Romans 2:1-11, “God’s Perfect Judgement!”
Bible Text: Romans 2:1-11 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Romans
Read Romans 2:1-3… Paul states (Romans 2:1), “You therefore have no excuse,” clearly (1:18-32) all men are without excuse and are judged guilty before a holy and righteous God.
Most of us would look at the depth of depravity that is expressed in chapter 1, and we would easily condemn those who commit such sins: (v. 24) “sexual impurity… degrading there bodies with one another,” (v. 25) “they worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator,” (v. 26) “women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones,” (v. 27) “men also abandoned natural relations with women… [and] committed indecent acts with other men… receiving in themselves the due penalty for the perversion.” These are all unholy acts.
But the truth is, we are all guilty of sin apart from Christ; and to judge others as being worthy of hell, thinking ourselves to be above accusation, is really to bring condemnation upon ourselves.
Paul is saying (Romans 2:3), that if we show that have enough knowledge to judge others, then we also ought to be judging ourselves; always remembering that the standard for judgement is the holiness of God, not our personal preferences or biases or convoluted measurements.
1Corinthians 4:3-4, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”
Our own human judgement is always skewed and always falls short of God’s perfection. It is easy for us to maintain a hierarchy of sins, and to judge others’ sins to be worse then ours, for even though the majority of us are not murderers or rapists or homosexuals, we are still sinners and the only way to receive any pardon from God’s judgement is to receive God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior, so that our penalty for sin is paid in full.
Romans 2:4-5… “Show contempt for” is translated from a word that means, “to think down on,” i.e., to devalue or put someone down to the point of despising them.
Every person who has ever lived on this earth has received God’s kindness, patience and goodness, for all people eat and drink from God’s creation. God’s grace is available to all, even those who reject His gift of Jesus Christ (2Peter 3:9), “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” (1Timothy 2:3-4), “God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” Jesus is (John 14:6), the way, the truth, and the life; and no one goes to heaven except through Him.
People often ask, “How can a loving God allow good people, even little children, to suffer?” or How can a good God send people to an eternal hell?”
But the truth is, it is only because of God’s grace and mercy that all human life is not already extinguished; God gave mankind 120 years to repent before He brought the flood, saving only Noah and 7 others (2Peter 2:4-9).
The reason for God’s kindness (Romans 2:4) is to lead us to repentance so that we might willingly admit our need and receive His grace, freeing us from sin’s penalty.
Look again (Romans 2:5), unbelievers are “storing up wrath against [themselves] for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”
Romans 2:6-11… Clearly (Romans 2:6), God is going to render judgement upon every person according to their deeds – this will occur at the White Throne Judgement described in Revelation 20:11-15.
Both Old & New Testaments speak to the coming judgement of God for either reward or punishment.
Isaiah 3:10-11, “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.”
2Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Jew, Gentile, educated, ignorant, religious, irreligious, God will judge whether or not our life pleased Him.
Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” Romans 14:12, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
Salvation that is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, based on Scripture alone, will produce external good works in a person’s life, giving evidence to the internal condition of having become God’s child and a servant of Christ.
John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
Notice (Romans 2:7) “those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality will receive eternal life.”
Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Philippians 3:20-21, “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
Turn to Matthew 25:31-40. Back to Romans 2:8, notice those who do evil by rejecting God’s truth, will receive God’s wrath, for they are consumed with pleasing self, while remaining unwilling to acknowledge, let alone obey, God’s truth, and this leads them into all sorts of evil behavior that will ultimately meet with God’s wrath and anger [indignation – vehement and agitated anger].
This is a picture of God’s grace and mercy having been totally exhausted by their suppressing of the truth and living in such overt disobedience and perverse sin; their judgement is finalized (see Matthew 25:41-46).
Back to Romans 2:9-10. The Jews will be the first to be punished and the first
to be rewarded. Why is that? The Jews were first to receive God’s written Word
(OT); and Living Word (Jesus) Whom they rejected. The Holy Spirit came first to
the Jews (Pentecost) and through them, to all who would believe the message of
Christ.
Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
God is Gracious and Merciful and Loving and Kind; but He is also Holy and Righteous and Sovereign and Just; therefore, everyone, both Jew and Gentile, will receive God’s absolute and perfect judgement, resulting in eternal punishment or eternal reward.
In the final analysis, every person will hear one of the following judgements rendered upon them:
Matthew 25:34, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
What you hear God say at the end of your life, will be determined by what you believe, how you behave, and Whom you serve in this life.
1John 4:15-19,”If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in
Him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is
love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made
complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment,
because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not
made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.
1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Christians, as God’s children and heirs of His eternal kingdom, have nothing to
fear, whether in this life or the next; only anticipation and expectation of hearing
God say (Matthew 25:21), “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share
your master’s happiness!”
