Romans 2:12-29: Is God's Judgment Fair?

Romans 2:12-29: Is God Fair in His Judgment?

Please turn with me to Romans 2. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide that’s on page 779. Romans 2:12-29. If you’ve been attending our church for the past several weeks, you’ve probably noticed that our sermons recently have been hitting pretty hard on the themes of sin and judgment. And the reason for that is simple: we’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Romans and that’s what Paul’s been talking about so far. He spends the first three chapters of his letter talking almost exclusively about those themes of sin and judgment. And the reason he does that is because he needs to plow before he can sow. I’m not sure how much you know about farming—I’m certainly no expert myself—but I do know that before a farmer can sow seed in his fields, he has to spend a good deal of time plowing. He has to break up all the hard soil that’s been sitting there for numerous months being compacted together and make it loose and ready to receive the seed he’ll sow. That’s what the farmer has to do if he wants a fruitful harvest. If he tries to sow the seed without plowing, most of the seed won’t ever get beneath the surface of the soil and be able to grow and take root. So the farmer has to spend time plowing. And that’s what Paul’s doing here in these first three chapters. He’s plowing the soil. He’s breaking down our self-righteousness, exposing our sin, and awakening us to our need for a Savior. So even as we read another sobering passage this morning, I want you to understand how necessary this is. If you don’t get these things we’re dealing with now, then you’ll never be able to see the full glory of the gospel Paul presents a little bit later. Your ability to grasp the glories of the gospel and the preciousness of God’s grace is directly related to how deep an understanding you have of the themes of this passage. So Romans 2:12-29:

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. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. 17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. 

So the central question Paul’s answering in our passage today is this: is God being fair when he judges people? I remember several years ago when I was living in Alabama, I received a ticket for having an expired registration sticker on my car. Somehow I didn’t receive any reminder in the mail to renew my registration and also failed to keep track of it myself, so the officer wrote me a ticket for $160. But he told me that if I paid the registration fees and got my new sticker, I could probably have the ticket dismissed by the judge. So I took his advice. I paid the registration fee and then, rather than simply paying the ticket online, I took a few hours off of work, went to the courtroom, and waited somewhere in the neighborhood of one or two hours for the judge to finally call me up and look at my case. And after looking at it for approximately fifteen seconds, he dismissed the case thankfully but then charged me $160 in court fees. Let’s just say I wasn’t very happy about that. I felt like my time had been wasted. Even though I admit there wasn’t anything technically unlawful or unfair about the judge’s decision, it sure felt unfair at the time. And Paul anticipates that some of his readers may feel a similar way when it comes to God’s judgment. So he addresses this question about whether God’s judgment is fair. And his conclusion is this: God’s judgment withstands the closest scrutiny. That’s the main idea of this passage. God’s judgment withstands the closest scrutiny. And in presenting that conclusion, Paul responds to two implied questions in this passage. These questions are what we’ll spend the rest of our time looking at. Number one, how could God judge someone who doesn’t have the Bible? And number two, how could God judge someone who seemingly practices religion dutifully? Those are the questions Paul’s answering here. 

How could God judge someone who doesn’t have the Bible

So first, how could God judge someone who doesn’t have the Bible? After all, there are a lot of people in this world who don’t own a copy of the Bible and have never heard what the Bible says about Jesus. So how could it be fair for God to judge them? To use another law enforcement illustration, some might be tempted to think that God’s judgment on those kinds of people is similar to a municipality issuing speeding tickets but not having the speed limit posted anywhere. It wouldn’t be fair for them to hold people accountable for observing the speed limit if the speed limit was never communicated. So is that the situation here? Is that what God’s doing when he judges those who don’t have access to the Bible? 

That’s the question Paul answers in verses 12-16 of our main passage. More specifically, he talks about those who are “without the law,” meaning the Law of Moses, which is the first five books of the Bible. Paul says in verse 12, 12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. He then addresses another issue in the second part of verse 12 and in verse 13 that we’ll look at later on in the sermon. Then in verse 14 he returns to his initial issue and explains why “all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.” He writes, 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. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. 

So Paul’s answer to the question of how God can judge people who don’t have the Bible is that God has given them a conscience. Now, back in chapter 1, we learned that God’s revealed truths about himself through creation—that is, through nature. So that’s the first thing that makes people accountable. And now here in chapter 2 we see that God’s also revealed himself through a person’s conscience. It’s not as though he’s left people in the dark about what he desires for their life. In the words of verse 15, he’s written his law on their hearts. So even though they may not have a copy of the law in their hands, they do have it written on their hearts. They have a conscience. They have a voice in their head helping them distinguish right from wrong. Typically, I don’t find much value in the way popular movies try to depict biblical truths. But I do believe the popular picture of a person having a demon on one shoulder and an angel on the other shoulder isn’t far from the truth. Of course, the demon is trying to get the person to do something bad, while the angel is trying to get them to do something good. And that angel is very similar to a person’s conscience. The conscience is a like a little voice in people’s heads reminding them of what’s good and right. 

But in many cases what do people do? They don’t listen to that little voice. And because they don’t listen to that voice, they have what we call a guilty conscience. Their conscience is now accusing them. It’s testifying to them that what they’ve done and perhaps what they continue to do is wrong. Yet so often, even then they keep right on doing it. And Paul wants you to know that everybody’s guilty of that from time to time. This describes everybody. In fact, most people have sinned against their conscience so much, their conscience has become dull. The Bible uses the metaphor elsewhere of it being seared or cauterized. They’ve persisted in sin for so long that that little voice in their head is now merely a whisper—and sometimes not even that. So that’s the basis on which God judges people who don’t have the Bible. He judges them for violating the revelation they’ve received through their conscience.  

And by the way, here’s something interesting. This reality of a person’s conscience is also helpful to keep in mind as we Christians speak to those in our society who have doubts about the Bible and who might not listen to the Bible verses we show them. Maybe they’re even a postmodernist and doubt whether any such thing as absolute truth exists. But regardless of what viewpoints a person has, we know they have a conscience. And not only do they have a conscience, we know from Romans 2 that they’ve violated their conscience. So a good way to help them see their spiritual need is to bring these violations of conscience to their attention. Ask them questions to draw that out. Of course, you always want to be very careful to do that with the appropriate tone and in the appropriate way. But nevertheless, if you have the opportunity, help them see how they’ve violated their own standard of ethics that they’ve created for themselves. They’ve broken their own rules. For example, let’s say someone advocates for love rather than hate. That’s very good. But you might ask them, “Have you ever failed to show love to someone else? Have you ever put your interests above their interests? Have you ever uncharitably misrepresented another person’s position? Have you ever spoken negatively about another person behind their back? Have they ever treated someone poorly in any other way?” And inevitably, anyone who’s honest and thoughtful has to admit that they’ve broken their own rules. They’ve violated their conscience. Now of course, that doesn’t prove the gospel to them, but it does open a door for God to start convicting them and showing them their sin—which as we saw last week is the key prerequisite for them embracing the gospel.

How could God judge someone who seemingly practices religion dutifully? 

Now on to our second point. We’ve seen how Paul addresses the question of how God could judge someone who doesn’t have the Bible. Then here’s the second question: how could God judge someone who seemingly practices religion dutifully? In other words, they have the Bible and can also point to numerous examples of religious diligence and religious involvement in their life. Their religious resume is filled with impressive things. So how could God judge them? Look at verses 12-13: 12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law [like we just talked about], 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. So that’s the key: “It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Interesting. And in verses 17-24, Paul shows his religious readers that they’re not nearly as good at “doing” the Law as they might think they are. He writes, 17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 

So even though some people may have a lot of impressive things on their religious resume, there are always inevitably other things in their life that aren’t so impressive. After all, a resume is never a complete picture of a person, is it? Like when someone’s writing a resume to apply for a job, have you ever heard of them telling their prospective employer all of the embarrassing details about their life? Of course you haven’t. An applicant’s goal in writing a resume is to put their best foot forward. Yet there are always other details about their life that I’m sure they’d prefer their prospective employers not know. And Paul’s point here is that it’s the same way spiritually. Regardless of how good or how religiously devoted a person seems to be, there are always skeletons in the closet. And if you want a prime example of that, just look at the sex abuse scandal that’s recently rocked the Catholic Church. Not only have priests been abusing children, but there have even been bishops systematically covering it up for decades. And of course, I’m certainly not trying to attack the Catholic Church here. In all fairness, I do believe that Catholics and Protestants alike are equally disgusted at what’s come to light. My point is simply this: look how possible it is for someone to look so good and so holy on the outside but be so corrupt on the inside and behind closed doors. 

And here’s the thing: this doesn’t just apply to pedophile priests and the bishops who enabled them. This applies to everyone. Back in verse 16, Paul wrote that there will be a day when “God judges the secrets of men.” We all have those secrets—secret habits, decisions, addictions, fantasies, thoughts, tendencies, and motives that would cause us to be absolutely mortified if other people ever knew about them. I once heard a pastor observe that if we were able to take all of the thoughts that have ever come across your mind and somehow put those thoughts up here on the screen so that everyone in this room could see them, you’d be so mortified that you’d immediately leave this building and never show your face around here again. That applies to every person in this room. So even though you may not have committed the kinds of crimes that have recently come to light in the Catholic Church, don’t fool yourself into thinking that there aren’t skeletons in your closet. And that’s Paul’s point here in Romans 2. How could God judge someone who seemingly practices religion dutifully? Because there are always skeletons in the closet. 

Conclusion

So what’s the answer? Well, I’ll tell you what the answer’s not: it’s not trying harder to be righteous. Oh, you may be able to modify some external behaviors. The alcoholic may be able to go through a twelve step program to stop drinking. The abusive husband may be able to take some anger management classes to stop beating up on his wife. The person addicted to pornography might be able to get an Internet filter. But no matter how successful you end up being at changing your behavior or maybe even some of your thought patterns, you’ll never be able to fix yourself in any true or comprehensive way. You may succeed in changing some things, but you’ll never be able to even begin to change the real problem. And the real problem is that you have a bad heart. The very core of who you are is ruined beyond repair. So what you need is what Paul calls, figuratively speaking, the circumcision of the heart.  

You see, the Jews to whom Paul was writing prided themselves in their physical circumcision. That was one of the main things that definitively separated the Jewish people from the rest of the world and marked them off as God’s chosen people. It was “Exhibit A” of their religiosity to the point that they were pretty much trusting in their circumcision to save them. But listen to what Paul says to them in verses 25-29: 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. [Now pay close attention to what Paul says next.] 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. So Paul says that it’s not about outward circumcision but about inward circumcision—circumcision of the heart. In other words, what you need isn’t more achievements to add to your religious resume. You need to be changed from the very core of your being. You need a new heart. That’s what Paul’s saying to these Jews.

And the same goes for everyone here this morning. What you need most desperately isn’t a higher level of religious devotion or involvement. It’s not to become more consistent in your church attendance, more active in your charity work, or more generous in your financial giving to the church. None of that takes care of the skeletons in your closet. You need a new heart. The great Puritan theologian John Owen said it this way: “A man may beat down the bitter fruit from an evil tree until he is weary but while the root of the tree continues to abide in strength and vigor, the beating down of the present fruit will not hinder it from bearing more evil fruit….We must lay the axe at the root.” That’s the answer. Don’t just try to remove the fruit of an evil tree. Lay an axe at the root of the problem. Realize that you need a new heart. So let me ask you this: have you ever received that new heart? That’s the source of all true Christian living. True Christians aren’t people who have taught themselves to be more religiously devoted. They’re those who have received a new heart. So have you ever received that new heart?

And in case you haven’t, I’ve got some great news for you this morning: you can. It’s available to you. What you need to do is embrace Jesus and look to Jesus as your only hope of being rescued from your sins. The Bible teaches that Jesus came to this earth as a real human being and died on the cross in order to take upon himself the punishment our sins deserved. We deserved to face the wrath of a holy God for all the things we’d done, but Jesus suffered that wrath in our place. That’s how much he loved us. His love was so great that he was willing to do that for his enemies. Then Jesus demonstrated his power and legitimacy by rising from the dead. And as we put our trust in him for rescue, here’s what happens: he gives us both forgiveness and a new heart. He forgives our sins so that we can be close to God and go to heaven when we die, and he also gives us a new heart so that even in this life we can begin living as new people. So even though some variation of a twelve step program may be able to change your behavior, only Jesus can change your heart. Has he done that in you?