Romans 2: 1 - 16

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? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

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. ⁶ God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ ⁷ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour 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, honour and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ For God does not show favouritism.

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. 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.) ¹⁶ This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

All Have Sinned.

In yesterday’s reading, I did not specifically mention the reference to homosexuality in Romans 1: 26 - 27, writing instead about the general wickedness, sin and rebellion that is in that passage. Often, when reading Romans 1, it is verses 26 and 27 that people emphasise, as if those verses talk about the most important sin. They point the finger and ignore the rest of the chapter. However, you only have to move on to verse 1 of chapter 2 (as we have today) to read, “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.” In our natural state, humankind chooses sin and rebellion rather than obedience to God. That is what we find in both yesterday’s reading and today’s. And as soon as people start pointing the finger at those who are guilty of one sin or another, they are falling into the hole that is in verse 1 of chapter 2 – they are condemning themselves. A popular internet quote is ‘Don’t judge me because I sin differently from you.’ In the next chapter of this same letter, Paul writes, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3: 23). It is not for us, as sinners, to point the finger at other sinners.

If you were to take verses 6 to 11 of today’s reading out of context (and completely ignore the rest of Romans), you could think that we earn the gift of eternal life by doing good. Certainly verses 7 and 8 seem to compare and contrast the results of doing good with the results of doing evil. But there is no suggestion that we are justified by our works. It is clear throughout Romans that we are justified by faith alone – we are saved by the grace of God, and do not earn our salvation. But we need to note from these verses that we will be judged on our deeds. We receive our salvation as a free gift from God, through Christ, but what we do with that salvation counts. Are we, as Christians, living a life of obedience as we follow Jesus, ‘persisting in doing good’? Or are we storing up works of stubbornness and disobedience? Verse 8 in particular refers to those who chose to reject God and his teaching: ‘But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.’ Rejecting the truth and following evil is a description of those who turn away from Christ and the cross and the message of the Gospel, choosing to be ‘self-seeking’. For them there is only wrath and anger. This is why we have an important duty as Christians to introduce people to Jesus and his love, sharing the Gospel message in words and actions.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we find these opening chapters of Romans quite tough, in the way they remind us of the sin of mankind and the wrath of God that follows. We thank you that this is only part of the story, and rejoice in your love, grace and forgiveness to all who will come to Jesus. Amen.