No Favoritism: There is a standard of Judgment

Main Point: GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY IN JUDGMENT

Q: When you think about how God determines our judgment, what comes to mind?

In the last few months we’ve looked at the judgment from God from various angles, such as:

The righteousness of God in judgment

The love of God in judgment

Why God judges

What judgment from God looks like

Today, we are looking at the standard of Judgment—What does God evaluate us by?

Why does this matter?

The standard that we think God uses to judge us is what we will typically attempt to align with.

The standard that God judges us by means that all other standards are useless and wastes of our time and energy.

Consequently, you and I really want to know and comply with the standard God uses, or we might find ourselves in a terrible situation at the end of our lives—not to mention the needless toil, consternation, and difficulties we experienced while aligning to an improper standard!

Romans 2:11–16 ESV

For God shows no partiality. 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 righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, 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, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

God does not show partiality (vs. 11)

The word used for “partiality” (prosopolempsia) is a Christian idiom that means “to accept a face”, or to make unjust distinctions between people by treating one person better than another (Louw-Nida)

He does not

In short, Paul states that God will not excuse someone out of personal favoritism.

It

If God should choose to accept people based upon partiality or personal favoritism, then this would make God:

Unjust: His judgment would be based on a sliding-scale and not in concrete righteousness

Unloving: His actions would not allow the same opportunity for repentance and salvation to all

Unloving: His actions would not allow the same opportunity for repentance and salvation to all

Q: What is the standard of judgment that God uses?

The standard of judgment is NOT merely the OT Law

The Old Testament Law had three areas of application:

Moral: Instructions that identified, warned against, and forbid sin (ex: The Ten Commandments)

Civil: Instructions on how to live as the people of Israel within the community of Israel

Civil: Instructions on how to live as the people of Israel within the community of Israel

Israel could engage in “proper civil behavior” without truly loving others.

Ceremonial: Instructions on how to formally worship the Lord

Israel easily engaged in the “rules” of worship without actually worshiping the Lord from the Heart!

THEY PAID GOD LIP-SERVICE: “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” ()

THEY WERE HYPOCRITES: “You are white-washed tombs full of dead men’s bones.” ()

THEY ONLY OBEYED THE EASIER AND VISIBLE PARTS OF THE LAW: “You tithe mint, dill, and cumin (spices) but neglect the weightier issues of the Law ()

THEY NEEDLESSLY HURT OTHERS WITH THEIR TRADITIONS: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” ()

THEY MISUNDERSTOOD THE NATURE AND WORK OF GOD: “Go learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” ()

The Leaders of Israel boasted in their special “covenant position” as the children of Abraham, that they were the keepers of the law, and that they were the Holy people of God—but their boast was empty and hypocritical!

They are Ignorant of the word of God ()

They Persecuted those who proclaimed the word of God ()

They Added to the word of God their ideas and traditions ()

They Feigned obedience to others ()

They placed heavier burdens on others than they were willing to follow ()

Let’s take a look at Paul’s argument:

All who’ve sinned without the law perish without the law (vs. 12)

All who’ve sinned under the law are judged by the law (vs. 12)

Hearing the law does not make one righteous before God (vs. 13)

Doing the law causes one to be justified (vs. 13)

Doing the law—even when ignorant of the law—becomes a law (vs. 14)

It is the law that is written on our hearts, the conscience testifying to the law, and our conflicting thoughts caused by the Law that results in a positive judgment from God (vs. 15)

The standard is the type and level of OBEDIENCE Jesus demonstrated.

Paul says in vs. 16 that God will judge mankind by Jesus Christ—WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

I believe Paul is telling us a couple of things here:

God will judge

God judges how we respond to and obey Him

God judges us by the life of Christ—Jesus is the standard we are compared to

All of us will not make it through the judgment because we are all under condemnation as sinners ()

However, those who obey God from the heart will be saved, because it is God that changed our hearts by making us a new creation through the life of Christ () ()

Consequently, when we look at Jesus as the standard of Obedience, we see two aspects of His obedience:

The TYPE of Obedience He demonstrated

The LEVEL of Obedience He demonstrated

Both aspects of Obedience form the basis for evaluation at the time of Judgment—did we obey like Jesus (our example) and did we have the same level of commitment to obedience?

Type: Loving and Devoted Submission to the Father

Jesus perfectly obeyed the letter of the Law—He did not sin ( and )

Jesus perfectly obeyed the heart of the Law—He lived in harmony with the Father ()

Jesus perfectly obeyed the heart of the Law—He lived in harmony with the Father ()

Jesus perfectly demonstrated integrity and did not live a dual or hypocritical life ()

Jesus perfectly demonstrated integrity and did not live a dual or hypocritical life ()

Jesus perfectly performed the will of God ()

Jesus perfectly honored the Father—even to the point of death ( and )

Jesus perfectly performed the will of God ()

Jesus perfectly honored the Father—even to the point of death ( and )

Jesus perfectly honored the Father—even to the point of death ( and )

Level: Faithful obedience even to the point of death—even death on a cross

IN MATERIAL NEEDS: Jesus refused the temptation to allow the need of basic necessities to override His obedience to the Father ()

IN PURITY: Jesus never committed an act of sexual immorality; in fact, He was celibate HIs entire life.

IN DEPENDENCE TO THE FATHER: Jesus refused the temptation to test God by demanding His miraculous work ()

IN HUMILITY: Jesus refused the desire for power and wealth ()

IN WORSHIP: Jesus refused the desire to glorify Himself instead of the Father ()

IN SUFFERING: Jesus refused to save Himself from the cross in order to complete the Father’s will

IN MINISTRY: He discipled and kept those the Father gave Him to care for ()

The Scripture shows Jesus committed to obedience to the point that He was willing to (and did) surrender His physical life to death rather than disobeying the Father.

The book of Hebrews is, essentially, an elaborate argument commanding us to keep the same level of obedience as Christ did. Look at the warnings of Hebrews:

The danger of drifting past Christ (ch. 2)

The danger of not entering the rest Christ prepared (ch.3-4)

The danger of failing to mature in Christ (ch. 5-6)

The danger of willful sin and rejecting Christ (ch. 10)

The danger of indifference toward and denial of Christ (ch. 12)

Jesus NEVER demonstrated a life marked by idleness, laziness, stagnant relation to the Father, willful sin (or any sin), indifference toward God, and denial of God!!!!

Q: What type of obedience do we demonstrate? (Guided Repentance)

Spiritual: Am I saved and and child of God?

Intellectual: Am I devoted to growing in my knowledge of the Lord through His word?

Emotional: Am I pouring my heart out to the Lord in prayer and allowing His Spirit to shape my feelings in such a way that I grow to trust the Lord, praise the Lord, and thank the Lord?

Relational: Am I engaging others in such a way that clearly honors the Lord by pointing them to Jesus and helping them walk with Jesus?

Vocational: Am I using my work and school environments as an opportunity to glorify the Lord?

Physical: Am I advancing the Kingdom of God and striving to be a beautiful temple of the Lord—or am I more concerned with my Kingdom and my physical appearance?

Recreational: Do I strive for the rewards of heaven in the presence of Jesus and build in Godly rest into my life, or do I strive to maximize the pleasure I can experience in this life with little to no regard for the rest of the next life?