Romans 2.10-The Believer Will Receive Glory, Honor and Peace for Producing Divine Good
Prairie View Christian Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday August 15, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:10-The Believer Will Receive Glory, Honor and Peace for Producing Divine Good
Lesson # 50
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter two and the twelve principles of divine judgment that are contained in this chapter.
Thus far in our studies of this chapter we have noted the first six: (1) Man is judged by his own standards (Romans 2:1). (2) Man is judged according truth (Romans 2:2). (3) God’s judgment is inescapable (Romans 2:3) (4) God’s judgment is delayed because of His kindness, tolerance and patience (Romans 2:4). (5) God’s judgment is measured out according to the accumulation of guilt (Romans 2:5). (6) God judges according to man’s self-righteous works (Romans 2:6).
This evening we will complete our study of the seventh principle concerning divine judgment, which is contained in Romans 2:7-10, namely, that God judges man according to obedience or performance in that God rewards obedience and punishes disobedience.
Romans 2:7 teaches that according to the believer’s perseverance, which produces work that is divine in quality, he will be rewarded with glory, honor and immorality at the Bema Seat by the Lord for diligently and tenaciously pursuing eternal life, i.e. Christ-likeness.
Romans 2:8 teaches that the unbeliever who is motivated by inordinate selfish ambition and disobeys the truth while obeying unrighteousness will be the recipient of God’s righteous indignation at the Great White Throne Judgment of all unbelievers throughout history.
Romans 2:9 teaches that in addition to being the recipient of the righteous indignation of God, the unbeliever, whether Jew or Gentile will also receive tribulation and distress of soul for rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior.
This evening we will study Romans 2:10, which teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ will reward the believer who produces divine good with glory, honor and peace at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
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.”
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?”
Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
Romans 2:5-8, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
Romans 2:9-11, “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.”
Now, let’s look at Romans 2:10 in greater detail.
Romans 2:10, “But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.”
“Glory” is the noun doxa (dovca), which refers to the praise, recognition, rewards and position of authority that the believer will receive at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church from the Lord Jesus Christ for executing the Father’s will in growing to spiritual maturity, i.e. Christ-likeness.
In 2 Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul recognized that his underserved suffering was producing in him an eternal weight of glory meaning he would be rewarded at the Bema Seat.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
The believer who executes the Father’s plan by growing to spiritual maturity will receive this glory in the form of rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the “Bema Seat Evaluation.”
“The Bema Seat Evaluation” of the church takes place immediately after the Rapture and is an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24).
2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Believers who execute the Father’s plan for their life are called in Revelation 2 and 3 “overcomers,” meaning that they overcame their old sin nature, the devil and his cosmic system by obeying the Word of God, which is motivated by love for God and will receive the following rewards from the Lord at the Bema Seat Evaluation:
The “crown of righteousness,” is a reward given to believers for their faithfulness in executing their own spiritual life and functioning in their spiritual gift (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
“The Incorruptible Crown” describes all the crowns and is also a special crown given for faithfulness in running the race to spiritual maturity and exercising self-control in order to serve the Lord and finish the race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
The “crown of life” is given to the believer for enduring testings (trials) and temptation (Revelation 2:10; James 1:12).
The “unfading crown of glory” is a reward promised to pastor-teachers for their faithfulness in the discharge of their responsibilities in shepherding their flocks (1 Peter 5:4).
“White garment” is a reward for faithfulness in the form of a translucent uniform of glory over the resurrection body (Revelation 3:4).
The “overcomer” or winner believer will receive a “white stone” and “hidden manna” and a “new name” written on the stone, which refer to intimate access to the Lord Jesus Christ and great responsibility in Christ’s millennial government and in the eternal state (Rev. 2:17).
He will also receive a New Title in the Lamb’s book of life and will have a membership to the Paradise Club and access to the Gazebo in the Garden (Rev. 2:7).
The winner believer will have his name recorded in the historical record section of heaven (Rev. 3:12).
The overcomer will have a special audience with God the Father (Revelation 3:5).
The overcomer will rule with Christ during His millennial reign and throughout the eternal state, and only the overcomer will receive it (Ro. 8:16-18; 2 Tim. 2:12a; Rev. 2:26; 3:21).
The apostle Paul’s ambition was to receive these rewards and like a track and field runner stretching for the tape so Paul extended himself to receive rewards from the Lord at the Bema Seat.
Philippians 3:14, “I am sprinting towards the finish line for the prize, which is God the Father’s invitation to privilege residing in the Person of Christ Jesus.”
Every church age believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity to receive rewards and his eternal inheritance if he fulfills the condition of executing the Father’s will for his life but if the believer does not execute the Father’s will, he will not receive a reward.
Colossians 3:23-25, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.”
Romans 2:10, “But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.”
“Honor” is the noun time (timhv) (tee-may), which refers to the recognition of the dignity of the office and position of authority with its responsibilities and privileges that the believer will receive from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat for executing the Father’s plan and will enjoy during the millennial reign of Christ and eternal state.
1 Peter 1:6-7, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
“Peace” is the noun eirene (ei)rhvnh) (i-ray-nay), which refers to “the state of rest, contentment, tranquility of soul, peace of mind” that “overcomer” believers will be rewarded with at the Bema Seat and experience throughout Christ’s millennial reign and on into eternity for executing the Father’s will to grow to spiritual maturity and produce divine good.
“To everyone” refers to each and every believer without exception and without distinction who executes the Father’s plan to become spiritually mature.
“Who does” is the verb ergazomai (e)rgavzomai) (er-gad-zo-my), which means, “to work hard to accomplish” Christ-likeness or Christ-likeness character, i.e. spiritual maturity and implies a long process requiring obedience to God, perseverance and diligence on the part of the believer.
“Good” is the adjective agathos (a)gaqov$) (ag-ath-os), which means, “the good, which is divine in quality and character” and refers to conforming the believer into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in time resulting in Christ-likeness or spiritual maturity, the maximum production of Christ-like character in the believer in time.
The work that is divine in quality and character is spiritual maturity, which is synonymous with Christ-likeness and is the result of executing the Father’s will from eternity past for the believer to become conformed to the image of Christ.
Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
The work of transforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ is related to the believer’s sanctification, which is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Ultimate.
The “baptism of the Spirit” takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of the Spirit places the believer in an eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session.
1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
“Baptized” is the verb baptizo (baptivzw), which refers to the fact that at the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit caused the believer to become identical and united with the Lord Jesus Christ and also ascribed to the believer the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security as well as two categories of positional truth (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 6:3, 8; 2 Thess. 2:13).
“Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12).
“Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4).
“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.
“Experiential sanctification” is the post-salvation experience of the believer who is in fellowship with God by confessing any known sin to the Father when necessary followed by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God.
This obedience constitutes obeying the commands to be filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul since the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures and gives understanding to the believer regarding the Scriptures.
Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.”
Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
The fruit of the Spirit refers to the characteristics of Jesus Christ that are being manifested in the obedient believer.
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of salvation, therefore, only obedient believers will experience sanctification in time.
“Ultimate sanctification” is the completion of the work of transforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ when the believer will receive a resurrection body at the rapture and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at salvation (1 Cor. 15:51-57).
Romans 2:10, “But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.”
The phrase “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” refers to the fact that the Jewish believer will receive rewards before the Gentile believer because of his privileged status as a member of the nation of Israel, from which the Savior came.
But the expression also means that the Gentile believer is on equal footing with the Jewish believer with respect to receiving rewards for doing the Father’s will and has equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the Father’s plan to become like Christ.