The Guilt in ROMANS 2

By Michael Griego on February 9, 2024 • ( 0 )

With his great legal mind, Paul is developing a brilliant case against those of obvious guilt, as well as those who may think they rise above it. ◊

After reading the latter half of Romans Chapter 1, there’s a strong sense that God is pretty judgmental with a world that has a guilt problem.

And who are the guilty?

Actually it’s all of us.

The Apostle Paul first addresses the sinful pagan or Gentile, or anyone who does not honor, acknowledge, or thank God, but rather gives in to their own ways, behavior, and standards of conduct.

In Romans Chapter 2, Paul cites the law – God’s law – moral and otherwise which all people, Jews and Gentiles are impacted, whether they are under or apart from the law.

How does that make sense? That would make everyone guilty, whether they know about it, care about it, or sincerely try to adhere to it.

Exactly.

God’s Principles of Judgment
In God’s economy, there is no excuse for anyone, even Jews (who considered themselves superior to Gentiles) or anyone considering themselves religious or elite in any way:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:1-4)

We don’t have to like it, or even understand it, but God is going to have His way, and God’s righteous judgment, without favoritism, will be revealed toward all “doing good” and those who “follow evil.”

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.

God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. (Romans 2:5-11)

Yes, each will get what they deserve. Seems fair enough. But then Paul amps up his spiritual logic regarding the law (referring to Jewish law handed down by Moses) and its application for Gentiles with a conscience, before bringing down the hammer on the Jews as well:

All who sin apart from the law [Gentiles] will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law [Jews] will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law [Jews] who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law [any doer, even Gentiles!] who will be declared righteous.

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)

This [judgment] will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:12-16)

The Jews: Guilty Too Before God
The Jews, in Paul’s AD 56 target audience, primarily because of the Old Testament Mosaic Law which permeated their lives with ongoing religious practices, ceremonies, sacrifices, Sabbath behavior, and very overt lists of dos and don’ts, did not have a flagrantly obvious cultural problem with homosexuality outlined in Romans 1. That was a shunned legal violation resulting in stoning to death, as was adultery.

Jews therefore would have thought they had the upper hand on managing good human behavior acceptable to God. Paul sets them straight:

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? (Romans 2:17-21a)

Paul, a Jew himself, accuses them of hypocrisy:

You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:21b-24)

Outward signs of religion, like circumcision, have no value to God, if the heart is deceitful:

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. (Romans 2:25-29)

The Great Set Up
The apostle Paul, a Roman citizen, Jewish scholar, and avid Christ-follower, was brilliant rhetorically and logically in his God-inspired writings to the early Christian church. Early here in the opening chapters of his great treatise, the Book of Romans, Paul is making a clear case of the sinful plight of all mankind, yes even the Jews, as sinners in the Holy eyes of God, the Author and Giver of all things, including the Law which would convict us all apart from the solution presented in Romans Chapter 3.

Whether religious or not, do you realize you are guilty in God’s eyes?
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He is a Jew [God’s chosen] who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God. – Romans 2:29