The Danger of Being Right
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The danger of being right
The danger of being right
The Danger of Being Right
Series: The Case Against Us (Week 3)
Series: The Case Against Us (Week 3)
Romans 2:1–16
Romans 2:1–16
Here BIG IDEA
Here BIG IDEA
If God judges according to truth and not comparison, what hope does a “good person” really have?
OPENING
Before we walk into this text, I want to address something that often creates confusion for people when they read a passage like Romans 2.
Because Paul is going to talk about judgment according to works.
And if we’re not careful, we can misunderstand what that means.
OPENING (STORY + NEED + TENSION)
OPENING (STORY + NEED + TENSION)
So let’s be clear from the beginning.
The Bible teaches that there is a real judgment coming for every person.
But what is being judged is based on your position to Jesus.
For those who are outside of Christ, judgment results in condemnation.
Revelation tells us that those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are judged according to their works and cast into eternal judgment.
Their works are not saving them on that day.
Their works are exposing them.
They reveal a life that has
rejected God,
Suppressed truth,
And remained in unrighteousness.
Romans 1 already told us that.
People suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
And that suppression is not neutral—it is damning.
It is evidence of a heart that has turned away from God.
But for the believer, Scripture describes something different.
Yes, believers will stand before Christ.
Second Corinthians 5 says we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
But this is not a judgment of condemnation.
Romans 8 makes that clear—there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So what is this judgment?
It is an evaluation.
First Corinthians 3 tells us that the believer’s works will be tested.
Some people’s works as Christinas will endure and be rewarded.
Some people’s works as Christinas will be burned up and result in loss.
But the person themselves will be saved.
So hear this clearly:
The believer is not being judged for sin—that was already dealt with at the cross.
The believer is being evaluated for what their life produced in response to grace.
Because the Bible never teaches that we are saved by our works.
Ephesians 2 says we are saved by grace through faith—not of works.
But it also says we are created in Christ Jesus for good works.
James says that faith without works is dead.
In other words, works do not produce salvation…
They reveal it.
If your life were revealed today…
Would it confirm that you belong to Christ…
Or expose that you’ve only been near the truth, but never transformed by it?
TRANSITION
Paul shows us three realities about God’s judgment:
His Judgement is inescapable
His Judgement is righteous
His Judgement is impartial
PART 1
God’s Judgment Is Inescapable (1–5)
Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.
Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment?
Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.
EXPLANATION
Paul begins:
“You have no excuse… every one of you who judges.”
That should sound familiar.
Because in Romans 1, the world had no excuse.
Now Paul says:
Neither do you.
TRANSITION TO TEXT
Why?
Because when you judge others…
You prove that you know the standard.
And not only do you know it…
You break it.
DIVISION 1
Maybe not in the exact same form…
The Danger of Judgment (Romans 2:1–5)
But from the same heart.
EXPLANATION
And Paul presses it:
“When you judge another, you condemn yourself…”
Your judgment is not your defense.
It is your evidence.
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES
Matthew 7:1–5
The speck and the log exposes hypocrisy in judgment
This is what we do. We are sharp when evaluating others…
And soft when evaluating ourselves.
We call out sin out there…
While quietly tolerating sin in here (heart)
And what that creates is a false confidence.
We hold onto our sin…
While still holding onto our self-respect.
ARGUMENTATION
So instead of asking:
“Am I right before God?”
We ask:
“Am I better than them?”
But comparison is not the standard.
Paul says Truth is the standard.
And the moment you say, “That’s wrong…”
You’ve admitted something:
You know what is right and true.
Which means you are accountable to God’s righteousness and truth.
[GOD’S KINDNESS MISUNDERSTOOD]
Then Paul goes deeper:
v. 4 “Do you despise (presume on) the riches of His kindness…?”
We look at God’s patience… And we misread it.
We think:
“If God hasn’t judged me yet… I must be fine.”
But God’s kindness is not approval.
It is mercy.
It is space.
It is an invitation to repent.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
hiding sin vs confessing sin
KEY LINE
God is not being soft on sin. He is being patient with you.
APPLICATION
Some of you are not running from God…
You’re just comfortable without Him.
And that is more dangerous.
Because you’re not rejecting truth loudly…
You’re ignoring it quietly.
STICKY STATEMENT
Your judgment of others doesn’t excuse you—it exposes you.
TRANSITION
If judgment is inescapable… Then we need to understand how God judges.
THEOLOGICAL DEPTH
THEOLOGICAL DEPTH
God’s Judgment Is Righteous (6–11)
He will repay each one according to his works:
eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;
but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
For there is no favoritism with God.
EXPLANATION
Paul says in vs 6:
“He will give to each one according to his works.”
Now we need to slow down here.
This does not mean your works save you.
It means your works reveal you.
God’s judgment is not based on appearance…
It is based on reality.
SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES
Psalm 62:12 — God repays each according to their work
Jeremiah 17:10 — God searches the heart and tests the mind
ARGUMENTATION
Matthew 16:27 — Christ repays each person according to what they have done
On that final day, God will not be trying to figure you out.
He will be revealing what has always been true.
Your life will not be weighed to determine your worth.
It will be revealed to expose your direction.
TWO DIRECTIONS
Paul shows two paths:
Those who seek God…
Those who are self-seeking…
This is not perfection vs imperfection.
This is direction, In other words
Who is your life oriented around?
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
God…
Or yourself?
ARGUMENTATION
We tend to think:
“If I try hard enough… I’ll be okay.”
But God’s standard is not effort.
It is righteousness.
Perfect righteousness.
And no one produces that on their own.
The Reality of God’s Judgment (Romans 2:6–11)
EXPLANATION
Now let me be very clear, because this is where people can get confused.
Scripture teaches that there is a real judgment coming for every person.
For those who are outside of Christ, Revelation makes it clear—those not found in the Book of Life are judged and enter into eternal condemnation.
Their works are examined, not to save them…
But to confirm their guilt.
They receive what their lives have earned apart from Christ.
Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.
I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
But for the believer, this is different.
Yes, believers will stand before Christ.
But not for condemnation.
Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,
because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
The judgment seat of Christ is not about punishment—it is about reward.
It is where the life of the believer is evaluated…
Not to determine salvation…
But to assess what their faith produced.
Not their sin; that was already dealt with at the cross.
But their fruit.
Their obedience.
Their motives.
And Scripture tells us that some will receive reward
So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
And some will suffer loss of reward.
But even in that loss, they themselves are saved.
If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.
If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.
APPLICATION
Believers:
Your works matter, Not for your salvation… But for your reward.
Live in a way that reflects what Christ has done in you.
Don’t be like the guy who had a little pile of wood waiting for him…
Sign up to serve in the church (cafe, greeter, kids ministry, students )
And trust that the Lord will see and bless your work
Unbelievers:
You are not being evaluated based on effort.
You are being revealed based on reality.
And apart from Christ… That reality leads to judgment.
STICKY STATEMENT
Your works don’t save you—but they will say something about you.
TRANSITION
So judgment is inescapable… It is righteous…
Now Paul removes the last place we try to hide.
God’s Judgment Is Impartial (12–16)
All those who sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous. So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.
EXPLANATION
Paul now addresses a question:
What about those who have the law… And those who don’t?
And the answer is:
Both are accountable.
Because everyone has knowledge.
Some externally through Scripture…
Others internally through conscience.
CONSCIENCE
God has written His moral law into the human heart.
Your conscience testifies.
It accuses.
It defends.
It speaks.
Which means:
No one can say, “I didn’t know.”
ARGUMENTATION
We often say:
“No one knows what I’ve done.”
“It’s not that serious.”
But God knows.
And not just what you’ve done—
Why you’ve done it.
CLIMAX
Paul says: “God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ.”
Secrets.
Hidden motives.
Private thoughts.
Everything exposed.
Nothing hidden.
Nothing misunderstood.
What matters is not what you have heard…
But what you have done with what you know.
APPLICATION
Live with integrity. Not just outwardly… But inwardly.
You may hide from people—but you cannot hide from God.
CONCLUSION — THE CASE Against Us IS CLOSED
Step back and see what Paul has said.
The rebellious—guilty.
The moral—guilty.
The religious—guilty.
No one stands.
No one escapes.
No one qualifies on their own.
Closing {Alistair Begg}
Without the preaching of the cross, without preaching the cross to ourselves, all day and every day, we will very, very quickly revert to “faith plus works” as the ground of our salvation. So, to go to the old Fort Lauderdale question, “If you were to die tonight and you were getting entry into heaven, what would you say?” If you answer that in the first person, we’ve immediately gone wrong. “Because I . . . Because I believed . . . Because I have faith . . . Because I am this . . . Because I am continuing.”
Loved ones, the only proper answer’s in the third person. “Because he! Because he!”
Think about the thief on the cross . . . I can’t wait to find that fellow one day to ask him, “How did that shake out for you? Because you were cussing the guy out with your friend. You’ve never been in a Bible study. You never got baptized . . . You didn’t know a thing about church membership, and yet . . . you made it. How did you make it?” That’s what the angel must have said, you know:
“What are you doing here?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I don’t know.”
“Excuse me, let me get my supervisor.” They go get their supervisor angel. “So, just a few questions for you.
First of all, are you clear on the doctrine of justification by faith?”The guy said,
“I’ve never heard of it in my life.”
“And what about the doctrine of Scripture?”
This guy’s just staring — and eventually, in frustration, [the supervisor] says,
“On what basis are you here?”
And he said, “The Man on the middle cross said I can come.”
That is the only answer. That is the only answer.
And this is where the Gospel changes everything.
GOSPEL BRIDGE Worship Team Up
Because our confidence is this:
The same Lord who declares judgment…
Is the same Lord who has already prepared a way for salvation.
God did not lower His standard.
He fulfilled it.
God did not ignore sin.
He judged it.
In Christ.
GOSPEL INVITATION
Jesus lived the life you could not live.
Perfect righteousness.
Perfect obedience.
Then He died the death you deserved.
And on the cross…
Everything you just saw in this passage—
Fell on Him.
So now the question is not:
“Are you good?”
“Are you moral?”
The question is:
Who are you trusting in?
CALL TO RESPONSE
If you stand on your works…
You will be judged by them.
If you stand in Christ…
You will be saved from them.
So today, I beg of you:
Turn from trusting yourself.
Turn from your sin.
And place your full trust in Jesus Christ.
Because…
You do not want to stand before Jesus on the Day or Wrath based on what you’ve done…
HOLY FOREVER
