“Judging the Judgmental”
(Romans 2:1-16)
Series: Not Guilty!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Church Henderson, KY
(5-3-09) (AM)
- Take God’s Word and open to Romans, chapter 2.
We have begun a series of messages through the book of Romans. The series is entitled, “Not Guilty.” Remember that Romans is about the gospel. Think Romans and think gospel. Without the gospel we are guilty of sin. With the gospel we may be declared “Not Guilty.”
The Apostle Paul is writing this letter and in chapter 1 he has written in such a way as to show that all of humanity is guilty of sin. He has in mind particularly the unbeliever, the pagan, the Gentile, the non-Jew. And he has been stressing that everyone without exception is guilty of sin. Remember the catalogue of some 20 sins there in verses 29 to the end of chapter 1? Paul has been stressing the sinfulness of all humanity.
- Stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Remember that this letter would be read to small house churches throughout Rome, the capitol city of the Roman Empire. These churches were made up of two kinds of people: Gentiles, unbelievers who came to believe in the gospel, and believing Jews; Jews who believed the gospel. Keep that in mind. Here is Paul writing about the sinfulness of all humanity, with particular stress upon the Gentile, the non-Jew. Perhaps the believing Jews listened and nodded their heads as they heard this letter read. They’re thinking, “Yes, those pagans, those unbelievers, how terrible their behavior! Those filthy pagans involved in sexual immorality, envy, gossip, and murder!” So they are passing judgment and then they hear chapter 2.
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
I want to speak this morning on the topic, “Judging the Judgmental.” Let’s pray.
- Pray.
Introduction:
I’ve got a question for you. How many of you have heard the statement, “You’re not supposed to judge?” It’s in the Bible, isn’t it? Jesus says in Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” I’ve got another question for you. Don’t answer out loud, but think about it. “Is it always wrong to judge?”
That’s a different question and the reason I am asking it is because in the Bible, there are two kinds of judgment. There is a judging of the heart and there is a judging of behavior. When Jesus says, “Judge not that you be not judged,” He’s talking about our judging another person’s heart, about “being judgmental,” as we sometimes put it. It’s the idea of looking down our noses upon someone else. We’re not supposed to judge a person’s heart.
Now judging behavior is something different. The Bible teaches that we must judge behavior. For example, in the same chapter where Jesus says, “Judge not, that you be not judged,”—in Matthew 7—Jesus goes on to say in that same chapter that we will recognize false teachers by judging their behavior. We judge them by what they teach. So Jesus says, “By their fruit (by their teaching) you will know (you’ll be able to rightly judge and discern) them (Matthew 7: 20).”
Common sense tells us as much, too. Parents judge the behavior of their children, right? I mean if we’re sitting in worship service and our kids act up and we’re getting ready to discipline them, imagine their saying, “Hey, you’re not supposed to judge!” We’d give them a little pat on the rump and say, “Don’t tell me I’m not supposed to judge—sit down and be quiet!” We are supposed to judge behavior.
But judging the heart is altogether different. When we judge the heart we feel like we know everything about that person. We’ve got ‘em sized up and figured out. And so common is this passing judgment upon others that we brace for it ourselves if we feel someone is judging us, looking down their noses upon us, stereotyping us.
We were in Indianapolis this weekend to run the half-marathon yesterday morning. The night before, on Friday evening, we were walking downtown. And I have a sweet tooth and I remembered from driving in earlier that I had seen a “Dunkin’ Donuts” on one corner. (What better way to prepare for a 13-mile run than by eating a couple of donuts the night before?) But I couldn’t remember where the place was. My family and I were standing outside a hotel and I saw a couple of police officers standing nearby. Now remember, I’m wanting to know where the donuts are. I wasn’t really making a connection between police officers and donuts. I just figured these guys knew their way around town, but you should’ve heard them when I asked them if they knew where Dunkin’ Donuts was! They both just went, “Oh, man! Asking police officers where the donuts are. What are you, profiling us?! And they just laughed—and then told me where the donuts were. But you see, they knew the stereotype. They had heard people passing judgment upon them: “All they do is sit around and eat donuts.”
Paul teaches that when we look down our noses upon someone else and we think to ourselves, “What a sinner, what a loser, what a no good nobody,” then we have committed the sin of being judgmental. That is what Paul is talking about in these opening verses of chapter 2. He’s talking about the judgmental spirit of the Jewish people toward the Gentiles and this will become clearer as we make our way through the chapter. I want to get through about half of it this morning, verses 1-16. Let’s see how the Bible applies to us. First:
I. We must deal with our Self-Righteousness (1-5)
We must avoid a spirit of self-righteousness. By that I mean that we must avoid the mistake of thinking that the sins of others are worse than ours. We must avoid the mistake of thinking that the sins of others are worse than ours. Look again at verse 1.
1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Do you hear what Paul is doing here? He is addressing these self-righteous Jews who are looking down their noses upon these pagan Gentiles. They had just heard Paul ticking-off these some 20 sins at the end of chapter 1 and they’re like, “Oh, these Gentiles! They are such sinners!” And then Paul says, “Oh, and guess what? You’re guilty, too!” You are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who look down your noses upon these Gentiles. You are condemning them, but look at your own heart!”
Paul is cool. Remember that by the time he writes this letter that he’s been preaching for over 20 years. He knows how to get a person’s attention. Don’t be self-righteous! Don’t look down your nose upon someone else when you know in your heart that you’re no different.
2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
In other words, “Who are you to be judging others? God is going to judge you.”
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Paul is saying, “Look at how good God has been to you. He is good, loving, patient. He is these things to you so that you might be drawn to him in repentance of sin. But you don’t even appreciate His goodness toward you. You take it for granted. You assume you deserve it. And you’re too busy condemning everyone around you that you don’t get yourself right with God.”
One of the reasons we look down our noses upon others is because it’s easier to draw attention to the faults of others than it is in dealing with our own faults. Have you ever been guilty of that? You draw attention to the sins of others so nobody looks at yours.
Or maybe we’re blind to our own sins. We come to Sunday school and worship and we think of other people who really need to be here to hear this! We say to ourselves, “Oh, if only so and so were here today! They really need to hear this,” as though the Bible were written to everyone else except us.”
Remember the guy who always met his pastor after the sermon? He never seemed to think that he himself needed the preaching of God’s Word. It was always for everyone else. And so he would shake his pastor’s hand every Sunday morning following the sermon and say, “Good preaching. You really told ‘em!” And it didn’t seem to matter what the pastor preached, it was always for everyone else. “Good preaching,” he would say, “You really told ‘em!” One Sunday, the weather was such and the church so small that on this particular Sunday the only man in the congregation was this one man. So the pastor preached his message—a message heard only by the one man there—and at the end of the sermon the man took his hand and said, “Pastor, that sermon was the best message I have ever heard—and if they’d been here you would’ve told ‘em!”
That’s the kind of spirit Paul is condemning here, looking around at everyone else, failing to deal with the gravity of our own sin. So, verse 5:
5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Let that be a sober reminder to every one of us that God is going to judge every single one of us and we’re going to be in big trouble for the many times we looked down our noses upon others. God will judge the judgmental. We must deal with our self-righteousness.
Secondly:
II. We must deal with our Superiority (6-11)
We must deal with our sense that we are somehow better than others because of religious background, heritage, or pedigree. This was another mistake the Jewish Christians made. They felt that, because they were God’s chosen people, that they were somehow superior to the Gentiles. They looked down their noses upon the non-Jews. How does Paul deal with this? He continues talking about the judgment of God. He says that God will, verse 6 and following:
6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness — indignation and wrath,
9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil,
Let me just pause right there and note that Paul is first simply noting that there will be a day of judgment for everyone and that every person is judged “according to his deeds.” This is a scary thing to think about if we think about it apart from gospel. Apart from Jesus Christ, who will go free in the judgment? Who will stand before God “not guilty?” The standard of judgment is the Law, the perfect law of the Old Testament. So those who follow the law perfectly will receive eternal life and those who do not follow the law perfectly will not receive eternal life. Paul will continue to demonstrate that none of us is capable of keeping the law perfectly. He is building to that statement in the next chapter, Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
But the point he is stressing here in verses 6-11 is that God will treat each person the same. The standard of judgment is the same for both Jew and non-Jew. The standard of judgment is the same for Jew and Gentile. That’s why the phrase is there at the end of verse 9:
of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
Paul says that those who do not live up to the righteous demands of the law will be judged accordingly, but then he assigns greater accountability to the Jews because they actually have the Law. That’s why he says, “of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” Paul addresses the fact that the Jews were more accountable because they carried the Law around with them. They read the scrolls of the Law and heard it read in the temple. So they are first in judgment, but also first to receive eternal life if able to fulfill the Law. Verses 10-11:
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.
So while it is theoretically possible for a person to be saved by keeping the Law, the reality is that no one keeps it perfectly. We’re all guilty of breaking it. If we could keep the law, then it means eternal life. If we break the law, then it means eternal separation. Paul’s point here, however, is that the same standard is applied to both Jew and Gentile. Again, verse 11, “There is no partiality with God.”
Paul is driving a stake through the heart of the Jewish Christian who thinks he is better than the non-Jewish Christian. That’s what he’s doing. He is addressing any notion on the part of the Jew to think of himself in a superior way simply because of his religious pedigree.
We may become guilty of committing the same error in thinking if we suppose that we are superior to others simply because of our religious background. Religious background without the Gospel means nothing. Just because mom and dad are Christians doesn’t mean that you’re okay. Just because you have a dear old, praying grandmother doesn’t mean you’re okay. Just because your uncle is a preacher doesn’t mean you’re automatically forgiven. You may look down your nose upon someone who is only now coming to church and you’ve been coming to church all your life, but it really doesn’t matter how long you’ve been coming if you’re not saved. There is no partiality with God. We are all judged by the same standard. You are either perfect or you have placed your faith in the One who is perfect in your place. And this is exactly where Paul is going. He is driving us to see our need for the gospel.
We must deal with our self-righteousness and we must deal with our sense of superiority—and all of this, thirdly—by dealing with our sin.
III. We must deal with our Sin (12-16)
Now look at these last verses as Paul teaches us about the Law. And remember that the word “law” here means the book of the law, namely the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Those with the law are the Jews and those without the law are the Gentiles. Remember that as we read verse 12 and following.
12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law
Paul is saying that those who sin “without law,” the Gentiles, will perish. That is, the Gentiles did not have the Torah. They didn’t have the Old Testament Law. When they sin without the Law they will perish without the Law. But Paul goes on to say in verse 12 that those who “have sinned in the law,” that is, the Jews, will be judged by the law.
The point is that God will judge everyone fairly. He will judge the Gentile who doesn’t have the Old Testament Law and He will judge the Jew who does have the Old Testament Law. But just because the Jew has the Law is no guarantee that he is forgiven. Verse 13:
13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
In other words, you can’t be forgiven by God just because you are a Jew and you have the Old Testament Law. It really doesn’t matter that you even read it or hear it being read in the Temple. You’ve got to be a doer of the Law. And that’s just the problem: no one does the law. That is, no one keeps it perfectly.
And in case we may think that the Gentiles are somehow off the hook because they don’t have the Old Testament Law, Paul says, they will be held accountable to the sense of the law within them, that is, within their conscience.
14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,
Now this is very interesting. Paul is addressing the fact that within every single human being there is a built-in sense of right and wrong. It’s in everyone of us. We all have this sense of right and wrong. That comes from God.
In the wider sweep of Paul’s argument in Romans 1 and 2, he is saying that God has revealed Himself both in creation and in our conscience. This is why it’s hard to really be an honest atheist. To be an atheist you have to deny the fact that God has revealed something of himself in nature, in creation, and then also in our conscience. We must ask the question, “From where does this sense of right and wrong originate?” It originates in God. God has built this into us. He has blessed us with a moral sense of right and wrong.
The problem is that, because of the Fall, because of original sin that entered into the world, we are born with corrupt consciences. Our conscience is relatively good at pointing out things that are right and wrong, but the problem is our thinking is affected by sin and so even our consciences cannot be fully trusted. So Paul says that the Gentiles have the law written on their hearts—a sort of Torah, God’s moral requirements, like the 10 Commandments—written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness—now watch this:
and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
There are times that our conscience accuses us, that is, it tells us that something is wrong. And there are other times that our conscience excuses us, or tells us we have done something right. It is important for us to remember, of course, that our conscience alone is incapable of guiding us perfectly, just as we cannot keep the Law perfectly. We are sinners and the depravity of our condition affects our conscience as well as it affects every other part of our nature.
Paul’s point here is that we all are inexcusable for our actions. We are all sinners and will all face judgment. Paul mentions a judgment day in verse 16:
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
There’s a sort of bookend here. Paul began by telling us that we cannot judge a person’s heart. Humans are incapable of knowing the hearts of others. We cannot judge a person’s heart, but God can. He knows our hearts. On judgment day, God will judge “the secrets of men” by Jesus Christ, according to the gospel—a gospel so personal to Paul that he refers to it as, “my gospel.”
To sum up, Paul has just illustrated that everyone is guilty of sin. We have no business being judgmental, looking down our noses upon others when we are just as guilty of sin. We’re all equally lawbreakers. God’s perfect standard is broken by every single one of us. And one day we’ll be judged for our sins.
Why does Paul tell us all of this? So that we’ll cry in despair, “Guilty! Guilty! I am full of sin! There is no hope!” Is that why he tells us this? Partly. But you see, then we’ll understand our need for the Gospel. We’ve got to know we’re lost before we can be saved. We’ve got to admit that we are moral law breakers and then we’re in a position to say yes to the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Stand for prayer.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.