Exposition of Romans 2:1-16

Opening Notes

Good morning,

I’m so glad to see those of you who were able to make it in person in this weather, and welcome those of you who are joining us online. We’re glad to have you with us here too.

Please remember that we are launching this year’s ministry efforts:

Refreshing the building: paint the hallways

Community garden

Outreach

There are signups in the back and in the hallways. As well I have emailed everyone asking for signups. Please signup for these ministries. And I want to take one brief moment to explain why: these are the ministries of this church that our church leadership has prayed and fasted over, and by signing up you are agreeing to participate in doing God’s work. And we want to create a culture of commitment to God’s work. This work will not succeed without you guys. It will fail unless we all put our shoulders to this work.

Our winter ministry has three areas of focus that build on each other for the Spring and Summer:

We are preparing for the community garden:

requires knowledge and planning

We are preparing the building to be warm and welcoming

requires planning

requires volunteers for labor

We are preparing for our spring and summer outreach

requires training

requires spiritual preparation

requires volunteers for evangelism and prayer teams

So please don’t forget to signup for the ministries you want to participate in because you are an integral and important part of this work.

Your assignment for next week is to read: Romans 2:17-3:20.

God’s Righteous Judgment

STAY close to notes in introduction

We’ve been explaining how Paul gives his main idea in Romans 1:17, that “the good news of Jesus Christ reveals the righteousness of God”, and how God’s righteousness makes how he deals with sinners really important, because how he deals with sinners in righteousness is the basis for how he saves those who believe.

And this highlights the importance of what I said in the weeks before we started Romans: the four gospel writers tell us the gospel, and the rest of the New Testament writers explain the gospel to us. Paul is not telling us the gospel, he is explaining what the gospel means.

So God’s wrath towards evil people is one of the first principles of the good news: because God is righteous and just, he will punish all evil people. He will answer the heart-cry of the oppressed, who cry out “My God! Where are you in all this evil?” This was the meaning of the first movement in Paul’s argument from last week. Now Paul adds to this idea by saying “of which you all belong”.

Taken together, Paul’s first argument in Romans 1:18-2:16 is that God is righteous and just, which means he will finally punish all evil, which includes everybody. And Paul’s second argument from Romans 2:17-3:20 will present supporting evidence for this argument that deals with the Jewish possession of the law and its inadequacy to deliver them from God’s wrath.

Exegesis: Rhetorical Style

STAY close to notes in exegesis

The second movement of this argument is different from the first in that Paul employs the rhetorical technique of “impersonation” for the first time. We will encounter this rhetorical method many times throughout Romans, so it will be helpful to make one or two observations.

First, there are two kinds of impersonation:

In the first kind, the character of a known person is impersonated.

In the second, a particular type of person (a husband, a general, a farmer, or the like) and his ethos or character is impersonated.

Paul will personify a kind of person in his following arguments.

Various writers on rhetoric, including Cicero and Quintilian discuss this rhetorical technique, but Quintilian summarizes best (he wrote):

READ only the red text

I regard impersonation as the most difficult of tasks... For the same speaker has on one occasion to impersonate Caesar, on another Cicero... But it is a most useful exercise… For orators of course it is absolutely necessary (Instit. Or. 3.8.49–52) [Because it] adds wonderful variety and animation to oratory. With this figure we present the inner thoughts of our adversaries as though they were talking with themselves… Or we may introduce conversations between ourselves and others, or of others among themselves, and give words of advice, reproof, complaint, praise, or pity to appropriate persons … peoples may find a voice … (9.2.30–33)

Second, we should understand that because Paul is using impersonation - what I will often refer to as personification - we will also be encountering the rhetorical form of “diatribe”, which refers to dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor (or opponent). History buffs will be interested to know that this kind of form became one of the chief tools of deliberative rhetoric specifically because the original setting for such rhetoric was the assembly (or senate) where one would have dialogue or debate over the right course of action to enact.

The Judgment of God

Now, if last week was about God’s wrath, this week is about the administration of his wrath in righteous judgment. So it is as if Paul engages the arguments of his interlocutor, who raises an objection: “if God is going to judge each person, how will such a 'just' and 'righteous' God judge us when we are ignorant of his laws?”

Romans 2:1 CSB

1 Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.

PAUSE to allow them to look at the slide and make the mental transition

“Therefore" (v. 1): Some basic Bible exegesis is really important. Even though this isn’t always most people’s favorite part, we need to understand the structure of Paul’s argument so that we know how he is building his case and what he means to argue.

Your Bibles begin Romans 2:1 with the word “therefore”, which translates the Greek word “Διὸ”. You’ll remember last week how we explained the difference between “For” and “Therefore”; “for” (gar) explains the reason for the previous statement, whereas “therefore” (dio) explains the meaning of the proposition.

The proposition of Paul’s first argument is that "God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). Our “therefore” here is how we know that this second movement is continuing the main argument because Paul is now explaining this proposition. And what is he explaining about this proposition? He’s explaining how everyone is unrighteous and guilty before God.

Modern ears cringe when hearing this argument because we don’t like to think of ourselves as evil. We're very concerned with self-perception and ego. We like to imagine ourselves “noble” and “heroic”. But history is replete with examples of good people doing terrible things; of people who were known by their neighbors, friends, and family as “really nice people”, who shocked everyone when they committed heinous atrocities. And those who don’t commit such crimes still possess the same heart, a willingness to suppress what they know is true to accomplish their unrighteous desires, though perhaps the conditions of their life have allowed them to better control their behavior.

So bringing this together, Paul explains how we know everyone is truly guilty before God.

“Every one of you who judges is without excuse" (v. 1): Paul’s defense of God’s righteous judgment is based on our own human judgment. Because we ourselves recognize “right” from “wrong”, “good” and “evil”, and object when we are wronged by others, we cannot claim innocence through ignorance.

As much as we have tried to suppress the knowledge of truth, we are not wholly ignorant.

“For" (v. 1): Here we again encounter another gar clause, which explains the logical reasoning of the previous statement.

“When you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things" (v. 1): Gentiles might claim ignorance of God’s covenant, but they are not ignorant of his moral law because they themselves judge others based on God’s moral law. And you'll remember from last week how we explained that the knowledge of God is the universal standard to which everyone is accountable. God’s moral law comes from his nature, according to which likeness every person, male and female, was created. We possess this knowledge within us, and we are surrounded by this knowledge, which is infused in all of creation. We may have corrupted our understanding of the knowledge of God in creation, but we still possess our consciences!

Romans 2:2 CSB

2 Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.

STAY close to notes in verse two

“Now" (v. 2): “Now” translates the word “δὲ”, which is a logical conjunction that extends and continues the previous thought.

“We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth" (v. 2): Paul introduces the idea here that whereas human judgments are often mistaken and flawed because we can’t see the whole picture, God’s judgments are true. Any being who can be described as the “one true God” must be superior to us. God’s judgments aren’t hasty or formed with corrupt motives; they are true. So, if we accept that our human judgments, though we are flawed, are valid and just, then we must accept that the judgments of God are righteous.

Romans 2:3–4 CSB

3 Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

“Do you think" (v. 3): Paul poses a question in diatribal form to his theoretical opponent. Again, his audience is meant to deliberate about their motives and how they should respond to the argument Paul is making.

“Anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same that you will escape God’s judgment?" (v. 3): Now Paul identifies the kind of person he is personifying. His rhetoric impersonates the kind of person who believes they have some moral standing and virtue on their own. He is not speaking to the Jews (yet), but to Gentiles who believe they are generally good people. In fact, such people might even agree with Paul that the vices in Romans 1:29-30 are wrong, yet they themselves still do these things!

In other words, to argue moral standing before God requires someone to be totally innocent of the things they themselves judge to be wrong. So is that the claim being made by those who object to God’s righteous judgment of the human race?

“Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience" (v. 4)

Paul now poses a challenge to his interlocutor: if such a person is not claiming moral perfection, then aren’t their objections to God’s judgments really nothing more than an abuse of his patience? Such a person tries God’s patience with futile objections even though they themselves judge immoral behavior in others, all the while they could simply return to God and be reconciled to him in Christ.

What is the right course of action when our divine Creator reveals his righteousness to us? Is it right for created beings to then rise up and dispute with their creator over his judgments? On what basis will such arguments prevail? Such arguments are, in reality, nothing more than an abuse of God’s kindness, restraint, and patience.

“Not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?" (v. 4)

Why then does God put up with such abuses?

I think we’ll benefit from an illustration:

Imagine a young man who just started work in a factory. Despite reasonable performance, there was a problem: he had quite a temper, occasionally flying off the handle at people. So his foreman had a talk with him like an older brother, telling the young man he has to learn to control himself. The foreman gave him a warning. If this happens again, he’ll be reported to management. But the young man repeated the offense again and again. When the manager found out he wanted to fire the young man on the spot, but the foreman asked for more time to help the young man change so that he could live up to his potential. Now imagine that only a few days later the young man flew into a fit of rage and injured one of his fellow employees. The foreman has no choice but to terminate the young man because he refuses to change and learn how to better himself.

At the heart of Paul’s view of God’s final judgment, both here and later in the letter, is the view of God’s kindness that is not unlike that of the foreman in the story. God is kind — not ‘kindly’ in the sense of indulgent, like a sleepy old uncle who doesn’t care too much what people get up to — but kind in the sense of genuinely caring and understanding, and trying to find the best way forward for every single human being.

If this were not so — if, for instance, God was essentially mean, ready to pounce on any and every wrongdoing — we would all have been blown off the planet long ago. But that’s not how it is. God is patient. Again and again he gives people the chance to get it together, to turn to him in repentance and trust, and to find their lives coming back into shape.

But what if God’s patience doesn’t have that effect? Those who reject God’s mercy have simply made themselves all the more guilty on the day when God’s judgment comes to everyone.

In the same way that the young man in the story had no excuse because he was given every chance, but used that breathing space to make matters worse, so those to whom the good news of Jesus reveals the righteousness of God will be even more guilty if they abuse God’s patience and refuse to turn to him, preferring instead to raise petty objections about God’s judgment.

Just as the foreman would have been justified to fire the man in the first case, so God is justified in judging all human unrighteousness because we are both collectively and individually without excuse, but those to whom God shows mercy are even more guilty if they do not repent because they have abused God’s kindness!

Romans 2:5–8 CSB

5 Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.

“Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself" (v. 5)

Paul’s argument raises the point that because God’s judgments are true, anyone who sincerely seeks truth would never resist the righteousness of God that is revealed in the good news of Jesus. In fact, how one responds to the message of Christ actually reveals the character of their heart.

“In the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed" (v. 5)

More than anywhere else in Paul’s writings, Paul paints a picture of the judgment day with piercing logic in this chapter.

People sometimes suppose that judgment is an OT idea, whereas the NT is all about mercy. This isn’t even a caricature; it’s simple fiction. The NT does of course highlight the extraordinary, almost unbelievable, love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. But if people insist on rejecting God’s love — and part of the logic of love is that it can always be rejected — there is nothing else for them but judgment for their wicked behavior.

And so Paul, in the same way that Jesus does in Matthew 24-25, envisions a time when the whole world will stand accountable to God. A time when everyone will answer for what they have done. A time when the scales of justice will be balanced.

“He will repay each one according to his works" (v. 6)

Paul begins his argument in Romans 1:19 by dealing with God’s judgment of the human race, and then progressively zooms in to the individual. He has now zoomed in all the way and will explain how God is going to judge us as individuals.

So pay very close attention: how does God judge the individual? By their works. And this is impeccably and unarguably fair. Every single one of us does the same. Even those who say they don’t actually do.

In today’s culture it is popular to say “you’re not a bad person, you just did a bad thing.” Fine. That is completely wrong. But “okay”. So are you saying that when we put someone in jail we're actually putting good people in jail? Doesn’t that make us unjust? Or do we really want to imagine a world where murderers, abductors, sexual predators, thieves, and the like are free to terrorize the world while being considered “good people”? No! “Good people” don’t do “bad things”. And the only people who say that kind of nonsense are bad people who want to think of themselves as good.

So God is going to judge each person according to their own works.

“Eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality" (v. 7)

God is not so unjust that he might forget or ignore the good we do. Our problem is that we want to characterize ourselves by our good while ignoring our bad. And God will not do this because he is just. Again, God will not entertain a world where murderers, abductors, sexual predators, thieves, and the like are free to terrorize his creation while being considered “good people”.

So who are those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by their persistence in doing good?

Romans 1:17 CSB

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

You see how this argument is developing?

Paul’s contention is that the moral philosophy of “self-mastery” and the moral law of the Old Testament are insufficient to establish human righteousness before God. He will argue that righteousness in God’s sight is relational. That is to say, the righteous will live by the kind of faith whereby they trust God and believe him.

And on the basis of this standard, those who are trying to object to God’s righteous judgment of the human race disqualify themselves because they do not trust God to do what is right. So how can they have a right relationship with him?

“But wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness" (v. 8)

God is also not so unjust that he will overlook people’s wicked behavior and allow them to define themselves as “good” even while behaving badly. Anyone is free to stubbornly object and persist in their unrighteousness at this point, but they only make themselves even more guilty in God’s sight just like the young man fired by the foreman.

Those who live in the dehumanizing ways described in the previous passages are simply courting disaster for themselves because they know better since they themselves judge these things to be wrong. But those who persist in wickedness even after having every chance to turn back, are positively asking for it; there simply is no other alternative.

Romans 2:9–10 CSB

9 There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

“There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil" (v. 9)

We are beginning to derive an impression of God’s justice that should leave every person speechless. What can we say in response to this? Is God wrong for judging our wicked behavior? Then why do we judge others for their wicked behavior? Is God wrong for objecting to our sin? Then why do we object to other people’s sin?

At this point it is necessary to dispel one false premise: someone might say, “ah yes, but I fall into the former category of doing good, so I will be fine”, but notice what Paul said: this applies to everyone who “does evil”. The verb Paul uses is a present tense genitive participle. He doesn’t use the aorist tense that might describe someone’s state. In other words, have you committed any wrongdoing? Then you cannot consider yourself to be in the former group because you have “committed evil”.

God says “affliction and distress” are awaiting you if you, like the stubborn young man who refused the foreman’s kindness, refuse to repent and be reconciled to God through faith! So I ask to the kind of objector that Paul addresses, why do you resist God’s kindness?

“First to the Jew, and also to the Greek" (v. 9)

This picture of judgment will not leave anyone feeling morally superior to another. It is a leveling argument that places every person side by side.

Paul’s view of God’s righteousness stood in stark contrast to the prevailing views of his day, as it does ours. Seneca is a good example. He thought deeply about moral and philosophical issues, and held himself aloof from what he regarded as common immorality. Yet his own colleagues sometimes caught him out breaking rules he had laid down for others. He and other philosophers of the classical world reflected, in a puzzled fashion, on this problem: how could it be that you might know what was the right thing to do and yet fail to do it?

Today’s contemporaries have the same problem: why do people who have all their biological needs met still contradict their own biological wellbeing self-destructive behavior? Or we think perhaps that with a little education and oversight from Big Brother we can rise above all this and create utopia on earth.

Paul levels the playing field and puts everyone into the same basket. And here I want to be so bold: I want to speak to the kind of conservative who imagines himself superior to his liberal neighbors. Don’t think that you can look down on the failures of the left with contempt and escape the righteous judgment of God! For in agreeing with God’s judgment against your political opponent, you show that you know “right” from “wrong” and place yourself under God’s judgment so that you will answer to him. Be reconciled to God through Christ!

“But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good" (v. 10)

Indeed, God says that “glory, honor, and peace” away everyone who does what is good. Those who live by faith are made right with God by his grace! And it is in the power of God’s grace that the fundamental problems of corruption that Paul is confronting as the weaknesses of his opponent’s objections are finally corrected. He will explore in greater depth the solution of grace in chapters 5-8. But it is sufficient to say here that “glory, honor, and peace” are the just reward of all who live by faith!

“First to the Jew, and also to the Greek" (v. 10)

We must necessarily repeat Paul’s leveling argument. For in the same way that human sin levels the playing field of everyone who stands before God’s righteous judgment, so God’s grace levels the playing field in our relationship with God for everyone who lives by faith.

Romans 2:11 CSB

11 For there is no favoritism with God.

"For" (v. 11)

Again we encounter another “gar” clause that provides the logical reasoning of the previous statement.

“There is no favoritism with God" (v. 11)

The reason why God’s judgment will meat out both condemnation and salvation to everyone irrespective to their heritage is because God’s justice has no bias. We are unable to offer God anything that will tip the scales of justice so that we can have a little bit of vice for ourselves that others are not permitted.

And this remains true in the new covenant: “grace” is not a minister of sin. We have not discovered a new loophole by which we can “have our vice” and still be “good people”, as so many who name the name of Christ have mistakenly thought. Instead, we have received by grace the means by which we can come to God as broken people, be made whole, and live in relationship with him.

Romans 2:12 CSB

12 For all who sin without the law will also perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

“For" (v. 12)

Again we encounter another “gar” clause that provides the logical reasoning of the previous statement.

“All who sin without the law will also perish without the law" (v. 12)

Those who didn’t possess the law of God cannot excuse their sin because they agreed by their consciences with the righteous moral law of God when they judged others.

“And all who sin under the law will be judged by the law" (v. 12)

Those who possessed the law of God cannot claim to be righteous in his sight because they have themselves violated God’s statutes.

Romans 2:13 CSB

13 For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

“For" (v. 13)

Again we encounter another “gar” clause that provides the logical reasoning of the previous statement.

“The hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified" (v. 13)

This sets up the premise of Paul’s next argument, where he will address his Jewish audience and deal with their claims to legal righteousness. The only way for their claim to legal righteousness to be valid is if they do the whole law. God doesn’t care if you “hear” the law and “agree” with it; he cares about what you do.

I fear that many Christians share the same shortcomings here as did our Jewish predecessors. We think that we are righteous because we “believe” the message of Jesus even though we do not live by that faith. So I ask the kind of person who holds such thoughts to deliberate for themselves: has God suddenly shown favoritism and allowed an excuse for you that he has forbidden others?

Romans 2:14–16 CSB

14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them 16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

“So" (v. 14)

Although some translation leave this untranslated or render it another way as the CSB has done here, we again encounter another “gar” clause that provides the logical reasoning of the previous statement.

“When Gentiles" (v. 14)

Paul may seem on the surface to be speaking here about people in general, but, as I hope is now clear, this part of his argument is focusing on Gentiles. And he’s specifically critiquing those who insist on their own moral standing.

There are two types of Roman Gentiles who might feel this way:

God-fearers who previously adopted the usual Jewish critique of pagan idolatry

Romans who held Seneca’s philosophy of self-mastery

Paul must defend the righteous judgment of God to those who agree that God is right in judging the pagans and uncivil barbarians, but who might object that they are innocent and don’t deserve to be judged by God.

“Who do not by nature have the law do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law" (v. 14)

Paul revisits his initial argument in verse one and reforms his point to strengthen his case. The reason Gentiles cannot use their ignorance of God’s law as an excuse is because their judgment against other people’s sin demonstrates the law of God that is written on their hearts.

“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts" (v. 15)

Again, this point is derived from the principle that God’s nature is the universal standard to which all people are accountable.

Genesis 1:26 CSB

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”

Why do we judge others? Because we were made in the likeness of God so that injustice also torments our soul. Our corruption and guilt before God comes because we are willing to accept corruption in ourselves when it suits our own purposes. But injustice still fundamentally torments our souls because we’re made in the image of God.

“Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them" (v. 15)

Paul offers as proof for his argument our internal moral reasonings. You and I were fashioned in such a way that we inwardly deliberate about what is “right” and “wrong”. One person may be so corrupt that they only have such deliberations about the actions of other people, but we still use moral reasoning within ourselves. And it is from this moral reasoning that people either “justify” themselves or experience “guilt”.

We experience the emotions of feeling either “justified” or “guilty” because we have God’s moral law written on our hearts. And this is inescapable.

“On the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus" (v. 16)

The conclusion to Paul’s first argument about the righteous judgment of God is that God will judge each person by what they knew to be right. He is not going to hold people accountable for breaking the Sabbath, not being circumcised, or lending money to their neighbors if they did not possess the law. But he will use our own internal moral reasonings as they reflect the truth in order to establish a standard by which each person will be judged for their own actions.

Conclusions

I’m afraid that the meaning of Paul’s message might get lost in some of the density of his argument. I don’t want us to miss what Paul is saying; it’s easy for us to stand aloof and say of ourselves, “I’ve lived a pretty good life, I haven’t hurt people or taken their stuff; but those people over there are really bad, God is right for judging them, but he wouldn’t judge me.”

This is why the Holy Spirit moved Paul to explain the mind of God’s judgment. We don’t see ourselves the way God sees us. We have done the very things that we believe are wrong. We are willing to suppress what we know is true to get what we want.

God is righteous. And he demands an answer from each person for the evil that they have done. God demands each person answer for why they suppressed what they knew was right in order to get what they wanted. And God says he will administer his wrath in proportion to the wrong that each person knows they have committed.

And this is why we gather together today, to worship God and praise him for the tremendous grace that he has shown to us in Jesus Christ. We were lost, but we are now found. We rightfully deserved to be punished, and arguing about “how much” is pointless because the minimum punishment for all sin is still “death”.

Life is God’s gift to the righteous, so the unrighteous forfeit that gift.

So we have an opportunity today to remember the body and blood of Christ that was spilled on our behalf, to prove God’s love to us so that we might trust God and return to him, to be made right in his sight, and be reconciled to him by his love.

If you are thankful for this gift, let’s join together to lift one voice to worship our God and King!