Transcription
The people most confident about condemning sin may actually be in the greatest spiritual danger. The Bible warns about a trap that many religious people fall into, and it's still happening today. In Romans chapter 2, Paul exposes it. So, let's get into it.
Welcome back to Every Word. My name is Nate Solo, and we are studying Romans chap 2:es 1-16 today. Before we do that, as always, please do me a favor: like, sub, and share this video around. The goal is to just get even more people reading God's word than yesterday. Amen. Even on YouTube.
This episode is brought to you by Logos Bible Software. All right, let's read together.
"Therefore, you have no excuse, oh man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress. For every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. 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. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."
So, in this passage, Paul corrects those who stand in judgment over the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. So that's Romans 2:es 1-4. Uh, Paul says that they sin just as much as those described in the previous chapter, and we went over that last time. Uh, thus, they are preparing for themselves the wrath and fury of God. That's verses 5-11. Paul goes on to say that the Gentiles' conscience shows that they know God's law and that everyone, uh, will be judged in the end for what they do. And that's verses 12-16.
So, a couple of important observations to note here. Back in verse one, Paul makes his intentions clear by distinguishing between two groups of people. Right? So, while in Romans 1:es 18-32, Paul indicts the ungodly and unrighteous who commit idolatry and homosexual acts, chapter 2:es 1-16 shifts gears and focuses on a group of people: "Every one of you who judges." You see that? Paul will refer to this type of person as "oh man," which technically expands the focus to anyone who stands in judgment against the activity of the ungodly. But in verse 17, Paul will make it very clear that "oh man" is referring to the Jews, as this new group. Right? "But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God, right?" So, we're going to get there. That's next time. This means that those, um, ungodly and unrighteous who reveal the wrath of God and stand in contradistinction to the Jews in chapter 1 must be the Gentiles. Okay? Now, Paul did not explicitly say that back in the previous pericopé, but we can infer as much based on their unique activity. Right? So, so in other words, all of what they're described as doing is not only evil, it's non-covenantal. Okay? There's a much longer study to do on this, but note how Jesus condemns those corrupt leaders, right? And their activity who know the law but disobey. Or you can look ahead to the end of Romans 2, where Paul is essentially going to do the same thing, right? These activities are expressed differently for those who sin within the bounds of God's covenant as opposed to those who sin outside the bounds of God's covenant. You with me so far? This is how Leon Morris puts it in his commentary: "The Jew was committing basically the same sin, even though the formal expression was different." Now, we touched on this, uh, sort of unique type of Jewish sin in the Matthew study. Okay? So, if you want more on that, you should go check it out. That's a bit of a rabbit trail. For now, keep track of these two groups, right? Gentiles. So that's Romans 1:18-32, and Jews in chapter 2. Okay. So, Paul has already showed his cards, so to speak, when he identified these two groups. So he did it at the outset in chapter 1, but he does it here again in verses 9 and 10: "to the Jew first and also to the Greek," right? Why is he drawing this contrast? Well, the answer to that question will become clear as we study the entire letter. But just keep this distinction at the forefront of your mind. Paul's concern is for this church in Rome, who are made up of people coming from both a Jewish, uh, background and a Gentile background. Okay?
Now, notice in chapter 2:1, Paul uses the same sort of, uh, condemnatory language that he used back in chapter 1 for the Gentiles. He says, "You have no excuse." Right? So, you remember back in chapter 1, verse 20, he says about the ungodly, "They are without excuse." Guess what? This is all a setup for Romans 3, right? Uh, where all have sinned, all have fallen short. Uh, okay, we're going to get there.
Notice also all of the qualities of God that Paul lists. Okay? So, kindness, forbearance, patience, but also wrath. Now, Paul gets these from the Old Testament. Okay? We'll explore connections in just a moment. All right. Now, there is an interesting parallel of triads that Paul, uh, creates, and this is in Romans 2:4. It shows up again in verse 7 and in verse 10. Okay? And I just talked about this. Now, notice these particular characteristics: uh, kindness, forbearance, and patience. Right? Look at this. Uh, glory, honor, and immortality. Verse 7. Right? Look at this. Glory and honor and peace, or or shalom. Verse 10. Okay? If you pay close attention to these qualities, uh, particularly how, uh, verse 7 contrasts verse 8, you're going to start to realize that all of these things belong to God. Okay? Paul is saying that God's kindness, God's forbearance, God's patience is upon the world, you know, um, and that should lead a person to seek God's glory, God's honor, God's immortality in verse 7, which then leads to the shalom of God to move through God's people. See, this is why Paul is so brilliant. He has just created a symmetrical moral theological arc: God's nature, human imitation, divine reward, right? Not only will this lead to eternal life, verse 8, uh, and not wrath and fury, it would essentially put the whole world back together via God's shalom, thus bringing about the restoration of the image of God in the world. Remember, uh, shalom, or peace, is is greater than some kind of inner subjective feeling that one has. The way that the Bible actually treats this word and describes it, it entails shalom entails God's putting the brokenness of the world back together again, one soul at a time. All right.
Now, in verses 12-15, Paul talks about the law. Did you notice? But, and it gets a little confusing here. So, let's see if we can do some work in that front. Um, but Paul does this, uh, in ways that we can figure this out. So, particularly when we get to verse 14, watch this. We see Paul saying that the Gentiles who do not have the law, but obey the law, are therefore a law to themselves. Hey, that's confusing, right? What is he talking about? Well, let's, let's go slow. So, in verse 12, uh, Paul says, "For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law." But really, what he's saying is, "All who have sinned without Torah will also perish without Torah. And all who have sinned under Torah will be judged by Torah." What Paul is saying here is, "All Gentiles who are not in Torah." Right? In other words, not belonging to the covenant of God with Israel, still die. Why do they still die? Because they still sin. But all Jews who are in Torah, right, and sin, still die. Why? Because they sinned. For God shows no partiality, right, to either, uh, Jew or Greek. That's verse 11. So, when it comes to God's judgment, there is no partiality.
So, here's an interesting question considering all these pieces: What does it mean to perish without the law? Right? I suspect that Paul is drawing from a rabbinic principle that was well known in second temple Judaism. And it kind of goes like this: The greater the light, the greater the accountability. Now, not only is this concept found in extra-biblical literature, you can actually hear echoes of Jesus' words in Luke 12:48. Okay, watch this: "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." Okay? That means those who sinned without Torah, right? So, these are Gentiles. They will be judged without Torah's text, but according to what revelation they did have. And what is that? That's conscience. That's creation, right? That's Romans 1. The, the, the, that's the moral imprint of God. You know, that's Romans 2:es 14 to 15. You with me so far? Those who sinned under Torah, right? So, these would be Jews. They will be judged by Torah's covenant standard. And that is the revealed word that they professed, uh, to know that they actually had. Okay. Again, Paul is emphasizing impartiality with God. That's verse 11. Both groups of people are accountable to God's judgment. The measure differs, but the verdict without Christ is the same. This spills over into Romans 2:13-15, uh, with Paul's extended thoughts about the law, or or Torah.
Now, I'm not going to parse all this out, uh, especially the scholarly conversations about this entire passage. If I did that, this would turn into a semester, uh, at seminary, you know. And, um, honestly, a lot of the background work for studies like this is where tools like Logos become incredibly helpful. Logos Bible software lets you search the Greek text. It pulls up multiple commentaries instantly and traces Old Testament connections like the ones we're about to see without spending hours and hours flipping through books. Believe me, guys, when I was a preaching pastor, my sermon prep took approximately 15 to 20 hours, uh, per week. And with Logos, it cuts out so much of that research and looking for sources instantly. This is a game-changer for the serious student of scripture. So, if you want to study the Bible at that level, Logos is offering a two-month free trial for viewers of this channel. You can grab that at logos.com/everyword. And I'll put a link for that below. Again, it's logos.com/everyword.
All right, let's get back into the passage here. Now, remember, Paul is speaking to, uh, Christians with both a Jewish, uh, background and a Gentile background. Okay? He's essentially leveling the moral playing field, lest anyone think better of his brother or sister because, as he will go on to say, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Okay? That's Romans 3:23. Paul is saying that only those who obey the law will be justified. The question is, who has truly done this, right? Who has truly obeyed the, the law? The answer, according to Romans 3, is no one.
Dwight Prior points out that Paul is not talking about, uh, in verse 14, he's not talking about any old Gentile here. Look at this again: "For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves." Wait, what? So, so this can't be any old Gentile. Uh, Prior says that Paul is referring to the Christian Gentiles in the church in Rome. Why? Because he just got done condemning the ungodly Gentiles in chapter 1:18-32. Okay? Think about that. He can't be speaking about all Gentiles here in chapter 2, and he can't be speaking about all Gentiles in chapter 1 because he split them, right? What Paul is talking about in chapter 2:14 are the Gentiles who, uh, they obey God. Okay? They actually, uh, obey Torah. He's referring to Christians with a pagan background who by nature do not have Torah, but now have the Holy Spirit, and they obey Torah's fundamental essence, which is love. Okay? Now, this is supported by his comments later, and we'll explore all of this when we get there. I'm just trying to give you these pieces now so you kind of have a clear sort of overall view, right? But you can go to Romans 8:3-4. This is where Paul, uh, sort of pulls this out. You can go to Romans 13:8-10. You can even look at, uh, Jesus' answer to the lawyer in Matthew 22:37-40. All right, this is a lot. Okay, this is kind of like sipping, uh, from a fire hydrant, but hopefully, you're keeping up.
Now, there are a ton more observations to make here. I've said enough. Let's get into connections. So, as we've continued to get into this passage, I hope that you have noted how densely packed it is with theology and spiritual insight. Okay? Now, it's time to focus on the connections to the Old Testament. So, as we know, Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, right? Educated at the feet of the one and only Gamaliel. And he knew Tanakh incredibly well. Remember, this was the man who would make it a practice to go from synagogue to synagogue and reason from the scriptures in order to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, right? You remember this from Acts? So, Paul knows the Old Testament. So, let's see how he sprinkles his writing with it. Okay?
So, in Romans 2:1, Paul says, uh, "For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things." This is textbook hypocrisy. And Paul is calling it out because the Lord has done so in the past. Take a look at 2 Samuel 12:es 5-7. Take a look at Psalm 50:16-21. You can also look at Isaiah 29:13-15 and Jeremiah 7:es 8-11. Okay? But I'm going to show you the Psalms. Okay? So, take a look at how the Psalmist puts it. This is Psalm 50, verse 16: "But to the wicked, God says, 'What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?'" Look at verse 21: "These things you have done and I have been silent. You thought that I was one like yourself, but now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you." Okay.
Now, in Romans 2:4, Paul provides some descriptors of God's qualities, right? Remember this: kindness, forbearance, and patience. He goes on to write, "God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance." Right? But where did he get those ideas? Well, Exodus 34 says this, verse 6: "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands.'" Right? This is the central self-escription of God in the Old Testament. And it repeats over and over again. It's not just here, right? It's, it's either verbatim repeated or alluded to over and over again. Places like, you can look at, uh, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103, Psalm 104:5, Joel 2:13. The list goes on and on and on. Okay? However, as slow to anger and gracious and merciful our God actually is, praise the Lord, he does not ignore the administration of justice. Right? Look at verse 7. Look how it concludes: "God visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children. He will by no means clear the guilty." Now, Paul refers to the day of wrath on multiple occasions in Romans 2:es 5-10. Right? This is a clear biblical concept that's taught in places like Psalm 7:es 9-11, Psalm 62:12, Psalm 110:es 5 and 6, Proverbs 24:12, Isaiah 13:9-11, Jeremiah 17:10, Ezekiel 7:8-9. It just goes on. Joel chapter 2, uh, Zephaniah 1:14, uh, through 18. It's just, it's everywhere. But watch this. Proverbs 24:12: "If you say, 'Behold, we did not know this.' Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not, there it is, repay man according to his work?"
As we go through these connections, friends, um, as well as take in those observations, right, I think Paul's intentions behind this passage become abundantly clear. No one is better than another. All will be judged by God in the end. Many preachers have pointed out what Paul is hitting pretty hard here, you know, and the way I heard it was kind of like this: "The bad news is what makes the good news so good." You ever, you ever hear that one before, right? I like how Charles Spurgeon put it: "They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy law. Therefore, the law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose, and it must not be removed from its place."
In Romans 2:1, Paul says that God shows no partiality. I showed you that. Where does that come from? Well, it comes from Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 17: "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe." Are you seeing the train of thought here? Are you seeing where Paul is getting this from?
In Romans 2:13, Paul says, "It's not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law who will be justified." Well, this comes from Ezekiel 33:es 30-32, where the Lord chastises his people for not listening to him. Look at this: "And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say, but they will not do it. For with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain." For some reason, this makes me think of Jesus quoting Hosea 6. You remember this? "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice," right? The, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. You know, this is a bit of a tangent, but I, I think it connects, uh, in the sense of keeping up appearances, you know, but but being far from God in the heart. And I suspect that's ultimately what Paul is concerned about when he writes Romans 2:13. You guys still with me?
Now, in, uh, Romans 2:14 and 15, it gets a bit hairy. Okay? Why? Well, because Christians disagree over whether or not Paul is talking about Gentiles broadly or Christian Gentiles, right? Which is Dwight Prior's view. I mentioned this a moment ago. I, this is, this is my view. So, without confusing matters, I'll just say this: There is Old Testament support to say that all Gentiles who by nature do not have Torah can still obey aspects of it. It would track along the idea that all are made in the image of God. And there's Old Testament support to say that Christian Gentiles who by nature do not have Torah, but instead they have the Holy Spirit, can still obey aspects of it. And this would track with the promise of God putting his law on the heart, right in Jeremiah 31.
So, as I've come back to this passage again and again, a concept keeps standing out to me, and along with that concept, a particular verse. The concept is God's judgment, and the verse is this: Romans 2:13. "It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." That is a powerful statement that, you know, it should give everyone, saved and unsaved, much pause, right? And, you know, a moment ago, I noted that, you know, verse 13 comes out of the Lord's rebuke in Ezekiel 33:30-32, and in that, God is rebuking the spiritual hollowness of a people who admire the message of God's word but ignore its demands. And if we let all of this sink in, there is a powerful reminder for everyone, both saved and unsaved, both Jew and Greek. And this leads to a lesson for the original audience. Are you ready? Possessing God's truth is not the same as practicing it. God's righteousness is revealed in those who obey him, not merely those who know about him. Romans 2:13 and the surrounding context, it's, it's not just about how God judges unbelievers. It also reveals something enduring about God's moral character and the nature of true righteousness. That means this lesson has the power to cut deep into the marrow of every type of listener. And I think that was what Paul was doing, right? For the unregenerate person, Paul's immediate point is condemnation by works. Right? So, in verse 12, he just got done saying that even those who don't know the law still die without the law. Why? Well, because they are without excuse, as Paul points out in, uh, Romans 1. But then in verse 13, he goes on to say that, well, hey, possessing the law won't save you either. Only doing it perfectly would. And no one does this. Paul's going to say that in Romans 3. That's how he sets up the need for the gospel. Okay? For the regenerate person, the same principle, right? God values obedience, not empty knowledge. The same principle carries into the believer's sanctification. So, those justified by faith are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what the law required. And we'll get, we'll get more into this when we get into, I think, Romans 8. All right. So, what I'm saying is, the lesson scales up. The law once condemned those who only heard it. But in Christ, believers are free to live, uh, live it out. And in both ways, God is not interested in information about his truth, but confirmation to it. Notice I'm not saying anything about, um, Paul's use of the word justification here, okay? And that's on purpose because we're going to, we're going to explore how this applies later when, when he brings it up again. All right.
For now, we just have to put all of these pieces together and keep track of the bigger picture. And that means bearing in mind the heart of the letter, right? Do you remember this? What is the heart of the entire letter to the book of Romans? It's Romans 1:16-17. But look at 17 with me again: "For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'" What is the commonality between God's righteousness being revealed in chapter 1:17 and being doers of God's law in chapter 2:13? The answer is obedience. Can you see that? You know, wherever I'm at in the book of any Bible, like any of the books, right, I'm studying in the scripture, particularly an epistle, I try to think about the author's particular motivation for making a certain point or using a specific phrase, you know, as opposed to saying it another way, right? So, uh, for example, again, look at this. Why would Paul, think about this. Why would Paul make the point about Gentiles doing what the law requires in Romans 2:14 and 15? Right? These verses appear to function as a parenthetical remark within the greater point that he's actually making. And Paul does this. This is why things get a little, we just have to be very careful here. Okay? So, so in other words, watch this. The main point is: "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." Verse 16: "On that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." So, you see the flow there. That's really what it is. It's chapter, or excuse me, it's verse 13 and then 16. And that's what I mean. In between these is a parenthetical thought: verses 14 and 15. Why is it there? That's the question, you know. "For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires." Wait, what? They do what? You know, I think, so here's the punch line. I think it's because the Christians with a Jewish background, let me, let me just go ahead and shorthand this, let's say the CJBs, right? I believe they thought themselves to be morally superior to the Christians with a Gentile background. And let's call these the CGBs. Okay? You with me? Cuz I'm going to mention these groups, these two groups quite a lot. So, in Romans 1:18-32, Paul sets up the CJB with an elaborate description of pagan sin, right? And what this functions as is bait. Okay? Because, cuz the CJB listening to this, now think about it. They're going to, they're going to hear Romans 1:18-32 and they're going to go, "Yeah," they're going to nod in agreement, and they're going to, they're going to wave a scolding finger at everything they just heard, right? Paul's not wrong in his analysis of the, of the pagan Gentiles. But he's also setting up the CJBs for their own comeuppance in chapter 2. "Oh man," right? "Therefore, you have no excuse, every one of you who judges." Okay? So, remember, Paul just said the same thing about the Gentiles: "They are without excuse." And now, in chapter 2:1, "You are without excuse," CJB. Now, he, he's going to make his intentions even more clear when he says this: "But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God, you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?" See, I think the Christians with a Jewish background, the CJBs, believe themselves to be morally superior to the Christians with a Gentile background. And it was causing tension. It was, it was causing clash and division within the church in Rome. Hence the occasion for the letter that Paul is writing them. And if you and I can keep that sort of, uh, frame and understanding of the occasion of this letter, a lot of the confusing things that Paul continues to say, especially when we get to Romans 9 through 11, who's with me? It's going to make a lot more sense if we just don't forget these two groups. That's why he talked about the Gentiles obeying the law and being a law unto themselves in chapter 2:14-15. This parenthetical remark is meant to show the CJB that the CGB are not totally lawless. More than that, the CJBs don't even obey the law either. In other words, Paul is removing their home-field advantage, so to speak. Right? If the law gives the CJBS their sense of superiority, he's essentially saying, "Well, the Gentiles do what the law requires as well, so stop boasting." He's, he's leveling the playing field in God's church. All right, trust me. I got all the sports metaphors for this one. Okay, are you with me? There can be no sense of superiority because there is no Jew or Greek in the ecclesia of God. All are one in Christ Jesus and thus Abraham's offspring. That's Galatians 3.
This brings me back to the lesson, okay? Possessing God's truth is not the same thing as practicing it. God's righteousness is revealed in those who obey him, not merely those who know about him. See, what matters to God and what matters to Jesus is not that we know what he said, but that we obey it. In true obedience to the Lord, there can be no superiority, no judgmental, um, or critical spirits against brothers and sisters. Amen. Probably what should flow naturally is humility. Do you understand? This reminds me of what Jesus said in John 14: "If you love me, you will what? Keep my commandments. You will obey me." Boy, this whole concept of, you know, putting your money where your mouth is, that truly resonates, does it not? And I see how this type of self-examination solves some key problems within the church today. Do you, do you see how this could potentially apply to self-righteous people who wave their fingers at other brothers and sisters in the church today? Good, because this is where I leave you to wrestle, to keep studying and chewing. Amen. And as always, let me know what you're coming up with in the comments. I'd love to see where you're at.
Hey, make sure to grab your two-month free trial of Logos. Just go to logos.com/everyword. You can also find my wife's disciple bundle. I worked with Logos to put this together. This includes a lot of the commentaries that I prefer to study God's word. All of that. Again, logos.com/everyword. The link for that is below. Hey, if you're interested in learning biblical Greek or Hebrew, I would encourage you to do that. It definitely helps to level up your studies, too. You can go check out the Biblingo app. I've partnered with Logos and Biblingo, but because they are so helpful to your studies. So, click on the Biblingo app. I, uh, I put the link for that below and you can use my code wise disciple 10 for a discount at checkout. All right.
Next time, Paul's going to talk about what it means to be a Jew, but not on the outside. And that's going to lead to a profound lesson for us all. We'll get into it next time. As always, keep your eyes on the scripture, my friend. Stay close to the Lord. Happy reading and bye for now.