The Judgment of GodRomans 2-3

The Wrath of God is expressed in:

• Rom 1.24 God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts

• Rom 1.26 God gave them over to shameful lusts• Rom 1.28 … he gave them over to a depraved mindHe lets them go: …. and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions (Rom 1.27)

Chap 1.18-32 speaks in 3rd person: about people’s sins.

• 1.18..the wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness

• 1.21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him

• 1.22 .. they claimed to be wise, they became fools• 1.24 God gave them over in the sinful desires of their

hearts30 times in 15 verses Paul writes of: They (8X) Them (5X); Their (6X) Those (1X)

But now in Chap 2 speaks in 2nd person about ‘your’ sins:

• v.1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

42 times in 29 verses Paul writes of: You (35X); Your (3X) Yours (4X)

1] God’s Judgment is IndividualCh 2.1-11

Rom 2.1-2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Looking at other people’s sins we become oblivious to our own. Example: Theresa Mallila, from Malawi

1] God’s Judgment is IndividualCh 2.1-11

• Ch 2.2 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

• Ch 2.11 For God does not show favouritism.

2] God’s Judgment is Internal 2.12-16

Rom 2.16 God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ

We examine the sins of world, but do not examine our own hearts

2] God’s Judgment is Internal 2.12-16

Jesus to the Pharisees Matt 23.25-28 • v.25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law & Pharisees, you hypocrites! You

clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

• v.26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup & dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

• v.27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law & Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.

• v.28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

3] God’s Judgment is Impartial Ch. 2.17-29

• v.17 …you call yourself a Jew… and brag about your relationship to God;

• v.18 …you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;

• v.19 …you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,

• v.20…you are an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth

Rom 2.21-24 … you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

3] God’s Judgment is Impartial

Ch. 2.17-29

Ch 3.1 What advantage is there in being a Jew?

v.2 Much in every way... But a sense of entitlement with the freedom to sin is not one of them.

3] God’s Judgment is Impartial

Ch. 2.17-29

• v.9 we are all under sin • v.10 There is no one righteous not even one • v.11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks

God • v.12 All have turned away...no one who does good, not

even one• v.23 … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

3] God’s Judgment is Impartial

Ch. 2.17-29

Finish with this:Rom 3.21-22 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.