Transcript
The Immoral Man, the Moral Man, and the Judgment of God
Now last week, when we finished off with Romans chapter 1, Paul left us waist-deep in a mud puddle. It was just foul and disgusting. He showed us the absolute guilt of the immoral, pagan person before God. And there we were, just sort of waist-deep in the muck and the slime. Well, today he's going to fill us up to our neck in it, and next week he's going to finish us off and cover the head over.
But last week, he dealt with what we might call the immoral person. The person who seems to have no regard for God. They just live their life whatever way they please. They seem to break the rules and chart their own course and step on whoever's toes. It doesn't matter to them, they're just going to live their life any way they want. Well, God says that that's wrong. God isn't the only person who says that's wrong. There's a lot of people who say that's wrong, too. There's no short supply of good, moral people in our community, in our state, in our nation. Now Paul's going to talk to the good, moral people in Romans chapter 2, beginning at verse 1.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are to judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
As I said before, we finished the last chapter with Paul pointing out the sin of the most notoriously guilty sinners. Now he's envisioning those who are generally moral in their conduct, and they're congratulating themselves that they're not like the people that Paul just got done describing. Oh, God, thank you so much. Thank you, God, that I'm not like one of those terribly immoral people. Lord, we've got to do something about those immoral people. We've got to find a way to fix those people, those people, those people.
And then Paul takes you by the shoulders and he says, you are inexcusable, O man. You want to look behind you and say, who are you speaking to, Paul? I'm speaking to you, he says. I want you to notice, he repeats it twice in these first three verses, O man, O man. He's talking to you and to me and to every one of us who would consider ourselves morally superior to the obviously immoral person.
The Pharisee and the Publican
A good example of Paul's kind of thinking here is illustrated by a parable that Jesus gave, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. A publican was a name to describe a notorious sinner. And there was this Pharisee and there was this publican standing before God, there at the temple to meet with him, and the Pharisee gets up and he prays, and I love how Jesus puts it, he says he prays thus with himself. He's really praying unto himself, not praying to God at all, and he says, Lord God, I thank you that I'm not immoral, that I'm not sinful, that I'm certainly not like this fella next to me. Thank you, God, that you have me on your team.
What did the publican, what did the sinner do? He wouldn't even raise his eyes towards God, but he beat his breast, and he simply said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus said that it was the publican that went home justified and not the Pharisee.
And now Paul's talking, I'm talking to you, Mr. Pharisee. I'm talking about you who would condemn someone else for their immorality. And why? Listen to what he says. He says, for in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. No, wait a minute, Paul. That man is immoral. He's an absolutely immoral man, and I don't do his sin. Don't say I do the same thing. And Paul says, well, no, you don't understand.
What's wrong with what that man's doing? Why is it wrong? Well, it's wrong because I say it's wrong. Well, that's not good enough, and you and I know it. It's not enough for us to be offended just for our own personal sense. So God challenges us again. Why is what that man over there, why is what he's doing wrong? Well, it's wrong because God says it's wrong. And Paul says, oh, very well then. We're going to take God's standards, are we? Well, then let's take God's standards and apply them, not just to the obviously immoral man. Let's take God's standards and apply them to you, Mr. Moral.
And suddenly the whole house of cards falls down flat because God's standards apply to the moral man just as much as they do to the immoral man. As a matter of fact, the standard that makes the immoral man guilty also makes the moral man guilty, because when we judge another person, we point to a standard outside of ourself, and that standard condemns us all. We all fall short of that standard, not just the obvious sinner.
You've heard the expression perhaps that when you point a finger at somebody, you've got three fingers pointing back at you. That's what Paul would say to this man. He'd say, you consider yourself morally superior, but really you break the same standard that you're trying to hold this other man to, and according to God's truth, he will judge you.
And look at what he says at the end of verse 3. How can you think that you will escape the judgment of God? He's emphatic in it. How do you think that you will escape the judgment of God? He's bearing down on his reader.
The Goodness of God Leads You to Repentance
God's judgment against the moralist, it's announced in verse 4.
Do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you're treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
You see, the moralist looks, and there's the skid row bum. He looks his nose down on him. Look at that man. He's in the gutter. He's filthy. Oh, you should smell the man. He's just terrible. Look at him. He's been brought to ruin from his sin. Just look at him right there. His family's gone. His career's gone. His house is gone. He doesn't own anything but the disgusting clothes on his back, his body's filled with loathsome diseases, and the moralist looks at him. He's getting what he deserves. God, you're judging that man, and I can see it right now.
The moralist looks to himself, and he says, I'm so glad that I'm not under that judgment. I'm so glad that I don't live in the gutter. I'm glad that I have a nice house with a closet full of nice clothes. I'm so glad that I have a bank account that gets bigger and bigger. I'm so glad that I am not under the judgment of God. And Paul says, you are under the judgment of God. Paul says, you are completely misunderstanding the goodness of God towards you.
It's true, Mr. Moral, that God is being good to you. It's true, but his goodness is meant to lead you to repentance. His goodness isn't meant to make you feel morally superior to the immoral man. His goodness should be driving you to a humble repentance, to getting down on your knees before him. And it's God's goodness and forbearance and longsuffering towards you.
You'll say things like, well, if there's a God in heaven, why doesn't he strike me dead? If it doesn't happen, then they say, well, see, I told you, there's no God, or he's perfectly happy with me. But men misinterpret the forbearance and the longsuffering and the goodness of God. They confuse it with his approval, and they refuse to repent. They don't know that the goodness of God is meant to lead us to repentance.
Some people are waiting for God to drive them to repentance. Look at our text again there. He says, it's the goodness of God, in verse 4, that leads you to repentance. There's a difference between driving and leading, isn't there? Well, let God lead you. Maybe he's trying to lead you to repentance right now. Don't resist him any longer. Follow his lead. He's leading you to repentance.
You see, the moralist thinks he's treasuring up merit with God. He compares himself to the immoral person, and he has this sense, whether he says it or not, of moral superiority, and it feels like he's treasuring up merit with God. Well, God, I'm so good, and they're so bad. I'm getting better and better before you. Aren't I wonderful?
And Paul says, no, you're not treasuring up merit. What are you treasuring up? Look at it there in verse 5. You're treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. It's as if you're storing up for yourself more and more wrath. God's showing his goodness to you. It's supposed to lead you to repentance, but you're pushing away repentance, and you're refusing to yield. More wrath is treasured up, and you do it another day, and more wrath is treasured up, and it's like a dam trying to hold back the waters of judgment that are going to come crashing down, and you keep filling up the dam with more and more water. You're treasuring up wrath against yourself.
By the way, the dam itself, that which is holding back the wrath, that's God himself. He's holding it back because he wants you to turn. He wants you to stop thinking that your moral superiority is going to get you to heaven. He wants you to stop thinking that you're so great, and they need Jesus, but not you.
God Will Render to Each One According to His Deeds
As a matter of fact, he's going to judge the moralists. Look at it here in verse 6.
Who will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Do you catch his point here? He's saying, Mr. Moralist, God is going to render to you according to your deeds. Now, at first glance, Mr. Moralist says, well, good. God will give me according to my deeds. Isn't that wonderful? Until we stop and consider the standard by which God will judge our deeds, and it's his perfect standard.
Friends, here's the point. Our deeds are enough to condemn us. When God says that he'll render to each one according to his deeds, it's not a good thing. Because whether you measure it by what God has revealed in his word, or whether you measure it by what God has revealed in creation, or whether you measure it by what God has revealed in conscience, we've rejected all three of them, haven't we?
You've sinned against your conscience. You've done things that your conscience said no to. You say, well, you have a very highly developed conscience, a very good conscience. Good for you. Jiminy Cricket is alive and well on your shoulder. He speaks with the right loud voice. I'm very happy for you. But you've shut him up a time or two, haven't you? You've sinned against your conscience. You've sinned against what God has shown you in creation, and you've sinned against his word.
You see, because every one of us falls short of the standard of God's constant goodness, God's wrath will come to all who do evil, without respect of whether they're Jew or Gentile. So God is just, he's an earthquake under the feet of the moralist. He thought he stood on this high moral ground and he could look down on others. I'm so glad I'm not like the people that Paul described at the end of Romans chapter 1. And Paul said, well, you're right. You're not exactly like them, but you're still in terribly bad shape.
The Religious Man
Now in verse 11, he starts speaking to the religious man. And friends, just as much as God's standards applied to the moral man, so does God's standard apply to the religious man. He says in verse 11:
For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law, for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
There's no partiality with God. God looks at the facts of the matter. You're not going to get to heaven on reputation. Well, he's always known to be a fine, upstanding man. Well, look, she's a pillar in the community. Reputation won't get you to heaven. God will judge according to the facts of the matter.
Now some ancient rabbis taught differently. They said, well, as long as you descended from Abraham, as long as you're of the Jewish race, of the Jewish stock, then God will be favorable towards you and you don't have to worry about going to hell. Paul says, no, God shows no partiality. He will judge according to the facts of the matter.
And then look at what he says very plainly here in verse 13, for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. Friends, I hope I can drive this home, because rightly understood, this should give every one of us, including the man standing behind this pulpit, sober pause this morning. God's righteous judgment is not withheld because someone has heard the law. It's only withheld if somebody does the law, if they fulfill his word.
Now, Paul speaks to the Jew here in Romans chapter 2, but today he might speak to the church goer, to the religious man in general. And the religious man may think that he's saved because he's kept the law, but has he really kept it? And the Gentile, the man who doesn't know anything about God's word, doesn't know anything about the Bible, he may think he's saved because he's kept his conscience, but has he really kept his conscience? And on both counts, Paul says no. If you sin with the law, you'll perish. If you sin without the law, you'll also perish.
Now look as he deals with this idea of the possession of the law and how it's of no advantage. In verse 14, he says:
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
You see, Paul explains why Gentiles, why pagans, so to speak, can be condemned without the law, because their conscience will accuse them. But then he also explains why those who have the word can also be condemned if they do not keep it. God will judge all peoples according to the abuse that they've made of his word, whether that word was written in their heart or whether it was written on the tablets of stone. But he'll judge according to that standard.
Do You Not Teach Yourself?
Now in verse 17, Paul hones in even more on the religious man. He says:
Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.
Well, there you are. You're the very proud churchgoer, aren't you? And you have the law. You have the Bible right there in front of you. And friends, you may love your Bible. Maybe it's a wonderful gift that you have and it has your name right there on it in the front, a beautiful gold leaf around the edges. You've tied the knots and the markers just fine. I'm here to tell you that that Bible on your lap or in your hands, it can either bring you salvation or condemnation.
The bottom line is this, that merely having your Bible will not save you. Merely having it or knowing it will not save you. It's where your trust is. Merely having God's word is no advantage on the day of judgment. It's of no advantage. God's not going to ask you how many Bibles did you own when you get to heaven. Or how wonderfully you marked them up. He'll want to know where your trust was.
See, the Jew as well as the Christian should gratefully receive the law as a gift of God. The mere possession of the law justifies no one. And he's going to point this out in verse 21. He says:
You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.
See, it all comes down to this principle. You have the Bible, but do you keep it? You see how other people break the Bible, but do you break it also?
Judged in Both Actions and Attitudes
And might I say too that when we stand before God's word, we stand and let it judge us in both our actions and our attitudes. We as fallen humans can be very slippery on this point. Sometimes we want God to just judge us on our actions, and sometimes we just want him to judge us on our attitudes. Sometimes we'll go out and we'll do really bad things towards other people, but we'll justify it because, well, our motive was good, our intent was good. But we'll go out and do all sorts of dreadful things towards other people, and we say, well, God will just look at my attitude, that's fine, or you should just look at my attitude. No. God sees your actions.
I heard a story of a man who was the service manager at a car dealership, and being the service manager, he was the guy that people brought their cars into and got their service things written up for whatever repairs needed to be done. And if you've ever had that experience at a car dealership, it's a very trying experience, because almost always the bill is enormously high. And so this man had to deal with frustrated, angry customers all day long who couldn't believe the price quote that was given to them, and were just as angry as anything.
And so what the man did was, behind his counter and behind where he stood, he put up a big mirror. And so when people were arguing with him, they could see behind him, and they could see themselves in the mirror. And oh, they'd start to get mad. Oh, they'd just be boiling, just be livid. And there they were, about to be really irate, and they'd catch a sight of themselves in the mirror. Now, they felt justified, completely justified in their anger. Well, I'll tell this man a thing or two. Look at what he's trying to do to me and my family. Oh, he's ripping us off. And then they'd look at their actions in the mirror and judge themselves by their actions, not just by their motives, and say, whoa, I'm looking pretty ugly right here. And it's very effective in customer control right there.
Sometimes we just want to be judged by our attitudes or our motives and not by our actions. Well, other times, we just want to be judged by our actions, don't we? We'll do the right thing, but we'll do it with a totally rotten heart, just terrible. At those times, we want God to be very pragmatic. God, just judge me by my actions, you know? God says, I'm going to judge you by both. Both are going to stand before me, both your actions and your attitudes. Both of them are important to me.
When we fail, we give such a poor reflection of who God is and what he does. Verse 24: "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written." Paul reminds the Jew that God said in the Old Testament that the failure of the Jewish people to obey his law has caused the Gentile to blaspheme God, and couldn't we say the same of much of Christianity today?
In the early church, they said something really audacious. They said, do you want to know that the gospel is true? Look at our lives and you'll see that the gospel is true. We've really turned that around in the centuries since. Now we say, don't look at me, look at Jesus. Now it's true we need to direct people to Jesus, it's absolutely true. But shouldn't we live lives where people could say, you can see that the gospel is true by looking at the way I live?
Circumcision of the Heart
Well, Paul took away the refuge that the religious man was trusting in, his Bible. He held it. Oh, this is what's going to do it for me. I have the law. I have the Bible. This was his trust. Paul says, well, no, that in itself isn't going to save you.
But now the religious man, he brings another tool out of his toolkit here. He says, no, I have ceremonies. I was circumcised. God's going to take that tool out of our hand as well. Look at verse 25:
For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God.
See, Paul recognizes, he took the Bible, so to speak, out of the hand of the religionist. And he says, that's not going to be your salvation just because you have the Bible. And he says, well, you know, I have the ceremonies. I've been circumcised. I've gone through this ritual or that ritual. And he says, I'm a descendant of Abraham, it's proved by my circumcision.
The Jews of Paul's day didn't think circumcision was irrelevant. Many of them taught that circumcision in itself proved you were a member of the covenant people, and it meant that there's no way that you can be punished in the world to come if you are a descendant of Abraham and if you're circumcised. Some rabbis even taught in Paul's day that Abraham stood at the gates of hell, making sure that none of his descendants went into hell. Whoa, stop. I don't know how you got on this road, but you can go right back up to heaven. You're my descendant, they thought Abraham would say. And you go right back up. You can't go to hell because you're my descendant.
And Paul says you can't trust in your descent, the fact of who your ancestors are, I should say. You can't trust that mom and dad were believers, or grandma and grandpa. You can't trust in the fact that you've been baptized or any other ritual like that. Those in and of themselves will not save you.
Friends, baptism is about the same as a label on a can. You've got a can of peas, right? And there's the label right on it. If what's on the label matches what's inside the can, it's a very useful label, isn't it? Peas, peas on the inside. But what if you take that label off the can of peas and put it on a can of peaches? Well, then the label's of no use whatsoever. As a matter of fact, the label's dangerous then. It's going to hurt somebody, because somebody's going to think they're going to get peaches, and they're going to get peas instead. And who knows what might happen at the dinner table then.
So you get the point, isn't it? The label on the outside, it's only of any value if it matches what's on the inside. And your baptism, great, it's a wonderful label, and you should have it, you're being obedient to Jesus Christ. But it's only of lasting value if it matches what's on the inside of you as well. Then it matches up just fine, you can put the appropriate label on the outside.
The bottom line is this, friends, religious ceremonies can't save us. Not circumcision, not baptism. You could dunk somebody a thousand times under the ocean and say whatever you want in whatever language over them, if it doesn't match the reality of what's in their life, the religious ceremony cannot save them. The point is emphasized, having the law, having a ceremony isn't enough. God requires righteousness.
Whose Praise Is Not From Men, But From God
So Paul's dealt with the immoral man, right? That was in chapter 1. And he dealt with the morally superior man. And now he's dealt with the religious man. All of them fall short. I like how he ends it in verse 29. He says, "whose praise is not from men, but from God."
The moral man or the religious man may find a lot of praise from other people. People pat them on the back. Oh my, you are spiritual. Wow, are you spiritual. You're a spiritual giant. Look at you. I mean, the church attendance chart, it's all filled, and what you give and how you are. And boy, everybody thinks you're a spiritual giant and all that. There may be a lot of praise from men. The bottom line, being justified means that your praise is from God.
So how do you measure up before God? The evidence of our righteousness with God is not contained in outward signs or works, and it's not assured because of who our parents were. The evidence is found in the work of God that's in our heart that shows itself in fruit.
Three Men in a Leaky Rowboat
Friends, this is dark, heavy stuff. Last week, Paul laid it out very plainly. That immoral man, he cannot save himself. You will not be saved if you push away God and reject him and get left to your own sin. And now he's taken to task the moral man. Hey, you Mr. Morally Superior person, you're not going to be saved by your superior morality. And there's Mr. Religious person. You're not going to be saved just because you have the Bible or just because you have some religious ceremonies in your life.
It's as if Paul looks at people, and there they are, in a rowboat on the ocean, miles away from any kind of shore, miles and miles. And the rowboat springs a leak, and there's three men inside. Well, there's Mr. Immoral Man. And he says, well, I'll start swimming and maybe I'll find something. And Mr. Immoral Man, he can't swim very well. He goes about 20 feet and he drowns.
There's Mr. Morally Superior Man. Well, he's a better man than Mr. Immoral Man. So he starts swimming. He jumps out of the leaky rowboat. He starts swimming. That man, he's pretty good. He swims a half a mile before he sinks and drowns.
Well, Mr. Religious Man is better than them all. He had the law. He had the morality. He even has the religious ceremonies behind him. And he's a better man than the moral man. He's a better man than the immoral man. And he jumps out of the rowboat and he starts swimming. And that man's incredible. He swam for 10 miles. And then he sinks and drowns.
The bottom line, you might be further along comparing yourself to other people, but not before the standard of God.
My Gospel
That's a dark place to leave us in, isn't it? Let's look back at verse 16. I want to shed a little light in this dark place, although I do have to warn you fairly that next week it's going to get even a little worse. Paul's going to leave us completely buried. He's going to leave us no confidence in ourselves whatsoever.
Verse 16 of Romans 2, Paul says, "in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." I love that phrase, my gospel. It wasn't Paul's gospel because he made it up. He didn't copyright it, or get the publishing rights on it or anything like that. It was Paul's gospel because it was deep inside of him, because he owned it for himself. And it shows that he was a man of great courage as well. It was his way of saying, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation for everybody who believes.
He says it's my gospel in the same way that a soldier looks at the flag and says, that's my flag. Or the same way the soldier looks back at his country and says, that's my country. It's his. He'll serve it. It's his banner. He'll follow it even to the death.
Friends, this is my question for you. Can you say with Paul, my gospel? Or is it the gospel that the preacher talks about? Or is it the gospel that your wife believes in? Or is it the gospel that your grandmother told you about? Can you say for yourself, it's my gospel? I know the good news of Jesus Christ, that I am a guilty sinner.
Because every one of us, I think, falls into one of those categories. You're either the immoral man, the morally superior man, or the religious man. All of us need to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and can only be saved by looking outside of ourselves. And the good news, the gospel that comes to us, is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to bear all the sin, to bear all the punishment, all the shame that our sin deserved. And he bore it on the cross in our place. He takes our sin and he gives us his righteousness. That's the great exchange.
So is that your gospel? It needs to belong to you. You need to own it. And if you haven't, you should decide to this morning.
Father, that's what I pray. I pray for anyone here this morning who needs to make that decision for Jesus Christ. I pray, God, that you would speak to their heart, that you would warm their heart right now, that you would lead them to repentance. Lord, maybe we've been waiting for you to drive us. We won't do that any longer, Lord. Now we sense you leading us to repentance and we respond. We say, Lord, we surrender our lives to you.
Father, I pray that every person in this room would own the gospel as their gospel. And I pray as well, Lord, for those who have slipped back into being the moralist or the religionist. Maybe, Lord, the relationship with Jesus Christ isn't as fervent as it once was, and now they find themselves more looking down on others, feeling they are superior morally, or trusting in religious ceremonies, or just the fact that they have your word. Lord, shatter us from trusting those things. Make us trust in Jesus and Jesus alone.
Now as I'm praying here, and we're reverent before God, does anybody here want to say this morning, my gospel, for really the first time? If you do, raise your hand so I can see it, so I can know. God bless you, sir, and you, and those, yes, God bless you. Anybody else here? You want it to be your gospel?
Oh Father, I pray for every one of those who have reached out to you. I pray for those who have raised their hands in faith, God. They want it to be their gospel, Lord, not that they wrote it, it's your gospel that you give to us, but we want to own it in our hearts. Father, I pray that you'd help them to put all trust outside of themselves and on Jesus Christ right now, to surrender their life to the Lord. Come to him and say that you're thankful that he died on the cross to save you, and that you trust in that, not yourself. Father, take our lives and help us live before you, not as the moralists, not as the religionists, but as your redeemed people, in Jesus' name, amen.