Romans 2

Judgment is based on the revelation of conscience

Paul is carefully building a well-crafted argument to show that all people—with or without the Bible—need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. All of us come to God the same way, with the empty hands of faith. Paul just demonstrated that all Gentiles are under the judgment of God. Why? They have rejected both internal evidence (Rom. 1:19) and external evidence (Rom. 1:20) that God exists. After suppressing this evidence, they refused to honor and give thanks to God, and worshipped idols instead (Rom. 1:21-25). Consequently, we become what we worship: These Gentiles fell headlong into all different types of sin (Rom. 1:26-32).

At this point, Paul imagines a self-righteous Gentile (contra Moo,[] Mounce,[] and Stott[]).[] Perhaps he has in mind a man who has a good work ethic, loves his family, and lives an upright life. This Gentile might be saying, “Paul, I fully agree that those Gentiles are under God’s judgment. But not me! I’m a good man!” Here Paul turns the tables on this sort of person, revealing that these sorts of Gentiles have their own set of problems before God: self-righteousness.

(2:1) “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”

“No excuse” (anapologetos) literally means “no apologetic” or “no defense.” This is the same word used in Romans 1:20. Just as the libertine Gentile had “no excuse” for rejecting God (Rom. 1:20), so too this self-righteous Gentile has “no excuse” for his rejection of God—though for totally different reasons. In his case, the self-righteous Gentile inwardly knows that he’s a hypocrite, judging others by a moral standard that he himself doesn’t reach.

It doesn’t matter if you think something is wrong (i.e. “judge”). It matters if you do the same things (i.e. “practice”). The self-righteous Gentiles are being judged based on the law of their conscience. Their judgment of others turns around and condemns them.

(2:2-3) “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

God’s judgment is fully fair. He bases his judgment on the moral conscience of the individual, which they themselves break. Francis Schaeffer described this as an invisible tape recorder that is hung around the neck of every person who ever lived.[] (Today, we might say it’s an mp3 or digital recorder, and in another 40 years we’ll probably say it’s a microchip inserted directly into your brain!) According to Schaeffer’s illustration, every time an unbeliever makes a moral statement, this is recorded. At the end of the person’s life, God will “play back the tape” to judge the person based off of what he said. He will judge the person based on their own judgments. We all break God’s objective moral laws. But more pathetic than this, we even break our own subjective standards.

(2:4) “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

This is a noteworthy verse when we consider how God desires to change us: Not through fear but through kindness—not through judgment but through grace. God doesn’t gloss over sin through his kindness. Rather, Moo writes, “God’s purpose in his kindness is not to excuse sin but to stimulate repentance.”[]

(2:5) “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

God is winsomely drawing us to himself through “kindness,” “tolerance,” and “patience.” But we are the ones filled with “stubbornness” and an “unrepentant heart.” We’re learning more about God’s “righteousness” that is revealed in the gospel (1:17). God’s active judgment will be revealed in the future—just as his passive judgment is being revealed in the present (1:18).

(2:6) “Who will render to each person according to his deeds.”

Later in verse 16, Paul repeats this thought: “On the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” God’s judgment will be fair—based on what we’ve done (citing Psalm 62:12).

(2:7-10) “To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

If you seek God and do good, you’ll be given eternal life. The problem (as Paul makes clear) is that no one seeks God and no one does good (3:10-12).

(2:11-12) “For there is no partiality with God. ¹² For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.”

Paul is driving home the point that God’s judgment will be perfectly just—neither lower nor higher than what we deserve. God will judge the Jews and Gentiles based on whatever revelation they were given. The Gentiles might complain, “But I was never given the Law!” Yet Paul’s point still stands: They were given the law of conscience, and they couldn’t even live up to that. It might be like someone saying, “I was never given an opportunity to go to college!” But that same person couldn’t pass their classes in high school. If the Gentiles cannot even pass the law of conscience, then how could they pass the even higher Law of God?

(2:13) “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

It isn’t enough to merely hear the Law. We need to do it. This is very similar to James’ burden in his letter (Jas. 1:22-25).

“Just before God.” This is Paul’s first use of the verb “justify” in the letter. Moo writes, “The law can justify only when it is obeyed; reading it, hearing it taught and preached, studying it—none of these, nor all of them together, can justify.”[]

(2:14-15) “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”

Even people without the Bible still have a moral conscience. It isn’t as though someone reads the Ten Commandments for the first time and says, “What?! We shouldn’t murder? I always thought murder was such a good idea!” The moral law of God in the Bible will fit with a perfectly calibrated conscience. The problem is that our conscience isn’t always a perfect reflection of God’s moral standards (see Rom. 14).

The plight of this person is that sometimes their conscience defends them (leading to self-righteousness), while other times it accuses them (leading to condemnation and guilt). Paul is leveraging this innate sense in the human heart to show people their need for God’s grace. Moo writes, “The excusing and accusing testimony of the thoughts within each person’s conscience portends the verdict of the one who will bring every thought to light.”[]

(2:16) “On the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

God will even judge what is in the human heart. What a terrifying concept when we really reflect on this! All “secrets” will be exposed on this day. Imagine if all of your internal private thoughts were posting on a teleprompter above your head throughout your whole life. How many friends would you be able to keep, when they saw each and every shameful thought going through your mind? If you’re anything like me, you’d be a very lonely person!

On the Day of Judgment, all of these hidden thoughts, motives, and desires will be brought to light. Our only hope is grace—not self-effort, not self-righteousness, not self-made religion. Paul will later explain that we need grace from a transcendent source (Rom. 3:21ff). Here, Paul is only setting up the insurmountable problem.

Thoughts about Self-Righteousness

Self-righteous judgment is a serious sin. Not all judgment is wrong (see Matthew 7:1), but self-righteous judgment is certainly wrong. When a fellow believer has a moral fall, we should correct, comfort, and even admonish them, but we should make sure that this doesn’t lead to self-righteousness in our own hearts. In a different situation, we realize that we could’ve made the same sinful choice ourselves (Gal. 6:1-2).

No matter how sinful you think you are, you’re worse! Truly, I am the worst sinner that I know (1 Tim. 1:15). I am the only person (besides God) who has first-person awareness of my thoughts, desires, motives, and intentions, and even I am not qualified to sort all of these out! (Jer. 17:9-10; 1 Cor. 4:3-4) When we begin to self-righteously judge others, God will often remind us of our own sinful thoughts and desires—presumably to keep us humble before him. Our role is to humble ourselves before God, rather than stick to the thin veneer of self-righteousness.

Questions for Reflection

Read verses 1-16. Self-righteous people gauge their righteousness from themselves. If you asked them if they were self-righteous, they would probably say, No! Since self-righteousness is so deceiving, how can we get out of this vicious loop of self-righteousness?

What are key ways to identify self-righteousness without morbid introspection?

What are key ways to grow as a self-righteous person? How would you help a self-righteous person to grow in this area?

Romans 2:17-3:8 (Judgment is based on the revelation of Scripture)

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul carefully lured in his Gentile readers to accept his argument by writing about other Gentiles. He spoke of them with “they… them… those…” language. But in Romans 2:1, he turned on the individual by writing, “Therefore… YOU!” To paraphrase, we might imagine Paul saying, “You know that those sorts of people are bad, and they deserve God’s judgment? Well, what about you? You deserve God’s judgment for the ways you break your own moral conscience!”

In Romans 2:17, Paul uses the same strategy with his Jewish readers. Paul will draw them in from verses 17-20, and he will drop the hammer in verse 21 (“You, therefore”).

(2:17) “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God.”

“Bear the name ‘Jew.’” The Jewish people in Paul’s day thought that they were in God’s family for simply being ethnically Jewish. But simply coming from a Jewish family doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be forgiven. Being a child of God doesn’t come in our DNA or human ancestry.

“Rely upon the Law.” The word for “rely” (epanapauomai) means to “to be in a state or condition of repose, rest, take one’s rest” or “to find well-being or inner security, find rest, comfort, support” (BDAG). The Jewish people that the by merely possessing God’s law resulted in a special spiritual status.

“Boast in God.” The word for “boast” (kauchomai) means to “to take pride in something, boast, glory, pride oneself, brag” (BDAG). It seems like a good idea to “boast in God.” Yet, looks can be deceiving. The context shows that these religious people were boasting in God’s gifts—not in God himself. As Mounce writes, “Gradually… privilege gave birth to self-righteousness.”[] Furthermore, it’s odd that this quality is stated last—almost as if God was tacked on at the end. If these blessings were given in descending order, this would mean God was the least valuable of all in the mind of the religious person.

Think of the Pharisee in Jesus’ illustration about showing true faith. It seemed like this religious man was thanking God in his prayer, but it turns out that this was a mere formality for thanking himself! The Pharisee prayed, “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income” (Lk. 18:11-12 NLT). This man’s prayer was not about God, and really all about himself (“I… I… I…”).

(2:18) “And know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law.”

“Know… approve… instructed.” These religious people possessed a lot of religious education, but they had no application. We can’t just approve of God’s will. We need to live it out.

(2:19-20) “And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”

All of these gifts led the Jewish people to think that they should be expert teachers of others. Indeed, the Jewish people were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles in the OT. Yet, merely possessing spiritual and moral knowledge doesn’t make someone a good teacher of others. They had turned into “blind guides” (Mt. 23:16, 24).

At this point, Paul’s Jewish audience would be nodding their heads. We might imagine them saying, “Let ‘em have it, Paul! Those Gentiles deserve judgment, and we are the true chosen people of God! We have the right religious identity, we possess the Law, and we top notch religious education.” But right at this moment, Paul turns on his fellow Jewish readers…

(2:21) “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?”

Paul cites the 8^th commandment: “You shall not steal.” It isn’t enough to teach that you shouldn’t steal. It matters if someone’s wallet went missing!

(2:22) “You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

Paul cites the 7^th commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.” Paul doesn’t give any commentary on this commandment, but he must have known that this would’ve connected with his audience.

Paul cites the 1^st and 2^nd commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me… You shall not make any graven image.” The religious Jewish people were desecrated their own Temple (Mt. 21:13). Moreover, while they disapproved of Gentile idolatry, they didn’t mind profiting off of it.

(2:23) “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?”

These religious Jewish people were boasting about the Law, but they were dishonoring God through the Law.

(2:24) “For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ just as it is written.”

The Gentiles “blasphemed” God, because they saw that God’s followers were hypocrites. Tim Keller writes, “A life of religious legalism is always distasteful to those outside their faith.”[]

(2:25) “For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.”

Paul is arguing that the Jewish people should not place their trust in circumcision or in the Law. Later Jewish writing stated, “No person who is circumcised will go down to Gehenna” (Exodus Rabbah 19). Yet Paul argues that these are worthless without obedience. This is similar to a golfer who is always bragging about his expensive golf clubs, expensive shoes, and polo shirts… Yet, doesn’t know how to swing the club! In the same way, merely having circumcision and the Law doesn’t mean anything unless you’re putting it into practice.

Gentiles were uncircumcised and thus outside the covenant people. By calling the Jews “uncircumcised,” Paul is equating these religious people with the Gentiles!

(2:26-27) “So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? ²⁷ And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?”

If the Gentiles follow the Law, they are more righteous than the Jewish people by comparison. This would be a radical statement for a Jewish listener. Paul is saying that the Gentiles will actually hold court and judge these Jewish people because they do not keep the Law. In some sense, this shouldn’t be that radical, because God used Gentile nations in the OT to judge the Jewish people. But in the first-century, the Jews had such antipathy for the Gentiles (and vice-versa) that this statement would’ve stung. Moreover, Jewish authors often placed themselves as the judges over the Gentile nations (1 Cor. 6:2; 1 Enoch 91:12; 98:12; Apocalypse of Abraham 29:19-21; Wisdom of Solomon 3:8). But Paul “reverses this customary scheme.”[] Jesus paved the way in taking this approach, claiming that the “men of Nineveh” and the “queen of the south” would judge his generation (Mt. 12:41-42).

(2:28-29) “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

The “circumcision of the heart” was predicted in the OT. Moses wrote, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” (Deut. 30:6). Likewise, Jeremiah wrote, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds” (Jer. 4:4).