romansnopartiality

The Theme of the Letter; Romans 1:16-17

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”

I make no claim to personal brilliance in understanding the Book of Romans. But next to John's Gospel I have, perhaps, spent more time in Romans than in most of the other books of the Bible. When I do not make a direct attribution of a thought to its author, I am usually presenting a coalescence of the thoughts of William Hendriksen, Curtis Vaughn, Douglass Moo, Geoffrey Wilson, and Martin Lloyd Jones among several others.

The key to understanding the Book of Romans; yes, the very Gospel itself, is to grasp the fullness of the phrase ," the righteousness of God." The "righteousness of God" is God's way of putting men right with Himself. The Gospel is the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ alone! Can you see what Martin Luther saw, "... The just shall live by faith."

Paul, after declaring that the righteousness of God is revealed {17} in the Gospel, immediately declares that the wrath of God is revealed {18}[ in conscience and nature] against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Paul then gives the evidence of the wrath of God in man's rejection and supression of the truth of God that may be known. The downward spiral of man's depravity includes supressing the knowledge of the truth, idolatry, and finally rebellion against one's own nature in homosexuality. I tried to make it clear that while sodomy is an abomination to God, that the sin of sodomy is no more condemning than the other sins that Paul lists in vs 29 & 30.

The wrath of God is revealed by God giving up those who persist in holding down the truth to a reprobate mind.

Although men know God, they are practical atheists at heart, and that by choice. There is a difference between the knowledge, and the acknowledgment of God; the pagans knew God, but would not acknowledge him {Matthew Henry}.

Paul employs a word play in 1:28.

'As they did not approve of fully recognizing God any longer, God gave them up to minds that He did not approve.' The word translated "debased" {NKJV}{should be "reprobate"}. Originally the word was applied to metals which failed to pass the assayer's test. Here a 'reprobate mind' means a mind of which God cannot approve, and which must be rejected by Him, this being the effect of refusing to have God in their knowledge.' {Vine}

Chapter One ends {1:32} with the assertion that all agree that God will judge sin and yet they sin and approve of the sin of others!

So we have examined: The Wrath of God Upon the Pagan World. {1:18-32}

We will now take up the subject of:The Wrath of God Upon the Jew {2:1-3:8}

We will break this subject into:

2: 1-11 the impartiality of God's judgement.

2: 12-16 the universality of man's accountability to God.

2: 17-29 the Jew fails to live up to his privileges.

3: 1-8 the unbelief of the Jew.

This message deals with 2: 1-11; the impartiality of God's judgement.

Read 2:1-11

After establishing the Gentiles' need for the righteousness of God in the Gospel of Christ; Paul turns to the Jew, and shows that they too have failed to attain a righteousness that is acceptable to God. Chapter Two is reminiscent of the story of Nathan and David. (2 Samuel 12:1-14) (Matthew 7:1-6)

In 2:1-16, the charge is veiled. The Jew, as indignant as was David, is confronted {17}: "Thou art the man!"

The moral person says, "I should be acquited on the grounds that I am not as bad as some other people." The refutation of that plea is: "You do the same things, perhaps in a more sophisticated way." All who deserve to be judged will be judged.

Francis Schaeffer: Suppose you had a tape recorder around your neck; you will only be judged by your words: "He shouldn't do that." But then you do it too!

2:1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, ....

The Jew, here represents the moral person. But to stay with our exegesis, do not let the application to the moral person deflect the emphasis that Paul here places on the Jew. The Jew had privileges and a superior moral code. Instead of living by this morality, they tended to become critics of the pagans. Now the Jew must be made to see that he himself does not escape the wrath of God. In a strict interpretation of this passage, Paul is addressing the Jew. And keep in mind that Paul was a Jew, a Pharisee, he knew the mind of the Jew.

The Jew actually believed that because God had favored them above all other nations, that they were safe from the judgement of God. Paul says the Jew is in no better position that the Gentile pagan. But the typical Jew was not an idolater, nor a homosexual. Ah, but go back to 1: 18.

"... all ungodliness and unrighteousness...."

The argument:

You Jews give ascent to the righteous judgement of God {1:32} and then you judge others for the sins they commit.

You Jews are equally guilty of sin.

Therefore, you condemn yourself and are, like the Gentiles,

without excuse.

2: 2 "We know... " in principle; "... the judgement of God is according to truth..." The reality is that God judges according to true moral conditions.

Some people have a problem with the judgements of God in the Old Testament. Entire cities were destroyed: men, women, babies and cattle. Men have called the God of the Old Testament a "bully."

Be very careful how you assign your value system to what the Bible reveals as acts of God. It is very dangerous to presume to be the judge of God!

Adam agreed with the devil that it was unreasonable that God denied to him the fruit of every tree of the Garden of Eden. My brother was angry at God because his twin son was born retarded. I can give you many examples of men and women who have quit God because they charge God with unfairness.

When I am confronted with a seemingly incompatible concept about God's providence I try to remember that God is Holy, and God is right. God is not to be measured by some standard of justice, He is the standard of justice!

We tend to judge by our own standard, by what we think is right. Many people justify sin in their lives, by rationalizing that their situation is different than that of other people. "God will understand," they say.

William Hendriksen gives an illustration of how we make judgements:

"I'm six feet tall," said the little boy. His dad asked him how he had arrived at that conclusion. He said, "I found a stick as big as myself, and I divided it into six equal parts, and called each part a foot. That makes me as tall as you are: six feet."

We are all guilty of measuring others by our own measuring rod. The result is often a favourable estimate of ourselves, and a too harsh judgement of others.

2: 3-4 Two rhetorical questions point up the attitude of the unbelieving Jew.

vs 3 implies an emphatic NO answer!

vs 4 says they treat God's goodness with contempt.

The absence of certain sins in our life does not constitute a single virtue.

The presence of a single sin, in thought or deed, condemns us.

The goodness of God is not meant to lead us to self-satisfaction, but to conversion, to repentance.

2: 5 No more implied accusations; a direct charge: Instead of repenting, they become obstinate and store up wrath for the day of judgement;

(Cf. 2:16. {cf Acts 17:31; John 5:27})

The Man Jesus, who is God, is the Judge of all!

2: 6

Two important aspects of God's judgement:

It is universally applied to all men;

It is according to works.

2: 7-10

The principle is expanded - it applies to:

The righteous {7} and the factitious {hypocrite} {8}.

2: 11

The summation: "For there is no partiality with God."

From Douglas Moo: Paul presents a logical "chiasm." Named after the Greek Chi, shaped like our X. Parallelism.

God will judge everyone according to his works {6}.

People who do good will attain eternal life {7}.

People who do evil will suffer wrath {8}.

Wrath for those who do evil {9}.

Glory for those who do good {10}.

God judges impartially {11}.

Is Paul teaching salvation by works?

We have to follow Paul to 3:20 and Ephesian 2:8-9.

The irony is that many people have been taught and believe that their acts of obedience actually have some sway with God.

I want to mention this phrase that Paul uses in 1:17; 2:9, 10

"... the Jew first and also to the Greek." {Greek here simply means Gentile}

The world is not divided into Jew and Gentile, as the Jew assumed; but into the righteous and the unrighteous. It is true that the Word of God was given to the Jew first. The Gospel came first to the Jew. Jesus, the Messiah, is a Jew. Jesus told the woman at the well, "... salvation is of the Jews.... " {John 4:22}

The stupidity of certain people is evident, who claim to be Christians, and hate the Jews. "The Jews, " they say, " killed Jesus." No, you and I killed Jesus! Sin put Him on the cross!

The Gospel came first to the Jew; but also to the Greek. The Gentile was not left out!

In fact, Paul will go on to show that it was the failure of the Jew to apprehend the Gospel that led to the cutting off of the Jew and the ingrafting of the Gentile.

God does not show favoritism {11}; a lesson Peter had to learn {Acts 10:34}.

We will keep coming back to this question: "What about the billions of people who have lived and died under the wrath of God and who will never hear the Gospel." That is why it is so important to see the grace of God.

There is no conflict between 2:11 and the doctrine of election.

There are those who believe that God has made salvation possible but not certain. They are sometimes referred to as Arminians. They believe that God has given to each person the ability to respond to the Gospel by an act of their "free will." Their response, therefore, is the deciding factor. Many Baptists call it a "making a decision for Christ."

By that they mean that God is willing to save anyone who will make the "decision" to permit God to do so. If I believed that I would have to face this dilemma: Either God does not, in fact, condemn men based on His revelation in creation; or there must be another way for men to find acceptance with God apart from "the righteousness of God" in Jesus Christ and in Him alone!

Calvinists, since we must use labels to make certain distinctions, by contrast, teach that because man is "dead in trespasses and sin," that the ultimate cause of any man's salvation is his election by God. The Calvinists argues that God will, in His sovereignty, see that every person He has chosen will be exposed to the Gospel. Having determined the end, God will also enact the means. God's decree provides for the complete renovation of those elected {2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10}.

And in His sovereign choice, "... there is no partiallity with God."

Has God the Holy Spirit so touched your soul? Can you acknowledge God as God? Have you seen, perhaps for the first time, that God is the Judge of all the earth and He must do right.

In His holiness and justice everyone is condemned.

Do you agree with God? Has your mind been enlightened to the truth of the Gospel? Talk to one of the elders. They have no special authority except we can tell you about Jesus.

Amen