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Book: Romans
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Romans 2:5 The Righteous Judgment of God
Intro. I am often asked if it is fair for God to condemn forever in the
torment of hell, those who have never heard of Jesus Christ? My
answer is, I do not know what God will do with them, but I know
that whatever he does will be fair. Paul makes reference here to
the righteous judgment of God.
I. The Bible forbids our judging others.
A. Jesus said, "Judge not lest you be judged, for with what
judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure
you mete, it shall be measured to you.
1. You by your judging are setting the standards by which
you will be judged.
2. That is why I seek to be merciful. "Blessed are the
merciful for they shall obtain mercy."
B. Here Paul tells the Romans that they are inexcusable who judge
others for in doing so they are condemning themselves, for they
are guilty of the same things.
1. All you have to do is change the circumstances slightly
and you find that you are the guilty party.
a. When Nathan came to David with the story of the
rich man and the poor man. David judged the man
guilty and declared that he should be put to
death.
b. Nathan said, "You are the man."
2. Further down in the text Paul said, "You preach that a
man should not steal, do you steal?"
3. You may condemn the man that is committing adultery,
but have you looked lustfully at a woman?
4. You condemn the murderer but do you hate someone?
C. Our judgment at best is faulty.
1. We cannot judge motives.
2. We do not have all the evidence.
3. We can be influenced by people.
II. The judgment of God.
vs3 A. It is inescapable. Paul said, "You that are judging others
and doing the same things, do you think that you can escape
the judgment of God?"
1. There are many who must think that they are going to
escape the judgment of God.
2. Because man has been able to escape the faulty judgment
of man and has been able to get by with his evil, he
has somehow come to the place of deceiving himself into
thinking that he can escape the judgment of God.
3. Somehow we forget that there is a judgment to come. It
is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the
judgment.
vs2 B. The judgment of God is according to truth.
1. You can buy the expert witness of a psychiatrist to say
that you have diminished capacities and that you grew
up in a deprived condition that created a
uncontrollable compulsion to rob banks.
2. You can buy the expert witness of a scientist who will
say that the D.N.A. from a blood sample is not always
reliable.
3. There are people without morals who will testify to
anything so that the truth is often difficult to
ascertain.
4. If you don't believe in God and the judgment to come,
everything in life becomes relative, and who is to say
what is right and what is wrong. You have no right
trying to force your standards of morality on everyone
else.
5. When we do not have a universal code of morality you
inevitably will have chaos.
6. We see in our society the same conditions that
prevailed in the days of Noah when God was forced to
judge the earth. We read of those days that every one
did that which was right in their own eyes.
ROM 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ according to my gospel.
vs5 C. The judgment of God is righteous.
1. Vs 6 He will render to every man according to his
deeds.
a. To those who patiently are doing good as they
seek for the glory of God and honor and
immortality, God will give them eternal life.
b. To those who are contentious, and do not obey
the truth but live in unrighteousness, God will
pour out His indignation and wrath.
c. God will send tribulation and anguish on every
man that does evil, Jew and Gentile alike.
d. God will give glory and honor and peace to
every man who does good the Jew and Gentile
alike.
2. As Jesus addressed the churches in the book of
Revelation, to each He said, "I know your works."
a. You cannot hide your evil works from God.
b. You may have been successful in hiding them
from man but God sees all.
c. But all things [are] naked and opened unto the
eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
d. In the days of Noah God saw that the
imaginations of man's heart was only evil
continually.
e. David said to Solomon, The Lord searches all
hearts and understands all the imaginations of
man's thoughts.
f. The Psalmist said, "He knoweth the secrets of
the heart."
g. In Proverbs Solomon said, "The eyes of the Lord
are in every place beholding the evil and the
good."
h. Paul told the Corinthians that God was going to
bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the
heart.
3. In Revelation 16 as God is pouring out His wrath on the
earth during the great tribulation we read,
REV 16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and
fountains of waters; and they became blood.
REV 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O
Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged
thus.
REV 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou
hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
REV 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God
Almighty, true and righteous [are] thy judgments.
D. The Judgment of God is totally impartial.
1. There is no respect of persons with God.
DEU 10:17 For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a
great God, a mighty, and awesome, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward:
2CH 19:7 Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed
and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our God,
nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
2. In Job 34 Elihu is answering Job and declares,
JOB 34:17 Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn
him that is most just?
JOB 34:18 [Is it fit] to say to a king, [Thou art] wicked? [and] to
princes, [Ye are] ungodly?
JOB 34:19 [How much less to him] that accepteth not the persons of
princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all
[are] the work of his hands.
PRO 24:23 These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is] not good to
have respect of persons in judgment.
LUK 20:21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest
and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person [of
any], but teachest the way of God truly:
COL 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he
hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
1PE 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your
sojourning [here] in fear:
3. The respect of persons here in verse 11 is in reference
to the Jew who has the law and the Gentile, who had not
the law of God.
ROM 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without
law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by
the law;
ROM 2:13 For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the
doers of the law shall be justified.
ROM 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a
law unto themselves:
ROM 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another;)
a. When God judges a man it will be according to
the light and understanding that that man has
received.
b. The Jew who has been given much light will be
judged by that light.
c. The heathen who have had little light will be
judged by the little light that they have.]
LUK 12:45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and
to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
LUK 12:46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not
for [him], and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him
in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the
unbelievers.
LUK 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
[himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many [stripes].
LUK 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes,
shall be beaten with few [stripes]. For unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have
committed much, of him they will ask the more.
d. Peter wrote,
2PE 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they
are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is
worse with them than the beginning.
2PE 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from
the holy commandment delivered unto them.
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