Romans 2:1–11 (ESV)✞: God’s Righteous Judgment
Passage
The last passage covered the fact that we all naturally reject God. Even those of us who don’t know much about Him reject what little we do know. So what’s the natural reaction to that? Because Paul knows that we’re all sinful—again, this whole section is cogently articulating that—he addresses what he knows will be in our hearts: “I don’t commit that particular sin, so therefore I’m not as bad as ‘those people!’” He addresses that head-on:
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O 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.
“But wait,” we might think, “no I don’t practice the same things! I’m condemning that guy for murder, and I don’t commit murder! So I am better than him!” But remember that Paul’s point in the previous passage, in listing out all of those sins, wasn’t to call out “bad” vs. “trivial” sins; his point was to say that we’re all sinful, and that no matter what sins you may feel you’ve avoided there are others that you still commit regularly. (On this point I draw no distinction between those who are saved and those who are not yet saved; even as a Christian, covered by the blood of Christ, I continue to commit certain sins.) We all naturally reject God, so He gives us up to our own desires.
So when Paul says that the “judge” practices the very same things, he doesn’t mean sin-by-sin; I think Paul would recognize that yes, some people commit some sins and others commit other sins. But his point is that we all commit sin. He doesn’t use the word “foolish” (in this passage) but it’s foolish of me to judge anyone for committing sin just because they aren’t the sins I happen to commit. They could just as easily judge me for the sins I commit – and be just as foolish for doing so.
In fact, as we’re tempted to judge others, we should remember that there is One who judges rightly, and that judgement includes me, not just the people I want Him to judge:
2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 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? 5 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.
Paul brings up an interesting point here, though. (And how kind of me to say so…) Yes, he’s calling us out for judging others, forgetting about the fact that we’re being judged by God, but Paul points out why we fall into that: remember that Paul is starting to shift the conversation toward people who know a bit more about God, so he’s pointing out that sinful people, once they believe they’ve found favour with God, instead of becoming more like Him tend to end up judging others. But we do that because learning about God means learning about His kindness!
Again, however, we’re sinful. So I hear about God’s kindness and I think it means He would never judge me for my sin (even while assuming that He’s judging others very harshly). Paul points out that this kindness isn’t something I’m supposed to just take for granted, it’s supposed to lead me to repentance! I should look at how kind God is and want to be more like Him, but instead I accept His kindness and then presume upon it to continue living as I once did.
Does that mean that I’m storing up wrath for myself, as Paul says in verse 5✞? He is, after all, writing to Christians! Is Paul saying that, even though I’m a Christian, and saved by Christ, that God’s wrath is still going to be poured out on me?
I don’t think so; in verse 1✞ he says, “you have no excuse, O man,” and to me, that “O man” means that he’s talking generally to mankind, not that he’s addressing this particular section to his Christian readers in the Roman church(es). But that does bring us to the rest of this passage, which is related:
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
Again, a surface reading of these verses makes it sound like Paul is talking about a very religious approach to the next life, as opposed to a Christian approach! If you do good God will reward you, and if you sin God will punish you! Just like Job’s friends were telling him!
But remember that we’re still in the middle of a long section of Romans in which Paul is saying that we are all sinners. There’s a sense in which, in theory, maybe good people could earn “eternal life,” and those who “do evil” could earn “wrath and fury.” Except… Paul’s larger point is that we’re all in that latter category; we all do evil. When I say that, “in theory,” good people could earn eternal life, we have to terms with the fact that there are no good people! Nobody has ever lived who was “good”—who didn’t “do evil”—who actually earned that eternal life. Nobody.
Wait! Actually, there was one man. Jesus did good, and there was no evil in him. Out of every human who has ever lived, Jesus was the only one who obeyed God perfectly; the only one who, on his own merit, could have been spared “wrath and fury.” He, however, chose to suffer the wrath and fury of God, on my behalf, so that I don’t have to. (Not just me, obviously, me and every other person who has put their faith in Him.)
Right now Paul is carefully articulating how sinful we all are, partially so he can show the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome that neither group is “better” than the other, but also so that we’ll properly appreciate the Grace he will outline a few verses from now. So I’m skipping ahead a bit by talking about the fact that Jesus has paid the price of my sin, but I kind of can’t help but to do so.
Thoughts
One other thought I have on this passage, on the word “judge.”
There are those who’d use a passage like this to say, “See? Paul says that it’s wrong to ‘judge,’ so how can you say that certain activities are ‘sins?’ The Bible says not to judge other people!” However, this comes right in the middle of a passage in which Paul is calling humans sinful, amidst particular activities that he has clearly called out as sins, so it’s not as clear-cut as just saying “don’t judge.” It’s clear from the context of this passage that Paul is not saying, “You can never say any particular activity is ‘wrong.’”
But it’s also clear what he is saying: nobody should feel superior to anyone else, just because of the particular set of sins that are or are not committed. If I come to you and say, “I’ve just committed adultery, is that wrong?” you should respond that yes, adultery is a sin, but without feeling that you’re somehow better than me because your particular set of sins doesn’t include adultery. (This is just an example, not a confession…)
In other words there are two senses of the word “judge,” one of which is discouraged in the Scriptures and one of which is clearly necessary to be a functioning Christian:
- To “judge” in the sense of feeling morally superior to someone—to anyone—is wrong
- To “judge” in the sense of determining what is right or wrong, what actions are righteous and what actions are sinful, is necessary as we strive to be like God
If we don’t “judge” in the first sense of the word it makes it a lot easier to have discussions about “judging” right and wrong actions in the second sense of the word! If you and I disagree about whether something is right or wrong it’ll be a lot easier to discuss it if we’re not looking down on each other!
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