Romans 2:1-29: Physician, Heal Thyself!

Scripture Passage

The New King James Version Chapter 2

1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

This is the word of the Lord. (Thanks be to God)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Review and Introduction

So far in this sermon series we have seen Paul’s obligation to give the Gospel to those who are in Rome, first by sending this letter ahead of his own arrival, in which he planned to preach throughout the imperial city… And then second, as we saw last time, by demonstrating that his Gospel really is more honorable than any gospel from Rome or the Caesars.

And to put a nice bow on it, we can summarize Paul’s argument, up to this point, for why he is not ashamed of his Gospel: The Gospel is more honorable because it brings the righteousness of God into the hear and now - bringing salvation to every believer, and wrath to every unbeliever.

Now what tends to happen when you make claims like that? In other words, what are you going to have to do next? Your are going to have to defend them. And that’s the function of Romans Chapter 2. It begins Paul’s presentation of the Gospel by means of refutation.

As any good apologist knows, if you are going to share the Gospel, you have to know how to defend it by explaining why you believe what you believe when unbelievers challenge your faith. In the context of this letter to the Romans, Paul knew well who his hecklers were going to be when he arrived there.

As we mentioned previously, the Jews had been allowed to resettle in Rome after their ban was lifted by Emperor Nero, and that meant that Paul’s letter was going to have detractors, given that the whole reason the Jews were banned from Rome was over the disputes that arose as to whether Jesus was the Christ.

In this particular passage, as we just heard, we find that Paul’s chief opponents were not the Gentiles, but who? The Jews. This is why I titled the sermon: “Physician, Heal Thyself!” Do you remember where this comes from in the Gospel accounts?

It comes from Jesus in Luke 4:23 when he was rejected by the Jews in his own hometown of Nazareth. He tells them that they were surely going to speak this proverb against him because they didn’t believe he was the Messiah and were only looking for a sign… to which Jesus goes on to tell them that the prophets of old often only healed a few, rather than the many, because of Israel’s own unbelief.

And so what Paul effectively does in this passage against his Jewish opponents is turn the sentiment of that proverb back against them in their claims to be more righteous because they have the Law and the Gentiles do not. In other words, if you Jews are so righteous then why aren’t the Gentiles running after you to follow your Law? If you know how to heal people, then why aren’t you doing it? Oh that’s right…

The New King James Version Chapter 2

the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

If you don’t feel the weight of Paul’s point there, just give me some time to warm you up to it.

Judge not, lest ye be judged?

So let us begin in verses 1-5. In a way, many have noted that Paul effectively lays a trap for some in his potential audience that might hear the letter. We will call them the hearers for our purposes right now. And those hearers would have heard Romans 1:18-32 and said ‘amen’ all the way down. “That’s right, those dirty gentiles and pagans, they are going to get God’s wrath!” Only to get to Romans 2:1 and find the carpet pulled out from under them. As the Scripture says, pride comes before a fall, therefore Paul’s transition from proof to refutation is intended to do just that for all those who would think themselves better than those who are without the Law of God.

Listen again, verses 1-5:

The New King James Version Chapter 2

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, [while] doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? [In other words, ‘don’t you see how wonderfully... patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? (NLT)] 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”

Now this is the point where the apostates in our country will start saying, ‘see! judge not, lest you be judge!’ But that is not the Apostle’s point at all. In the same way Jesus spoke about being judge according to the standard by which you judge others, Paul likewise is not condemning the act of judgment. He is condemning the act of hypocrisy by those who claim to be better while they go about doing the same things themselves, possibly in secret or in private circles. The wrath of God comes against everyone because of their wicked deeds, regardless of whether they had received something good from God in the past.

We could call this transition from chapter 1 to chapter 2 the ‘great leveling’. Because in this transition, from God’s wrath to all those who do wickedness, Paul begins to show us how totally depraved we all really are. That is to say, religion and mere intellectual knowledge of God’s Law doesn’t fix anything for us. On the contrary, if you have a hard and impenitent heart while knowing God’s Law yet you are doing the same things the pagans do, then you yourself

The New King James Version Chapter 2

5b are treasuring up... wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”

Why?

The New King James Version Chapter 2

[because] there is no partiality with God.

There is no partiality with God

This is Paul’s point is verses 6-16. God does not show favoritism to anyone. Look again at verses 11 and following:

The New King James Version Chapter 2

11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without [the] law will also perish without [the] law, and as many as have sinned in the law - [they] will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Some of you men might remember our fun conversation about hypotheticals in the past. Well, verses 6-16 require you to rely heavily upon hypotheticals. And the primary hypothetical Paul makes here is the very basis of where he is taking us in chapter 3 of his Gospel presentation.

So let me ask you this way: According to Paul and numerous other Scriptures (Job, the Psalms, Revelation, the Prophets)… what is the basis of the final judgment on the Last Day? You can see it in verses 6-10. It is a judgment according to one’s deeds or the judgment according to works. This is the foundational basis of Paul’s refutation to his opponents… The final judgment is based on what you did in this life, not based on whether you knew better and tried to make your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds.

Whether you sinned without the Law or with the Law, you are going to be condemned by the Law because you broke the Law and did what we evil in God’s sight. That is the great leveling on the last day. No earthly titles or positions will give you any special favor before God.

And this is where that hypothetical comes into play… If you could stand before God on the Last Day and it could be shown that you never sinned, what verdict would you hear? You would hear the verdict of righteous. verse 13:

The New King James Version Chapter 2

for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified

Now, I will allow you to mentally jump ahead in your hearts to Romans chapter 3 - for all have sinned and fallen short - but we are not there yet and we need to feel the weight of Paul’s argument.

Unfortunately, many of us who have read church history know all to well the errors of the British monk named Pelagius. Passages like Romans chapter 2 are also what I believe the Apostle Peter was referring to when he said,

The New King James Version Chapter 3

14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

What is it that many Christians do with passages like this? They take the hypothetical out of its clear context in the presentation of the Gospel, setting for why we need the Gospel… and then go around telling people, ‘see, there is no original sin. we can be good and do good if we want to… after all, God’s gonna judge everyone according to whether or not they did enough good to outweigh the bad they did.’

As I just said, you can leap forward in your minds to Romans chapter 3, but I would like to briefly share a story from my first job our of college. My boss was a very works-based man. He was brought to church by his grandma when he was growing up, but hadn’t darkened its door in his entire adult life. He also didn’t read anything unless it was required of his job (like emails for work or specifications and drawings for engineering).

So one day, we had had enough conversations, I had tried to give him a one page print out of Romans chapter 3 and he refused to read it. But we did eventually end up talking about who gets to go to heaven when they die. And because he had been around the church culturally, but had never embraced the Gospel, he stood there one day telling me with his hands out in the air that God was going to judge us according to our works… and can you guess what he said? ‘Well, as long as your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds… you’re going to heaven’.

Now, I will give him credit that his views at least encouraged some ethical prudence on his part. It’s also probably a better starting point than a recent song I heard from Noah Cyrus (Miley Cyrus’ sister) which goes: I got so high that I saw Jesus He said, "It's all gonna be okay You just need me in your heart" Tennessee whiskey and love I got so high that I saw Jesus

I’ll tie that in in a moment… now back to my boss. If you read Paul’s words in isolation, without hearing his full argument in Romans chapter 1 through 5, you can see how some hearers of the Bible might come to a Pelagian understanding of humanity. Pelagius taught that everyone is born just as Adam was made, with a tabula rasa, or a blank slate… not born into sin on account of Adam’s original sin. This is effectively the landscape of Americans, even many Christians in our own day, we live in a Pelagian era where people tell you to trust your feelings, follow your heart, and just make sure your good outweighs your bad to get to heaven.

And this is how we apply Peter’s point about Paul’s epistles. The hypotheticals of chapter 2 have nothing to do with any kind of hippy dippy Pelagianism. Rather, Paul is demonstrating for us how the Scriptures teach that God is completely impartial in his judgments on the Last Day.

If I can use my two examples as modern day renderings: Paul’s point is that the pot-smoking hippy who knows they need Jesus in their heart are no better off then my moralistic boss. For as many as have smoked pot and imagined they saw Jesus tell them that everything is going to be okay, they will perish without Jesus. And as many as have gone to church when they were kids and heard what the Bible teaches about the final judgment, they will be condemned regardless of what they heard, for they did not obey it and twisted it to their own destruction.

So again, verses 6-16 demonstrate simply that God does not show favoritism to anyone, be they pot smokers or moralistic bosses.

Twice A Son Of Hell

Now, on to verses 17 thru 24. Up to this point, I would argue that Paul’s refutation was very generalized. Verses 1-5 refute “O man” - that is, any man, who thinks in an arrogant, hypocritical fashion about being more righteous than others. It could have been a pagan philosophy, a Jewish teacher, a Roman stoic, or even members of the churches in Rome.

I think this was intentional on Paul’s part, because he was wise enough to know that these temptations of self-righteousness and arrogance are common to all mankind. So, in a sense, verses 1-16 were broadly written to tell everyone not to think more highly of themselves than they should. God doesn’t think more highly of you because you’re less sinful than other pagans. He will judge and condemn the lot of you, whether you were a hypocrite or not!

But what happens now is a sharpening of Paul’s refutation. We heard Paul leading up to this by his reference to the Law. Now in verse 17 and following we know specifically who Paul has in mind - those who according their lineage are called Jews. In Paul’s day, the Jews were stubborn and hard hearted, with identities based in covenant privilege, possession of the Law (the Torah), and all the confidence that they were better than the Gentiles they had been living among. (forgetting completely why they were there to begin with - aka, they had been exiled from the land for being more wicked than the gentiles)

Listen again to verses 17-24:

The New King James Version Chapter 2

17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

The Jews had the Law. They knew of the one, true God. They knew what was excellent and had been instructed by the Law in true righteousness. They were supposed to be guides to the spiritually blind, a light to the nations of the Gentiles, dispensers of wisdom, good teaches of little children, because they had the truth found in the oracles of God written down in the Scriptures!

But what had they done? Why were they scattered amongst the Gentiles? Because they too broke the Law and did what was wicked in the eyes of God, just like the rest of the Gentiles! As I said at the start: Paul is saying, ‘if you Jews are so righteous then why aren’t the Gentiles running after you to follow the Law you were given? Oh that’s right…

The New King James Version Chapter 2

23 You...make your boast in the law, [but] you dishonor God through breaking the law... 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

In other words, when you are supposed to be the physician, but you have the same disease that is killing everyone else and you can’t get rid of it for yourself, what will happen to you? You too will perish.

This is what Paul demonstrates with his rhetorical questions in verses 21-23. Jews in Paul’s day were not practicing what they preached. Some were apparently stealing, others committing adultery, and apparently some were helping themselves to the goods found in pagan temples because those things had been given to idols (who are not real people) and, therefore, entitled them to take whatever they wanted because it was “nobody’s property.” (that’s just a brief explanation of what the theft of temples probably refers to)

Quoting from the prophet Isaiah (52:5) Paul basically tells the Jews of his day… you remember why you are here in Roman territory in the first place, don’t you? Well, nothing has changed in these last 500 years, and that’s exactly why no one believes you have any good news to share with them.

This refutation from Paul reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 23:15 about the scribes and the pharisees traveling over land and see to make one proselyte (or convert) to their religion? I would even encourage you to go back and read all the woes that Jesus spoke to the scribes and the pharisees since you might notice that much of Paul’s refutation is structured around similar things that Jesus said in that chapter.

But what did Jesus say happened to those proselytes?

The New King James Version Chapter 23

15 and when he is won [or when you make a new convert], you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

So, not only is Paul’s Gospel more honorable than the Gospel of the Roman Caesars, the Jews in Paul’s day have no Gospel at all.

And this is exactly where Paul ends his refutation… when someone converted to Judaism in the first century, what had to happen to the men? They had to be circumcised. Any children who don’t understand how that works, ask your parents later, I’ll spare you the details.

Also, historians and scholars are in general agreement that Paul’s letter to the Romans came after his letter to the Galatians. So, as you read this, I do think it is appropriate for you to make some connections with the fact that Paul also was preparing the Roman Christians to defend against the arrival of the Judaizers (aka, the circumcision party) that was promoting heresies in Christian circles. Paul likewise said in that letter that the Judaizers had no Gospel either.

So with that in mind, let’s hear verses 25-29 once again:

Seek the praise of God, not men

The New King James Version Chapter 2

25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

I said a moment ago that Paul’s argument in chapter two moves from the more broad descriptor of any man who might be a hypocrite to a sharper definition of his Jewish opponents… so therefore, with all pun intended, these verses should be seen as Paul taking the knife and using the blade to cut into the heart of the matter for any who would stand in opposition to his Gospel.

Remember what Paul said of his opponent in Galatia? Galatians 5:12:

The New King James Version Chapter 5

12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!

Or better yet, in the words of our modern vernacular: You guys keep talking about how great your circumcision is, but I’m here to tell you that it’s all fake and gay. I mean, why else would you be so obsessed about doing stuff to another man’s genitalia?!

But in all seriousness, Paul’s final point of refutation in chapter two is to tell his opponents that their outward circumcision is not only fake for themselves, but it’s no better than being uncircumcised. It’s no better than being a Gentile!

Any why is that the case? Because one...

The New King James Version Chapter 2

28 is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Application

If you and I are going to receive this Gospel rightly, if you and I are going to even have good news to tell other people in our lives, it must comes from God, himself, rather than from men. The reason Paul’s Gospel is better than any other is because it comes from God himself and is received by grace through faith.

If you will notice, going back through this whole chapter again, you will find that Paul does not reference faith at any point in this part of the refutation. Rather, what does he do? He holds up the mirror to show his opponents what they are really like, both inwardly and outwardly.

And this, of course, is because Paul knows they need to see themselves as they really are, if they are ever going to begin to see their need for the Gospel. It’s like Paul is showing them what they really look like through various mirrors along the way.

Based on what we’ve read in this chapter, I suggest the following mirrors:

The mirror of insincerity

The mirror of impartiality

The mirror of the identity

The mirror of insincerity is Paul telling all of us that we cannot live double lives and we certainly better practice what we say we believe, else the name of God will be blasphemed as it is currently in these United States.

The mirror of impartiality is Paul telling all of us that God shows no favor to any of us. If you look in this mirror, as a sinner, you will see that you are just as guilty as your pot smoking hippy neighbor who had a fictional conversation with Jesus last night.

And lastly, the mirror of identity is where Paul is telling all of us that (even in our New Covenant context) our sacramental badges (of baptism and the eucharist) must not merely be worn by us on Sunday. But that they must be lived inwards, by the heart through the Spirit who is at work in us.

So, even though this section is more targeted to Paul’s opponents, we must always reckon with the reality that Paul’s primary audience are the Christians who received the letter first and passed it down to us.

In fact, we will return to some of these topics again, not only in chapter 3, but also in chapters 9 thru 11, where Paul will more directly apply these things to the Roman Christians (which includes us who are alive today).

So I give you this brief encouragement: Do not let your failures as a Christian wear you down. The benefits of the Gospel include the Spirit of Christ to dwell in us. And that means that we will be changed, not merely on the outside, but also inwardly in our hearts as we seek the praise of God over the praise of men day in and day out.

Therefore, I exhort all of us today, to put off hypocrisy daily. Put away your pride and arrogance, thinking you are better than other people because of where you come from. And finally, remember that you belong to God and you are his saints, his holy ones, as Paul said in the beginning of his letter.

The Gospel actually makes you righteous before God because of what Jesus has done, not because you were smarter than everyone else, not because your pedigree was better, and certainly not because your good outweighs your bad. The Gospel begins and ends with faith and your faith actually works, and in the end, it will result in praise from God your heavenly Father on the Last Day.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pray with me.