ROMANS, CHAPTER 2
[Verses 1-5]
(4-27-11)
Review:
Romans 1:28-32) [NIV] Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29) [NIV] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30) [NIV] slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31) [NIV] they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32) [NIV] Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
QUESTION: What are these verses talking about?
ANSWER: They didn’t want God in their lives, so He allowed the inevitable to happen; their minds became depraved.
QUESTION: What was the result?
ANSWER: All of the above manner of sin was the result.
QUESTION: What kind of depravity is verse 32 talking about?
ANSWER: People who want to sin, but go beyond that, and take pleasure in causing others to sin.
QUESTION: What else does verse 32 tell us?
ANSWER: These individuals know that God will punish this kind of activity, but they continue to delight in sin, and in those who sin.
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Romans 2:1-3) [NIV] 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.
2) [NIV] Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
3) [NIV] So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
4) [NIV] Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Concerning “do” of verse 1,
“To do, make, perform in general, expressing an action as continued or not yet completed, what one does repeatedly, continually, habitually” [Word Study].
QUESTION: How do these verses relate to our review, Romans 1:28-32?
ANSWER: Paul started the discussion with the familiar: Gentiles are a bunch of sinners. All the Jewish readers would have been shouting “Amen!” at those closing verses of chapter 1. Now, at the beginning of chapter 2, he switches to the unfamiliar: Jews are sinners to.
QUESTION: What was Paul’s accusation to his Jewish readers?
ANSWER: He told them they were practicing, on an ongoing basis, the very sins they condemned the Gentile unbelievers for.
QUESTION: What is the point of verses 2-3?
ANSWER: Paul wanted those Jews that believed that God would judge the Gentile sinners for doing these things, and rightfully so, but not judge them for practicing the same sins, to see the foolishness of their thinking.
Romans 2:4) [NIV] Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
QUESTION: Who were these Jews that Paul was writing to?
ANSWER: They had to be Jewish “Christians” in the Christian Church in Rome.
QUESTION: Why would “Christian” Jews think this way?
ANSWER: They brought their old faith into their new faith, like many of us do.
QUESTION: What are we doing when we judge others this way?
ANSWER: We’re showing contempt for God’s very kindness that led to our salvation.
Romans 2:5) [NIV] But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Regarding “unrepentant,”
“admitting no change of mind, unrepented, impenitent” [Thayer].
QUESTION: Were these Jewish believers genuine believers?
ANSWER: You could make the argument from this verse that they were not. However, it’s possible that Paul is getting at something else.
Matthew 7:1-5) [NIV] “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’”
QUESTION: What is the spiritual principle Jesus is teaching us here?
ANSWER: We will be judged in the manner that we judge others. Do you want to be judged by a Holy God for every sin you commit? If not, then don’t be so quick to judge others for their mistakes.
QUESTION: Is this teaching that judgmental Christians will go to Hell?
ANSWER: Christians go to Heaven; non-Christians don’t. Consequently, when applying this principle to the church, one of two things is true:
1. “Christians” who judge others aren’t really Christians.
2. It’s the principle of giving to others what you receive from God that is being taught.
NOTE: If the latter is true, then God is going to be working non-stop with believers to get them to the place where they understand grace. When we don’t give grace; we don’t understand grace. If we believe that we’re going to Heaven in spite of our being less than perfect, but we believe that others won’t, then we believe that God is grading on the curve. At that point, we believe we’re going to Heaven because we are better that those other folk.