Romans Chapter 2 vs 1-29
We are getting into it now!
Here again Paul is seeking to quell the potential division between Greek and Jew in the church in Rome. A warning against judging others. He doesn't immediately call them out on such a division, the point this warning goes beyond their church, but he does later (Verses 9-11) indicate something about God's judgement as it pertains to both Jew and Greek.
The wrath and fury of God's judgement will the "anguish and distress for everyone who does evil", notice how this is followed immediately by "the Jew First and also the Greek" in verse 9? It is repeated in verse 10 when "glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good" is God's judgement for the righteous. First the Jew and then also the Greek, we might take this as to mean that the Jew comes before the Greek, but that is not it, otherwise the wrath would go first to the Greek and then the Jew. The Greek did not have the benefit of growing up with the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, whereas the Jews did. Jews had the Law, a clear advantage over the Greeks when it comes to salvation. Their folly was following the letter of the Law instead of the spirit of the Law. The Law therefore became a measure and a club for which one could judge or condemn others, to compare themselves to in order to determine their own (self-)righteousness. Jesus clearly had problems with such behavior and Paul does to as we can see from this text.
When I was a boy, around 6 years old, I went with my 11 year old brother walking around the neighborhood and he led me into some wrongdoing and we got caught. While we were both in trouble, he got it first (and worst in this case). I was in trouble because discipline was the way of parenting in my household but the scorn went first to my older brother. Sure we both knew better, but he was older and being more mature. In this case the punishment (our mother's wrath) went to the older brother first and also the younger. The older brother "knew better" and had known better for much longer, just like the Jews had the Law for much longer before the Greeks/Gentiles.
Repaying according to one's deeds here means that basically evil is repaid with wrath and good is repaid with glory. Paul isn't trying to say here that the punishment for one sin is greater than another, or he who does the most good deeds gets the biggest reward.
In verses 17-29 Paul discusses how Jews, particularly those that preach the Law of Moses, are in the biggest danger of condemnation for their hypocrisy. The hypocrisy inherent in speaking against a particular sin, teaching others to avoid it when the one that is preaching is guilty of the transgression. Paul goes as far as to credit such individuals as the reason Gentiles blaspheme God's name.
A point that Paul wants to be clear on is that being taught the law and being circumcised doesn't matter if what is in your heart does not match up. Likewise, if one is not circumcised and is ignorant of the law but lives up to it anyway then it is as if that person is circumcised. Circumcision in this way is not an outwardly physical thing, but a mark that one carries instead on their heart, and that this is known to God.
We are getting into it now!
Here again Paul is seeking to quell the potential division between Greek and Jew in the church in Rome. A warning against judging others. He doesn't immediately call them out on such a division, the point this warning goes beyond their church, but he does later (Verses 9-11) indicate something about God's judgement as it pertains to both Jew and Greek.
The wrath and fury of God's judgement will the "anguish and distress for everyone who does evil", notice how this is followed immediately by "the Jew First and also the Greek" in verse 9? It is repeated in verse 10 when "glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good" is God's judgement for the righteous. First the Jew and then also the Greek, we might take this as to mean that the Jew comes before the Greek, but that is not it, otherwise the wrath would go first to the Greek and then the Jew. The Greek did not have the benefit of growing up with the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, whereas the Jews did. Jews had the Law, a clear advantage over the Greeks when it comes to salvation. Their folly was following the letter of the Law instead of the spirit of the Law. The Law therefore became a measure and a club for which one could judge or condemn others, to compare themselves to in order to determine their own (self-)righteousness. Jesus clearly had problems with such behavior and Paul does to as we can see from this text.
When I was a boy, around 6 years old, I went with my 11 year old brother walking around the neighborhood and he led me into some wrongdoing and we got caught. While we were both in trouble, he got it first (and worst in this case). I was in trouble because discipline was the way of parenting in my household but the scorn went first to my older brother. Sure we both knew better, but he was older and being more mature. In this case the punishment (our mother's wrath) went to the older brother first and also the younger. The older brother "knew better" and had known better for much longer, just like the Jews had the Law for much longer before the Greeks/Gentiles.
Repaying according to one's deeds here means that basically evil is repaid with wrath and good is repaid with glory. Paul isn't trying to say here that the punishment for one sin is greater than another, or he who does the most good deeds gets the biggest reward.
In verses 17-29 Paul discusses how Jews, particularly those that preach the Law of Moses, are in the biggest danger of condemnation for their hypocrisy. The hypocrisy inherent in speaking against a particular sin, teaching others to avoid it when the one that is preaching is guilty of the transgression. Paul goes as far as to credit such individuals as the reason Gentiles blaspheme God's name.
A point that Paul wants to be clear on is that being taught the law and being circumcised doesn't matter if what is in your heart does not match up. Likewise, if one is not circumcised and is ignorant of the law but lives up to it anyway then it is as if that person is circumcised. Circumcision in this way is not an outwardly physical thing, but a mark that one carries instead on their heart, and that this is known to God.
The Righteous Judgment of God
2 Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2 You say,[a]“We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.” 3 Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: 7 to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
12 All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.
The Jews and the Law
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God 18 and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, 19 and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, 21 you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29 Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
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