The Danger of being a Moral Righteous Person

I am a good person. I have a job and I pay taxes. I follow the rules and I teach my children to respect authority. I believe in family, hard work and in being honest. I stand for the flag, support the troops, and the police. I give to the Red Cross and Samaritan’s Purse, especially after national disasters. I have never raped or murdered anyone, and I have never physically harmed another person - I am also kind to animals. I am a good person and I am on my way to Hell.

Transition: That last statement may have surprised you. It may not have been what you expected to hear, but it is the sad reality for many in this country at the present time. Unfortunately, there are even church members in our pews who may hear the chilling words, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt 7:23)

These folks will be dumbfounded because they actually think they are not guilty of being workers of iniquity - they are good, decent people. So, lets look at the text and discover the Danger of being a Moral Righteous Person.

READ Text: Romans 2:1-11

A Moral Righteous Person condemns others and reveals his own hypocrisy (Romans 2:1)

Explanation: Paul has just delivered a scathing indictment against those individuals who are under the wrath of God, with an emphasis on those who have been delivered over to sexual immorality. He now addresses the morally upright crowd that judges and condemns those in the first group. Paul states that this second group is guilty of judging by hypocritical standards. They are in fact, just as guilty before God as those in the previous group. This declaration of guilt on these MRP’s would have been shocking!

Illustrate: In Sept of 2020 Nancy Pelosi was caught on camera not wearing a mask in her home city of San Francisco during a visit to a hair salon. Yet she lectured others for not wearing a mask. She was revealed as a hypocrite and it did not go over well with many.

Argument: Ensure that you understand what Paul is condemning. It is the hypocritical, morally superior attitude of judging that is being called out - not the act of making a judgment in and of itself.

It is not difficult for those who do not know the Bible well to take parts of it out of context. One of the most abused verses in Scripture (in my opinion) is Matthew 7:1 which states “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Many use this verse to declare no one has the right to judge another’s actions, and we see the results of such thinking in our morally bankrupt and confused society.

In the context of Matthew 7, Jesus is warning against a hypocritical manner for judging others. That’s why He speaks about removing the log from your own eye so you can clearly see the speck in the other person’s eye (Matt 7:5). Jesus and Paul are in agreement: Judging others from a hypocritical standpoint of moral superiority is off-limits, not the act of discerning truth from error.

The guilt of the people in view in verse 1 is that they condemned the others while trusting in their own conceived moral superiority which they assumed was their birthright. Paul addresses chapter 2 to a primary Jewish audience. They looked upon all non-Jews as deserving of God’s judgment, while they supposed they were OK, just because they were Jews!

Application: Do not assume that you are on your way to heaven just because you are an American, or your mother is a fine Christian lady, or because your name is on the church role. Do not make the mistake of trusting in your own righteousness.

The Moral Righteous Person hardens his heart against the kindness of God that is designed to lead him to repentance (Rom 2:3-5)

Explanation: Paul uses two rhetorical questions to make his point. He asks these MRP’s 1) do you think you are going to get away with your hypocrisy? and 2) do you despise the mercy and grace of God?

The expected answers are: 1) yes and 2) no. They do think they are in good shape with the Almighty, and they would be shocked to think that someone even thought they were despising the mercy of God. This type of “good” Jew was deeply convinced that he was in God’s good graces and that he would do well in the judgment. After all, he was a member of God’s chosen people, and their basic mindset was that all of Abraham’s descendents received a free pass.

Argument: One of the hardest group of people to reach with the Gospel is the good people. There are probably hundreds of thousands of good and moral people who are hardening themselves against the grace of God. They are living their lives as good citizens and they are counting on being judged by their own standard of righteousness.

We can look down on the Jewish people for thinking they will get a free pass due to their ethnic heritage, but many Americans are just as guilty of thinking God will use their standard for judgment instead of His.

Speaking of standards for Judgment, lets take a look at what will be used for God’s future judgment:

The Moral Righteous Person will be judged according to his deeds which provide inescapable evidence of his rebellious heart (Rom 2:8-9)

Explanation: Paul informs his Jewish readers, (and this applies to the unrighteous Gentiles as well) that they will be judged by their deeds. The next few words in vv. 8 & 9 would have offended them greatly. Paul declares that the contentious and disobedient will face tribulation and anguish. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul states that a negative judgment awaits those who do evil, no matter his ethnicity.

Argument: The problem rises because these group of MRP’s do not perceive themselves as evil. They aren’t doing anything wrong! They would say, just like the rich young ruler, “but I have followed the commandments” (cf Mark 10:20). This way of viewing oneself is the result of focusing on the external rather than the condition of the heart. Outward conformity to a set of norms does not result in salvation; it results in being declared contentious and disobedient,

Reading this would have been shocking. Just imagine the Moral Upright Jew who was listening to this letter being read for the first time. He or she would be agreeing with the wrath of God coming upon the pagans for refusing to acknowledge the Creator (silly pagans!) He or she would be nodding heads as they listened to the reprobate actions of those who had been given over to sexual immorality.

As the leader read this section, however, it would slowly began to dawn on them what Paul was writing. “Wait a minute, is he talking about us? Is he saying we are under the same condemnation as the pagans?? He cannot actually being saying that, can he???

As a matter of fact, the Jews will come under greater condemnation for rejecting Christ because of the amount of Revelation they had received. The Jewish people were given priority in knowledge so they bear a greater responsibility for rejecting it. So it will also be with the American citizen who enters Hell from the pew of a church.

The Regenerate person will also be judged according to his deeds which are evidence of his new heart (Rom 2:7, 10)

Explanation: Paul also shares that the Regenerate person will also be judged by works. This may come as a surprise and may cause so confusion because of the emphasis in the NT of salvation by grace, not of works (Eph 2:8-9). Salvation and Judgment are different concepts. The basis of Judgment throughout the Bible is works, and the basis of salvation throughout the Bible is faith in Christ.

Just as the lost person cannot escape the deeds of his or her nature, neither is a saved person known apart from his or her own works. A life that has been invaded by the grace of God in salvation will bear the imprint (2 Corinthians 5:17). Those who have come to faith in Christ will in fact live in the good works which were prepared for him or her (Eph 2:10).

This Judgment will be just because God is Righteous, accurate and impartial (Rom 2:2, 6, 11)

Explanation: Paul can almost hear the objections from the MRP’s in the crowd so he emphasizes that God will be just and righteous in this judgment.

The judgment will be right because He Himself is Righteous and, like Abraham of old, we can trust Him to do what is right (cf Gen 18:25).

The judgment will be accurate because God keeps meticulous records - He has the books! (Matt 16:27, Rev 2:23; Rev 20:12)

The judgment will be fair because God is impartial and He does not bend the rules of His justice to favor one individual over another (1 Peter 1:17, James 2:1).

Application: Do an honest evaluation of your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your spiritual status. Understand that salvation is not about outward conformity to a set of rules. Christianity has never been about not doing this set of “bad” things while doing this set of “good” things. If that was the case Jesus would not have said “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 7:20). That statement shocked His listeners, and it was meant to. The scribes and Pharisees were all about outward performance, but Jesus was talking about the inner spiritual condition of the heart.