All Scripture text will be presented in normal cased lettering, and all notes within the text will be in TRUE TYPE FONT, as shown. This (I hope) will allow you to avoid confusion between God's Word and my notes. As I update this website, I will continue to embellish the text so that anyone using NETSCAPE 3.0 or MICROSOFT 3.0 will be able to read the document easier. Greek tenses are abbreviated as follows:
1:32
Romans 1:32 "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."
When we think of death we often, humanly, think "it can't possibly happen to me". The Christians viewed death in a different light. To us it is not a cessation of life, but a type of sanctification, a separation into another sphere of life. The soul departs the sleeping body to live with God in the heavenlies. Spiritual death is also a type of sanctification or separation.
Ephesians 2:1-3 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
The sinner apart from Christ is spiritually dead,
that is, separated from God because of the barrier of sin in his life.
Man has three parts that makes up his being: body, soul, and spirit. In
physical death the soul is separated from the body so that the body can
no longer interact with the world around it. In spiritual death
the spirit is separated from the soul, so that the soul of man can have
no interaction with the Heavens and God. Spiritual death in this life can
be either temporary or permanent. If the sinner, lost and undone, accepts
Christ as his Savior, then God the Holy Spirit regenerates or makes
that person spiritually alive. After regeneration the believer has rapport
with God his Father. However, if the sinner leaves this life unregenerate;
that is, he makes no attempt to rectify his spiritual deficiency while
he walks this earth, then that spiritual death becomes eternal.
Application: If a sinner apart
from Christ is spiritually dead, then:
- What is his spiritual makeup? |
2:1-3
Romans 2:1-3 "Therefore thou art inexcusable, (ANAPOLOGETOS = without apology or defense)
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: (KRINO = to pick out, separate, pronounce judgment)
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest (KATAKRINO = to judge down or condemn)
thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure (OIDA = have absolute knowledge)
that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest (LOGIZOMAI = to compute, calculate, take into account)
thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?"
Note: Here Paul addresses the
Jew directly. The Jew is ready enough to judge to Gentile, but forgets
that the same principle which condemns the Gentile (doing evil in spite
of knowing better) condemns him also. Though the Jew was not doing the
exact same sin, he was sinning in much the same way.
| Application: What does the Bible
teach about judgement? Careful now:
1 Peter 4:17 "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Application: What is holiness, and how does it relate to us? |
Previous Paul established that God, evident in nature, is not hidden from mankind. He is truly there, and He is not silent. Paul now carries this discussion to it's obvious conclusion: Man has no excuse. The Jews, because they were the chosen of God from Old Testament times, held themselves up as superior to the Gentiles in every way. Yet these same Jews, keepers of God's Law, failed just as miserably in serving the Almighty as did the Gentiles they condemned. Paul reiterates a teaching of our Lord Jesus:
Matthew 7:1-5 "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
Christ told the listeners not to judge their brothers,
as God alone is capable of judgment. God's standard alone is pure, He alone
can see the soul of man and determine his intentions. Paul extends this
concept to the Gentiles as well. In the Church Age salvation was extended
to both Jew and Gentile equally. The new steward of the Gospel, the Church,
is where all saved believers meet and share with one another. God alone
can judge His children who fall under the saving plan of Christ in the
Church.
| Application: If the Jews failed
in their stewardship and were punished, what makes us think that we, the
Church, will not suffer the same fate?
Can you find a revelation of the Church in the Old Testament? |
Therefore thou art inexcusable is the Greek ANAPOLOGETOS, which means "without apology or defense". The Jews have no excuse before God for failing in their stewardship. The Gentiles, who had the revelation of God through nature, but did not possess the Law of God as did the Jews, had less incentive to accept Christ as Savior (and yet, they did). The Jews possessed greater revelation, and yet rejected Christ. Israel was totally without excuse.
Matthew 3:8-9 "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
The Israelites felt that since their nation was chosen by God, that they would escape individual punishment. Lest you quickly rebuke the Israelites for such silly thinking, think of how many Church members feel that they are automatically saved because they are affiliated with the Church. To be a good Baptist means nothing to God: but being saved in Christ guarantees eternal security. Salvation is of the Lord, through belief in Jesus Christ only. Yet even in our day, people join the Church feeling that this association will in some way save them. To these Paul states: thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God. The underlined text is in the Greek emphatic position, that is, the words are to be heavily emphasized: "Do you really think this!?". No man, woman, or child will ever be saved by association with an organization, no matter how pure that association's purpose may be.
2:4-6
Romans 2:4-6 "Or despisest (KATAPHRONEO = to think a thing down, to look down one's nose at a thing)
thou the riches of his goodness (CHRESTOTES = benigness, kindness)
and forbearance (ANOCHE = a holding back, a truce of arms)
and longsuffering; (MACROTHUMIA = patience, slowness in avenging wrongs)
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness (SKLEROTES = obstinancy, stubbornness)
and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render (APODIDOMI = to pay off or discharge what is due)
to every man according to his
deeds:"
(ERGON
= works)
| Application: WAIT a MINUTE! If I'm saved, doesn't this mean that I'll never be judged? Yet this text speaks of being judged for my deeds. |
despisest is the Greek KATAPHRONEO, literally meaning "To look down the nose at". The question is asked in such a way as to force a "yes" answer: "You are despising God's riches, aren't you?". The Jews, by their very action, held the longsuffering, goodness, and forbearance of God in low regard. Yet it was these very qualities of deity that lead them (and us) to repentance unto salvation:
2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. "
If God were not longsuffering toward humanity, I dare say that none of us would be saved today. Had God struck out in anger each time we rejected the Gospel message the Church (and the world itself) would be much more sparsely populated. God stayed His judging hand in love, not willing that any should see eternal damnation. The Jews saw this longsuffering and, in so enjoying God's mercy, began to confuse His inactivity with passivity. The same text that teaches God's longsuffering also teaches His judgment. Eventually He, in His infinite wisdom, dispersed the Jews under Rome in 70 AD. Though He is longsuffering, this patient attitude will never last an unrepentant lifetime.
Psalm 33:5 "He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord."
Psalm 119:64 "The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes."
Psalm 145:7-9 "They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. "
Luke 1:53 "He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away."
Luke 6:35 "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
God, in His compassion, allows the fruitful seasons and harvests to all mankind, regardless of spiritual condition. If it were not for this longsuffering then man would perish before he had the opportunity to accept or reject the Gospel message. Theologians call this working of God's goodness Common Grace, or the Grace that God bestows freely to all mankind. This same Common Grace is a witness of God's existence:
Acts 14:15-17 "And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
The witness which God shows through nature, providing for all mankind, leads men to repentance when they see it's infinite and yet so perfect design. The natural revelation of God is always expressed through His provision in nature.
2:4-6
Romans 2:4-6 "... after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render (APODIDOMI = to pay off, discharge what is due)
to every man according to his deeds:" (ERGON = works)
The disobedient Jew treasurest up unto himself wrath. Remember that wrath is the Greek ORGE, meaning "a violent provoked move of the mind into rage". Treasurest literally means "To gather, store up, lay aside so as to save for later". This verse is very illustrative of God's Judgment on unrepentant man:
Matthew 6:20-21 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Luke 6:44-45 "For every tree
is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of
a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of
the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."
| Application: If I have no staying
power, if I have not been changed by salvation, then am I saved?
How does my answer effect "Eternal Security"? |
It is easy to dwell on the aspect of God in giving reward or blessing. We all know that believers will be judged for reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and every action that we take between now and the afterlife adds to or takes away from our "reward account". Yet the wicked unsaved also treasure or store up a judgment account for themselves in the afterlife. Unbelievers think that, when they commit a foul act but are unpunished in this life, that they "got away with it". Believers often fall into the trap of complacency and think, "Well, who'll know?". Yet they are also treasuring up an account that will be settled (not by loss of salvation, but by loss of reward) in the afterlife. As the text states: Who (God) will render to every man according to his deeds. We all will get our just due from an entirely Just God in the afterlife.
2:7
Romans 2:7 "To them who by patient (HUPOMONE = steadfastness, constancy. The root idea is to stay under the discipline of something or someone that you naturally want to rebel against)
continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, (APHTHARSIA = incorruption {of life}, perpetuity)
eternal life: "
| Application: As Jesus said, "every tree is known by his own fruit.". The proof of a believer's conversion into eternal life is whether or not he serves the One who saved him. An old idiom is this: If a pig goes to the altar and prays and, after returning is still a pig, then this is not a believer but a deluded lost soul. But if a pig goes to the altar and prays and, after returning is a sheep of God, then the conversion was true toward salvation. Joining the Church saves no one, no more than being a person born into Israel. Only faith in Christ for salvation through repentance of sin leads to the changed life characteristic of the Christian. |
Note: Vincent defines the "judgment of God" here as not the act of judging, but the content of the judgment.
2:8-9
Romans 2:8-9 "But unto them that are contentious, (ERIS = facetious)
and do not obey (APEITHEO = not to allow oneself to be persuaded, to withhold belief)
the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation (ORGE = God's righteous wrath against sin)
and wrath, (THUMOS = anger)
Tribulation (THLIPSIS = a pressing together, pressure, oppression, affliction)
and anguish, (STENOCHORIA = dire calamity, extreme affliction)
upon every soul of man that doeth (The mood and tense of this word denotes "working out to the finish")
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;"
do not obey is the Greek APEITHEO, which means "To not allow oneself to be persuaded, to refuse or withhold belief". The Jews had the truths of God's Word, and yet insisted on creating vain fables of the "Uncertain lineage of Christ". The Jewish historian Josephus said that the orthodox Jews of that time even went so far as to say that Jesus was the son of a harlot, without known earthly father. The Jews paid others to say that the resurrection was false, that Jesus' body was taken out of the tomb by His disciples:
2 Peter 1:16 "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. "
Titus 1:14 "Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth."
As Paul discussed earlier, these were those who "held down the truth" (Romans 1:18) in a misguided attempt to maintain their own lost status quo.
2:10-11
Romans 2:10-11 "But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh (The mood and tense of this word denotes "working out to the finish". See verse 9, above)
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons (PROSOPOLEMPSIA = to receive face + ME = no receiving of face. In other words, God does not look at a person outwardly to determine his standing before Him)
with God."
Note: Alford, "The Apostle is here speaking generally of the system of God in judging the world. The judging according to each man's works, punishing the evil, and rewarding the righteous. No question at present arises how this righteousness in God's sight is to be obtained. But the truth is only stated broadly at present, to be further specified by and by, when it is clearly shown that by works of law no flesh can be justified before God. The neglect to observe this has occasioned two mistakes: (1) an idea that by this passage it is proved that not by faith only, but works also in some measure justify by God, and (2) an idea that by good work here is meant faith in Christ."
worketh is a Greek word meaning "To work out to the finish". Every man who keeps working diligently for God in this life, who stays on the pathway of righteousness, lays up for himself reward in the next life. Paul himself fell in this category:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 "For I am
now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing."
| Application: If I "walk the aisle" yet turn my back on God, forgetting all about Him, am I saved? |
Again, the reward spoken of is not the reward of salvation. We already possess salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is the reward of a Christian life lived in purity, a life lived while seeking to please the Father. God rewards faithful believers in the next life (see 2 Corinthians 5), just as He removes reward from unfaithful believers. there is no respect of persons with God, that is, His judgment is equally applied to all people regardless of their outward appearance. "Respect of persons" is a Greek word that means "To look on the outward countenance and, based on this, make a decision about that person's value". God doesn't look at the outward, but at the inward man, the activity and motivation of the soul.
2:12-13
Romans 2:12-13 "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law (EN NOMOI = under the law, within the sphere of the law. Refers to both Mosaic as well as abstract law)
shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers (AKROATES = used of pupils who constantly hear. This was directed toward the Scribes and Pharisees)
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."
as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law... is the Greek word APOLLUMI, which means "to be under a judgmental death". The Jews, who were given the Law of God, were accountable to live by the same Law. The Gentiles, who were not given the Law, were accountable to God through His natural revelation in the world around them. All mankind, therefore, is without excuse (Romans 1:20) when it comes to eternal judgment. The Gentiles would not be judged by the revelation of the Law for they had never received the Law (as the Jews did). But they were given revelation, the revelation of Nature, and were thus accountable. All who die outside of union with Christ shall be judged by either written Law (the Mosaic Code) or by unwritten Law (Natural Revelation). No unbeliever escapes judgment.
An interesting side point is this: APOLLUMI is never used for Christians in the Bible. When a Christian dies he is said "to sleep". The Christian's death is always described in peaceful and restful terms, whereas the unbeliever is said to "perish", "die", or "suffer death".
not the hearers of the law are just before God, is the Greek AKROATES. The AKROATES were professional men back in the time of Christ who attended synagogue regularly to listen to the reading of the Law. These men had no real relationship with the Father: what they did was on the scale of empty ritualism and religious behavior. They were akin to the people of our era who attend Church regularly, hear the sermon preached, and yet never pay attention to the intent of the message in the sermon. Many in our churches today feel like they can, by regular church attendance, enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. God views this type of person as the unjustified, the religious but lost. Hearing and studying God's Word without applying it's precepts is useless:
James 1:22-25 "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
The blessings of God only come on us when we hear God's Word and then, applying it's precepts, do what it asks. Only by doing what God commands do we see blessing. This was aptly demonstrated in the life of Jacob:
Genesis 35:1-12 "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land."
Only after Jacob did what God commanded was he then blessed with the Promised Land. Too often as believers we stand before God, hands outstretched, waiting to be blessed. And yet we want to receive that blessing without putting forth the effort of service that God demands. Works certainly don't bring about salvation, but they are necessary after salvation if you want to receive the blessing of God.
We'll take a break here, and return to this discussion in the next lesson.
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