Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 5

Thus, man – a tripartite being – was handed over to corrupt his body, his soul and his spirit. God let him taste the fruit of his sins that he brought upon himself – “receiving in themselves the recompense that was fitting for their error” (v. 27).

1. MAN TURNS TO VIOLENCE AND SOCIAL INJUSTICE

(chap. 1:28-32)

A third consequence of men turning their backs on the knowledge of God in creation is that they began to commit all kinds of antisocial sins against their fellow men – violence and injustice, etc. Paul continues by giving a definitive list of more than 20 of these sins. (“Fornication” is in this list in the KJV, but it is not in the Greek text because the previous series of verses already dealt with it. These verses are dealing with antisocial sins – for example, malice, anger, violence, deceit, etc.). The behavior into which the pagan world degenerated shows that practical righteousness will not be found among men who did not “see fit to acknowledge God”.

The Pagans Abandoned God in Three Ways

• In their theology (sin against God) – idolatry (vs. 21-23).

• In their morality (sin against their own bodies) – homosexuality (vs. 24-27).

• In their social life (sin against their fellow men) – violence and corruption (vs. 28-32).

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Thus, in chapter 1, the apostle showed conclusively that the pagans are guilty and need to be saved from the penalty of their sins. The beauty of the gospel message – which we will see – is that, although the pagans have placed themselves in a seemingly hopeless condition, they are not beyond the reach of God's grace. “God gave them over” to do those vile things, as a governmental judgment (which has to do only with time), but He did not give up on them with regard to eternity – they can still be saved. Paul goes on to show (in chapters 3:21 to 5:11) that God loves all sinners and that He can and does save people from this class of men. Some of the Corinthians were once of this character, and God in grace saved them (1 Cor. 6:9-11). Even if the gospel did not reach them in their lifetimes, the pagans received sufficient testimony of God in creation to cause anyone who has faith to turn from their sins and fear “God” and do “what is right” – and thus be “pleasing [acceptable – TB]” to Him and saved from eternal judgment (Acts 10:34-35).

THE CULTURED GENTILES

Chapter 2:1-16

The Civilized Gentiles Are Under the Sentence of Divine Judgment Taking a cross-section view of the Gentiles, we can see that not all of them are uncivilized, as described in chapter 1. A large part of the Gentile world is quite civilized, educated and outwardly morally upright. So that none of these might think they are exempt from judgment, because they apparently seem better than those of chapter 1, Paul summons this class of men to God's court. Now it is their turn to be examined under the eyes of the all-seeing God. Chap. 2:1-16 – This civilized class of people looks with indignation and repulsion at the obscenity of the ignorant pagan world and apparently distances itself from it. However, their private lives (and way of thinking) are not really holier or cleaner than those of the people they condemn. Paul, therefore, rebukes these Gentiles for thinking they are better than the degraded Gentiles of chapter 1. He says: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (v. 1). These people were doing the same things as those in chapter 1, but in a context of refinement and outward respectability! It shows us that education and culture do not preserve a person from the lusts of the flesh. Recognizing evil and judging it in others does not give a person the power to overcome evil in their own life.

The fact that these people are able to judge the pagans in chapter 1 shows that they know the difference between right and wrong. This means that their consciences (which give a person the knowledge of good and evil – Gen. 3:5) are functioning. Thus, Paul shows that this class of men is actually more guilty than the pagans of chapter 1, because they not only have the testimony of creation, but also the testimony of “their conscience” (v. 15). They are more responsible because they had more light and, therefore, are at risk of greater judgment if they do not respond in faith to these testimonies.

The great consequence of these testimonies of God (creation and conscience) being ignored is that man not only does the things mentioned in chapter 1, but also becomes critical and hypocritical. He can criticize others for doing bad things, without taking into consideration that he himself has done “the same things” (vs. 1 and 3).

It is important to see in these chapters that Paul is not dividing the Gentile world according to the types of sins that men commit, because both groups of Gentiles commit the same sins. In fact, some of the Jews (the next class of men Paul considers) were also doing these things (1 Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46). Rather, Paul is dividing humanity according to the degree of light that men have received. The sinners of chapter 2 commit the same sins as the sinners in chapter 1 – the only difference is that they do them in a seemingly civilized manner. Those in chapter 1, on the other hand, do these things in open shame and often mixed with the ignorant superstitions of idolatry. (Thus, we would not place the homosexual community of America in chapter 1, but in chapter 2. These people live in the context of having been educated and civilized, and are quite capable of outwardly behaving in society in a seemingly correct manner). It is also important to understand that Paul is not saying that every person in these categories commits all the sins he mentions; he is speaking of what characterizes these classes of people in general. Even within these classes, some have more light than others.

Seven Facts About God's Judgment

Since these hypocritical (Pharisaical) and civilized Gentiles have wrong ideas about righteousness and judgment, Paul proceeds to explain some of the great principles of God's judgment.

1. 2a – First, God's judgment is “according to truth”.

That is, the standard by which God measures evil and finds the corresponding judgment is according to the truth of what He is in His holy Being. Men measure evil by the standards they establish (which are constantly declining), but God measures evil by the holiness of His nature.

1. 3 – Secondly, no one escapes God's judgment.

Paul says: “And you, O man... do you think... you will escape the judgment of God?” Unless a person turns to God in repentance, there is no way to escape judgment. Divine justice requires that all sin be dealt with by “a just retribution” (Heb. 2:2), because “righteousness and justice” are the foundation of His throne (Ps. 89:14).

1. 4 – Thirdly, God's judgment is delayed to

give men time to repent. God acts in “patience and longsuffering” in connection with the exercise of His judgment, and this proves that He loves sinners and desires that His “kindness” lead them to “repentance”. The apostle Peter confirms this, declaring that God “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). The delay of judgment should not be considered as a sign that God is indifferent to evil, but rather as a sign of His longsuffering patience.

Repentance literally means rethinking a wrong conduct we were having, and because we have made our judgment about it. Thus, repentance in a sinner is the change of mind about the course of sin and the exercise of personal judgment about it. The reality of a person's repentance will be seen in a change of behavior in their life. This is called “fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8).

Chap. 2:5-10a – Fourthly, God's judgment is treasured up (accumulated) for every unrepentant unbeliever “according to their works”. This shows us that God does not deal indiscriminately in judgment; it is according to specific things that each person has done. The point here is that the judgment will be suited to the crime. Lost sinners will not suffer penalty for things they did not do; the judgment will be applied “according to their works” (Rev. 20:12).

In verses 7-10, Paul sets before us two lifestyles and their respective destinies among the unevangelized people of the world. One lifestyle, which is lived with simple faith in God, leads to “eternal life”; the other lifestyle, lived without faith, ends in “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish”. Since faith is evidenced in works (James 2:17-18), Paul shows that a man's deeds will evidence whether he has faith or not. Even if he has not been reached with the gospel of God's grace, he will manifest his faith by “perseverance in doing good”. If such “seek – TB” (or live for) “glory, and honor and incorruption”, they will be granted “eternal life”. The aspect of eternal life here is what the believer will have when he reaches heaven in the glorified state. As a rule, the apostle Paul speaks of “eternal life” as something the believer will obtain at the end of his path (Rom. 2:7, 5:21, 6:23; 1 Tim. 6:12, 19; Titus 1:2, 3:7). The apostle John, on the other hand, speaks of “eternal life”, which is the present possession of life in the Son of God (1 John 5:11-13), which is manifestly a Christian blessing. It is a special character of the divine life, which Christians have by faith (John 3:15-16, 36) by the indwelling of the Spirit (John 4:14), by which they enjoy communion with the Father and the Son (John 17:3).

By mentioning “perseverance”, Paul is indicating that these “good works” are not something occasional (which even an unbeliever can do), but the general character of their lives, as evidence of their faith. Paul is not teaching that a person can reach heaven by doing good works; that would be contrary to the whole tenor of his teaching (see Rom. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). These are not works that a sinner can try to do in order to be accepted by God, but works that a person who has faith does, because he has been born again, and this evidences that he has faith. Note: Paul does not say that these people (who have faith) hope for a life together with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven because they believed that He died for them on the cross, for he is considering here those who are not reached by the gospel of God's grace. All these do not know the good news about Christ, but their end will be eternal life (v. 7).

He says that those among the unevangelized Gentiles who are “contentious” and “disobedient to the truth and obedient to iniquity” will have “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” executed by God upon them at their end. This, he says, will be the portion of “every soul of man who does evil” and does not repent. Again, the “truth” to which Paul is referring here (which these people reject) is not the truth of the gospel of God's grace, but the truth about God as revealed in creation and in the consciences of men. From this we see that there is sufficient evidence in the testimony of creation and in the testimony of man's conscience to justly condemn men to a lost eternity, if they reject that truth.

Chap. 2:10b-11 – In the fifth place, God's judgment is without partiality. Paul says: “For there is no respect of persons with God” (v. 11). Whether a person is a “Jew” or a “Gentile [Greek]”, judgment will fall upon all who do evil. The Jew will not escape because he is a privileged person (Deut. 7:6-7, 14:2), nor will the Gentile be able to claim that he is a poor and ignorant person who had no knowledge, and who therefore should be excused. These things will not influence God in His righteous judgment of sinners.