Romans 2.3-God's Judgment is Inescapable
Prairie View Christian Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday July 19, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:3-God’s Judgment is Inescapable
Lesson # 43
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:1.
We are currently engaged in a study of the second major section in the book of Romans, which appears in Romans 1:18-3:20 and deals with the universal need of the righteousness of God.
This passage is divided into three major sections: (1) The unrighteousness of the Gentiles (1:18-32). (2) The unrighteousness of the Jews (2:1-3:8). (3) The universal unrighteousness of men (3:9-20).
In Romans 2, Paul suddenly stops in his discourse from addressing the conduct of the heathen Gentiles to addressing pointedly the self-righteous Jew.
In Romans 2:1-3:8, the apostle Paul will address the sin of the Jews and will do so in three stages: (1) Without naming his opponent, but establishes the principles of divine judgment by which the Jew is clearly condemned, thus the Jews are as guilty as the pagan Gentiles and will likewise receive the wrath of God (Romans 2:1-16). (2) Paul explains how the Law condemns (2:17-29). (3) Paul adds a parenthetical response to possible misconceptions of what he has said (3:1-8).
In Romans 3:9-10, Paul summarizes his statements made in Romans 2:1-3:8 that he has made clear that God has declared not only the Gentile guilty but also He has declared the Jew guilty before Him and thus in need of salvation like the Gentile.
On Tuesday, we studied Romans 2:1, in which Paul addresses the self-righteous attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles and in the process presents the first of twelve principles regarding the judgment of God, namely, that they will be judged according to the standards which they set for the Gentiles.
Last evening we noted Romans 2:2 in which Paul presents a second principle of divine judgment, namely, that God judges men according to truth.
This evening we will note Romans 2:3 in which Paul states to the self-righteous Jew that God’s judgment is inescapable.
Romans 2:1, “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.”
Romans 2:2, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.”
Corrected translation of Romans 2:1-2:
Romans 2:1, “For this very reason, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth, without excuse O man, each and everyone of you without exception, who, as a lifestyle judge as guilty since by means of that which you, as a lifestyle judge as guilty the other person, you, as an eternal spiritual truth condemn yourself since you, who as a lifestyle judge as guilty, make it a habit to practice the same things.”
Romans 2:2, “Now, we know for certain that God’s judgment is, as an eternal spiritual truth according to truth, against those who as a lifestyle practice such things.”
Romans 2:3, “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?”
Corrected translation of Romans 2:3, “But, do you continue to presume this that you will escape God’s judgment, O man, when you, who as a lifestyle, judge as guilty those, who as a lifestyle, practice such things and you do, as a lifestyle, the very same things?”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV), which introduces a rhetorical question that demands a negative response that refutes the attitude of the self-righteous Jew who thinks he is not under eternal condemnation because of his racial background.
The conjunction de contrasts the attitude of the self-righteous Jew, who believes that he avoids eternal condemnation because of his racial background with that of God’s holiness, which demands that the Jew be judged just like the Gentile for committing sin.
“Do you suppose” is the verb logizomai (logivzomai) (lo-gidz-o-my), which means, “to presume,” which is to take for granted, to assume as true in the absence of proof, to act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent (presumptuous) boldness.
Therefore, the unregenerate Jew took for granted and assumed as true in the absence of Scriptural proof and acted with unwarrantable and presumptuous boldness that he would escape eternal condemnation because of his racial background as a member of the covenant people of God, Israel.
Psalm 19:13, “Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.”
John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees for this presumptuous attitude and national pride.
Matthew 3:5-6, “Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.”
Matthew 3:7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’”
Matthew 3:8-9, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ;We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
Romans 2:3, “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?”
“This” refers to the statement to follow that expresses the self-righteous attitude of the Jew.
“O man” is composed of the interjection O (w)!), and the vocative masculine singular form of the noun anthropos (a*nqrwpo$) (anth-ro-pos), which is used in a generic sense for the self-righteous Jew.
The interjection indicates that anthropos is a “vocative of emphatic, emotional address” and expresses Paul’s deep emotion and concern for the self-righteous and self-destructive attitude of his fellow countrymen, the Jews.
“When you pass judgment on” is the verb krino (krivnw) (kree-no), which means, “to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong,” and by implication means, “to condemn.”
The participle is “temporal” and answers the question as to “when” these self-righteous Jews presumptuously thought that they would escape eternal condemnation because of their racial background, namely, when they judge as guilty the Gentiles for the sins they commit.
“Those who practice” is the verb prasso (pravssw), which means, “to make it a habit of practicing” and denotes a habit and a process leading to an accomplishment.
“Such things” refers to the various acts of sin that are listed in Romans 1:29-31.
“And” connects two concepts expressed by the verbs prasso and poieo, the former denotes “an action complete in itself,” emphasizing accomplishment while the latter denotes “a habit” and a process leading to the accomplishment.
Therefore, poieo denotes committing the “act” of sin whereas prasso denotes the “lifestyle” of committing sin and so kai connects these two concepts.
In Romans 2:3, the verb prasso is used in relation to the Gentiles emphasizing their lifestyle of being involved with the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31 whereas poieo is used in relation to the Jews emphasizing that they have committed these same individual acts of sin.
“Do” is the verb poieo (poievw), which as we noted is used with reference to the Jews emphasizing that they have committing the individual acts of sin listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31.
The present tense of poieo is a “customary” present tense denoting that the Jew “as a lifestyle” commits these individual acts of sin that Paul lists in Romans 1:29-31 that he attributes to the Gentiles.
“The same” refers to the catalogue of sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31.
Romans 2:3, “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?”
“You” is the 2nd person singular personal pronoun su (suv), which is emphatic because it placed at the beginning of the statement emphasizing to the self-righteous Jew that he will by no means escape eternal condemnation because he is a Jew when he is guilty himself of sin like the Gentile.
“Will escape” is the verb ekpheugo (e)kfeuvgw) (ek-fyoo-go), which is composed of the preposition ek, “out from” and the verb pheugo, “to flee, escape,” thus the word literally means, “to escape from.”
“The judgment” refers to the guilty verdict of eternal condemnation that God renders to all unbelievers for their rejection of Jesus Christ as their Savior who died for every sin committed in history-past, present and future and for every person whether Jew or Gentile.
“Of God” refers to the Trinity, namely, who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit functioning in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven.
So we can see in Romans 2:3 that the apostle Paul poses a rhetorical question to the self-righteous Jew that demands a negative response and confronts the Jew with the fact that he will not escape eternal condemnation since he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentiles for.
Paul taught in Romans 2:2 that God judges according to truth and this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Jew who condemns the Gentiles for committing the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31, must also receive the same penalty.
Thus, we can see that Paul is presenting to the reader another principle concerning the judgment of God, namely, that it is inescapable for both Jew and Gentile who have not trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The capacity of the Jews to judge the Gentiles does not absolve them from guilt but in fact, increases their own condemnation.
Proverbs 11:21, “Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.”
Proverbs 16:5, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.”
Matthew 23:33, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”
The judgment of God is inescapable unless one trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:17, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and Gentile and for every sin that they have committed-past, present and future.
The unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15).
The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire forever and ever at the conclusion of human history.
Every unbeliever in history will have to stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15).
Revelation 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”
Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; 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.”
Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”
Revelation 20:14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:15, “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”