Romans 2 – Page 3 – Ministry of Grace Church

Category: Romans 2

Romans 2:9 – Payment for Worthless Deeds

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Will

tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who accomplishes evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

Truth to Learn

Tribulation and anguish are coming to those who reject God.

Behind the Words

The words “tribulation and anguish” are interesting in that, for three of the four times they are mentioned in the Bible they are mentioned together. The word “tribulation” is from the Greek word thlipsis, which literally means “pressure.” However, by application it means “that malevolent external force that is applied to a man.” In other words, those bad things that happen to us that cause us extreme stress.

“Anguish” is translated from stenochōria, which literally means “a narrow place,” but symbolically it means “great distress.” Though tribulation and anguish may seem to be the same, thlipsis is the external force and stenochōria is the resultant internalization of the stress.

The word, “accomplishes” is from the Greek katergodzomai, which means “to continually carry out a task until it is complete.”

“Evil” is from kakos, which means “bad” or “worthless.” It refers to those deeds which God considers of no value.

Meaning Explained

Paul has just told us that those who have been declared righteous and who are seeking God’s glory and honor will receive eternal life. Meanwhile, those who reject the truth of Christ, those who are more concerned with self than doing what is right, will receive the anger and wrath of God. He now reiterates these points, as if to make a clear statement that there is a distinct difference between what will happen to the unrighteous and what will happen to the righteous.

Tribulation and anguish, according to Paul, are what comes to him who, “accomplishes evil” during his life here on earth. The implication is that the worthless actions of the unrighteous were not just occasional during their lives; rather the selfish acts of unrighteousness were continual until their lives were ended. It may seem harshly judgmental to think of the unsaved as never doing anything good. However, from God’s perspective “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” That is to say, the deeds of the unsaved are worthless.

Paul now makes a very clear point to the Roman Christians, who were mostly converted Jews. They had a tendency to be proud of their Jewish heritage and of their faith. He tells them that this condemnation will come on (the unsaved) Jews and Gentiles alike. In fact the judgment will come on the Jews first (or primarily) then on the Gentiles as well. This is a strong condemnation regarding their pride, which is not a godly trait.

Application

We Christians need to be very careful that we don’t get prideful in our salvation. After all, we’re not saved because of anything that we did. Our salvation is because of what God has done for us and to us. After all, without His gift of grace, none of us would be saved. When we become prideful in our salvation we are taking the credit away from Him, and it is credit that only He deserves!

Let’s humble ourselves and praise Him for what He has done!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:8 – Self-serving Fools

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Will

but to those who are self-seeking and do not believe the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,

Truth to Learn

Those who selfishly reject God will experience His wrath.

Behind the Words

The word translated “self-seeking” is eritheia. It is based on a noun that means “to work for hire” or “to work for a wage.” The verb form is usually in the middle voice meaning that it is something that is done to (and by) oneself. When used as a noun in a negative sense, as it is in today’s verse, it refers to “someone who is seeking his own good.” It is sometimes translated as “contentious.” Clearly, it is used here in reference to someone who is only looking out for himself or herself.

The word translated “do not believe” is the Greek word apeitheō, which is made up of the privative a, meaning “not” or “without” and a form of peithō, meaning “to convince or persuade.” Hence, apeitheō refers to “one who is not allowing himself or herself to be persuaded or to believe.”

The word “obey” is also translated from the root peithō. It is expressed here as a participle in the middle voice, so it could be translated here as “convincing themselves.”

Meaning Explained

We talked in the previous verse about the judgment of the righteous ones who will receive everlasting life because of their belief in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Today’s verse gives a contrasting picture of the unrighteous unbelievers (all unbelievers are unrighteous in God’s eyes).

We could translate the opening part of this verse as, “but to those who are self-seeking and not being persuaded by the truth but persuading themselves by unrighteousness …”

Whereas we, through our patient endurance, will receive eternal life, those who are self-seeking and not persuaded by the truth will receive the anger and wrath of God. We see here another example of Paul’s frequent play on words. They are not persuaded (apeitheō) by the truth, so they persuade themselves (peithō) by unrighteousness.

Do you see the attitude of the unbeliever in this verse? Those who reject the good news of Christ’s death on the cross in payment for their sins, refuse to believe. They refuse to be persuaded that they are sinners and need salvation. Why? Because they are self seeking and unwilling to submit themselves to the truth and to the God of truth. Remember what Paul said in the previous chapter of this letter?

because, having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but their reasonings became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened Professing to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:21, 22)

And what will these self-serving fools receive when they stand before the God of creation? The wrath and anger of the Almighty, Holy, Righteous GOD whom they deny!

Application

We have the antidote for this wrath; it’s called the gospel message, and we need to proclaim it to everyone who will listen. It’s not up to us to force anyone to believe, but it is up to us to proclaim the truth, whether they believe it or not.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:7 – Continual Good Works

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Will

eternal life to those who with patience in doing good seeking glory, honor, and immortality;

Truth to Learn

We are to be continually doing good works for God.

Behind the Words

There are two Greek words, men and de, which are not often translated. They are used together to indicate a comparative contrast between two things. When used in this manner they can be roughly translated as men = “on the one hand” and de = “on the other hand.” The word men appears in this verse and the word de appears in the next verse. Hence, Paul is contrasting these two groups of people.

The word translated “patience” is hupomonē, which is made up of hupo, meaning “under” and a form of menō, meaning “to remain.” Hence, it literally means “to remain under.” It is a picture of a beast of burden which chooses to remain under a heavy load rather than rebelling and shaking off the heavy load.

Meaning Explained

Abraham, though not righteous in himself, was declared righteous when he believed God (see Genesis 15:6). Paul will talk more about Abraham’s faith in the coming chapters of Romans. The important thing to note is that Abraham did not earn his righteousness, it was declared so by God when Abraham believed. It is the same with us. When we believed the message that we are sinners deserving of death and that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, God declared us righteous. The second chapter of Ephesians declares that as a result of this salvation by grace, through faith, we will produce good works which God before ordained for us to do.

This is all necessary background to understanding today’s verse. You see, today’s verse does not refer to the same judgment event as the previous verse (or the following verse). This verse is referring to the Bema Seat Judgment at which all believers will appear. It is a judgment where we will receive rewards for the righteous works we have done since salvation. These works did not earn us our salvation, they are the evidence of our salvation.

In the previous verse Paul told us that the Great Judge "will render to each one according to his deeds." Now he tells us what will be handed out to these two contrasting groups of people. In today’s verse he talks about those who patiently continue to do good, who are seeking glory, honor and immortality. That pretty much describes a committed Christian, and today’s verse tells us what they will get – eternal life. In the next verse he will tell us what the other group of people will get.

Remember that Paul is contrasting the wicked and the righteous. He is not giving a treatise on faith verses works (he will get into that later in the letter.) The point he is making is that the saved will get eternal life, while the wicked unrighteous ones will get something entirely different.

Application

As born-again Christians, God expects us to be doing good works that will build up the body of Christ. At the end of this life He will reward us for these faithful works. Will your works for the body of Christ be worthy of reward?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:6 – Judgment of Works

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Will

who "will render to each one according to his deeds":

Truth to Learn

Everyone’s works will be judged by God.

Behind the Words

The word translated “render” is apodidōmi, which is made up of apo, meaning “from” and didōmi, meaning “to give.” Hence, it means “to give away” or “to hand out.”

Meaning Explained

By itself, today’s verse makes little sense, but when tied in with the previous verse it makes a lot of sense.

⁵But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶who "will render to each one according to his deeds":

Today’s verse is actually a quotation taken from the Psalms (Psalms 24:12 and Psalms 62:12). The day of wrath and judgment that is talked about in verse 5 is the judgment of the unrighteous (the unsaved.) This will occur at the Great White Throne Judgment spoken of in Revelation 20:12-15:

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, stand before the throne. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead in them. And each one of them was judged according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.

The “if” clause in the last verse (Rev 20:15) is expressed as a first class condition in the Greek, implying that it is true. So this could be paraphrased as: And no one was found having been written in the Book of Life, each was cast into the Lake of Fire. This is part of the evidence that believers will not be at this judgment; only the condemned unsaved will be there.

Paul, in Romans 2:6, is expressing what will happen at this judgment as well. Notice in the Revelation passage that the dead are judged according to their works. That’s exactly what Paul is saying in today’s verse: God will render His judgment to each person according to his (or her) works.

Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and Lord will not appear at the Great White Throne Judgment. Our names are written in the Book of Life, not because of our works, but because of belief in His work (on the Cross). That is not to say that our works won’t be judged. They will be judged at the Bema Seat (the judgment seat of Christ) mentioned in Romans 14:12 and 2Corinthians 5:10, where we will be rewarded for our good works.

Application

Just because you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be actively doing godly works. We all need to be busy building up the body of Christ, doing the deeds He has called us to do. Get to work for Him!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:5 – A Storehouse of Wrath

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Will

But in accordance with your hardness and your unrepentant heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

Truth to Learn

On the Day of Judgment God will show His wrath rather than His mercy.

Behind the Words

The word translated “hardness” is skleroteta, from which we get our medical term sclerosis, meaning hardening. It literally means “hardness like a stone” but in reference to our heart, as it is here, it refers to “stubbornness or obstinacy.”

The word translated “unrepentant” is from the Greek ametanoeton, which is a compound word made up of the privative a, meaning “not” and a form of metanoeō, which means “to have a change of heart, to change one’s thinking, to repent.”

The word translated “treasure up” is a form of thesauridzō, from which we get our word thesaurus, meaning “a treasury.” The notion is of storing up or hoarding things simply for the purpose of having them. This word is in the present active indicative form, implying present action. Paul is saying, “you are continually hoarding up wrath for yourself.”

Meaning Explained

Paul has just informed his readers that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance without which we would never respond properly to the result of our sin. All sin is abhorrent to God, and He must exact the payment for sin, which is death. Through His own goodness, however, he draws us to repentance, which is necessary in order to receive the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of His own Son. So we see that not only does God provide the payment for our sins (for which we have no one to blame but ourselves), but He also draws us to that payment by leading us to repentance.

Unfortunately there are many who will refuse to be drawn to repentance because they are too proud and will not submit to the sovereignty of God. For these, Paul now explains what will ultimately happen.

He says, “because of your stubbornness and refusal to repent you are hoarding up wrath for yourself.” This wrath will come, “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” If you read through the book of Revelation you will see that our loving God will one day pour out His wrath upon the sinful, unrepentant inhabitants of this earth. And, the ultimate result of that wrath will be the casting of unrepentant souls into the lake of fire.

Those who refuse to submit to God’s authority will be given over to all kinds of sinfulness, as we learned in the previous chapter. They will also receive the judgment for that sinfulness in the Day of Judgment. Only when it is too late will they realize that they were wrong and that they were fighting against the all-powerful Judge of the universe.

Application

Let us not be that way! Instead, let us voluntarily submit to Almighty God and repent of our sinfulness, claiming the blood of Christ as the payment for our sins.

So, what will it be; Pride and Punishment or Submission and Mercy? The choice is yours to make today! Don’t wait!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:4 – God’s Goodness, Not Ours

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Will

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Truth to Learn

Our salvation is a result of God’s goodness, not ours.

Behind the Words

The word translated “despise” is kataphroneō, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” or denoting evil and phroneō, meaning “to think.” Hence, kataphroneō means “to think evil of.”

“Riches” is translated from ploutos, based on a root meaning “fullness.” It refers to the fullness of possessions.

The word “kindness” is from krēstotēs, meaning “moral excellence, kindness, or goodness.”

“Forbearance” is from anochēs, which is based on the word anechō, made up of ana, meaning “up” and echō, meaning “to have or hold.” Anochēs means “forbearance, self-restraint, or patience.”

The word “longsuffering” is from macrothumia, which is composed of macros, meaning “long” and thumos, which refers to “anger, fierceness or wrath.” This word refers to God’s ability to hold back His fierce wrath for a long time.

“Repentance” is translated from a form of metanoeō, made up of meta indicating “a change of place or condition” and noeō, meaning “to think or comprehend.” Hence we see that this word refers to a change in the way we think about something.

Meaning Explained

Now, putting this all together we find that Paul is asking, “Do you think evil of the great value of God’s moral excellence, His self-restraint, and His holding back His wrath, ignoring the fact that God’s moral excellence is what leads you to repentance?” What Paul is saying is, “God is very patient and suffers the pain of our sin against Him. And because He is so good, instead of squashing us like ants, He actually takes us by the hand and leads us to an attitude of repentance!”

The picture is like that of a loving father who, when his son or daughter has done something wrong, takes the time and effort to lovingly explain the effect of their wrongful action so that they realize they have done wrong and tell their father they’re sorry, asking for forgiveness. The real beauty of this is the fact that without God’s longsuffering and patience and His loving, leading way, we would not repent. For, as Paul says, “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”

Our sin nature is ever present and it is powerful. Without the greater power of God through His kindness and without His willingness to hold back His righteous anger against our sins, we would not repent of our sinfulness. And without this repentance we would not be saved from our sins.

Praise be to God for His kindness!

Application

If this doesn’t cause you to fall to your knees with a prayer of thankfulness to God for His kindness, then you don’t underestimate the effect of your sinfulness in the presence of a holy God. God must judge sin, but He loves you as His precious child.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:3 – The Universal Judge

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Will

And, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, do you think that you will escape the judgment of God?

Truth to Learn

God will judge us all.

Behind the Words

The word “practicing” is from prassō. As we learned a few verses back this means, “to perform an action continually, repeatedly, or habitually.” It is a picture of a musician practicing his or her instrument over and over. It is expressed here as a present participle indicating current, on-going action.

“Doing” is translated from the Greek verb poieō, meaning “to make or do.” It is different from prassō in that it implies an occasional action rather than a habitual one. This word, however, is also expressed as a present participle indicating a current, ongoing condition. Hence, it refers to ongoing occasional action.

Meaning Explained

Paul is talking about the tendency for the Roman Christians to be judgmental of the pagan Romans who constantly engage in sinful practices while these mostly Jewish Christians are guilty of committing many of these same sins. He is warning them that God will judge sin and sinfulness no matter whether it is an occasional sin or a habitual sin. To God, sin is sin!

Paul is teaching these Roman Christians (and us as well) about another condition of the human mind. He just showed us that finger pointing is self-condemning because we tend to see in others what we do ourselves. But also, we all have a tendency to excuse our own actions. After all, we know why we do these things, and we can easily excuse them in our own minds. Besides, we don’t do these things very often, and yet we see others doing these things over and over again.

Let’s not miss the point here. It would be easy to read this passage and say, “We shouldn’t care how others live and we certainly shouldn’t be judgmental.” But that’s not what Paul is saying. He’s saying that before we condemn others for their sinful actions, we need to look inwardly and deal with our own sin. Clearly the sin of harlotry is one which is easily condemnable, but when Jesus was confronted by those who wanted to stone a woman (the legal penalty for adultery) caught committing this sin, He responded:

He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. (John 8:7b)

In other words, our tendency to judge others does not absolve us from guilt and the consequences of our own sin; in fact, it increases our own condemnation.

Paul is going to teach these Christians that it is not important to prove who you are descended from; rather, it is important to demonstrate who has adopted you. That is to say, faith, not heredity nor legal obedience, is the key to salvation and a fulfilled Christian walk with God. We do not, nor did we ever, earn this salvation, either by action or inheritance. It is a gift that flows from the kindness of God. That’s what makes it so precious!

Application

The next time you see someone acting in a way that you know is wrong, remember that God is the Judge of all mankind, and He will execute His judgment according to truth, not according to appearance.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:2 – Certain Truthful Judgment

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Will

But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

Truth to Learn

God will certainly judge sinners, and He will do so based on truth.

Behind the Words

The word translated, “we know” is oidamen, a form of the Greek word idō, meaning “to see with perception.” By implication it means “to know” or “to be aware of.” This word is used here in the perfect tense. The Greek perfect tense indicates past completed action with an ongoing effect, but the emphasis is on the ongoing effect. The best example of this is the expression, “He is risen.” Christ arose from the dead (a completed action in the past) with the ongoing effect being that He is alive today forever more. With oidamen, it’s like someone explaining something to you that you already know and you respond with, “I knew that!” What you really mean is that you know it and you have known it for some time because you learned it sometime in the past. That is, it’s not new knowledge to you.

Meaning Explained

Paul has just warned anyone who critically judges another regarding some sinful practice that they are guilty of doing the same thing. We noted in yesterday’s verse that the word for “judges” means “to judge between good and evil,” and that it was used in such a way as to imply condemnation. That’s how we humans tend to judge other people, and it’s not always based on fact but on emotion.

In today’s verse Paul says “we know that the judgment of God is according to truth.” The word translated “judgment” in this verse is from the same root as the word “judges” in the previous verse. It’s another of Paul’s frequent play on words. What he is saying is that God’s condemning judgment (unlike man’s condemning judgment) is according to truth. Those who sin against God will be judged someday, and their judgment and subsequent condemnation will not be based on God’s emotion, it will be based on the truth of their sins.

Because these Jewish Roman Christians were brought up in the Jewish tradition, they have always known that the judgment of God is according to truth. Throughout the Old Testament we see examples of God judging sinners for their sins, and we see that such judgment is always according to truth. This is portrayed so strongly that it became a fundamental doctrine of the Jewish faith.

But, to the Jewish mind, there is a secondary meaning of the expression “according to truth.” Not only is His judgment based on truth, He will truly judge. There is a certainty of His judgment and no one who sins against God will get away with it. He will truly judge everyone’s sin, if not in this life then certainly at the Great White Throne where all sinners will appear at the end of life. Thanks be to Jesus Christ whose blood paid the penalty of that judgment on our behalf! Through His sacrifice we are saved from that judgment.

Application

Let’s not wait until later to pray about our own condemning judgments of others. Let’s commit to each other that we will pay close attention to what Paul is teaching us and ask God to forgive us when we are judgmental of others. While we’re at it let us thank God that Jesus paid the penalty of our judgment!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 2:1 – Judgmental Revelation

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Will

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who judges, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who are judging practice the same things.

Truth to Learn

Don’t be judgmental of others. It reveals your own sins.

Behind the Words

The expression, “without excuse” is from the Greek anapologētos, which is a compound word made up of a meaning “not or without” and a form of apologēomai, which means “to apologize or to excuse.” Anapologētos means “without excuse or inexcusable.”

“Judges” is translated from the Greek word krinō, meaning “to judge between good and evil.” It can refer equally to a judgment of innocence or of guilt.

The word “condemn” is from katakrinō, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” and krinō, which we just looked at. This word means to judge against, that is, to judge as guilty.

Meaning Explained

Because of all that has been said up to this point, Paul says, “you are without excuse” The one who is inexcusable is the person who is judging another.

But why would Paul say that anyone who critically judges another (for that’s what kind of judgment he’s talking about) is inexcusable? Here’s why according to Paul; when we criticize others for certain sinful practices, we are condemning ourselves because we do the same thing. Paul is exposing a fact of human nature of which we are all guilty. The things that we are the harshest in condemning others about are the very things that we are guilty of doing ourselves.

He has just rattled off a whole long list of sins that come from our sin nature. At this point he says, “Now, don’t be too critical of others who do one or two of these things because they are the very things that you are guilty of.” It’s sort of like that expression, “When you point a finger at someone else, there are three others pointing back at you.”

Paul is specifically talking to the (predominantly) Jewish people in Rome who have become Christians. The Jews were particularly adept at pointing out the problems with the Gentiles and the fact that the Gentiles were not of the promised seed as the Israelites were. In the previous verses the Jews of the day would have clearly recognized the Gentiles and their rejection of God. In the following two chapters of this letter, Paul will systematically explain to these Jewish Christians that being a physical descendent of Abraham means nothing, but faith means everything.

But let us not get so caught up in condemning the Jews of the first century that we fail to recognize that we, every single one of us, are also guilty of Paul’s accusation in this verse.

Application

The next time you hear a brother or sister being judgmental of someone else, stop and realize that you are learning something about that brother or sister.

Even more importantly, the next time you are judgmental of someone else, stop and realize that you are telling someone else about yourself.

Ouch! That hurts, doesn’t it?

In God's service, for His glory,