Unashamed of the Gospel
God’s Judgement and God’s Kindness
Romans 2:1-16
Turn to Romans 1. Last week we looked at a very difficult passage, Romans 1:18-32. Where, because of sin, Paul tells us that God gave them over, a situation where we find ourselves in our culture today. I was made aware of the opposition from our culture in a very specific article entitled, “Reciting hateful verses about homosexuality in public should be illegal.” This is something that has been talked about in the past few years, but I thought it had died down a bit of late, but apparently not. This comment was made by Marc Miller, comments stated in parliament on Thursday, October 30 of last year. Miller, who is the chairman of the committee of justice and human rights, said regarding such biblical passages such as Romans 1, that they are “hateful … and should be [cause] for prosecutors to press charges” to those who publicly use these clear “hateful” biblical passages.
Now, there are a few things that need to be said about this. One, there is not a hint in Romans 1 of anything “hateful” from Paul’s perspective. For Paul is preaching that because of the sin of mankind, God has given them over to more sin. And this concern that Paul had for his culture, was a plea to them to come to the gospel, for it is the power of God. In fact, he calls out to both Jews and Gentiles. Yes, it is a calling out of sin in Romans 1:18-32. In fact, it includes many sins, but it is not hateful. Just as when Jesus wept over Jerusalem and mourned that they were blinded to the dangers around them. Or when Jesus lamented that the workers to preach the gospel were few, as Matthew writes:
“And seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36 (LSB)
So, Romans 1:18-32 is anything but hateful—but it is truthful. The other thing that needs to be said here as we live in a culture where we may feel threatened to speak the truth. True, if we were unfaithful in our marriage, or if we told a lie at work, or stole from our employer, or cheated on our income tax, or acted in a way that was not in line with who we are as believers, we should feel great shame and regret, as we have both sinned against our conscience and sinned against God. But if we have merely spoken truth or did something that was right where the culture might disagree, there ought to be no fear in that. Yes, we are people who obey the laws of the land and of course, people who obey the principles of God’s Word. But when the laws of the land collide with the instruction of God, we fully must obey God rather than man, and there is not an ounce of fear in that. Now we may feel “fearful,” but that is only due to our human weakness. But we must always be fully confident when we have done what is right biblically and when we have been called upon to state what is truth, there is no fear. I should not be able to sleep at night if I have lied at the workplace to keep my job, but I can certainly rest in Christ if I have told the truth at work, though it may cost me my job. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:
“The true Christian cannot be hidden; he cannot escape notice. A man truly living and functioning as a Christian will stand out. He will be like salt; he will be like a city set on a hill, a candle set upon a candlestick … The true Christian does not even desire to hide his light.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount 151-52
Some of the weakest times in my life have been times when I did not speak. And we certainly do not want to keep truth silent when we are to be a light. For Jesus has called believers to be “light,” and we do not extend a lot of light when we hide it under a bushel. Now, before start into chapter 2, we will review the two key verses in Romans 1, something we will do often throughout this series.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous will live by faith.’”
Romans 1:16-17 (LSB)
Now, immediately following these two verses, Paul goes on to explain the great sinfulness of man, and he warns of where man will go in his sin as God removes His restraining hand. And we also need to understand here that this is due to a partial restraining, as God forbid that He would ever remove His hand completely, for mankind would be instantly “off the rails” and destroyed. And the blessedness of Romans 1:16-17 is that whether we live in a sinful culture or live in a very sinful culture, the message of Rom 1:16-17 does not change. And it is this, that the gospel has declared that because of the power of God, salvation is given to everyone who believes. And that in the gospel—those who believe—God’s righteousness is revealed, so that those who believe—those who live by faith—are declared righteous.
Now, later in Romans 2:24-26, Paul will state that the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, who came and lived a perfect life and willingly died in the place of the sinner, so that all those who trust Him would be forgiven of their sins, and would receive the gift of His righteousness and therefore be freed from the fear of sin and death. Know this believer, that there is no other way in which you can be saved than by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, so that His righteousness is given to You as a gift.
So, after Paul gives a clear example of the sin of mankind in the ladder half of chapter 1, he is now going to address another form of sin in the heart of man. And the reason Paul will go on here to show another kind of sin, or another kind of sinner is because we may think that after reading Romans 1:18-32, that’s not me! For I am not filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, murder. I am not a hater of God! And I love my Mom and Dad by the way! In other words, if I am not as bad as the picture Paul paints in Romans 1, or if I am not convinced, Paul will point out more to us in Romans 2.
Now it may be good to stop at this point and ask why Paul needs three chapters—as he will keep this theme going into chapter three—to prove that everyone is a sinner. Do I need that? Do you need that? Do we need to be told we are sinners? I mean, I know you, you know me. I know my own heart, that no matter how much I may desire to serve and love Christ everyday, I will struggle with wrong thoughts and pride and selfishness and greed and arrogance. But if you are not convinced that this is you, Paul wants us to consider something else.
“Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”
Romans 2:1 (LSB)
Now I want to pause here for a moment before we go on and deal with this phrase “everyone who passes judgement.” This is not the idea that we see the sins of others and wonder whether it is sin or not. For Paul has already given here much of God’s view—that homosexuality and greed and boastfulness and deceit and being unloving are wrong. So, it is not like when we see those sins displayed in the world, that we are wondering if these are truly sins or not, thinking we do not want to judge. As that would be nonsense, for then we would be questioning God’s Word, and we would actually be judging God’ judgement. But “judging” here is in the sense of looking down on someone because of their sin, especially without a proper understanding of my own sin. When Jesus said, do not judge in the Sermon on the Mount, Kent Hughes calls such judging, “a critical spirit, a judgmental spirit, a condemning spirit.”
Now, I have this passage written out for you so that you can circle or underline some phrases, as I know that some of you are unwilling to mark up your Bibles. And I am getting some help here from John Piper with this these few verses. Verse 1, “Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Paul now looks at the church folks and says, “you have no excuse” (circle that). And then he says, “you condemn yourself,” circle that. Verse 2, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God?” Circle those two phrases repeated twice, “judgement of God.” Verse 4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Lots to look at here. Circle, “riches of His kindness; forbearance (or tolerance); patience; and kindness of God leads you to repentance.” Verse 5, “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.” Circle those two phrases, “day of wrath” and “righteous judgement of God.”
Now if we go back and look at these words we have circled. Verse 1, “you condemn yourself.” Big trouble, as God is speaking here of your condemnation. A word that means to bring judgement against or to judge worthy of punishment. Verse 2, “judgement of God.” Big trouble for the sinner. Judgement from a God who knows my heart. In other words, not someone I may be able to hide a few things from, but a God who knows everything. Verse 3, again, “judgement of God.” Same problem, in other words, this is not going to go away. In fact, every second I live, I get closer to the judgement of God. And then drop down (vs 5) “day of wrath” and “righteous judgement of God.” We do not get the picture here that God is handing out blue ribbons or gold medals or some kind of stupid stuffies they received at the Olympics. No, this is serious stuff. All these words describe the person who is either the great sinner of chapter 1 or is the somewhat religious hypocrite of Romans 2:1-5 The guy that thinks he lives okay but looks down on others, all the while knowing that he does some of the same things himself.
So, God is saying to the grave sinner (Rom 1) that those of you who look at creation and do not acknowledge Me are (vs 20) without excuse; and you, somewhat religious churchgoers who sin are also (2:1) without excuse. Now this will be hard truth to get into our current modern-day culture peabrains. Without excuse? Really? There must be some excuse for my wrong actions, some reason. My upbringing. You don’t know what my Dad did to me. You know what she said to me. Do you know what he did? Do you not realize the character of my boss? I mean we live in a culture that has excuses for everything—why we lied, why we hated, why we stole from our employee, and why I cheated on my spouse. Even the murderer has a reason for killing someone. As everything I do wrong, I can come up with an excuse. But that is me speaking, but this is now God speaking, who says, you are without excuse!
See, this is the fearful news, that God is righteous and He will judge sin, and we will have no excuses before God. No excuse of why we did not acknowledge Him, and no excuse for any sin we committed. That is the bad news. But do not miss some of the other words we have circled. Verse 4, “riches of His kindness, forbearance, patience, and the kindness of God that leads you to repentance.” That is a major shift in this passage, for how can these words be included in such a fearful passage? Now, if all men and women are on a collision course with God’s wrath, and they are, as we said, as every second that goes by in life brings us closer to that judgement, what does this “riches of kindness” do? Well, it tells us that though God is a God of judgement, and though God’s wrath will be displayed against all sin, God is also what? Forbearing and patient. How does that fit? Second Peter 3:9:
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9 (LSB)
Acts 11:18, Peter preaches about a repentance that leads to life. Because repentance is a mourning over our sin. It is an admitting of sin, a turning from sin. It is not (vs 5) a stubborn and unrepentant heart that leads to God’s wrath, but it is a humble and repentant heart that leads to salvation, and that is the gospel. For those who admit their sinfulness and have a repentant heart become righteous or are given righteousness through faith in Jesus Chriat. Why is this so important? Well, let me go through the remaining verses with you this morning, and we will try to get an understanding of this passage. And I want you to pay close attention as this is likely one of the most misunderstood truths in the Bible.
Verse 6, “[God] who will repay to each according to his works.” That is straightforward that God will repay every man and woman for his or her works, whether someone is better described in Romans 1:18-32 or Romans 2:1-5, though there is some things in both chapters to condemn us. Verse 7, “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Simply, the promise here is that those who seek God’s glory in life by doing good. Again, simply, those who seek to do good in life will be saved. Verse 8, but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” Again, it could not be stated more simply. Those who are disobedient and do not obey the truth, their soul will experience affliction and turmoil, whether you are Jewish or Greek. Verse 10, “but glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” Again, the doer of good works in eternity will receive glory and honour and peace. And God does not differentiate between the Jew or the Greek. In other words, your nationality makes no difference to God in this regard.
Then Paul will go on to further explain the responsibility of all men and women no matter their upbringing. Verse 12, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.” Again, Paul is emphasizing that whether someone grew up under the Jewish Law, they will be judged by that Law; and all who grew up without the Law, will also perish without the Law. For he had already said that even those who merely had the evidence of creation—without a formal Law from God—were still without excuse. Verse 13, “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Simply, those who are just or righteous are not merely the ones who hear the Law, but they must be doers of the law to be just. Verse 14, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves.”
What Paul is saying here that even those without the Law of God, still will practise a law. In other words, there are still principles in society of honesty and kindness and fairness whether someone had a written Law from God or not. Why? Verse 15, “in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Why? Because whether they have a Law or not, their conscience guides them. Now a conscience does not make up rules, but it affirms or opposes what we do. And that conscience can be resisted or ignored. And the conscience can be different from one person or another. But it is still present and we are responsible to listen to it. Verse 16, “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” Finally, on that day, every man and woman will be judged.
So, what do we learn here? What can we conclude? God is just and fair. He will repay every person according to their deeds, That’s fair. I will not be judged on the deeds or actions of someone else. This is not a group project in school where one person does all the work, and everyone gets the same grade. No, you did this and you get this, good or bad. If you do what is right and are obedient, you will live. If you sin, you will face the wrath of God, whether you are Jewish or any other nationality, whether you have been given a written Law or not by God. And God adds that no one is outside of this judgement, whether that are good or bad. For even if you did not receive any kind of written Law from God, you still should have realized your responsibility to God by the witness of His creation. So, God is just and fair.
I guess the question would be is, how do we stack this up? What considers someone who sins versus someone who is righteous? For it would seem from this passage that a building up of good works may enable someone to surpass their bad works or their sin somehow. Well, what Paul has not yet done is to complete his whole argument, as he will come down with the hammer in Romans 3, and say, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” What does that mean Paul? Does that mean that everyone is disqualified? What does it mean Paul to come short of the glory of God? Is there no one who is good enough? Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, not even one.” Well, Paul, you just said this, look at it, in Romans 2:13, but the doers of the Law will be justified. So, if doing the Law brings justification, then how come none are righteous? Here is what Paul is teaching. God is just and fair. He will repay every person according to their deeds. If you do what is right and are obedient, you will live; and if you sin, you will face the wrath of God. All that is true. So, what is so difficult about that? Well, the difficulty arises because no one can be righteous, therefore, no one can be justified before God.
This is a massive part in understanding what we will learn in this book of Romans. And if we do not get a grasp on this now, we will likely be floundering as we go along. And there are two ways I believe to understand this, and I am not convinced that both are not to be realized by us to some degree. The first understanding would be that Paul is teaching that simply obedience gains salvation, and disobedience gains death and hell. And though this is true, we also know that believers cannot be completely obedient. Yet we still may understand this passage as teaching that yes, if you obey and are righteous, then, you will have life. But no one can perfectly obey and be righteous. Therefore, a person must have faith to gain the righteousness from God. Do you understand that? If you do this, you die; if you do this, you live. But no one can live perfectly live this way, therefore, you must depend upon your righteousness from Christ through faith. And that is a huge truth! That those who are righteous will live and those who sin will be punished. And yet no one qualifies in the righteous category, except those who believe by faith.
And before we get to thought number two, let me give you some passages that will cement this in your minds. Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Notice the words, “does not work … he is justified … faith counted as righteousness.” That is extremely clear, that our faith that we have in Christ gains us righteousness. I would die for that truth. Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:33-34a, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns?” That is very powerful statement. Here we have the Christian who lives his life for Christ and the question is, who can bring a charge against that guy? Well, the answer is not that the Christian has lived a perfect life. The answer is that God has justified him.
This is the massive failure of the men (Matthew 7) who stood before God and claimed to have done so many things for God. And their response was that they did this and this—massive misunderstanding. No, for You did this Lord. You lived the perfect life and gave me righteousness. For You are the One who justifies. Understand? Those truths can never be in question, as my defense at the judgement will be what Christ did, not what I did, as I simply believed it by faith. So, this first understanding is based upon a perfect righteousness that we receive from God through faith upon salvation, and it is the only kind of faith that can save.
Now, the other truth is that the believer who has been transformed by Christ, who has received this perfect righteousness from God, that believer’s life is then different. And in fact, his obedience to Christ becomes evidence of his true faith. Look again at verse 7, “[T]o those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” So, here is a question, that because of our changed lives, do we become people who persevere, who are obedient through the work of the Holy Spirit? Absolutely! Now not a perfect obedience, but I believe we would hope a sincere desire to obey. Look at verse 6, “[W]ho will repay to each according to his works.”
Here is what I do believe this passage is teaching. I believe we would all agree—or should—that our salvation is completely by faith, it is based upon faith. Faith is the key to eternal life—not of works, lest any man should boast. “No merit of my own, tis mine but to believe.” But this passage says that we will be judged according to, not based upon our works. Let me explain. You die and you stand before God. And what is the quality of life required to enter heaven? Perfection, perfect righteousness, given to us by God at salvation through faith in Christ. Second question, how has that become evident? Well, it has become evident in a changed life. Understand, that salvation is not earned by works, but works or a changed life of obedience are evidence of someone who has received a righteousness from Christ. Look at the middle of verse 4b-5:
“[N]ot knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 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.”
Romans 2:4b-5 (LSB)
This is key, the believer has a repentant heart, or he would have never been saved in the first place; while the unbeliever has an unrepentant heart which stores up God’s wrath against him. In other words, here is evidence of a changed heart that has been given righteousness by God, that God’s kindness has led the believer to repentance. And not merely a one-time repentance, but a life that continues to repent before God. And (vs7) those who persevere and are doing good are those who continue to live a humble and repentant life before God. John Piper said this:
“Now, in none of these texts does it say that eternal life is earned by or merited by or based on good deeds. They simply say, in effect, that the final verdict of eternal life will accord with good deeds. They go together. And the reason they go together is not that works has replaced faith or that merit has replaced grace, but because the gospel of justification by faith is the power of God unto salvation. It is not a weak thing. The gospel does not come into a life and leave it under the dominion of sin. It comes in the power of the Holy Spirit. And where it is believed, trusted and cherished, it produces what Paul calls ‘the obedience of faith.’”
John Piper, “The Final Divide: Eternal Life or Eternal Wrath, Part 2”
This accounts for verses such as Ephesians 2:10, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Galatians 6:9, “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Romans 8:13, “[B]ut if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.” So, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. That will be my plea at the judgement. That I stand before Him with a righteousness that is not my own. But the mark of that transforming work is evidenced by a life that has been changed. That Christ considers His workmanship. So, I must strive for good works. That I must strive to do good and not grow weary. That I must strive to put to death the sinful practices of my earthly body, amen?
Let’s pray. Lord, the truth of God’s Word is that someday every man and woman will stand before God. And most of our world—if they believe in some kind of heaven—will try to earn their way into heaven based upon their own merit, and yet the only entrance into heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works. But we also know that a changed life results in changed desires, changed direction, a desire for holiness—evidence of a life that has become Your workmanship. A life that is repentant, a life that perseveres, and a life that seeks to bring You glory and honour. So, Lord we desire to be a people who are broken over our own sin, that we might hunger and thirst for the glory of God. And Lord, I pray for anyone here this morning who believes that they will gain salvation based upon their own merit. May they throw themselves before You in humility and in repentance, and gain a righteousness that is outside of them, that they might be saved. Father, You are an incredible God. For it was Your kindness that leads us to repentance. And all God’s people said, amen.