I Am Guilty, Too -Romans 2:1-3:20
A self-satisfied old lady walked to the church next door to her house every Sunday. The preacher regularly spoke of sin and the coming judgment, and every week, the lady would shake his hand and say, “You really gave it to them today, pastor!” One Sunday, a fierce snowstorm enveloped the area. The little lady struggled next door to find that only she and the pastor were in the building. The pastor went to the pulpit full of the confidence that today, his message of judgment and repentance would finally be heard by this parishoner. At the conclusion of the sermon, the lady shook his hand as she went out the door, saying, “If they had been here today, you would have really given it to them.”
Why is it that we happily receive the message of grace, but we manage to redirect the message of God’s wrath to “them”? Paul asks and answers this question in Romans 2 and 3. He wants us to know that:
- God’s doesn’t recognize the distinctions we make. “Man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart” (1 Sam.16:7). In the context of Paul’s letter, Jewish Christians had the outward appearance of holiness. They had a culture based on Mosaic law, “the embodiment of knowledge and truth” (2:20), they congratulated themselves as a guide to the blind and a light to those in darkness (2:19), the outward rite of circumcision put them in a holy huddle that excluded Gentiles (2:28). But this outward respectability means nothing to God, who brings to light the things hidden in darkness. A great example of sanctimonious snobbery is Jonah, who was bragging about his goodness while he lounged belowdeck, while the pagan “sinners” tried to bail out the sinking ship.
- It feels good to judge others. To take joy in another’s failure makes me feel better about myself. If God grades on a curve, I might be better than average. But in order to decide that someone is wrong, I MUST HAVE A STANDARD OF RIGHT AND WRONG. Once I am aware of that standard, I have to realize that I am also wrong. God’s law is unattainable. The sinner whose failure I am enjoying may be missing that standard by a mile while I only miss by a quarter mile, but I am still wrong too (2:21-22). Adultery misses God’s standard; but so does lust. Theft is obviously wrong, but how about being over zealous about a tax deduction, or borrowing something I never return, or letting my employer pay me for time I am wasting at work? “Righteous” people know God’s temple is holy, but they may be making a house of prayer a den of thieves. Overt sins and hidden sins are equally offensive to God.
- God’s silence does not indicate His approval (2:3-6). This is the sneer of last day sinners who presume God has never acted and never will (2 Pet.3:3-4,9). God is not slow, He is patient. The coming judgment is so severe that He graciously gives sinners time and opportunity to repent. But the Lord God is holy and all-seeing. No sin escapes His notice and all sin must be paid for. “There is no righteous person, not even one…every mouth must be closed and all the world must become accountable to God”(3:10,19). Paul asserts that we are all sinners, deserving of death.
But wait; there’s more.