BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT

No amount of religious credentials is going to suffice to make things right between us and God. Not family heritage, nor nationality, nor service to others, nor myriad other things people hope in as they consider life after death. The only thing that will count is being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In today’s passage (Romans 2:6-11), Paul breaks down the hypocrites’ presumption that God is going to go easy on them because of their ancestry as Jews. God shows no partiality.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever experienced the beauty bias? Perhaps you’ve been the benefactor or perhaps the victim. The beauty bias is the bias that people have toward things and people that are beautiful. Simply put, people generally prefer to look at things that are beautiful over things that are not. For instance few people plan get-away trips to the garbage dump. Many, however, plan trips to the mountains to be enraptured by their majesty. 

In a similar way, beautiful people tend to be given preference over those deemed by that culture’s standards to be less beautiful. In the workplace and in the marketplace and in the school, beautiful people have a certain advantage. And because of this, beautiful people sometimes presume upon their beauty for success rather than hard work, counting on the partiality of others.

In one of my leadership classes for the Army I used a scene from the movie The Devil Wears Prada to make this point. In this particular scene the co-star, Andrea, must come to grips with the fact that she really hadn’t been all that committed to her job, relying instead on her good looks to coast by.

That had been her paradigm; her credentials had compensated pretty well for her lack of effort up to that point. That is until her boss, Miranda, took her down a few notches. This sent Andrea looking for consolation from her friend Nigel, who chose to show her tough love, instead. He identified her problem, saying, “Because this place, where so many people would die to work you only deign to work.” She deigned to work and yet expected to reap the fruit of a successful career. He called her bluff and challenged her to examine her heart. Was she a sincere committed employee of Miranda Priestly, or not? 

In today’s passage, Paul sort of does the same thing; he called the Roman church’s bluff. He challenged their commitment to the Lord. The predominantly Jewish church presumed upon their heritage, upon their standing as descendants of Abraham, to skate through life and through judgment.

It was widely expected in Paul’s day that Jews would be dealt with less severely in judgment based simply on their ancestry. They believed God would be partial to them and overlook their sin. In its original form, the word partial means to be influenced by a person’s face. The Jews basically expected God to have a beauty bias and that their preverbal Jewish face was beautiful. Paul makes it clear: God shows no partiality. There’s no beauty bias with Him. Jews and Gentiles stand on level ground when it comes to judgment. 

You and I might imagine there’s something about us that is going to persuade God to go lightly on us, to turn His eye away, to let us skate by. Whether it’s our theological knowledge, our family heritage, our ministry service, or myriad other religious credentials that lead us to believe we can sway God, Paul is calling the church to honest self-reflection. Kent Hughes says, “Apart from the blood of Christ, God is not moved.” Indeed, He is not. This is Paul’s point in today’s passage. Let’s read Romans 2:6-11.

ROMANS 2:6-11

neurontin pain relief ⁶  Merefa He will render to each one according to his works:  ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For God shows no partiality.

ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS

Paul says in verse 6 He will render to each one according to his works…You may not realize this, but God’s judgment of people according to their works is a theme found repeatedly in the OT. It’s also found in and Paul’s and Peter’s letters as well as in Revelation. (Ps. 62:12, Prov. 24:12, Is. 3:10-11, Jer. 17:10, 2 Cor. 5:10, 11:15, 2 Tim. 4:14, 1 Peter 1:17, Rev. 2:23, 20:12)

God is going to render to us what each is due according to our works.

“For according to the work of a man he will repay him…” Job 34:11

“…and will he not repay man according to his work?” Proverbs 24:12

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds…” 1 Peter 1:17

“And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” Revelation 2:23

“…And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” Revelation 20:12

Judgement according to works is not the same as salvation by works. Judgment according to works is correct because our words and deeds follow our heart commitments. It is easy to say, “I believe,” but the declaration of faith that counts is the one followed by action.

Many Jews boasted in the Law, priding themselves in their knowledge of the scriptures. But they were not obedient to it. They sat in judgment of others based on their supposed knowledge of the Word, but their knowledge did nothing to change their hearts toward God.

Suppose there is a person who tells you, “You are my friend!” But this person never spends time with you. She never helps you in your need. He throws you under the bus in betrayal. Is that person really your friend? No. Why? Because works demonstrate what is in our heart.  

SEEKING THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE

Paul continues in verse 7, those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Unlike those who in verse 8 are self-seeking, there is a seeking that leads to eternal life – with hearts set on heaven and the God of heaven.

It is not enough to want heaven. It is seeking with patience in well-doing that counts. There is wanting and there is well-doing, consistently doing well as the word patience implies.

Those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. We will be judged not according to what we know, nor by what we hope for, but according to what we seek sincerely and what we seek sincerely will be revealed by what we do. 

JUST LIKE THE WORLD

However, in verse 8 Paul says, but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. Those who are self-seeking do not obey the truth. Instead, they obey unrighteousness. They do not follow God, but rather they follow evil.

They, like the gentile world, exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man. Except here Paul is implying, just because you don’t worship idols of stone or wood or silver or gold, doesn’t mean you’re less guilty of idolatry. It’s just that the image you worship is the one in the mirror. 

Consider the indictment that begins the entire discourse against the wicked world upon whom the wrath of God is inflicted, “by their unrighteousness they suppress the truth.” Romans 1:18 These people in the church who had been nodding their heads in approval of 1:18-32, now hear they are in the same camp, God’s wrath will be inflicted upon them, too. And for the very same reason: rejection of truth and embrace of unrighteousness. Rejection of the Creator, worship of themselves. Just. Like. The world.

Paul says for them there will be wrath and fury. Paul has moved beyond talking about the wicked world out there. He’s also moved from his diatribe against an imaginary critic. This is no longer hypothetically aimed at an imaginary “you,” it’s now a sober warning to everyone who hears.

Imagine being one of those Roman religious hypocrites, believing you’re living such a clean and moral life only to find out God sees that as self-seeking and unrighteous disobedience. Rather than “preparing for you a weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17) this lifestyle is preparing you for God’s wrath and fury.

GOD IS NOT JUST ANGRY WITH OUT SIN, HE IS INDIGNANT ABOUT IT

It’s no wonder Paul continues in verse 9, There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. Hell will be eternal tribulation and distress, which are the product of divine wrath and fury.

R.C. Sproul comments, “God is not just angry with our sin; He is indignant about it.” Perhaps no scripture more clearly articulates God’s indignation than 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, “…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might…”

I have said many, many times the most terrifying passage in scripture is Matthew 7:21-23. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23

We need to reckon with this reality. Jesus is not describing the judgment of people outside the church. And neither is Paul here in Romans 2. These are people who have committed their life to serving in the name of the Lord. Look at the things they did in Jesus’ name: “prophesy,” “cast out demons,” and “many mighty works.”

In Romans 2, Paul is writing to these people in the Roman church who consider themselves “guides to the blind,” (2:19) but they were blind themselves. They imagined they were headed for Heaven, but instead they were headed for tribulation and distress.

PEACE WITH GOD

Praise the Lord, just as there will be distress for those who seek self rather than God’s glory, Paul assures us in verse 10 there is glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 

Both the reward for those who do well and the wrath for those who do evil will be first for the Jew, then for the gentile? Everyone who seeks God’s glory will find glory. Everyone who seeks His honor will find honor. Everyone who seeks immortality will find…peace. Immortality to peace?

Immortality is not simply living forever. Eternal life (v. 7) is living at peace with God! It’s a restoration of what was lost in the Garden of Eden. We were made to live at peace with God, but that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned. What is restored in eternal life is not just quantity of life, but quality of life. We will live in eternal undisturbed peace in the very presence of God. 

GOD IS NOT PARTIAL

The Jews would have expected peace with God based simply on the fact that they were Jews. That could not be further from the truth. For God shows no partiality, Paul says in verse 11.

God is not partial…

to bribes – “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” Deuteronomy 10:17

to royalty or riches – “who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor…” Job 34:19

regarding nationality – “So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” Acts 10:34-35

regarding position of authority – “And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.” Galatians 2:6

to slave or free – “Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” Ephesians 6:9

Therefore, do not presume upon the Lord thinking He will be partial to you. When you seek God’s glory and honor whole-heartedly by patience in well-doing, you’re going to enter it. You get what you seek.

HERE’S THE PROBLEM

Here’s the problem. And this is Paul’s fundamental point in Romans 1 & 2: “…no one seeks for God.” Romans 3:11

In Romans 1:18-32 Paul established what we call universal sinfulness or total depravity. The world is hopelessly wicked and is going to be judged by the holy, Creator God, whose truth they have suppressed. The Greeks were damned.

In Romans 2 Paul turns to the Jews and essentially says, “and so are you.” This is all to get us to chapter 3 when Paul makes his appeal. Having “already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks are under sin,” he continues and makes his thesis: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight…” Romans 3:9, 20

Whether a person has a long history of religious commitment or not, matters not. As they say, God has no grandchildren. Nor does it matter what one knows about God or how smart they are about the Word.

The fact is we will all be judged by Christ and He will reveal the truth of our hearts. It is essential that when we are completely exposed before the Lord that our shame is covered by the righteousness of Christ. For as the Lord said through His prophet Isaiah, “all our good deeds are as filthy rags to God.” That’s the last thing we want to be covered in on that day! 

Those who recognize their hopeless estate and call out to Christ for forgiveness will be covered by the perfection of His righteousness. “…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” Romans 3:22-24

This is why Paul says, “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.” Romans 1:16

To the Jew first

and also to the Greek.

To those who were raised close to God

and those who were not.

To those who can’t remember a day in which they were not part of a church

and those who will go their entire life never stepping foot in one.

To those whose parents read them every story in the bible

and those whose parents curse God every day.

To those whose youth was marked by service projects and mission trips

and those for whom it was marked by drugs, sex, and alcohol.

To those who would struggle to identify with the adulterous woman

and those who know exactly how she feels.

To those who know the bible inside out

and those who would rather throw it out.

The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

And there is nothing else that works. Amen.   

Bibliography

Bruce, F. F. (2008). Romans: An introduction and commentary. Inter-Varsity Press.

Doriani, D. M. (2021). Romans. P&R Publishing.

Hughes, Kent R. (1991). Romans – Righteousness from Heaven. Crossway.

Kruse, Colin G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans. W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Longenecker, Richard N. (2016). The Epistle to the Romans. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

MacArthur, John. (1991). Romans 1-8. Moody Publishers.

MacArthur, John. (1991). Romans 9-16. Moody Publishers.

Moo, Douglas J. (2018). The Letter to the Romans, Second Edition. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Mounce, Robert. (1995). Romans. B&H Publishing.

Schreiner, Thomas R. (2018). Romans, Second Edition. Baker Publishing Group.

Sproul, R. C. (2019). The Righteous Shall Live By Faith – Romans. Ligonier Ministries