Romans 2:1-24
“WITHOUT EXCUSE”…
I picture the scene: as Paul, in the second half of chapter one, indicts the pagans who rejected God and traded him for their idols, the Jews are enjoying it, nodding their heads in approval, saying inwardly, “Amen! Amen!” But, like a good preacher, Paul now turns the question around to its other side. It is as if he senses their condemning thoughts toward the pagans and their pride at being Jews — at being a privileged people of God’s chosen nation, people who live — or at least try to live — according to the Law of Moses. In those days, because of their faith in God, the Jews thought they were God’s favorites and that God would treat them in a special way — that he would not judge his own the way he judges outsiders. They imagined that because they were the chosen people they were more righteous than everyone else. But Paul turns to them and begins to explain why, for those who have the Law, it is not an advantage but “an aggravating circumstance.” The Law cannot deliver us from the wrath of God. It does not make us righteous; it only raises the standard by which we will be judged. So we might say that perhaps it is not the Jews but the pagans — those who do not have the Law — who are in a better position before God’s judgment. They do not have the Law of Moses, and so they will not be judged by the Law of Moses, which, by the way, is quite strict. They will be judged by the law God has written on their hearts. And of the Jews we can say that, even though they have the Law, sin is in them too. They can cover their sin, they can condemn it, but they cannot stop committing it. The Law reveals God’s will to us, but it does not give us the power to do it. It is like a thermometer that shows us we have a fever, but does not bring it down. Paul knows that even though the Jews — the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law — condemn sin, they still commit it, and so they will not escape the wrath of God.
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (Romans 2:1-3)
Notice how Paul twice underlines that the one who judges others condemns himself, because he does the very same things. Notice too that heavy phrase we already heard in chapter one — “without excuse”! The pagans, who do not have God’s special revelation disclosed to the Jews through the Holy Scriptures, are left without excuse, because God reveals himself to us through his creation and through the instinct for worship built into us. Now Paul says that the Jews too are without excuse, because even though they have knowledge of God and of his perfect will, they break the commandments they approve of, because of the sin that lives in them. So they too are exposed to the same wrath the pagans are exposed to — both Jew and Gentile are “without excuse.” “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else…”!!! Do not imagine that the disease “incurable sin” has struck only certain people. Do not imagine that somehow — through the Law, or through your works, or because of your background — you are immune to sin. No! You too are without excuse — you too are exposed to the wrath of God! It is unavoidable. That is why you too need the gospel! You too need the sacrifice of Christ! You too need faith in the risen Savior, so that God may credit it to you as righteousness.
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF GOD’S KINDNESS
The Jews knew the Law. They knew that if they sinned, the Law offered ways for that guilt to be atoned for — through the offering of a sacrifice. But the knowledge of God’s kindness and mercy becomes dangerous when we begin to abuse it and start to think that we can sin again and again and go unpunished, because of the sacrifices we bring to God — and for us Christians this can apply both to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and to the spiritual sacrifices we bring to God.
But the purpose of God’s grace, mercy, and kindness is not to encourage sin, but to lead us to repentance!
4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)
Sometimes God’s judgment is delayed. But this delay does not mean that God approves of human sin. God restrains the pouring out of his wrath in order to give people one more opportunity to repent. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read:
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:9-10)
STORING UP WRATH FOR THE DAY OF WRATH
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:5)
Every day that the Jew who boasts in the Law breaks God’s Law, he stores up wrath upon himself that will fall on him in the day of God’s judgment. This applies also to those who do not repent and refuse to receive God’s grace in Christ. All their lives they enjoy God’s gifts, but this actually increases their condemnation and aggravates their sentence. When we too harden ourselves against the Lord’s commandments, when we persist in sin, when we refuse to repent, then we too are daily storing up condemnation upon ourselves. And by the way, the fact that with a stubborn and unrepentant heart a person can “store up” wrath for himself for the day of wrath shows that God’s judgment is graded according to the accumulation of our guilt — the more wrath we store up for ourselves, the more wrath we will bear; the greater our guilt, the greater our punishment.
TO EACH ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE…
God’s judgment — “the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed” — will come. We do not know when, but we are told that it will certainly come. And God will show no partiality — he will deal in the same way with the Jew and with the Greek, with the one who lived under the Law and with the one who lived without the Law. If you did evil, you will receive trouble and distress. If you did good, there will be a reward for you.
6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” (Romans 2:6)
Whenever the New Testament speaks of judgment, it says one and the same thing about it — that this judgment will be according to our deeds, not according to our words. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus Christ also says to the churches, “I know your deeds…”
7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 2:7-10)
There is a tendency in much of evangelical preaching that makes people think they have to do certain things in order for God to love them — that they somehow have to straighten out their lives so that God can save them. People think they have to stop smoking and drinking before they start coming to church. But where is that written in the Bible? What I find is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us — while we were still in our sins. In Romans 5:6-8 we read:
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
I will not launch into the benefits and harms of smoking and drinking, but the gospel is that God comes to us while we are still filthy sinners. And after he gives us new life, he then produces good works in us. He makes us new creations in Christ so that we can please God by the way we live.
SALVATION THROUGH THE LAW? SALVATION WITHOUT THE LAW?
Now, is Paul teaching here salvation through works or salvation through keeping the Law? Of course not. But he does want to say that those who are justified will do the will of God.
There are people who teach that the Ten Commandments are no longer in force for us today. But this is a heresy called antinomianism, or lawlessness. The Law reveals God’s will to us, and then it shows us that we cannot keep it. It has its role, and that role is to humble us because of our sin. And it can give us a clear view of the work of Jesus. It is called our “guardian” or “tutor” (Galatians 3:19-25).
But what about those of us who are saved? We are delivered from this law as a covenant of works. The condemnation from the covenant of works is swift and certain. How many times did Adam have to sin against God for the whole human race to be plunged into misery? Only once. But because we are not justified by the law, neither are we condemned by it.
Even so, we are united with Christ and must keep the Ten Commandments. The Lord summarized the first four Commandments in the words “love God with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” and the last six Commandments in the words “love your neighbor as yourself.” To possess the Word of God is a great blessing. Human hearts are corrupt, and they can twist the truths of the Word. Our conscience can be wounded and seared, so that it stops warning us against sin. But in God’s moral law we have the untwisted requirement of God’s perfect will. That is why it remains valid for us today.
BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
When we speak of the administration of justice and of the judgment over pagans and Jews, this inevitably raises the question of our own standing before God. How will we be judged? Now listen to me, and do not be confused. The deeds of Christians that will be judged on the Day of Judgment are not deeds that are the basis of our salvation. The deeds that will be rewarded are the fruits of God’s Spirit in the lives of the saved, and the deeds that will be judged will be our failures to reach the potential we have in Christ. We will not be judged for the sins our Lord bore, but for the good things we could have done but neglected.
Let us look at 2 Corinthians 5:8-10.
8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:8-10)
Notice that in verse 8 Paul has just said that it is good to be away from the body and “at home with the Lord.” But immediately after this, he stresses that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” To whom is the apostle writing? To the church in Corinth, to the believers, to the Christians. And he says that before this judgment seat everyone will receive “what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” And the point here is that this is not a judgment that will determine whether we go to heaven or hell. This is a judgment over those who are already “at home.” In Romans 8:1 it says that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and there is a day when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed and he will repay each one of us according to our deeds. But, having believed in Christ, we must be calm and confident that we have passed from death to life. In John 5:24 it says:
24 Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
In Philippians 2:13 it says that after our repentance God continues to work in us in order to “work out” our salvation.
12 continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)
Do you see? God works in us, he produces fruit in us. And the good deeds we have done after being saved will be rewarded when we stand before the Lord. Jesus says that the Father has given the Son to judge the world. And the Lord will give the wicked what they deserve. But those he has resolved to glorify — he will sanctify and will crown their good deeds. Not because they contain any merit in themselves. We cannot prove from any verse of the Bible that God saves us by merit. But the Word definitely says that the good deeds we do will be rewarded.
This truth is confirmed also by 1 Corinthians 3:12-15.
12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Just before this passage the apostle says that there is only one foundation on which we can build — Jesus Christ. But we can build with two kinds of materials — some are “fireproof” and others are not. Here Paul uses material things to present a spiritual lesson. Our building — these are the fruits of our ministry. If they are lasting and endure, we will receive a reward. But if the fruits of our ministry are shallow and short-lived, we will lose our reward. This fire will not touch our salvation, but it will inflict on us the heaviest possible losses and ruin. Have you ever lived through a fire? I, thank God, have not, but I can imagine how hard it is to watch your own home and all your belongings, everything you own, burn and be reduced to ashes. What we will lose are rewards — different degrees of blessedness. We must know that just as in hell there are degrees of suffering, and the one who sinned much will suffer more, so also heaven has degrees of blessedness, and the one who was more faithful to the Lord will be more blessed. Is Paul here teaching justification by works? No. But he does expect that for his faithful ministry he will receive a reward. Many Christians do not realize that we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and that he will judge the deeds we did on earth. And we will either be rewarded or suffer loss.
WILL THOSE WHO LIVED WITHOUT HAVING GOD’S LAW RECEIVE HEAVIER SENTENCES THAN THOSE WHO LIVED UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES?
God will judge the Jews on the basis of the Law. God will judge Christians on the basis of their obedience to the gospel. But on what basis will God judge those who have never heard the Law of Moses? In Romans 2:11-15 Paul answers the question of unbelievers: “How can God justly judge the pagans by the Law, when they never had the Law?” Paul answers that God is impartial, and he will take into account the fact that he did not give them his Law in written form. But at the same time, in verse 15 he says that “the requirements of the Law are written on their hearts.” So their deeds will be compared with this “work of the Law” that is written on their hearts. It will be their standard, and by it they will be judged. But notice that it does not say that by this law they will be justified; rather, it says that those who have sinned without having the law will also perish without the law. And those who have sinned “under the law” will be judged under the law, and because they did not keep it, they too will perish.
11 For God does not show favoritism. 12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. (Romans 2:11-12)
In Matthew Henry’s commentary it is said that people have three lights. The first is the light of nature, the second the light of the Law, the third — the light of the gospel. On the Day of Judgment everyone will be judged according to the light he has received.
13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) (Romans 2:13-15)
We may say that we have God’s Law and that we agree with what is written in it, but we know that God does not accept the hearers of the Law, but the doers. The same is true of Christ’s teaching. Jesus told the parable of the two builders — one built his house on sand, the other on rock. And the storms came — the rains, the winds, and the rivers — against both houses. I think that these winds and floods are a symbol of the flood, of the pouring out of God’s wrath. And Jesus stressed that the one who hears his words and does not do them is like the man who built his house on sand, while the man who hears his words and does them is like the man who built his house on the rock. The house of the one who does not do his words will fall, and “great will be its fall,” but the house of the one who not only hears his words but also does them — his house will not fall, “because it is founded on the rock” — he will stand in the time of God’s judgment (Matthew 7:24-27).
THE JUDGMENT OF SECRET SINS
16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:16)
According to this second chapter of the letter to the Romans, the presentation of God’s judgment is part of the gospel. One day the secret sins of people will be exposed, and they will be judged for them. There are many things we think, and do not want anyone to find out, but God knows them all.
A man was painting a fence. But he did not paint all of it — only up to a point; he did not paint the part that leaned against the barn. His wife asked him, “Why didn’t you paint the inner part of the fence that leans against the barn?” “Because it isn’t visible,” her husband replied. “Yes, but God sees it!” she said. “Well, yes, but he won’t gossip about it!” the careless man insisted. You see, you can hide something from people, but not from God. God sees “the unpainted part of your fence.” Where are your thoughts turned when they are unoccupied? In Luke 8:17 it says that there is nothing secret that will not become known. Nothing hidden will remain hidden. Everything will come to light.
17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17)
In the following verses Paul returns to the beginning of the chapter and again takes up the matter of how the one who judges others in fact does the very same things. And he is like the pagans who, even though they know that the one who commits their sins deserves death, not only commit them but approve of those who commit them. But they, at least, are sincere. The Jews, however, are hypocrites. They claim that sin is something bad, but they secretly do it anyway. So Paul nails down his thesis that not only the pagan but also the Jew remains “without excuse,” and as a person without excuse is exposed to the danger of the pouring out of God’s wrath. Here again we see the principle that the knowledge of the Law not only fails to deliver from the coming wrath, but is an aggravating circumstance, because from the one to whom much has been given, much will be required.
17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth — 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:17-24)
Theft, adultery, sacrilege — things that do not match the knowledge and the claims of those who commit them. Here again it is a matter of the gap between words, claims, and deeds. Words with no backing in deeds, conduct that does not match our claims, cause those who do not know God to blaspheme him. They judge the Lord by those who call themselves his followers. In his commentary on this verse, William MacDonald makes us ask the question, “If people could see of Jesus Christ only what they see in me, what would they see?”
So we are brought once again to the cross. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot produce righteousness by our own strength. When God reveals himself and his truth to us, we reject him and prefer to sink deeper into our own rebellion (Romans 1:18-32). And when, in words, we outwardly accept his truth, then, because of the sin that lives in us, we find ourselves in the position of hypocrites (Romans 2:1-24). There is no other way to be justified except to deny ourselves, to give up our own wretched fleshly efforts, and with our whole heart to repent and surrender ourselves into the hands of God. That he may save us, that he may be born in us anew, that he may change us — that he may take away our heart of stone and give us in its place a soft heart. That he may write his commandments on it and forgive all our sins (Hebrews 8:6-13).