God Shows No Partiality

God Shows No Partiality

INTRO AND RECAP – picking up Paul’s argument

Today we’re picking up our series from the book of Romans in chapter 2, so if you’d all turn there with me, we’ll be working our way through the whole chapter, but with special focus on verses 1 through 16.  As you are turning, I just wanted to comment on the difficulty of a series like this. 

Romans is one of the longest letters in the New Testament, and it is a cohesive book, meaning it all flows together. It is not a collection of random thoughts, it is a long, very thorough explanation of an idea. And so it is very important that we are able to keep the whole thing in mind as we read! How difficult is this when we spread the series out over the course of a year or two! 

So I do want to commend to you the benefits and importance of taking a good long walk through the scriptures on occasion. It is well worth your time, and I’d highly advise taking a few evenings or weekends, or whatever works for you, perhaps on vacation as well, and read through the entire book of Romans in a sitting. Do this together with your family, and with some friends if you are unmarried. Take notes as you go, or do what it takes to keep the whole flow of the argument loaded up in your mind.

For this series we are going to attempt to help along that line by reviewing what has come before, and previewing what is to come, as we go along. And so I’d like to pull back into chapter 1 for a bit here to get us set up for what is to come.

The Right-ness of God’s Judgement

God’s judgement on sin, and wrath against us is coming, and He is right to bring it!   And we all with be without an excuse on judgement day, because God shows no partiality in the way He judges, or the standard He holds people to.  

So my big point today is this:

GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY. Her is perfectly just in His judgements. He judges all according to their works (that is, the things they have done in their life), and He judges all according to the same standard: His righteous standard.

A little review

In chapter 1, Paul lines out the results of our suppression of the truth that we know about God. In particular, he gives us something like a list of vices. Sins that occur when we refuse to acknowledge God. I don’t think the list is comprehensive in detail, and I’m not sure it is important to do a word study on each piece, though that might be interesting. But I do think it is comprehensive in scope and depth.

Here’s the list, in a few categories. I’ll start scanning at 1:24. Wording is from the ESV and some alternates for clarity from the HCSB

  • Cravings/lust of our heart
    • Sexual impurity (which dishonors and degrades your body)
  • Dishonorable/degrading passions
    • Homosexual behavior (filled with passion for the same sex and committing shameless acts… error)
  • All manner of unrighteousness
    • Evil
    • Greed / Coveting
    • Wickedness
    • Envy
    • Murder
    • Strife / Quarreling
    • Deceit
    • Maliciousness
    • Gossip
    • Slander
    • Hate for God
    • insolence / arrogance
    • haughtiness / pride
    • boasting
    • inventing evil
    • disobedience to parents
    • foolishness / undiscerning
    • faithlessness / untrustworthiness
    • heartlessness / no love
    • ruthlessness / no mercy
  • Giving approval to those who practice these things.

That’s quite the list of sins. And Paul is going to say, in no uncertain terms, that all of us are guilty. All of us are somewhere on the spectrum in this list.

Middle and High School, College, Young Professionals, Families, Empty-nesters, retirees, all somewhere on this list.

Cravings of our heart to (toward) sexual immortality, leading to the dishonoring of our bodies. To the unmarried young adults in this room: listen and pay very careful attention here: it does not matter what you feel that your “heart” is telling you. If you have not walked the aisle and made the covenant commitment of marriage in front of God and witnesses, your standard is: hands off! Young men, you are not to touch her body. Young women, you are not to let him. The Song of Solomon says don’t wake this up before its time, because it is a raging, consuming fire. You will not be able to hold it back and you will dishonor your body, and theirs.

Dishonorable / degrading passions leading to shameful and unnatural acts. I realize that it has become unfashionable to talk this way. But this is the way the Bible speaks, and we cannot shy away from it. To do so follows the same error that leads to “giving approval to those who practice these things.” And if you struggle here. If this is a temptation that draws you. FIGHT. Do NOT give up. Do not give in to the siren call of our culture that calls down up, dark light, evil good, and good evil. Fight for your life. Fight for your soul!

And you are not alone in this fight. Where Paul is going next, we are all guilty here. We are all, as Ephesians puts it, “children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  

We are all on this list, and because of these sins, we all deserve to die. The righteous judgement and wrath of God is coming. And I’m sorry if I sound like a stereotypical fire-and-brimstone-lunatic. Hear me out. We need a little brimstone, whatever that is, on occasion, and there is good news coming, but we can’t skip the bad news. 

WE HAVE NO EXCUSE

Last week, along with the list we just mentioned, that all men are without excuse in their sin, because God has clearly revealed Himself in creation. Everyone knows that He exists, and know something of what He is like. He tells us that our problem is that we reject Him, we refuse to acknowledge Him as God.

And picking up this week. Paul turns to everyone standing listening to his sermon, cheering him on saying “You go Paul! You tell those filthy sinners what they have coming!  Those acts are shameful and YES they deserve the due penalty in their body because of their error! Those sinners have it coming, you tell them!”

So Paul just got done saying that the non-jews are without excuse because they know who God is, and now He says: 

Romans 2:1–5 (ESV)

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. 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 practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 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? 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.

I think if we’re honest here, we Christians, who have been around for awhile, can feel a little bit of that self-righteous “us versus them” pride rising up in us when we read the second half of chapter one, in that list of sins, can’t we? I do. It can be overt “Yah, those filthy sinners sure do deserve God’s wrath for all those horrible things they do. I’m so glad I’m not like them.” Or it can be more subtle. “Those poor misguided souls. I’m so glad I know better.”  

But Paul says that our right reaction should be more like “There, apart from the Grace of God, am I. In my flesh, without the help of the Holy Spirit, I am there.”

Paul’s sweeping strokes are striking here. He is painting with a very broad brush. “Every one of you who judges…”  

So those who refuse to acknowledge God are under wrath for their sin, and so, it seems, is everyone else. There is only one group of people who will not be under wrath on judgement day, and we’ll get to them in a little bit.

The Kindness of God

First, I want to take a careful look at verse 4 again. I think it is worth pausing, when pondering God’s wrath and judgement, on the fact that God has riches of kindness, and long suffering, and patience. In Ephesians Paul refers to “The immeasurable riches of God’s Grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God has kindness toward us. And that kindness particularly means, here in Romans, patience, long-suffering (forbearance). He gives us a chance to repent. The reason we are not wiped out the moment we first sin against God, is that He desires for us to repent!

God is not only an impartial and just judge, He is also a kind, merciful, and patient one.

Again the main thrust of the passage today is that God is an impartial judge. Specifically Paul is dealing with the problem in the church at the time. There were Jewish Christians who were feeling that they were in a more special class than Gentile Christians. Paul’s point that one’s cultural heritage or religious observances weren’t the deciding factor in God’s judgement.  Because, continuing in verse 6:

No partiality: Judged by our works.

Romans 2:6–11 (ESV)

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in 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.

Patience in Well-doing and seeking Glory, honor, and immortality.

What does it mean to have patience in well-doing and seek after glory, honor, and immortality? Can you imagine with me for a minute what a person who persists in doing good, and seeking glory, seeking honor, and seeking immortality looks like?  What comes to mind for you? What sort of attitudes characterize this? What sort of actions? What sort of interactions with others?

Whatever it means, it is put up as the opposite of the list from Chapter 1. So whatever it is, must exclude:

  • Cravings of our heart for Sexual impurity 
    • (which dishonors and degrades your body)
  • Dishonorable/degrading passions
    • Homosexual behavior (filled with passion for the same sex and committing shameless acts… error)
  • All manner of unrighteousness
    • Evil
    • Greed / Coveting
    • Wickedness
    • Envy
    • Murder
    • Strife / Quarreling
    • Deceit
    • Maliciousness
    • Gossip
    • Slander
    • Hate for God
    • insolence / arrogance
    • haughtiness / pride
    • boasting
    • inventing evil
    • disobedience to parents
    • foolishness / undiscerning
    • faithlessness / untrustworthiness
    • heartlessness / no love
    • ruthlessness / no mercy
  • Giving approval to those who practice these things.

Or maybe put positively, in includes the opposites of those:

  • Self-control
  • Sexual Purity
  • Mastery over our passions
  • Goodness
  • Generosity / Contentment
  • Kindness / Joy
  • Gratefulness
  • Protection and valuing of Life
  • Peace, peacemaking
  • Honesty
  • Benevolence
  • Protects sensitive information
  • Encouragement
  • Love for God
  • Meekness, patience
  • Humility
  • Modesty
  • Purity of heart and mind
  • Respect for parents
  • Wisdom / discernment
  • Faithfulness / trustworthiness
  • Love
  • Mercy
  • Loving, prophetic, warning of those who practice these things.

PERSISTENTLY.

But here’s the problem.

No One Does This 

We are all judged by our works, and found guilty.

Because no one on their own persists in patience in well-doing and seeking for glory and honor and immortality:

Romans 3:10–12

as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; 
no one understands; 
no one seeks for God. 
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; 
no one does good, 
not even one.”

NO PARTIALITY: ALL JUDGED ACCORDING TO HIS LAW

Romans 2:12–16 (ESV)

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

This passage is a bit more complex, and there are more than a few opinions on what it means. Some say that this whole section, 6-16 is setting up a hypothetical situation where if someone kept God’s law, and persisted in good works, then they could be justified, but that no one does this, so it is a hypothetical only. Some say that this is speaking primarily of Gentile Christians (Christians “without the law”), who because the Holy Spirit lives inside of them, actually do produce good work, and so will be justified.  I think there is merit to both positions, but that what the passage is getting at primarily is verse 13, only doers of the law will be justified, whether or not you’ve heard the law.

See also 14, the fact that God’s law is written on our hearts. This is similar to chapter 1, which says that creation bears witness to God’s existence, so we are without excuse, in the same way, our consciences bear that same witness. So we have external evidence, and internal evidence. We are truly without excuse.

However, we have the same problem here that we had in the last section. Verse 13 says that only doers of the law will be justified, but this too, is a set up for his argument. 

No one is justified through keeping the law

Romans 3:20 

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

So where does that leave us?

God judges impartially. He judges all according to our works, and He judges all according to His standard. And measured up against both things, we all (as Romans 3:23 says) fall short. This is a big problem, for several reasons. One of the reasons that it is a big problem is:

Hypocrisy

The reason, I believe, that it is so unpopular to take strong moral stances, is because of hypocrisy. 

Quick dictionary definition of hypocrisy:

“The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.”

And I think this is where Paul is going in verses 17-29.

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Brad is going to unpack this passage in more detail next week, but I just want to say one thing about it:

We don’t like to admit our sin, do we?  I imagine that many of you are bristling and wanting to argue with many of the points I’ve been making today because of this. We don’t like to face up to the fact that morally speaking, apart from the Holy Spirit in us, which was a free and undeserved gift in the first place, we are in no better position, morally speaking, than anyone else on the planet.

People in our culture can smell a hypocrite a mile away, except for themselves. There’s a halo of hypocrite sensory repellant that extends a few inches outward from us. We can’t detect ourselves.

And most all of us are guilty of hypocrisy. Claiming to be righteous, but not actually living righteously.

Hypocrisy comes from forgetting the Gospel. The difference between an unbeliever and a believer is not whether we sin, but what we do with our sin.  

How do we keep from being hypocrites?

I am only a hypocrite if I refuse to acknowledge my sin.

If we forget to acknowledge that The Gospel applies to us, because we need it to, we become hypocrites. This is why I said that Paul is teaching us that our attitude when reading chapter 1 ought to be “there, apart from God’s grace, I am too.”

Remember that group of people we talked about as escaping God’s wrath on judgement day?  The ones that escape God’s wrath are the repentant, those with soft, humble hearts, willing to admit and turn away from their sin.

Repentance is the solution

Romans 2:3-5

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.

Romans 3:21–24 

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…

So for application today: Repent, and bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Reject the acts on the chapter 1 list. When you fail, confess it, admit it, turn from it. Remove from your life whatever, or whoever it is that causes you to fall into sexual impurity. Admit and repent of your greediness and envy. Admit and repent, and apologize when you have been arrogant, slanderous, and boastful. Refuse to gossip. Speak the truth in love.

Pursue good works, honor,  glory, and immortality. Namely, pursue the one who is worthy of honor, glory, and immortality. Pursue the only one who ever truly persisted in good works, Pursue Christ! Seek to be like him.

PRAY WITH ME.