Romans 2:1-14 – The Law, the Judge, and Hope

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment
on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We
know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose,
O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will
escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance
and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because
of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath
when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing
seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-
seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There
will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the
Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the
Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
12 Forall who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have
sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are
righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do
not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though
they do not have the law.
Have you ever met someone who says, “I don’t need God. I already have him?” I had a next door
neighbor who seemed to be as far from being a Christian as I could imagine. Every night, he was
having a party on his front porch getting drunk with his friends and gambling. One time, he told
me he quit his job. I asked him what he was going to do with all his time. He told me, “Three
things. Drink Beer. Play Mahjong. And sing karaoke.” Sometimes, I would sit with him and his
friends and talk, just trying to get an opportunity to tell them the good news of Jesus. One night,
my opportunity came. I gave him my testimony of how I came to faith in Jesus. I started giving
him a short gospel presentation when he stopped me. He said, “Why are you telling me this? I
already have God.”
What he meant by that was that he attended church on special occasions and was baptized when
he was a baby. He called himself a Christian, but his heart was far from God.
In some ways, this is the kind of person that the Apostle Paul writing to in Chapter 2 of the letter
to the Romans. Hypocrites. People who say one thing but clearly do something else. People who
say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” We can all tell stories of famous hypocrites. Maybe they are
pastors or politicians who preach a righteous lifestyle while they are having an affair or going to
strip clubs in secret.
But in others ways, Paul is writing to a different kind of person as well. Someone who is a
sincere, loving. family man. Someone who attends church regularly. Someone that everyone
would call good and moral. Someone like me. Maybe someone like you.

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In Chapter 1, Paul has described in great detail the process by which all of humanity has rejected
God and fallen into sin. He describes a long list of sins that follow once people have rejected
God as their master. And remember, Paul is writing to the church in Rome. Rome was famous
for its outrageous parties and drunkenness. Rome was famous for wild sexual orgies. Rome was
famous for gladiator fights and cheering when Christians were fed to the lions.
In the church in Rome, you had two kinds of people. You had the Gentile Christians, who had
outwardly been the pagans that Paul described in Chapter 1. And you had the Jewish Christians,
who had always avoided this wild lifestyle. Instead, they stood out in the ancient world as the
pious, religious people.
But in chapter 2, he turns his attention on Jewish religious people. The Jews thought of
themselves as different from all of the rest of the pagans in the world. In fact, they thought of
themselves as better than others. They had the holy scriptures. In the scriptures, God describes
them as his chosen nation, a special people that is different from the rest of the nations. They are
His children. Therefore, they believed that the wrath of God would bypass them. And Paul’s
purpose in this chapter is to show these religious people that they are just as lost as the wild
pagans. These people who didn’t have orgies and didn’t get drunk were equally condemned by
God because of their own set of sins.
Outline
1. Don’t Water it Down - The Law Demands Perfection
2. Don’t Judge – God is the Perfect Judge
3. Don’t Despair – We Still Have Hope

1. Don’t Water it Down - The Law Demands Perfection

At the beginning of chapter 2, Paul says something to them that must have completely shocked
them. He said, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in
passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very
same things.”
He is saying, “Don’t be quick to judge others, because you are no better than them.” What? How
can you say that? See, it wasn’t difficult to convince unreligious people that they needed to be
saved from God’s wrath. But religious people thought they were already saved based on their
religious lifestyle. If you look at their outward lifestyle, they are the model citizens. They can
rightfully say to Paul, “Paul, we don’t have stone idols of people or birds or that we worship like
Chapter 1:23. We don’t degrade our bodies with wild drunken parties or sexual orgies like verse
24. I don’t engage in homosexuality, like in verses 26-27. I haven’t murdered anyone like in
verse 29! How can you say I practice the very same things??” And I assume most of you can say
the same.
But it’s interesting how our minds work. We tend to spot the things in Chapter 1 that we don’t do
and read through the things that we actually do. Paul gives a list in verses 29-31 that we who

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think of ourselves as pretty good should spend time meditating on. He says, “They were filled
with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”
Most of these are not actions, but heart attitudes. Let’s just look at a few of them
Covetousness – Covetousness is basically greed - wanting more than you have. It goes with
another word in this list – envy. A covetous person is happy when they get the things they want
and sad when they think of the things they don’t have. In the 10 Commandments, the tenth
commandment paraphrased says, “You shall not covet your neighbor's house or wife, or
servants, or animals or anything that is your neighbor's.” In modern terms, that would be their
house, their relationships, their bank account, their cars, their electronics, or their overall
lifestyles. Jesus used this word in Luke 12:15, “And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your
guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions.” In this country, it is almost impossible to not be covetous. We are bombarded with
hundreds or even thousands of advertisements daily reminding ourselves of all the things we
don’t have and need. Paul says that God’s wrath is upon those who practice covetousness.
Gossip and Slander – the word for gossip here is literally to whisper. It is passing to people negative
information you’ve heard about others with the motive of making them look bad or for you to look
better. Someone has defined gossip as telling negative information about others when you are
neither part of the problem or the solution. And here’s the thing: gossip is true information. It is
when you say, “That person has a drug problem” and they do. “Those two are sleeping together”
and they are! Much of what you see on social media is true, and it is gossip. Slander is just like
gossip except that it is false information. It is passing along false information about others for the
purpose of making them look bad. But here’s the thing. Whether it’s true information (gossip) or
false information (slander), it’s none of our business. When you hear negative information about
another person, you have two responsibilities: One, don’t pass it along to others and two, tell the
person that told you the information to please not tell you such information in the future. Make it
your goal to not receive gossip and slander nor to participate in it in the future. Paul says that God’s
wrath is upon those who practice gossip and slander.
Those are just a few of the items that Paul lists in Chapter 1. And these are the “such things” that
Paul refers to when he says in Chapter 2 verse 3, “3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge
those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of
God?”
What Paul is doing in Chapters 1 and 2 of Romans is demonstrating that every person is under
the wrath of God: Gentile and Jew, unreligious or religious, criminals or model citizens. We
can’t look at anyone else and say, “They are really bad – much worse than me.” We are all
equally condemned. And why is that? Because the Law of God is perfect and demands
perfection.
Jesus said the same things in Matthew 5 on the Sermon on the Mount. He uses this formula,
“You have heard that it was said” and then he quotes from the Law of Moses something like,

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“You shall not murder”. And then he says, “But I say to you” and then he fills up the deeper
meaning of that law. So in verses 21-22, Jesus says, 21 “You have heard that it was said to those
of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to
you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his
brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of
fire.” He is saying that it is not enough to not physically murder another human. God holds us
guilty for our anger, our insulting words, and our general dehumanizing of other people.
And he does the same for adultery, dishonesty, stealing, and even our lack of love. Jesus said that
sexually lusting after another person is adultery of the heart and God will judge it. Jesus said that
failure to follow through on promises is the same thing as lying. Jesus said that not giving to the
poor is the same thing as stealing from them. He even said that not loving our enemies and not
praying for them is breaking the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus ends Matthew Chapter 5 saying, “48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father
is perfect.” We look at those words and say, “No way! That can’t be the standard. Nobody’s
perfect!” See, we don’t live in a world that demands perfection. We live in a “close-enough”
world. In most schools, a 90 is an A. Maybe some schools demand a 94 to get an A. But no
school demands 100 to get an A. Even in demanding fields like medicine and engineering, the
rule is close enough. I can say that as an engineer. When we launch a satellite into space, a good
launch is when we get within 5 km of our initial target. And even the best software may have
minor bugs in it. You just have to write it good enough to satisfy the customer’s needs within the
customer’s budget.
So that’s how we approach the Law of God. We assume God can’t demand perfection. He just
wants us to live lives good enough to not hurt other people very much and help other people
most of the time.” But is that how God judges?
2. Don’t Judge – God is the Perfect Judge (v. 6-11)
Paul says in verses 6-11 our passage, “6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to
those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give
eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every
human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace
for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.”
We can read this section from the outside in. Verse 6 says, “6 He will render to each one
according to his works: Verse 11 says, “For God shows no partiality.” In many ways, these
verses are really good news. A good judge looks at the evidence of a case itself. He doesn’t look
at the race or gender or personal appearance of the person He is judging. He is not partial to one
type of person or another. He judges or renders to each person according to his or her works.
What he or she did.
The reason that this is good news is that we don’t always see justice in this world. Our justice
system in America is pretty good these days. In the past, our system was very biased toward

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those who were white or those who were rich. If you didn’t fit into one of those categories, it was
tough to get true impartial justice. In many parts of the world today, the justice system is very
corrupt. Many people face horrible injustice when they stand before corrupt judges that are
controlled by government interests. People have to wonder if they will ever receive justice.
But the good news is that God is a perfect and just judge. Even if someone gets away with
murder and rape and stealing in this life, they will stand before a God who knows all. 6 He will
render to each one according to his works.” If you are an oppressed person in this world, you
can be infinitely encouraged for the fact that all justice will be done in eternity.
As we continue to read these verses from the outside in, there is more good news. Verse 7 says,
“7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give
eternal life” and verse 10 says there will be “glory and honor and peace for everyone who does
good, the Jew first and also the Greek.” The good news is that in spite of the fact that every
person will die, there is a perfect and holy God in heaven who offers eternal life. Life forever in
His presence. The eternal life is described in verse 10 as glory and honor and peace. Wow, that
sounds great!
So follow Paul’s logic here. He reminds us that this life will end one day, and I will add that
none of us know when that day will be coming. My mother just turned 90 this week and she has
lived a long life and is still very healthy. We can all hope for that. Unfortunately, many young
people also die. Jean and I had a dear niece who died suddenly and tragically at 15. But whether
you live a long life or a short life, you will die. And when you do, you will stand before the
Perfect and Most Impartial judge in the universe who says that there is a heaven that people can
go to when they die.
But then we hit the bad news, and that is found in verses 8 and 9. 8 but for those who are self-
seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There
will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the
Greek.”
When I read these verses with my natural mind, I immediately think about other people. Those
bad people who do not obey the truth, and obey unrighteousness, and who do evil, there will be
wrath and fury and tribulation and distress. I say, “Yeah, that’s going to be bad for them.” What
am I doing? I am justifying myself by watering down the Law.
So when we water-down God’s law, we read verse 8 this way: “but for those who are self-
seeking all the time and do not ever obey the truth, but always obey unrighteousness, there will
be wrath and fury.” Yeah, that’s what Paul really means. Right?: No, that’s not what it says.
Instead, we have to read it, “8 but for those who are ever self-seeking and do not always obey the
truth, but sometimes obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
And we say, “Wait a minute. What?” Everybody is self-seeking sometimes. Nobody always
follows the truth. Everybody is unrighteous sometimes. Does that mean that I could see God’s
wrath and fury and tribulation and distress? Yes. Not just that you could. You will. Paul
summarizes this judgment of God in Chapter 3 verse 20. “20 For by works of the law no human

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being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Verse 23 of
chapter 23 says, “ 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
God is the perfect judge. He shows no partiality. 6 He will render to each one according to his
works.” The problem isn’t with God. The problem is with us. Each of us regularly, willfully,
consciously break the law of God. And it does no good to say that you’re a better person than the
person next to you. God isn’t judging by comparing you to your neighbor. He judges based on
the standard he has always judged on – His law.
Maybe you’re thinking about something right now. Well, what about people who don’t know
God’s law. What about people who have a different law – like Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists.
Paul answers that potential objection in verse 12-14. “12 For all who have sinned without the law
will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the
law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law
who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law
requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
See the answer to that objection is very simple. God will judge you by whatever law you have.
Every human being has some kind of law.
Francis Shaffer was a theologian in the last century and he talked about the invisible recorder. He
said, “If every little baby that was ever born anywhere in the world had an invisible recorder
hung about its neck, and if this recorder only recorded the moral judgments” that this child and
eventually man or woman made. Every time the person said, “He should do this” or She
shouldn’t have done that.”
Eventually each person comes to that great moment when he stands before God as judge.
Suppose, then, that God simply touched the recorder button and each person heard played out in
his own words all those statements by which they had bound other people in moral judgment.—
"thousands and thousands of moral judgments made against other people.
Then God would simply say to the person, though he had never heard the Bible, now where do
you stand in the light of your own moral judgments? All people would have to admit that they
have deliberately done those things which they knew to be wrong. Nobody could deny it.
That’s why Paul starts out this passage in verse 1 by saying, “Therefore you have no excuse, O
man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself,
because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” God will have no problem judging you
based exactly on the moral standards you held others to and finding you guilty. That’s a harsh
thought when you really let it seep in to your conscience. If my only hope is in trying to be a
good person and a keeper of the law, I will ultimately fail and fail miserably.
This is why religion doesn’t work. Every religion in this world gives its followers a set of rules, a
set of laws to follow. Every religion says, follow these rules and God will reward you. You will
find God if you follow these 5 pillars or this 8-fold path or these 10 commandments. But no
religion gives a solution to the person who fails to follow the rules. All they can do is say, “You

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can hope that the god will be merciful to you where you fail. But they give no assurance. So you
live your life, if you are really sincere, hoping to live a life good enough for that God.
What Paul is saying is that every person will die and every person will stand before God in the
Judgment Day. And every person will fail to meet the standard of a perfect God and will receive
the just punishment for their sin, which is eternal death or the word the Bible calls Hell.
3. Don’t Despair – We Still Have Hope
At this point, you must say, “Woe is me. There is no hope.” And religion ultimately offers no
sure hope. But following Jesus is not a religion. It is a relationship with the living God.
When you and I read the law properly, we don’t read about rules. We read about Jesus. Jesus was
the one who lived and kept the whole Law to perfection. We see the beauty of Jesus. We see his
love, his generosity. When Jesus said that the Law really means we should love our enemies, we
say, “Who ever does that?” Jesus did. As Jesus was hanging on the cross in excruciating pain, he
looked down and saw soldiers gambling for his clothes. He saw religious leaders mocking him.
And he said, “Father forgive them. They know not what they do.”
Romans 5 says, “ 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. . . 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” We were his enemies.
And he looks at us and says, “Father forgive her – forgive him – they don’t know what they are
doing.”
Jesus stood before the Judgment of His Father, the perfect Judge. But instead of being judged for
His life, which was perfect, he was judged for his enemies – for your life and for my life. And he
received the judgment that you and I deserved, yet far worse. He received the condemnation for
the sins of the whole world, and the wrath of God was concentrated on this one man. When Jesus
cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” he was receiving the judgment of the
law.
But that’s not all that happened on the cross. The Bible says that all of his law-keeping was
transferred to us who trust in him. We were justified by his perfect life. All of the beauty of his
law-keeping is transferred to you. Paul said in Philippians that you and I can be “found in him,
not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
And that is where our only hope is found – in faith in Jesus Christ and him alone. When we place
our faith in Jesus we are given the credit for his righteousness.
We don’t water down the law. The law is so important that God had to send his son to fulfill it.
In Christ, we want to obey the law, but it doesn’t crush us. In Jesus, you’re a beauty. In Jesus,
you’re forgiven. We don’t judge anyone. We don’t even judge ourselves. Jesus – the judge who
was judged.
Bring him to the center of your life. And live in this relationship with Him.