ROMANS 2 COMMENTARY

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I. THE GENTILES IN NEED OF SALVATION (1-16)

A. Even those who presume to judge, in reality condemn themselves. Paul will condemn the Jews for judging the Gentiles guilty of sins they (the Jews) have also committed. (1)

B. They shall be answerable to the judgment of God. (2-11)

1. Which they shall not be able to escape. No one, Jew or Gentile would be excused for sins committed based on their heritage. The Jews would agree that the Gentiles were sinners, convincing them that they were in the same situation would take careful teaching on Paul's part.

2. By failing to repent they store up wrath for the day of judgment. They did this by despising the goodness of God.

3. On that day God will render to every man according to his deeds. See 2 Cor. 5:10. The standard under the new law is the righteous will be saved, the unrighteous will be lost.

4. To those who do good: eternal life. Salvation is based on the individualís works (plus a heaping helping of God's grace). Glory: see Col. 3:4; 2 Cot. 4:17; Rom. 8:17,18. Honor: see 2 Tim. 4:7,8. Immortality: 1 Cor. 15:42-44; 50-53.

5. To those who do evil: wrath and indignation. The lost are selfishly ambitious, they do not obey the truth. Unrighteousness according to 1Jn. 5:17 equals sin. You must attain sin, not be born with it. Wrath is anger. Indignation is a fierce disapproval.

6. There will be no partiality shown. Tribulation is affliction, anguish is distress. Jews will suffer for their sins as well as Gentiles. The saved will enjoy glory, honor and peace (review v.?). Since God is no respecter of persons the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election cannot be true.

C. All shall be judged by the gospel of Jesus Christ. (12-16)

1. Both those under the Law and those without the Law will be judged. Namely, the Jews and the Gentiles. The basis of judgment will be sin, having the Law or not having the Law will have no bearing.

2. Those without the Law (Gentiles) will be judged by their own consciences. The Jews however must be doers of the Law to be acceptable (accounted for righteousness)

a. They know by instinct the difference between right and wrong. Gentiles must be doers of the natural law (moral instinct). This instinct was put in their hearts by God. This is a refutation of the Calvinistic principle of total depravity. We are not born evil.

b. Their conscience will bear witness as to their guilt on the judgment day. Both Jew and Gentile will be judged by Christ. See Acts 10:48; 17:30,31; 1 Cot. 4:5.

II. THE JEWS CONDEMNED BY THEIR OWN LAW (17-29)

A. Paul addresses the Jew. (17-20)

1. Who relies upon the Law - The Jews felt that they had three reasons to boast: their ancestry, their possession of the Law and their relation to God. The Jews knew what was right in the eyes of God, but they did not do it.

2. And teaches it to others - the Jews considered themselves as guides to the blind, a light, an instructor, possessors of truth and knowledge.

B. But is condemned by his own Law (21-24)

1. By his own transgression of it. Paul condemns their hypocrisy. He asks rhetorically,"Are you practicing what you preach?" Were Jews of the day really robbing temples of idols? Paul and the brethren at Ephesus seem to have been accused of just this, Acts 19:37. God predicted that the Jews would be interested in the gold and silver that adorned the heathen idols, Deut. 7:25.

2. In so doing dishonors the name of God. When the Gentiles saw that the Jews said one thing and did the exact opposite, they blasphemed the name of the Jews~God. By living as hypocrites, we can dishonor Christ and the Father in the same way.

C. The Jews' covenant of circumcision voided by their transgression of the law. (25-27)

What was the purpose of circumcision? See Gen. 17:1-14. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Notice that circumcision was only of value if the law was kept. Transgressors who were physically circumcised, were spiritually uncircumcised. The logical equivalent would be that the physically uncircumcised could be spiritually circumcised if they kept the law. See Matt. 12:41,42. The obedient Gentiles will judge (be compared to) the disobedient Jews.

D. The true Jew is contrasted to the outward Jew. (28,29)

See Jer. 4:4, Deut. 30:6. The Old Testament also indicates the importance of inward circumcision. Under the New Covenant this is all that matters.

INQUIRY: Can physical baptism be paralleled to physical circumcision? Is outward baptism as worthless as outward circumcision?

Circumcision of the heart: OT, faith; NT, baptism (Col. 2:11,12)