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Romans 2.3-11
November 29th 2020
Milk
We left off last week talking about the full context of chapter 1 – and that means reading what Paul continued to write in reference to it in the first verses of chapter two. And we noted that the following facts:
There is the possibility for those souls who initially know God to divert from this and wind up not wanting to know him at all.
As result we try to be careful with our acts and views and attitudes which have a tendency to accumulate in pools of light and dark.
We also noted that once a person decides that they don’t want the knowledge of God in them anymore that he may give them up to the desires of their own hearts – and then Paul described twenty-four potential destinations for such.
We also clearly parced out verses 26-27 as a means to refute the modern attempts to say Paul was not addressing homosexuality – which he was without question – but then we also put that act in context with the other acts of humanity that we are all capable of falling into once we are left to our own devices.
Finally we noted that in the first two verses of chapter two Paul began to address the hypocritical tendencies for anyone to condemn anyone else (for their sin) if they are guilty of sin themselves, and I suggested that we leave the condemning to God alone and that we evidence our Christianity through faith and love and not the condemnation of others.
So, let’s read verses 1-11 again as a means to move forward including verse 1-2 which we already covered as Paul says:
Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
And now as Paul continues he really just repeats what he said in the verses we just read, adding:
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
But then adds a most amazing passage, saying:
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
What Paul has said in the first three verses of chapter two is the fact that God will judge all who do the things mentioned in chapter one – Jew and Greek alike – and therefore there was a great incongruity with anyone (who commits such things Paul described in chapter two) condemning anyone else.
The important thing to remember here is that Paul is talking about those who do such things because they have first turned from God and do not want to have him in their knowledge. This cannot be forgotten.
And so now when he speaks of God’s awaiting judgment, he is talking about it from the view of God judging all people who want nothing to do with him – by their own choice. Got that?
But at verse four, Paul delves into another attitude some may have when they condemn others – and it’s important, saying:
4 Or . . . do you despise the riches of his (God’s) goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Hold the phone! This is big. On the one hand, Paul rhetorically asks why or what motivates someone to condemn others for doing evil (when they are also doing evil) but at verse four he throws out another possibility for their condemnation of others and says (again)
Or . . . do you despise the riches of his (God’s) goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
NOT KNOWING (meaning, do you not know) THAT THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADS THEE TO REPENTANCE?
Isn’t that an amazing statement?
When Paul asks them if “they despise the riches of God’s goodness,” the word means “to neglect,” meaning “did they neglect to see the riches of his goodness as meaningfully when they chose to condemn others?
The idea seems to be that in their own lives and in their own sinful ways they saw God’s goodness and longsuffering and forbearance not in a light of His being Good and then gratefully using this understanding to change course, but they treated his goodness in these ways as opportunity to do more evil, and not to repent.
That is the attitude of someone extremely willful – they take great advantage of liberty given them to do more evil and not to repent and feel badly.
When I was in seventh grade I was hauled into Principle Collins office (he was from Scotland – what that has to do with the story is nothing) but I was hauled into his office for beating up Randy Ward. Randy had called my mom an ape during lunch and in 1972 seventh grade, that was punishable by an immediate beating.
Principle Collins explained that we were both going to receive swats – a legendary punishment all boys knew about but few lived to tell about to the others.
Mr. Collins explained that Randy would go first and receive his swat and I would go second to receive my two.
Two? Why two?” I asked.
Mr. Collins explained that the teacher on yard duty, a very rotund Mr. Tankersley, (hand to God, that was his name) watched the fight break out from way across the field and blew his whistle shouting for it to stop but that I took the opportunity to inflict as many blows as I could to Randy’s face before old Tankersley could get me to me to physically stop it all.
He reported that I was actually looking up at him while trying to get in more blows. This did not bode well for my case. And for this reason I was going to get an extra blow myself. The point being, instead of stopping my evil at the whistle, I purposely and deliberately continued my thrashing on Randy until I was absolutely forced to stop.
This is what Paul is alluding to here – that his readers did not see the goodness of God (meaning in patience and longsuffering with them) as leading to repentance but only as the chance to do more evil until his patience ran dry.
By the way, Randy, who was a big kid too for his age, burst out in tears when he received his swat, which was given through a super large paddle with holes all through it to allow for a swifter delivery.
I burst out laughing at his tears and then stood up and bent over to receive mine. I’ve gotta tell you, it was total and complete shock to my system when that first blow arrived.
I mean it took my breath right out of my lungs. I was like a fish out of water when the second one landed – which was harder!
I remember looking up at Randy with a look like, “what the . . .” and him smiling through his tears. At that moment we bonded like prisoners of War having survived of one of Mr. Collins legendary swats and referred to it for years thereafter.
So instead of using God’s goodness and forbearance and long-suffering to repent, these did not respect the span of his patience and used it to do more evil.
The idea of God’s goodness, his longsuffering, and forbearance, was well established in the Old Testament.
All the way back in Exodus 34:5 “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”
Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 30:18
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
What many don’t necessarily realize is that it is due to (and because of) God’s forbearance and grace that we are forgiven – did you know that? Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:17, speaking of Jesus and said:
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
And then in Ephesians 2:4 he adds, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,”
Remember the words of Peter in 2nd Peter 3:9 where we read that
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Paul’s question to these readers is “do you despise the riches of his (God’s) goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
“Do you not realize that he is giving you the opportunity, which you are ignoring, to change your ways toward him and this is because he is good and forbearing and longsuffering?
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 8:10-11
“And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity. (Ready?) Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
Peter, describing the last days before the Judgement that would fall upon them of that age, wrote in his second Epistle
2nd Peter 3:3-7 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
The same attitude exists today in the individual lives of many who too delay responding to His patience or they completely ignore the goodness of God and live their lives thinking there will never be justice.
They too misinterpret (or ignore) “the riches of his goodness and longsuffering and forbearance,” refusing to understand that it is the Goodness of God (that ought to) lead people to repentance and not to doing more evil.
But perhaps another truism we can take from this statement is the fact that it is his actual goodness that leads some to repentance.
Some people are motivated by fear and/or pain. But others relinquish themselves over in the face of God’s longsuffering and goodness toward them in the face of their sin as it can have the tendency to melt the hardened heart.
For this reason and more I am convinced that preachers and teachers get far more mileage in sharing the goodness of God rather than fear of Him.
This is (at least partially important) because it is true – God has been reconciled to the world and is longsuffering and good to all. When his goodness and mercy becomes apparent through sound and reasonable teaching, many people will turn. Conversely, and more often than not, threats delivered on his behalf are futile as they tend to lend to obstinance, rebellion, resistance and the general refusal to embrace a God who makes us, then punishes us for how we were made.
Finally, and this can be difficult to realize (let alone implement) but the approach of goodness toward others is often then most successful approach that we can take when trying to break through difficult people.
The Love. The Longsuffering. Often it goes unrewarded or ignored, and rarely does it work quickly.
But in time, these very characteristics of the living God have the ability to break through and melt the most hardened and rebellious hearts.
May the Spirit guide. So, Paul has said:
3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Now adds
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds.
In verse five, Paul says in effect:
. . . the fact of the matter is (old man) that in the stubbornness of your impenitent heart you are treasuring up against yourself wrath on the day of Anger–the day when the righteousness of God’s judgements will be revealed. Who will render to every man according to his deeds.
Meaning, according to the hardness of their heart or mind (which is a word to describe something that cannot be moved at all through touch, like the surface of a stone) these souls are so stubborn and fixed in the ways of their mind that they are insensible to all the various appeals God makes to them, and therefore they, “treasure up,” (meaning, they lay in store for themselves) “wrath” or the wrath of God that was promised to fall upon all who rejected the truth and delayed their repentance in that day.
This wrath was promised to come in what scripture calls “the day of the Lord,” but here Paul describes as the “day of wrath.”
Notice that is a singular day; and singular day when God would pour his wrath out upon them for their rebellious hearts.
Paul speaks of this day to them/then in 1st Thessalonians 1:10 when he said:
“And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
And then Paul adds another universal truth that cannot be ignored in the scripture or by sound reason when he says:
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
This line is proverbial and repeated over and over again in scripture. It’s a phrase I’m not sure we really comprehend – especially as Christians – and so I want to speak to it for a second.
Job 34:11 For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
Psalm 62:12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work..
Proverbs 24:12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
We could stop there and some could say – yeah, well, that is the Old Testament. So we move out to the New Testament Jesus said in Matthew 16:27
“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
Paul says in Romans 14:12: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
There is a “principle of the harvest,” in scripture, which speaks to the face that all will receive according to their labors.
Understand, that the payment for sin was born by the Lord – and so we are not going to receive payment for those. Praise the True and Living God.
Nevertheless, this does not by any means erase the fact that we will all still be weighed, assessed and rewarded (or not) depending on the labors we chose to perform while here.
This is why Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 3:8
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
This is God continuing to be absolutely just and fair. Do not discount this reality.
Again, the wrath of God was appeased both for sin in the payment His Son made through giving his life and blood, but Paul makes it clear that even believers will be assessed, saying in 2nd Corinthians 5:10
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.”
The major difference, from what I can tell, between the world of people forgiven for their sin and people who by faith have been saved to the Kingdom of God is that as believers, we are equipped with the Holy Spirit and empowered to become Sons and daughters as we allow Him to reign over and work through us.
This gift is wholly underappreciated in my estimation because what it serves to do in the lives of believers, verse non-believers, is to equip them to live out their lives in these bodies through sowing eternal seeds of love and goodness, which have eternal reward.
God will certainly render, to every individual, perfect justice in and through the fact that He will give to each one of us what we ultimately deserve.
As believers, equipped with the capacity to live out lives by the Spirit, we are beyond blessed to have Him aiding us in the how we sow – whereas non-believers lack His assistance.
Contextually, Paul is talking about Jews and Gentiles here, but today I am talking about all people post the death, resurrection, ascension and return of Christ – rest assured, God will render to every man, with perfection, according to their deeds which is a translation from the term, erga, which means works.
Of course, when it comes to perfect judgement and justice, God will presumably incorporate all factors, including mentality, heart, motivation, opportunity, environment, genetics, circumstances, and the like.
Paul adds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:
Now, from the get-go, this passage makes it sound like by doing good eternal life is won. Listen to it again:
“To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life”
Paul makes it very clear that salvation is given when individuals receive Christ by faith and not of works lest any person should boast. This is the first principle of salvation – faith. And faith must continue to exist for salvation to remain. No faith, no being saved to the Kingdom of God which is the definition of eternal life.
That being said, true faith is always manifested by and through works or labors of love. Bad or false faith remains selfish and self-centered, but true faith, faith that warrants eternal life, will always be accompanied by agape love. And with this in hand we understand what Paul is saying here.
“To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life”
Paul is obviously not describing “a said faith experience here” but a person who lays claim to faith in Christ and evidences the presence of this by
“patient continuance in well doing who seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”
We notice that this passage describes someone who is truly opposite of those described in chapter one, those who turn from the knowledge they once had of him, to their own vanity, their own lusts but that these are they who by
“patient continuance in well doing who seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”
It’s a great passage to examine our hearts by, isn’t it? Are we by “patient continuance in well doing seeking for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.”
The words, “glory and honor and immortality,” vary slightly in their meaning but all seem to describe the future state of heavenly existence for those dedicated to Christ and his ways here.
Glory describes an absence of everything base, earthly and obscure.
The word honor (timhn) implies the reward conferred in heaven by God Himself who knows and sees all things and it stands in opposition to contempt, poverty or lack.
Immortality is the opposite of decay – it is the opposite of death, darkness or what will disappear. Incorruptibility is a suitable synonym.
Paul adds, “Eternal life.” In other words, God will “render” eternal life to those who seek it in this manner.
This is what Paul means, by “their deeds,” and not merely external conduct, but their inward thoughts, the desires of the heart, the drive of their will. Verse 8
8 But (Paul says) unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
The word “contentious,” usually refers to someone who is quarrelsome but here it evidently describes someone who is rebellious toward God or who oppose him and all that he is about in terms of Godliness.
Those who contend against him, rebel against his ways, refuse his laws, and will not submit to His will.
This is a striking description of such and is very different in the heart from those who stumble in sin and fail in flesh. Those sins are part of being human – hatred toward God is part of choosing evil.
And this was the case with some of the Jews – they turned from and against him – and had at certain times over the course of their history.
In Deuteronomy 9:7-8 we read
Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
In Isaiah 1:2 we read: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Jeremiah 2:13 says “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
Back to Isaiah where we read:
Isaiah 30:9-11 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
And Ezekiel 2:3-4 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
When is the Lord utterly longsuffering, patient, kind, merciful? When the heart seeks and desires him. He is not looking at failures of flesh or judgement, he is looking at intentions, will, and the contents of the character of the individual.
Paul says) that God will bring unto “them that are contentious toward him, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.”
And he reiterates the same message that he gave in verse
10 But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: (and adds)
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
The particle “for” is used here to confirm what he said before, particularly that this punishment should be experienced by the Jew as well as the Gentile upon all those who maintained such a heartless disposition.
The word rendered respect here means partiality – and the context is in reference to His pronouncing judgment, in favoring one party (Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, rich or poor) or individual more than another.
In other words he will not be more or less just or merciful because of the stature of a person, their rank, their earthly successes or their talents.
The phrase has a special reference to a judge who is called to pronounce judgment between parties at law.
The exercise of such partiality was strictly and often forbidden to the Jewish magistrates (according to Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; Proverbs 24:23) and in the capacity of a judge he stood as an image for God in the nation.
He cannot be influenced by external factors to favor some over others.
That is both refreshing and sobering, right? God will judge all souls rightly, rest assured.
This is the best application to the phrase when we think about it, that God is not a respector of persons when it comes to judging and assessing them.
And it’s the context when we read in Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.”
2nd Chronicles 19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
Colossians 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
1st Peter 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
This phrase does not mean that God does not create us equal in talent, health, circumstances, or privilege.
It does not imply that he will not use us in different ways, or allow us to experience different things nor does it mean that he will not give favors and blessings to some who are undeserving or refrain from giving the same from those closest to Him.
These mysteries lie outside this phrase. But when it comes to his judgment and assessment of each person, rest assured, God is no respecter of persons.
This fact is emphasized by passages like Genesis 4:4- 5,
“And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” Romans 9:13
And “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” These do not fall into the category of God respecting people, they fall into the category of God’s view of people and their actions and hearts. Which he certainly respects when it comes to judgment.
So again, and in wrapping up the whole shebang for today, the phrase, God is no respector of persons relates to when he assesses each of us and/or judges us – there will be no grift or payoff or sway on our part – His judgement will be just, impartial and unaffected.
So the phrase that “God is no respecter of persons” means that God does not show partiality to persons.
Let’s end here for today and we will pick it back up at verse 12 next week.
Comments/Questions/Prayer
