God is Just, God is Kind
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Good morning. God Is Good. This morning I have titled my sermon God is Just, God is Kind as we take a look at the book of Romans, the beginning of chapter 2.
We have been studying the book of Romans since the beginning of July. Moving through methodically - to understand this very important book in our Bibles. This book was the catalyst for the conversion of both Martin Luther, the protestant reformer, as well as John Wesley - who started what is known as the great awakening.
This book is foundational to our faith, it explains the gospel more clearly than any other text. Yet it is also a very complicated and nuanced letter.
If you have missed church in the last few weeks, I would encourage you to visit our website or Facebook page - we have sermons posted online as a resource to you.
Last week we were finishing out chapter 1, with a look at three ways that God reveals his nature. 1st God reveals his wrath from heaven. 2. He reveals his divine nature and eternal power in creation. 3. He reveals his righteousness from faith to faith.
Before we begin, Lets pray.
Pray.
If you have a Bible, turn with us to the book of Romans, chapter two. We will be starting in verse 1.
We need some back story first. The church in Rome was facing some division. They started out as a blended congregation of Jews and Greeks, but the emperor of rome expelled the Jews from the area - leaving only Greek Believers. When the jews finally returned, they came back to a church they would not have recognised. There was division between Jew and Gentile. Paul has to address both, and the issues of both, in this letter.
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.
Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment?
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?
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.
He will repay each one according to his works:
eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality;
but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek;
but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
For there is no favoritism with God.
So now we are into chapter 2. And much of this chapter is like the first chapter in that it deals with sin in our lives. But Paul was writing to believers, right? Why did he have such a focus on sin - in a letter to people who claimed to know and follow Jesus.
In fact - Paul spends the first three chapters on this issue. One of the reasons, I believe, is because with the help of the Holy spirit, Paul understood who he was writing to.
He was writing to the church in rome, with their nasty behaviors - their divisions and their nonsense. And, he was writing to the church in Keokuk! We live in a world today that teaches that we are generally good. Most people are decent. Those of us with modified behavior - who aren’t shooting up schools or malls - well, we’re good people. We look at those people and say - they really need salvation. But consider ourselves halfway decent.
He knows that we need to talk about Sin. We need to deal with it. Paul spent the first three chapters dealing with sin. From 1:18-3:20 Paul attempts to convince the readers - the hearers of his writing - that we need the gospel.
I watch some street evangelism videos from Ray Comfort - and one of the first things that he asks a person that he is talking to is if they think they are a good person - and the answer is typically yes! Until they know the standard by which they will be judged.
And we fall into that too. You and I are willing to say, “well sure, I'm not perfect, no one is perfect”
and yet there is no realization there of how much we desperately need the Lord.
We write ourselves a ticket of decency - and we hope that that is enough.
We go to church, we go to meetings and retreats, we get baptized, we sign the membership card - and those are good things. But we start to rely on those things. We use those as our get out of jail free cards.
What then? Are we any better off? Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin,
Romans 2:1 in the CSB starts with that favorite trigger word of mine, that indicates that we need to back up and understand what the writer is referring to. When you see the word therefore, you need to ask what it’s there for.
Last week I referred to the latter portion of chapter one as a slippery slope to someone who is indifferent about the gospel. How God deals with someone who is indifferent, by delivering them to their corrupt minds - so that they do what is not right.
They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
And then he says -
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.
Why did he say that?
Because some of us in the room, when we heard about everyone else’s sin - we said Amen! and we went home thankful that the pastor was talking about sin.
And our toes were completely unscathed.
NO EXCUSE.
So he says - you who judge - are without excuse.
For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
He said in verse 20 of chapter 1 that people are without excuse
And now he is saying that believers who cast judgement are without excuse.
Why? How?
Because we do the same things.
He says you have no excuse. When have you told someone they have no excuse?
When you are about to bring some righteous punishment down. In my house, there is about to be a spankin, or there already has been and now I am explaining myself.
Passing Judgement
You are without excuse when you pass judgement
We like to look at other people and determine their eternity for them. The Bible says that is wrong - for a number of reasons.
Jesus said that we needed to focus on ourselves, on our own sin - the plank in our eyes before we deal with the splinter in someone else’s eye.
“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.
For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.
Our tendency is to look at others and condemn - rather than to look at them and see the need for grace.
Jesus dealt with this with the woman caught in adultery.
He dealt with this in Matthew, he dealt with this in Luke.
James dealt with slander and judgment in the same passage in chapter 4 of his letter.
Jesus reserves the right of final judgement for himself. We are going to see that in a minute.
Condemning yourself - because you do the same things.
We do the same things. We see and want to point out the sin in others, and forget about the sin in ourselves.
God’s response to sin:
Just
Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.
Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment?
Kindness
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?
God’s kindness:
Often translated as longsuffering.
Why does God put up with me???
Because he loves me. He is kind to me. He suffers me.
He replied to them, “You unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.”
Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”
Our behavior:
When we are being hypocrites :
We are assuming that God will forgive us and we will escape the wrath that we are declaring for others
We are despising / disregarding his kindness, restraint and patience.
How do we respond:
Understand that we are more prone to hypocrisy as we grow in holiness. Fight that.
Remember that God’s response is Just, and Kind.
Recognize that we are still sinners - maintain an attitude of repentance