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I would like to continue explaining Romans to you, this time summarizing Romans chapter two. As always, please please read the chapter yourself first. You can find free access here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans+2&version=NLT
Romans one ended by talking about all the horrible things that humans can do, and this chapter picks up directly off of that. It is as though Paul expects some people to argue that they don’t do such bad things, such as deceiving, backstabbing, or murdering. This group would say that, yes, some people do those things, but they themselves don't because they are more moral. In fact, these people even judge those who do such horrible things. Paul calls these "moralists" out on it, saying that, while they do a lot of good things, they still aren't good enough to escape God’s judgment; they aren't good enough to be “right” with God, on the upside of His laws and judgments. These moral people have to do nonstop good with no evil at all in order to be completely right in God’s sight and so escape His judgment. God will give everyone what they deserve—punishment for those who do any evil even once and reward for those who do good all the time. Even these so-called moral people will be judged by God because they do evil.
One of these people might say, “But we don’t have God’s laws telling right and wrong like the Jewish people do, so why are we being judged against a standard we don’t know?” Paul’s argument for that is this: God created every person in the world with a conscience which innately knows good and evil; it isn’t perfectly accurate like God's written laws are, but it is similar enough for God to use it as a standard. If a so-called moral person has disobeyed his or her conscience, God still considers that worthy of judgment because the person did know better.
Lastly, Paul presents his case to the Jewish people. The Jews boast that they are better and wiser than the other people because God gave them His laws. And so they think God will not judge them because they have His laws and are "special." Paul calls them out too, saying that they don’t follow the God’s laws, so having the laws does them no good. They are terrible hypocrites, speaking of how they are special to have the laws and yet not following them. The Jews also boast in a ceremonial sign (circumcision) that God gave them to do which identifies them as Jews. Paul tells them that being circumcised won’t save them from God’s judgment for breaking the laws because circumcision has no value to God if they do not follow His laws. In fact, being a real Jew doesn’t happen by being circumcised; it happens by being right with God, either by completely obeying the law all the time or by believing in Jesus Christ (which we’ll get to soon).
That is the end of chapter two, which is rich in theology and poor in practical instruction. I believe the application and point of this chapter is for us to evaluate ourselves and not to judge others. I see myself in the first type of person described—the so-called moral person. I mean, I am definitely not a Jew, although I do have access to God’s laws. I usually don’t like to think about this, but I sometimes look down my nose at people, thinking, “Sure I do bad stuff, but I’m not as bad as those people.” But according to this chapter, I definitely am as bad as those people are in God’s eyes. I have broken God’s laws. Sure, I haven’t murdered anyone, but I have gossiped, lied, broken promises, and disobeyed my parents. And I have definitely been proud. Unfortunately for me, God considers the breaking of one of His laws, or doing one of those things I listed, to be just as bad as being a serial killer. I know that God will judge me because of this.
Also, sometimes people who come from Christian families take on some of the attitudes of the Jews in this chapter. For instance, we think that because our parents are Christians, because we go to church, or because we pray before meals that God won’t judge us. But God won't allow us to escape judgment by doing those things any more than the Jews will based on their ceremonial circumcision, even though it was something God initially commanded. God wants us to be "right" with Him before doing those good things, or those things will mean nothing because of all the wrong we have done. Being right with God is most important. But unfortunately, we have all failed pretty fantastically at doing good always. God will judge us … but then there’s Jesus, who we’ll talk about later.
So, friends, do you have any questions? Comments? Concerns? Please tell me what you think!
Always,
Anne
PS: If you want to know what God’s laws are, since God judges all people based on them, they can be found in the first 5 books of the Bible, especially in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments. Also, Romans 1 has a long list of things God considers evil.
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