Romans 2:1-11 "God's Inescapable, Impartial Judgment"

1:08But then someone invented the escape room. I love escape rooms. It's a great concept. You work together with a group of people to solve various puzzles and discover tools so that you can eventually escape the room or the series of rooms within a certain time frame. So in theory, as long as you do the right things, as long as you Push the right buttons and pull the right levers and solve those puzzles, usually in an hour or less, you win.

1:38You escape the room. And many people seem to think that it's like that with God's judgment. You think the right thoughts, you say the right words, you can pass a basic theology test, and you're good to go. You will escape God's judgment. But that is not true. Last week we covered the end of Romans chapter 1, and at the end of that chapter, Paul was teaching us that we need to be saved from God's wrath. And his wrath is coming because we have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness and because we have become idolaters. That is, we have worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised.

2:26And our idolatry led us to want what we shouldn't want and think what we shouldn't think and do what we shouldn't do. Now, when first-century Christians looked at the Gentile culture, especially in Rome, what did they see when they looked out at the culture around them? Well, they saw people who should know that God exists, but instead they were worshiping a host of gods and goddesses of their own making. They saw people who dishonored their bodies, committing heterosexual sin and homosexual sin with one another, often in broad daylight, often as part of their pagan worship services. They saw people who had debased minds, who were filled with all manner of unrighteousness and evil.

3:23And so you can understand that when Paul's letter was read aloud to the church in Rome, some of them, especially the Jewish Christians among them, were probably thinking, that's right, Paul. You tell them. Those people out there, they need to hear this stuff. Those people who are idolaters, that's wicked. And sexual sins are perversion. They're doing all kinds of things that they shouldn't be doing. You tell them. And I wonder if you've ever had thoughts like that.

3:58I wonder if you've ever thought to yourself, you know, those people out there, I wish they were in here because they need to hear this stuff. Have you ever thought that before? That's just how the Pharisee thought in Jesus' parable. Take a look at Luke 18. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust. Adulterers, or even like this tax collector. Look at those words. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people.

4:41Now, I don't know if I've ever prayed those words before, but I've certainly thought those thoughts. I'm glad that I'm not like other people. And I wonder maybe if you have thought those kinds of judgmental thoughts towards others. If you have, Paul's words in Romans 2 are addressed to people like you and me. People who might be tempted to look out at the world, to look out at the culture, to look at non-Christians, or even at other Christians, and to judge them.

5:14And not just judge them, but judge them with a stricter standard than we even apply to ourselves. Friends, you and I are not the judge. God is the judge. And his judgment is inescapable and impartial. And so let's jump into our text today and let's see how Jesus is our only hope to escape God's inescapable and impartial judgment. Look at verse 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 thing.

6:01We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 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? Now, if you think back to the end of chapter 1, or if you've read the end of Romans 1 before, you know that Paul is describing people who are practicing all kinds of sin. But at least these people are consistent.

6:31They're practicing all kinds of sin and they are giving their approval to other people who also practice those kinds of sin. They are consistent. But you see, the people here in chapter 2 are different. Paul is most likely talking to Jewish Christians here in chapter 2, people who grew up with the Mosaic law, who knew that idolatry was sinful and sexual perversion was sinful, and all of the kinds of things that he lists at the end of chapter 1 were sinful. And publicly, these people condemned those kinds of sins.

7:09But privately, it was a different story. Privately, they committed those very same sins that they condemned in public. They passed judgment on people who committed those sins while they committed those sins themselves. In other words, they were hypocrites. The modern equivalent of the person that Paul has in mind here in Romans chapter 2 is someone who might look a lot like you or me. A person who might have grown up in church. A person who knows a lot about the Bible.

7:49A person who outwardly appears to be a very committed, religious person. But friends, outward appearances can be deceiving. And that is absolutely true in a place like Texas, a place where church going and Bible reading and strange prayers offered to no one in particular before football games are a thing. In those kinds of cultures, hypocrisy is often widespread. What is a hypocrite? Well, that word means a stage actor, a pretender, someone who pretends to be someone or something that they're really not. Jesus gives us a great definition. Look what he says in Matthew 23.

8:39He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, listen to this, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and uncleanness. So you outwardly appear righteous to others. But within, you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. According to Jesus, hypocrisy is when you work hard to outwardly appear as something that you are really not, beautiful on the outside while being unclean on the inside. You work hard to appear righteous to others. That is, that you are conforming to some moral standard, whether that's your own standard or God's standard. You are wanting to appear righteous on the outside, where on the inside you are not meeting that standard, whether it's your own standard or God's standard. That is hypocrisy.

9:43When you're trying to present yourself better than you are, as something or someone that you're really not. Well, friends, hypocrisy is sinful. It's a form of pride and it's a form of lying. Hypocrisy is a form of pride because when we are hypocrites, we favorably compare ourselves with other people while we do the same things. And it's a form of lying because when we engage in hypocrisy, we are presenting ourselves one way when we know that's not who we really are.

10:18Look again at verse 2. Paul says, We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who are not? Who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? So follow Paul's logic here in these verses. The judgment of God is going to fall on those who practice sin. But the hypocrite thinks that God is going to judge other people and not them.

10:56They say to other sinners, the hypocrite says to other sinners, oh, sure, you and I do the same things, but the difference is I know that they're wrong. The difference is I feel bad about it when I do it. The difference is I don't approve of it when other people do it. That's the difference. I know that it's wrong and you don't. How absurd is that? That anyone would think that God would let them off the hook simply because they know what they're doing is wrong. But friends, so many people think that, especially where we live. They think that because they know the truth, that they will escape God's judgment. That because they can pass a basic theology test, God's going to let them off the hook.

11:49And as they say, it takes one to know one, for most of my life, that was me. I thought I was a better person than others simply because at least I knew. What I was doing was wrong. At least I felt bad when I sinned in those ways. At least I did not approve when other people were doing those same things. As if any of that made me a better person. As if any of that exempted me from God's judgment.

12:20So what about you? Is that how you think? Do you suppose that you'll escape God's judgment because you know that what you're doing is wrong? Paul says you won't. You won't escape God's judgment just because you know what you're doing is wrong, just because you feel bad about it, just because you don't approve of it when others are doing it. Paul says that's just not true. And so Paul anticipates the response to all of this. He anticipates that they'll say, okay, Paul, that's fine. I agree. God is going to judge everyone, including me, but he's going to pardon me. He's going to pardon me because he is merciful. Look at verse 4.

13:15Or 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? Presumption. Is arrogantly taking something for granted. It's assuming something to be true that you have no facts whatsoever to back up. And Paul says that even if you agree that God is going to judge you, you might take for granted that because God is kind and forbearing and patient, that he will just pardon your sins. Now, why might you think that?

13:57Well, take a look at Exodus 34. Look at how God reveals himself to Moses. The Lord passed before Moses 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, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. So you might hear that, you might read that and say, see, I'm good. It doesn't matter how much I sin. It doesn't even matter if I'm a hypocrite, because look, God is merciful and gracious. He's slow to anger. He forgives.

14:39But of course, we've conveniently left out the rest of Exodus 34, 7. Take a look at what the rest of the verse says. Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But who will by no means clear the guilty? Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children. Children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation. God is certainly gracious and merciful. There is no doubt that He forgives sin. Praise the Lord.

15:14But He will not clear the guilty. He cannot simply turn His head and overlook sin. He cannot do it because He is perfectly just and holy, and a perfectly just and holy God cannot overlook sin. Sin must be punished. So, what is necessary? Look at verse 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. Repentance is what's necessary.

15:59The attitudes represented in verses 3 and 4, thinking that God won't judge you because you know what you're doing is wrong, or thinking that God will just forgive you no matter what, because he is merciful and gracious, kind and patient, and forbearing. Paul teaches here in verse 5 that those attitudes are evidence of a hard and impenitent heart. That word impenitent means you don't have any shame or regret for what you do, you are unbelievable. Unrepentant.

16:32He says those attitudes represent someone who has never seen their sin for what it really is, which is rebellion against a holy and righteous God, our gracious and merciful Creator. And so we might think wrongly that we're going to escape God's judgment. That because other people don't see the way we're living, they don't hear the things that we say in private, they don't see the things that we do in private, they don't see the things we look at in private, we might think that because of that, we're going to escape God's judgment, but Jesus says no. Look what he says in Luke 12.

17:12Jesus says, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. Jesus says you can try to cover your sin, but it's going to be revealed. Everything that we try to hide will become known. What we've said in the dark will be heard in the light. What we've whispered in private will be made public on the day of judgment.

17:51So you can play the hypocrite now doing things in private that you condemn in public. But you will not escape God's judgment. God's judgment is inescapable. We will all stand before God one day, not as who we have pretended to be, but as we really are, either as repentant sinners or as unrepentant hypocrites. God's judgment is inescapable. And in verses 6 through 11, we see that God's judgment is impartial. Look at verse 6. 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.

19:24This section reminds me of an Oreo cookie. Two firm, solid statements at the beginning and the end with some stuff in the middle that you're like, that's all good. I just don't really know what I'm eating. So let's look at verse 6 and verse 11 first. These two bookend statements that help us understand what Paul is teaching. Look at verse 6. He will render to each one according to his works. Now that principle is taught from cover to cover in the Bible and reinforces everything that we just saw in verses 1 through 5. God is going to judge us based on what we do, not on what we know, not on what we hope is going to happen, but on what we do. He will render to each one according to his works. Now go to verse 11.

20:31For God shows no partiality. That could be translated, for God shows no favoritism. Partiality or favoritism is when a person is unjustly treated better than another person. When a person is unjustly treated better than another person. God does not do this. As Paul says, whether you're a Jew or a Greek, you're going to be rewarded or punished. Based on what you have actually done, there is no favoritism either way, for God shows no partiality. Okay, so those are the bookends: that God is going to judge us based on our works, and that God shows no partiality. Those are the chocolate cookies that hold together what seems kind of like a squishy middle. So, if you take that section as a whole, verses 1 through 11, everything that we're looking at this morning, you can see what Paul is doing here.

21:33He is contrasting our partiality, our tendency to show favoritism to ourselves, with the fact that God is impartial. He does not show favoritism to anyone. That is what Paul is doing. Think about it. In verses 1 through 5, we see that we are partial. We show favoritism, especially to ourselves. We hold other people to this high, uncompromising standard, but then we're very lenient with ourselves. We set a very low bar to clear for ourselves. And then we judge and condemn these people for breaking God's law, the very law that we break in private.

22:22Though we practice those same things, we don't hold ourselves to the same standard. And we don't think that these people are going to escape God's. Judgment, but we think that we will. We show partiality. We show favoritism to ourselves. So, what Paul is doing here in verses 6 through 11 is he's saying God is not like us. He is an impartial judge. He doesn't look at the person and show favoritism because one is a Jew and one is a Gentile, or because one is a Gentile and the other one is a Jew. No, like any good judge, God simply looks at what they have done and then impartially judges them by their works. In theory, that is how our legal system is supposed to operate, right?

23:12Everyone is equal under the law. It shouldn't matter if you're rich or poor. It shouldn't matter if you are powerful or weak. It should not matter if you're this skin color or that skin color. We are all supposed to be equal under the law. Supposed to be. But in God's court, everyone is actually equal under the law. Everyone is actually judged not by their wealth or their power or their skin color or anything else, but by what they have done.

23:47Now, you might say, but wait, hasn't Paul been arguing this whole time in Romans that we have all sinned? We've all suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. We've all worshipped and served created things. Rather than the Creator, if that's the case, and God is going to judge everyone impartially, what hope do we have? Well, this is where we have to go back to the thesis statement of the book of Romans 1:16 and 17. Look on the screen: 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 for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

24:40You see, friends, God promises to save everyone who believes the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, who trusts in his sinless, unhypocritical life that was laid down for you and me in our place. Everyone who trusts in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection will be saved from God's inescapable and impartial judgment. You have faith in Christ, you trust in Christ, you will be saved. But that brings up the million-dollar question: How do we know if we have saving faith?

25:28How do we know if we've truly believed? Believed the gospel. Is it a matter of sincerity? How would I know if I'm sincere enough about my faith? James seeks to answer this question for us. Look at James chapter 2. He summarizes his teaching in the second chapter by saying this, For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, So also faith apart from works is dead. James teaches us that faith apart from works is dead. Now, listen carefully. Our works do not save us, but our works prove that we have saving faith.

26:20Look at these statements. Commentators have said similar things throughout the years. We aren't saved by works, but by a faith that works. We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. That, friends, is the teaching of the Bible. We are not saved by works, but by a faith that works. We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. That is the teaching of the whole Bible. And in verses 6 through 10, this is what Paul is saying. This is what seems to be the squishy middle. Paul is essentially making the same argument as James that faith apart from works is dead. That the only people who have exercised saving faith are those whose lives are not marked by hard and unrepentant hearts, but by works of love and obedience. Look at what he says, verse 7.

27:28To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. By patience in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality. In other words, doing good. Look at verse 10. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good. These are not the hypocrites who are strict with others and lenient with themselves. These are not the people who know that God will judge them and presume that God will pardon them. No, these are the people who know they will be judged for their sins, and so they have turned from them. They have turned away from their sin to Christ. Their life is marked by a continual repentance, a continual turning away from sin and to Christ in faith, walking in consistent Obedience to God.

28:33And as a result, God is going to reward them with glory and honor and immortality. He's going to reward them with eternal life, not because they have earned it, but because their repentance proves that they have believed the gospel and are living by faith in God and His Word. You see, that is very different from the second group of people. Look at what Paul writes about the second group of people in verses 8 and 9. He says, 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, what now? Who does evil. The Jew first and also the Greek.

29:27You see, this group does not seek God. They are self-seeking. They do not obey the truth. They obey unrighteousness. They don't patiently do good throughout the course of their life. They do evil. And as a result, God is going to punish them with wrath and fury, tribulation and distress. Not because they did not know the truth about God's judgment and character, but because they did not have saving faith in Jesus Christ. And their lack of truth. Of saving faith in Jesus Christ was evident from their lack of repentance, from the way they actually lived.

30:09So, friends, understand God's judgment is inescapable, and God's judgment is impartial. He will show no favoritism on the day of judgment. It does not matter what you know or what you think you know. It doesn't matter if you've been in church your whole life. It doesn't matter if you got baptized as a baby or as an adult. It doesn't matter if you got confirmed in the church. It doesn't matter if you're married to a Christian, you live with a Christian, you're friends with a bunch of Christians. None of those things matter. All that matters is what you do. It's how you lived. Not because we are saved by what we do and how we live, but because what we do and how we live shows whether we've exercised saving faith in Jesus Christ or not.

30:59Earlier today, we talked about those who know that God is going to judge them, but they presume upon God's judgment. They presume upon the riches of his kindness and patience and forbearance. But we didn't cover the rest of verse 4. I want you to go back and look at that verse again. Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Listen to this. Not knowing that God's kindness. Is meant to lead you to repentance.

31:36God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. You know, Peter's making this argument in 2 Peter, like, why hasn't God's judgment come? There's all these mockers in the first century. We think that mocking the Christian faith is new. It's not new. It's 2,000 years old. They're mocking the faith and saying, where is this judgment? You guys keep talking about judgment. It's not coming. And Peter says, You don't understand. God is patient with you. He doesn't want anybody to perish. He wants everyone to come to repentance.

32:12And that is why he has not returned and judged everyone yet. He has been slow, yes, even with some in this room this morning, because he wants you to repent and believe. God created us in his own image and likeness. He gave us life and breath and everything. But we rebelled against him. We declared our desire to live as though he did not even exist. We have suppressed the truth and unrighteousness. We've become idolaters. We've sinned against God and others and ourselves, even every single day.

32:54And friends, yet, God has been exceedingly kind to us, He's blessed us. In countless ways, he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous to water the crops that become the food that we eat. He gave us homes to live in, family and friends, and a million blessings besides. And on top of all of that, he sent his only begotten son to die in the place of rebels like you and me. Who does that? What kind of God sends his only son to die for his enemies?

33:31The God of the Bible. That's who. The one true God of the universe. And his abundant kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. It is meant to bring us to the place where we finally see just how sinful our sin really is. To acknowledge it, confess it, and to turn away from it. That is what repentance means, to turn away. And so, what is necessary this morning is for you and I, everyone here today, to obey Paul's words written to the church in Corinth. Look at 2 Corinthians 13.

34:10Paul closes the letter by saying, Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test. Friends, this Morning, it's vitally important that you do what Paul is commanding here, that you examine yourself, that you test yourself. Are you relying on your knowledge to save you? That because you know that God is going to judge the world, because you know His commands, because you know His word, are you relying on that to save you? It will not save you.

34:52Are you relying on God's mercy and grace, thinking that you can live however you want, rebelling against Him and His commands every day, and yet He will still pardon your sins? Are you presuming upon God's kindness? God does not pardon the unrepentant. Friends, only faith in Jesus Christ will save you. Only turning from your sin and turning to Him in faith, putting your whole trust in Him will save you. God's judgment is inescapable and impartial, and only Jesus can save us from it. So put your faith in Him. You will know that you have done that when you turn from your sin and you start living by faith, obeying the truth, patiently doing the good works that God has commanded us to do. And that is not because you are saved by works, but because you can only be saved by a faith that works.

35:58Let's pray. Father, we confess this morning that we've had judgmental attitudes towards people around us, maybe towards non-Christians or even to other Christians. We have judged them for practicing things that we ourselves practice in private. And Lord, we see that that is sinful. And so we confess it as such this morning. And we pray that wherever there is any hypocrisy, maybe our whole lives are hypocrisy, or maybe there's just little pockets of hypocrisy here and there, we pray that you would reveal those things to us so that we know how to repent, so that we know what to turn away from.

37:33We pray this morning that you would grant every Christian faith to trust that you are better than everything that this world has to offer. That those little sins, at least as we think of them, those little sins in our lives, that those are acts of rebellion and they're acts of faithlessness. They're little ways of saying, God, I don't trust you to give me what I need or what I want or what I deserve. And so I'm going to take it for myself.

38:10I pray that you would help us to turn from those things, God, that we could never be charged with hypocrisy, not in this life and not in eternity. And Father, I certainly pray for every man, every woman, every child in the room this morning who is in the same place that I was in. Outwardly working hard to appear righteous while inwardly being filled with sin. I pray that you would reveal the truth to them. I pray that they would stop hiding and trying to cover it up. There's nothing that is hidden that will not be revealed. Revealed. I pray that pride would not keep them from going to someone today, a friend, someone here at New Life, and saying, I need to be saved. I need to be rescued from God's judgment.

39:21We pray that you would save many souls today. God, we look to you, the one perfect judge who is also perfectly merciful and gracious. Thank you for the grace and the mercy that you poured out through Jesus Christ for us. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.