is the polar opposite of what we observed earlier of the one who seeks to do good (verse 7). By contrast, the mark of the unbeliever is one who habitually “does evil.” The word “does” (katergazomai) is an intensely strong word that means ‘to perform, accomplish work.’ It is a verb in the present tense, indicating this one continually performs evil deeds. The word “evil” (kakos) is that which is ‘worthless, wicked, bad, corrupt, and depraved.’ This is the unbreakable principle stated in verse 6, being applied to two different groups. First, Paul related it to believers who seek to do good deeds (verse 7). Then he connected it to unbelievers who are continually performing evil deeds (verses 8-9). Both believers and unbelievers will receive a justly due recompense. Believers will receive the individual reward that is coming to them from Jesus Christ. Unbelievers will receive the specific punishment that has been earned by them. Each is according to the quality and quantity of works that they have performed. For the believer, it will be for their good works. For the unbeliever, it will be for their evil works. Paul concludes by writing, “of the Jew first and also of the Greek” (verse 9). In Romans 1:16, the apostle stated that the gospel will go first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. Verse 9 is saying that it will be in the same order for judgment. Divine judgment will come first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. The Jew receives it first because they have had the greater light of the gospel. Tragically, they have defiantly rejected this greater exposure to the truth. Consequently, there is a far greater accountability and responsibility to God. In the end, there will be a stricter judgment, depending upon the greater light of the truth that they have had. 4. The Believer’s Reward (2:10) At last, Paul comes back to the believer in verse 10, “but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (verse 10). He starts with the word “but,” in strong contrast to what has proceeded. He now describes what comes to the believer who performs good deeds throughout his lifetime. “Glory and honor” is a repetition of what Paul stated in verse 7. This repeating is a literary device known as inclusion or inclusion. This is where a writer or speaker finishes his argument the way he began it. In other words, he starts by saying something, then after he has said other things, he will come back where he started. This is an effective teaching method Paul employs. In verse 10, Paul returns to the beginning of his argument. He says the believer will receive “glory and honor” (doxa), which is the praise he will receive from God on the last day. Then after that he adds, “peace.” Peace speaks to the wellness of the believer’s soul. It describes the tranquility of the soul that rests in Jesus Christ. The same will be true in heaven, but only greater. In that day, there will be no sorrow, no pain, and no illness. It will be a state of pure and perfect peace. This is the divine approbation in the end. The one who receives glory, honor, and peace from God, Paul says, is every believer “who does good.” The apostle continues his focus on the deeds of the believer that is running throughout this entire section in Romans. In many circles today, there is such an emphasis on grace that there is a total neglect of the importance of the deeds we perform. In this passage, we see how important deeds are for the believer in order to receive a measure of glory, honor, and peace on the last day from God. III. The Final Explanation (2:11) Paul concludes this section with this explanation for what has preceded, “for there is no partiality with God” (verse 11). In this context, this statement means that God will judge everyone without exception justly. As the high Judge of heaven and earth, He will judge both the believer and the unbeliever, as well as both the Jew and the Greek. There is no partiality with God. With perfect equity, God will judge everyone on the last day. No one will escape His judgment. The point that Paul is making in these verses is that even the moralist needs to be awakened to the fact that he, too, will face the judgment of God. He must know that being good is not enough. Like everyone else, he must be born again. No matter how outwardly moral he may be, he, like everyone else, has a heart problem that only God can cure. Such is the power of the gospel that even the morally good person desperately needs. As I have studied this passage, it has grabbed me by the lapels and drawn me up straight in my chair. I trust that it has had the same effect upon your life. We need to be reminded that obedience is important to God. It must be important our lives as well.