God’s judgment is not just for “those people out there”—it comes home to the moral, the religious, and the respectable as well. In this episode, we walk through Romans 2:1–29 to see how Paul turns the spotlight from obvious sinners to those who trust in their ethics, their religion, or their spiritual performance, and shows that all of us stand in need of mercy.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- Nathan’s confrontation of King David—“You are the man”—as a living picture of Paul’s argument in Romans 2
- Why judging others proves we do know there is a real moral standard—and how that same standard exposes us
- How moral, upright people confuse knowing the law with doing the law, and mistake God’s patience for his approval
- Paul’s insistence that God “will render to each one according to his works,” and what that means alongside salvation by faith
- The difference between hearing the law and doing it—and why even religious privilege (like being a Jew, or a churchgoer today) cannot save us
- Paul’s critique of religious hypocrisy: outward marks like circumcision (or baptism, church attendance, “quiet times”) without an inward change of heart
- What it means to be a “Jew inwardly,” with a heart marked by the Spirit rather than by external performance alone
- How this passage is meant to devastate our self-righteousness so that we run to Christ, not our own record, for justification
After listening, you’ll come away with a sobering but life-giving clarity: no one—pagan, moralist, or religious person—can stand before God on the basis of performance, and that includes us. You’ll be invited to stop hiding behind comparison and outward religion, to confess with honesty, “It’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer,” and to rest in the grace of a Savior who exposes our hearts not to crush us, but to redeem us.
The early chapters of the book of Romans are like a courtroom drama where Paul acts as a prosecuting attorney, systematically proving the guilt of the human race in its rebellion against God.
In Romans 1 Paul addressed the self-identified rebels who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator.
While many of us would agree with Paul that “those” other folks are terrible, the list would not include us. Because, after all, we are good citizens. We pursue high ethical and moral standards. Those of us with the minimum middle-class morality are certainly good enough.
Notice the pronoun shift as Paul starts Romans 2:
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. – Romans 2:1-2
Like the prophet Nathan told King David (2 Samuel 12:1-6), Paul is saying “YOU are that man.”
In Romans 2:1-16 Paul addresses the moralist, and in Romans 2:17-29, he addresses the religious. He warns both not to think they are exempt from God’s wrath because they are religious on the outside.
For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.
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Series: Romans: Justification by Faith
Study: Romans Resources
Season 2, Episode 3
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