Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Series / Romans

Romans 2:1-16 Part 2

INTRO: If you will take out your Sermon Notes you will find that I have given you a written summary of what we looked at last week. You will find it under the Roman numeral I. Back in the courtroom, the moralist's defense has fallen apart. Paul, the prosecuting attorney for God, calls his first and only witness to the stand... God Himself. The bailiff asks God 'do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you....  you? I do. And He does.

TRANS: Paul's second piece of evidence against the moralist is

II. The Integrity of God's judgment. (vs. 2-10)
    A. The divine standard of judgment is truth. (vs. 2-3)
Read verses 2-3

    -Truth, absolute truth is one of God's essential attributes.
    -Ps. 31:5 'Thou has ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.'
    -Isa. 65:16 'Because he who is blessed in the earth shall be blessed by the God of truth.'
    -God is truth and it follows that all His judgments will be based on what is right and just and true.

ILL: Perhaps a really good defense attorney..say Christine, Or a really inept prosecuting attorney like Dan may contribute to getting a guilty person freed from the tv show night court. Vs. 3 ,however, tells us that the moralist will not escape  judgment in God's court.

TRANS: People say, 'God is so unfair and cruel to do this to us. He should let us go with a warning, He should give us a second chance.' And In a way, He does!
 

    B. The second chance (vs. 4)
Read verse 4

        The phrase 'riches of His kindness' can be interpreted as meaning 'benevolence in action'. God actively does good things for us, kind things that we need. In His forbearance, He shows us leniency. In His patience, He shows us mercy. God does not exact immediate judgment because His purpose is to lead sinners to repentance. The fact that God forgives should stir sinful mankind to seek forgiveness. But they are too self-centered to want help.

In fact, verse 5 says this:
Read verse 5

    C. The moralist responds (vs. 5)
         The same way all sinful mankind does as we learned from Rom. 1:18-32. They are stubborn and unrepentant. They choose to suppress what they know is true, reject then replace God. And in doing so instead of receiving the forgiveness of God, they are storing up for themselves, the wrath of God that will be revealed at the day of judgment. What will that judgment be?

Read vs. 6

    D. You get what you pay for. (vs. 6-10)
         God will render or give each person their just desserts, just what they deserve. His judgment is based on mankind's sinfulness and His integrity as God. The truth is that God will not judge sinful mankind according to how He feels about them but by their deeds, their actions, attitudes, behaviors and words... by their very lives. It is the only true and right way to judge them.  Verses 7-10 is a further pealing away at what Paul said in vs. 6.

Read Vs. 7-10

    E. Contrasts (vs. 7-10)
        On the one hand, those who continually seek to do good they will find glory, honor,  immortality and peace. They will find eternal life. On the other hand  those who are selfishly ambitious, who are not obedient to the will of God and who continually seek unrighteousness, they will find wrath and indignation ... They will find tribulation and distress for their eternal soul... they will find God's judgment, they will find, Hell.

NOTE: Paul uses the literary device of compare and contrast to plead God's case. To make his point.

          -He contrasts the moralists inconsistent judgment which is based on the whim of his own personal  desires with God's
            judgment which is based on truth.
          -He contrasts  holy ambition in vs. 7 and 10 with selfish ambition in vs. 4,5,8.
          -He contrasts living a God centered life with living a man or self centered life.
          -He contrasts the riches of eternal life with the depravity of Hell.

Question: But Pastor, Isn't Paul spouting a salvation of works?

         No. Understand that in this contrast Paul is not saying that eternal life is obtained thru good works. I believe he is saying that a persons habitual conduct, words and attitudes, whether good or evil will reveal the condition of his heart. Persistent good works is defined by Paul in his writings as being obedient to the will of God. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we were predestined in Christ for good works. But this is only possible when we are IN CHRIST. We can only be obedient to the will of God when the Spirit of God indwells us. And that only happens when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Then these good works are a sign of a changed heart. A sign that one is in fact saved and a Christian.

         Persistent evil, as Paul defines in his letters, is one who is disobedient to the revealed will of God found in His Word. He is one who has not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. His evil or disobedient behavior is a sign of a cold, hardened heart. It is a sign that one is not saved and not a Christian.

APP: Friends, think hard on this one. Luke 6:46 Jesus says 'why do you call me Lord and not do as I say?' Those who are of God, who are In Christ, will not only hear God's voice but be obedient to it. Are you , obedient to God's Word? Are people seeing in your the right kind of signs?

TRANS: Paul continues in vs. 10 to say 'To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.' Remember that Paul is writing to the Romans, a church with both Jews and Gentiles. He is trying to show them that they are now ONE NEW HUMANITY, one people of God. He is saying God's judgment is impartial. It is not whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. It is whether have accepted Jesus by faith as your savior or have not. This is Paul's third piece of evidence against the moralist.

III. The Impartiality of God's Judgment. (Vs. 11-15)
READ Rom. 2:11-15

          This is a confusing passage isn't it? Let me see if I can summarize this so that it makes some sense. The Jews looked down on the Gentiles because God gave the Jews the Law and not the Gentiles.Paul says even so, there are moral Gentiles who by nature do the things found in the Law.  Paul's main point here is not whether or not we are moral apart from or with the law. He is saying that it is not important that the Law is written on parchment and read at the synagogue, it must be written on the pages of your heart. Here, in your heart, it will be confirmed by your conscience (Rom. 1:18-23) and your conscience becomes the basis for God's judgment. The problem is that the conscience, as important as it is, is part of our humanity and is fallen and sinful. According to Heb. 10:22 it is guilty, Titus 1:15 corrupt and  1 Cor. 8:7 weak.

         Hebrews 9:14 'how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?' You can't depend on your conscience to make right choices so that your moral behavior will get you to heaven. Your conscience, like your sin, needs to be covered  by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. It always comes down to this.

TRANS: Paul is saying that the evidence is clear. God is no respector of persons when it comes to sin.  Ezek. 18:4 'The soul that sins will die'.  And unless you have been acquitted by the requirements listed in Rom. 1:16-17, you will face the wrath and judgment of God. There is no exception God's judgment is impartial. It is not based on your desires or wants, or excuses. It is based on the truth of your lives. The truth is,  W/O Jesus Christ you have no hope.  Why? Paul gives his final piece of evidence against the moralist.

IV. The inevitability of God's judgment. (vs. 16)
READ: Romans 2:16

         One day God WILL judge. The agent of this divine judgment will be Jesus Christ Himself and He will reveal the secret things of  sinful mankind's  lives before God. He will call you to the bench and ask you to declare why He should not sentence you to Hell.

Conclusion:
         What will be your answer? You already know that being a 'good person' is not acceptable to God, you are not good enough nor is your goodness the kind that leads to eternal life, according to Rom. 2:7.  You are W/O excuse, guilty before God and rightly condemned by your disobedient lives to an eternity in Hell. Remember the book,  'I'm OK, You're OK'? Basically it promoted relativism and excusing our individual sin for a more positive corporate feel good identity.

         The book was a best seller which shouldn't be a big surprise. Remember Rom. 1:32 said that we encourage others to sin so that we won't be guilty by ourselves. The same is true with what this book was saying. Well according to Romans 1-2:16, ' Apart from a saving knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ, I am not OK and You are not OK. In fact, no one is OK'.
The only way to have confidence when you stand before God's judgment seat, is to admit that you are not OK and turn to Jesus Christ.

         The most important thing in your life today is to know that Jesus  died on the cross on your behalf, for your sins.
         The second most important thing you need to know,  is that you need what He did for you.

         When you approach the judgment seat of God and He asks you why He should not send you to Hell for your sins you  simply and humbly answer ' I have accepted Jesus' death in my place and He has forgiven me of my sin . I claim Him as my reason for eternal life.'

         Don't wait until the day when God will expose and judge your secrets, your sin. Flee to Christ for His forgiveness and eternal life ............today.