Romans 2:1-11
In Romans 1:18-32, which I discussed in my last Romans blog, Paul was talking about "them". Them, over there, in the world. Those guys who forgot God and got filled with wickedness. Now, as we move into chapter 2, Paul stops talking about "them." Now, Paul is talking to "you". I think that is you, meaning me, and you, meaning you. You, the church in Rome, and you, today's collective "capital-C Church". That "you" is both general and specific, so whether I'm thinking about myself or about my church or even about the entire body of Christ, I think I can easily apply Paul's "you" to that. It sounds confusing, but in fact, it's quite simple. The "you" in Romans 2 is directed at all followers of Christ. Even so, I apologize in advance for any pronoun confusion; God's Word is simple, Heather's word is not necessarily.
I also wanted to quickly interject something that I've found from doing some more research. I really do personally feel like "them" is the unsaved and "you" is the saved; that's the way I'm going to interpret it right now for myself. But most scholars lean toward the position that "them" is the Gentiles and "you" is the Jews. That may be technically true regarding Paul's original intention, but I don't think that changes the way this passage applies to us (or at least to me, personally). We're talking about God's living word here, and what He says to me and you through it is bound to be different than what He said to the church at Rome thousands of years ago. That doesn't make either position less true or legitimate. And after having talked with some "real" people (not "scholars") I've found that they think of it the same way I do, and so I'm happy sticking with my original opinion and sorry that Oliver B. Greene made me question it! :) I am happy to give the whole story and both positions here though, so that it doesn't seem like I'm out of my mind for saying something different than the traditional interpretation. I digress...
In the last part of Romans 1, we found out that those guys out in the world were forgetting God and being given over to curses and God's wrath. In Romans 2:1, Paul is letting us know that it is not okay to be judgmental of them. We are not to judge those guys in the world! When we do, we are simply raining down judgment on ourselves. (I shudder to think what kind of judgment those God Hates Fags fruitcakes are raining down upon themselves.) But the fact is, judging "them" (and I mean "those guys in the world," not the Westboro Baptist Church) is not fair. Wouldn't you hate to be judged for the things you did before meeting Christ? I know that I would. We can love them, we can tell them the truth, we can pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them and draw them to Christ and His kingdom, but judging them will absolutely not accomplish any of those things. Once they come to Christ, His blood will cover all those things you're being judgmental of, and His Spirit will convict them and help them turn away from those things. So don't judge them. Just love them and speak the truth in love. Leave the judging to the only one who's worthy to judge. And I mean God, not Judy.
The oddest part of the whole judgment thing is that "you" are doing the same things "they" are doing! You have no right to judge! The judgment that you're raining down upon yourself will be harsh! Brutal, in fact. You're doing the same things they're doing and you know better! At least they've already exchanged the truth of God for a lie; what's your excuse?!
Okay. I get it. We're human and our nature is not pretty. It's part of our makeup to be filled with wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. God understands and that's why He made a way for our salvation. Even still... what right do we have to judge someone who doesn't even know God? Who doesn't even know salvation? If we are judging them, we deserve whatever condemnation we receive. The only difference between "them" and "you" is salvation, and "you" have done nothing to earn your salvation. It is purely through grace, and through grace alone, and it is purely undeserved - or ill-deserved, I should say - on "your" part.
The judging that is primarily being talked about here is judging someone who's doing the same things, or the same types of things, you're doing. It's hypocrisy in it's purest form, and all it does is make your own judgment from God harsher. But James 4:11-12 basically says to me that you shouldn't judge anyone. When it says "brother" it means believer and when it says "neighbor" it means non-believer. That speaks pretty clearly to the fact that judging is not kosher with God. He is the Lawgiver and the Judge... who are we to judge His laws and His people?
Just as an aside here, I'd like to say that I don't think this means that we shouldn't try and convict criminals in legal courts of law. We are to obey the laws of our land and our government, and those who don't, should be judged according to the laws of our land. I also don't think this means that we necessarily need to reconcile with someone who wrongs us (although we do always need to forgive them). What I think Paul and James were getting at here is that we shouldn't go around saying (or thinking) that Bobby is going to hell for his adultery and Sally is such a liar that she has no place in the kingdom. Those things aren't for us to say. Continue to show love and truth to Bobby and Sally and leave the judging to the real Judge. That's also not to say that we shouldn't practice biblical church discipline. I think doing it with pure motives and a loving heart is what draws the line. If you're excited to go tell someone they're doing something wrong, it's probably not something you should be addressing.
Verses 3 and 4 are really interesting. Paul highlights God's holiness and leaves me feeling about an inch tall! First he notes that God is the real judge and that when we, mere men, (I can just hear him spitting that phrase out with contempt!) pass judgment on others, we won't escape God's judgment. He then takes it a step farther and implies that in judging, we are showing contempt for God's patience. It's as though we feel like God's not acting fast enough with that lightening bolt from the Heavens, so we need to do a little judging for him. He is patient and loving with us, and that is the way we need to be with others. Kindness and love lead the lost to Christ, and once they're there, Christ does all the work. We should be Christ on earth to those people (because we're filled with the same spirit that raised Him from the dead!), so it's that kindness and love that we need to show to others.
So, in addressing this, my need for transparency is coming in to play. This topic is begging me to answer the question “Do I look at other people’s sins with condemnation thinking I am not like them?" The answer is, of course I do. I'm a human with a fallen nature. I'm a woman whose opinions are based largely on emotion. How could I not be a judgmental hypocrite? It's sad, but it's true. And it's something that I struggle with. I think that, for me, my biggest area of being wrongly judgmental is with other parents. The momma bear comes out in me and I want to feel like I'm doing the best with my kids, and if others are doing something different, it's because they're wrong. It's not really a topic mentioned in Romans, but it's the one that I feel most convicted of on an almost daily basis. And the fact is, when I sit back and think about it logically, I can see that I make mistakes daily with my children. Who the heck am I to judge other mommies who are also just trying to do the best they can with what they've been given? Well... no one. I can't judge others because I'm as guilty as they are (if not more so!) of having bad mommy moments. But that doesn't seem to stop me, unfortunately. So what I'm saying here is that it is not easy to exemplify this patient, tolerant, kind persona, and I'm as guilty as anyone. And that is why we need Jesus.
Basically, when we don't show kindness and patience, we are showing contempt for the fact that God does show kindness and patience. And that contempt leads to the wrath of God. The wrath of God against those good-for-nothings that we're judging? No. The wrath of God against us! And when His righteous judgment happens (as opposed to our completely un-righteous judgment), we will not be the ones gloating. Because "God will give to each person according to what he has done." And if what we've done is show contempt for His kindness... well... scary thought, huh?
Basically, if you are persistent in doing God - in "being" Christ to the lost - you'll receive glory, honor and immortality. And if you're self-seeking - like trying to build yourself up by judging others - you'll receive wrath and anger. Just a personal opinion, but the whole wrath and anger thing doesn't sound like a lot of fun.
Persistence in doing good... that's kind of a general phrase, huh? And it almost seems like we're trying to earn our salvation if we're doing it through persistence of our own volition. But the fact is, we can't. We can't persist in that on our own. Even when filled with Christ's spirit, we can't completely do it! It's one of those things that persists in you when you receive Him. It's actually not of your own volition at all! It happens because you know Him and He lives in you. He is good, so with Him living in you, you can't help but to persist in doing good. I also love how it says "doing" good, not "being" good. God is not passive, and when He's in us, neither can we be. Simply to be is not enough for Him, we have to do in order to be in Him.
One thing that I find extremely interesting is that Paul does not, in this passage, explain exactly how to get eternal life. He says that it's given "through persistence in doing good," but there is no direction given for how to persist in that. I think the reason for this is a) he goes a bit more in depth later in the letter and b) it's a hard thing to put into words. That's where we get that Christian-language of "trusting Jesus as your savior" or "accepting the gift of eternal life" or "asking Jesus into your heart." The fact is, it's all of those things and it's none of them. It's an issue of coming to terms with the fact that you're a sinner, trusting and believing that Jesus will take care of you, and being filled with His spirit. It's both an issue of obedience and a gift that you can do nothing at all to make yourself worthy of receiving. It's the reason that there's so much discrepancy among believers about what is truth and what is pure speculation. Honestly, it's a heart issue. If you've got it, you get it; if you don't, you can't. I don't say that to make it sound elitist at all, because it's really the simplest thing in the world. Once you get Him, you'll "get" it. Got it?
And really, in my way of thinking, the people Paul was writing to were saved. Or they were Christians, at the very least. (Teehee.) Perhaps they were a lot like our American Christians. But they knew the basics nonetheless. They knew how they got saved, so he really didn't need to go into a whole lot of depth there. What he wanted to do was make sure they grew in Christ instead of shrinking away from Him.
Because the whole judging thing is a really slippery spiral downward (and any non-Christian who's spent time around Christians can probably attest to that, sadly). In v. 8 Paul summarizes these people, and he does not say anything about "those terribly righteous people who are completely justified in making judgment against their fellow man." No, actually what he says is that they are self-seeking, reject the truth, and follow evil. Yikes. Didn't see that coming, didja? And, as previously mentioned, they are destined for trouble, distress and the wrath of God unless they repent. That whole judging thing is something that God just cannot tolerate because when you judge, you're not only judging men, you're also judging and condemning God's plan and technique. And that, my friends, is not at all kosher. Paul wanted to nip that problem in the bud as quickly as possible, so that his friends in Rome weren't left saying "Hey, where am I going? And why am I in this hand-basket?"
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