Roaming Through Romans Lesson 6: Romans 1:32-2:16

starting at point nine on page 22 today. Page 22 starting at point nine towards the bottom of the page. We've been looking at the end of Romans chapter one in our last study, and so we'll pick up there. We've been expounding a bit on verse 32 in particular. So that's what verse, that's what point nine on page 22 picks up on. It picks up on what we were saying about verse 32.

In what ways do you see the following bolded words happening in the world that we could say also in the church today? These are the words I want us to consider. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. I want us to consider specifically that What Paul says is happening here in the end of Romans 1 is not only that people are doing abominable things, but that they're actually giving approval to those who practice such things.

So how do we see that happening today? Well, let's think for a minute about the month of June, right? We have a month that has now been dubbed Gay Pride Month, right? And so, or I probably have a different name for it now. I don't know. When I was growing up, they called it Gay Pride Month. They probably called it June when you were growing up. Yeah, so it's obviously a promotion of sin, right? They not only do these things, but they give approval to those who practice them.

But we also need to realize that this is going on in large measure in the churches as well. I had a friend a couple years ago, and I was in North Carolina, and he had spent some time up, and I think it was Boston, he had spent a few years up there, and he was expressing how difficult it was to find a good church. And he said, just the number, I mean, just a great number of churches all over that area where he lived, would actually be flying the homosexual flag outside of their church building. So it's not as though it's like, this is hidden, this is sort of like going on maybe in some dark recesses of our society where if you really went and looked for it, you might find it. No, this is a lot of churches, right?

And so we can think about how easily this can happen in our own lives, right? That we don't only, that we can see evil and we can promote it by our condoning of it, affirming of it, and we just need to be aware of this. So you see it happening in the world around us, you see it happening in the church around us, so just kind of keep that in mind. Commenting on these verses, John Murray writes, the most damning condition is not the practice of iniquity, however much that may evidence our abandonment of God and abandonment of sin, abandonment to sin. It is that together with the practice, there is also the support and encouragement of others in the practice of the same." This is incredible.

To put it bluntly, we are not only bent on blank, bent on damning ourselves. It's a blank there, damning. We're not only bent on damning ourselves, he says, but we blank, we congratulate others. That's what goes in that second blank. So damning and then congratulate.

We congratulate others in the doing of those things that we know have their issue in damnation." That's a powerful statement, isn't it? He's saying that we don't only do things that damn ourselves, we know, oh, that thing that that person's doing over there is going to damn them to hell. And we don't only allow it to go on, we congratulate them. It's like we're cheering them on at a race. I mean, that's, you know, that's how it's just amazing. He says, We hate others as we hate ourselves, and render therefore to them the approval of what we know merits damnation. Iniquity is most aggravated when it meets with no inhibition from the disapproval of others and when there is collective, undissenting approbation.

Well, and then, of course, I asked the question here, and I edited it in the new version, because we don't need to go here, because we just went here. But it's, how do you see the world doing this? How might you be guilty of congratulating others in their sin against God? So we kind of just talked about it. We see the world doing that. How might we be guilty of it?

Well, in any of our lives, when we see a friend, a family member, a brother and sister in Christ, where we know that they're actively doing something, and we have had opportunity to speak into that matter, whatever it may be, and we actively avoid it, or we are negligent in our duty to speak into the life of another, that is, at some measure, the same root problem that we see going on at a more large and obvious scale in the world around us with things like the month of June. That's the sort of heart that we need to be aware of in our own lives and just to be cognizant of where might I need to speak up into someone's life and have a conversation with them or encourage them in a certain direction that I've been unwilling to do.

So, moving on now into our next chapter though, page 24, we're going to look at the first Hopefully we can get through the first 11 verses of Romans chapter 2 today. That would get us back on our new schedule. So Romans chapter 2. I'm going to try to get through the first 11 verses this morning. And as we begin this section though, we're going to first just look at the first five verses. So let me read the first five verses of Romans chapter 2. the first five verses.

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. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 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? 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? 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.

So Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 32 taught us that the Gentile is totally depraved. So that's what it was the focus of, was the Gentile in Romans 1, 18 through 32. All of his faculties are tainted by sin. Total depravity does not mean that man since the fall is as bad as he could be. Total depravity means that every faculty of man since the fall is tainted by sin. His mind, affections, and will are all tainted by sin. This reality is obvious in the sins of the Gentiles listed in Romans 1, 18-32. But what about in the Jew? What about in the morally self-confident?

Does the Bible teach that your neighbor, who goes around and tries to do good for other people, is also totally depraved, if they do not trust in Christ? The Bible's answer is yes, because they do not live for the blank of God. They do not live for the glory of God. They're not living for the glory of God.

They are truth suppressors, just like those of Romans 1.18. What is the truth which they suppress? So what is this truth?

So you're thinking about your morally upright neighbor, right? Who's generally just a real, like a nice person. You can admit it, like they're a nice person. They take your trash out when you miss it, that sort of thing. I mean, they're very sweet people. What is the truth that they are suppressing? They are suppressing the truth that they are a blank who needs Jesus Christ to save them. A sinner.

So right at the end of the day, they don't think they're a sinner, and that is essential to having saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because you need to acknowledge your need of Him. A denial of your need of Christ to save you is itself sin. This apparently moral looking person is dead in sin and is trusting in self for salvation. Romans chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 verse 8 addresses this group of people and says they are condemned. Perhaps we might capture it this way, the religious man without Christ is not blank. A religious person without Christ is not saved.

Let me tell you where we are going over the next two lessons in this section. Paul is going to obliterate anywhere a person might look for righteousness other than the Lord Jesus Christ alone for righteousness. He will do this in the following way. So basically what Paul is going to do for the next chapter and a half He's gonna go around and say, you think you can find righteousness there? No. You think you can find it there? No. You think you can find it there?

He's just gonna obliterate every hiding place we could possibly find, and he does this because he loves us. Because he wants us to go to the only place where righteousness can actually be found, which is in Jesus. So he's just gonna rip apart any facade that we might want to make for ourselves, or the world around us might want to make for itself, that there's righteousness anywhere outside of Jesus. So he does this in the following five ways.

Compare yourself with other people to convince yourself you are righteous and you will be condemned. Look to your background to convince yourself you are righteous and you will be condemned. Look to your law keeping to convince yourself you are righteous and you will be condemned. Look to your religiosity to convince yourself you are righteous and you will be condemned. Argue against God's plan of salvation because you don't think it's just and you will be condemned. So you're just gonna obliterate all these different avenues.

But now let us zoom in on Romans chapter two verses one through five. Okay, so it's easy to jump ugly with them. You know who they are, right? The them. I'm talking about all those nasty people that he's just described in chapter 1, verses 18 through 32. Throughout that entire section, Paul used language like they, their, and them.

But then in chapter 2, there's a shift to the second person. blank, you yourself. So he shifts from they them there to you yourself in chapter 2. He's making this shift and Ferguson, I think this is helpful, Ferguson likens this shift to 2 Samuel chapter 12 when Nathan the prophet confronts David with the words thou art the man. This is what Romans 2 says to the self-righteous person, thou art the man. So you get to the end of Romans 1, and you can imagine if you're a Jew who's very religious, reading the book of Romans, you get through Romans chapter 1, you're thinking, they, them, those people are nasty, rotten sinners. And then Paul says, essentially, thou art the man.

I was talking about you. I mean, in a sense, he really was talking about the Gentiles, but he's saying you're not really any different. You have the same need for Christ. You need to recognize your need and repent and trust in Jesus. So he turns it on them in Romans chapter 2. I wrote this down. I was once asked these painful humbling words, struggle with self-righteousness much.

So basically, I had been on a dock at someone's house. You know, they're fishing and there were all these men. I was by far the youngest among them. I mean, they weren't super old. They probably were in their, you know, but they were a little bit older than I was. They really weren't great, but they were older than I was, and I was the youngest of them.

Anyway, there were some men, and I'm not going to give any detail being appropriate, but there were some men who were going through some struggles in their marriages. And there was just some really rot and inappropriate talk. It was certainly inappropriate talk. But anyway, a few days later, I was at one of my brother's house, who was also in the back. on the stock with me. And his wife said, oh, I heard you were hanging out with the guys the other night. How was it? And I basically made a really condescending comment about how rotten some of their speech was.

And my brother just looked at me and said, struggle with self-righteousness much. And it was like a dagger right in my heart, because I needed to hear it. And it was not fun, but it was exactly what I needed to hear, because I was being very self-righteous. I was thinking, essentially, the way I spoke of these other men. And again, I'm not condoning. The way they spoke was wrong. But I was essentially, my attitude was one of, You guys are a bunch of rotten, disgusting people, and I'm not.

I wouldn't have said it like that, but that was my heart in that moment. My brother called me on it, and it was exactly what I needed to hear, which is, I need to realize that I am a great sinner, and I need Jesus. let's be really careful about the way I think of X person over here who's struggling in their marriage. I am the same. I am just right there with that person, and I need Christ. They need Christ. We need Christ. I need to be not thinking that way about other people.

So I just gave that little anecdote, but, you know, that can happen in our hearts. In Romans chapter 2 verse 1 anyways, what does Paul say about the morally self-confident person? He says they have no blank. Excuse. Yeah, I heard some people saying it. No excuse. No excuse. And this is interesting because he used this same word to describe the Gentile pagans in chapter 1 verse 20. So he's using the same language. He said they have no excuse. You know what else has no excuse? You. He's using the same language to help them realize thou art the man. I am the one who names Jesus. This word means they have no logical defense for their case.

The same word used to describe the Gentile pagan in 120 is used to describe the self-righteous Jew in 2.1. Another word that connects chapter 2 verse 1 back to the preceding is blank, is the word practice. So notice in chapter 2 verse 1 they use this word practice.

For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself because you the judge practice the very same things. Apollos just used that word two or three times at the end of Romans chapter 1 verse 32. There we read, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. So the same language he's been using to describe the Gentile pagan how they were practicing wickedness and so forth. He's using the same language now as he comes to chapter two, verse one, to the Jew and saying, you practice, same word, you do the very same things. He's helping them recognize that they're really not any different than these Gentile pagans.

The point is simply this, you can pass judgment on someone else while you are guilty of the same sorts of sins. Charles Hodge put it this way, the deceitfulness of the human heart is strikingly exhibited in the different judgments which men pass upon themselves and others, condemning in others what they excuse in themselves. Okay, who of us hasn't done that? We've all done that, right? All of us have condemned in somebody else something that for some reason when we did it, There was a good reason for it.

For me, when I did it, it was an excuse that was reasonable, right, and just. But when they did it, it was wrong. So I just give this one example. Of course, we could think of a million. But, you know, how can we condemn another for excusing ourselves? Well, here's just one way.

When so-and-so blanks, gossips, when so-and-so gossips, there is no excuse for them to have acted in such a way. When I gossip, there is a good excuse for why I did it. And again, I'm speaking not just, I'm speaking of myself here, right? We do this, right? We say, well, how could so-and-so do this? And then somehow we realize, oh, well, I kind of, but when I did it, it's like, no, no, no, no, no. When you did it, it was the same thing. I shouldn't have done it and they shouldn't have done it. We both shouldn't have done it. We need Christ.

In chapter 2, verse 2, we learn that God's judgment is according to blank, according to truth. That's the literal translation. What it says here in chapter 2, verse 2, it says, we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. But when it says the judgment of God rightly falls, it's literally according to truth. We know that his judgment is according to truth. In chapter 2 verse 5, we learn that his judgment is a blank judgment. It's a righteous judgment. So chapter 2 verse 5 says, So he's not going to treat anybody unfairly. He's not going to be unjust to anybody. He has a righteous judgment. So his judgment is according to truth.

It is a righteous judgment. This latter point makes clear that God's judgment is according to the blank standard of his law. It's a perfect standard of his law, inflexible standard of his law, either of those words, or you could do perfect slash inflexible. But God's judgment, according to chapter two, verse five, is according to his perfect law. It is a righteous judgment. It's pure, it's right, it's good.

In chapter 2, verse 3, we learn that many Jews thought they could blank the judgment of God. Yeah, escape. Yeah, they thought they could escape the judgment of God, that you will escape the judgment of God. So they thought they could escape it, and the reasons seem to be things like the following. They trusted perhaps in their circumcision, Perhaps they trusted in their church membership or their background as Jewish people. In Paul, again, he's taking away any false sense of security from the self-confident.

Some who know that God is kind presume that his kindness means that they do not need to repent of their sins. That's what he begins to address in chapter 2 verse 4. They reason as follows, God is rich in kindness and patience. Therefore, I do not need to repent of my sins. That's how some people think, you know, God's really rich in kindness and patience. Therefore, I don't need to repent of my sins. While God is patient and kind, this is meant to lead you to blank. Repentance, right? That's what the text says. Chapter two, verse four. not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

So God's character should blank you to God himself, should draw you to God himself. So the fact that he's kind should actually make us want to go to him. The fact that he's merciful should cause us to want to go to him and receive his mercy. So God's character should draw you to God himself. Who God is should make you want to turn to him and live for him.

Do you expect God to set aside his justice and truth because he is good? Is what somebody asked. Would he be blank if he did so? Would he be good if he did so? So some people say, well, God is good, therefore, he will not condemn me." But it's actually, God is good, therefore he will condemn you if you don't repent and trust in him, because he is good. He wouldn't be good if he didn't. A person will say, God is good, he will not send me to hell.

God is good, but he is also just, and he will send lawbreakers to hell. So you need to ask the question, how do I use the blank of God in my own life? How do I use the kindness of God in my own life? Does it lead me to repentance, or do I misuse it so that I can live in sin presuming that God will overlook my sin on Judgment Day? What is the end result of this religious self-confident person who presumes upon God's kindness?

Ferguson commenting on chapter 2 verse 5 put it well. There is such a thing as compound judgment Those Paul has in mind assume they are as it were storing up blank points brownie points Well, he's left Ferguson's language brownie points. So these people think they're storing up brownie points and as they condemn others, right? So they're sitting around like I was doing, right? I can't believe what those guys were saying on the dock the other day. That was most inappropriate.

I think I'm comparing myself and I'm trying to make my... I mean, again, I'm not saying that I'm actively, in that moment, putting all of these sins together in a logical, like... in a line, but what I am doing functionally is I'm comparing myself to them and comparing myself to them and convincing myself that I'm better than them. That's what I'm doing, right? It doesn't mean we can't say sin is sin, but we need to be very careful about our attitudes and our heart disposition.

And what I certainly can say about that particular moment in my life is it was definitely one of condescension and not of humility. So you're comparing yourself, you think you're storing up brownie points, look how much better I am than so-and-so, but what Ferguson says we're actually doing is, but in fact they're storing up blank, storing up wrath. So you think you're storing up brownie points, but in reality you're storing up wrath because you really just like them and you need Christ.

Any comments there before we go on to chapter 2 verses 6 through 11? Okay, so let's keep going then, chapter two, verse six through 11. Let's read these words from the scriptures and then we'll comment on them for a moment. Beginning in verse six, he will render to each one according to his works, to those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality. The verse six shows you that God's judgment is blank and according to blank. So God's judgment is universal and according to works.

John Murray makes that point on verse 6 because the reason you see that it's universal is because verse 6 says he will render to each one. Every single individual he will render. So it's universal. And why do we say it's according to works? Each one according to his works. Because that's what the text says, right? So God's judgment according to verse 6 is universal and according to works.

This will not just be an external judgment according to the standard of man, it will be a judgment of the blank by the omniscient God. Look at verse 16, it's a judgment of the heart. Verse 16, on that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. He'll judge the hearts, the secrets of men. So when we hear in verse 6 that God's judgment is according to works, we also need to keep in mind that works are not merely external, but according to verse 16, it also includes the secrets of man or the heart. of man, so it's encompassing the whole person, external and internal.

Verse 8 mentions those who are blank, blank, self-seeking, mentions those who are self-seeking. This is describing even the unbeliever who appears to do good works in service to other people, They do not do these things to the blank of God, to the glory of God.

They obey blank just as did the Gentile heathen. They obey unrighteousness just as did the Gentile heathen. So let's look again at verse 8. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness." Same word used to describe the heathen Gentile back in chapter 1 verse 18.

There will be wrath and fury. So even our Gentile neighbor who appears again and you know a generally upright person we can acknowledge that and even give thanks to the Lord for that They're ultimately, if they're not in Christ, they're self-seeking.

They're doing all the things they're doing, not for the glory of God, but for their own self, their own reputation, or some other motive, whether they are consciously thinking it or not. Chapter 2, verse 9 through 11. Okay, so these words are really tricky to wrestle with, actually. So look at verse 9.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. So verse 10 especially, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. So when you look at verse 10 and you think about it for a moment, it could almost sound like he's saying, Some people will receive glory and honor and peace, as he says here, who do good, which again is actually what he's saying here.

But you have to ask yourself, is he suggesting that such a person actually exists? Or is he making a hypothetical statement? If there were somebody who does good all the time, who obeys God all perfectly, they will receive glory and honor and peace. Is that true? Yes. But is he suggesting that such a person actually exists?

That's kind of where it can become tricky. So let's try to work through this shit for a moment then. Do these words mean that some people are going to be saved by their works? Okay, we know it can't mean that, right? You must understand these words in light of Romans 3, 9 through 11. So I've had some friends in my life, maybe they'll listen to this, but good friends of mine who we've had many conversations about the meanings of some of these things in Romans chapter 2 because there's a There's a way to read these verses that would make you think that what Paul is saying is some people are saved essentially by their works because they do good things and then they receive, again, verse 10, glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. So you think, okay, is he suggesting that such people actually exist? Well, I think we have to read verses like chapter 2 verse 10, in light of where Paul is going, look at what Paul says in Romans 3, 9 through 11.

What then? Are we Jews any letter off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. All, both Jews and Greeks. As it is written, none is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. And so when you read verses like chapter two, verse 10, about how there are people who are going to receive glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, he's not actually saying that human exists.

He's saying if they existed, they would indeed receive these things. If a man obeyed God's law perfectly, they would receive eternal life. That's a true statement. If anybody obeys God's law perfectly, they will receive glory and honor and immortality.

But, in light of what Paul says overall in this section, it's clear that he doesn't believe such a person actually exists. So, you must understand these words in light of Romans 3, 9-11. So that's your first blank there. You must understand these words in light of Romans 3, 9-11. He is speaking here blank. He is speaking here hypothetically. He is speaking here hypothetically.

If there were doers of the law, they would be justified by their perfect obedience to the law. Does that make sense? If there was a doer of the law, he or she would indeed be justified by their obedience. That's a true statement, but I'm not suggesting I think such a person exists. Does that make sense at all? Okay, because that can be a tricky thing to wrestle with.

So Paul is essentially saying in this section, present your works. Just present them. This is a quote. Your works will damn you. Any of us who relies on them and not on Christ alone will be judged. That's what Paul is doing here. Again, he's exposing and obliterating all other places we might hide. Now this point five here on page 26, it's a brilliant line. I don't know why I have it in here right here, but it's still great. It's great, but here's what it is.

Grace without law is meaningless, right? So if you have grace, but you don't have any law, then you don't really need grace, right? Because why do I need grace? Well, I need grace because the law exposes my sin and it makes me want grace, right? I need grace because the law shows me how much I need Jesus. So grace without the law.

So if you never hear in a church, wherever you are, right? Or in your Bible reading or conversation, if you never hear anything about the law ever, then you're gonna have no reason for Jesus, right? Because the law does help you see your sins so that you would see your need for Jesus. So if all you ever have is grace, then there's really no need for grace.

So grace, if you don't have law, it's totally meaningless. Grace has no context. But law, if all you have is law without grace, it's powerless. The law without grace is powerless. The law can't save me. No amount of law keeping that I can do can save me because I can't keep the law.

I need grace to empower me to strive to keep the law to the best of my ability by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it's a great line. It's like very packed full of theology. You could probably spend a little bit of time unpacking just that line. I don't know why I have it here. But there it is. I guess we can, let's go on just a little bit further just because we can.

Page 27, top of page 27. We're going to lead up to a little bit of these verses, verses 11 through, or 12 through 16. Verse 11, concluded saying that God shows no partiality between people. So verse 11 literally concludes, for God shows no partiality. However, religious Jews tended to think they were better than heathen Gentiles because they had the blank law of God. They had the written law of God. So they thought they were better because they had the written law of God. Paul debunks this way of thinking in verse 12.

So verse 12 says, 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. Verse 12 teaches that all who have sinned without the law will blank. They will perish. All who sin without the law will perish. But he also says, All who have sinned with the law will also perish, right? So whether you have the written law of God, the Bible, or you don't, all who sin, whether with the Bible or without the Bible, will receive the same reward, which is perish. Perish.

Again, God shows no partiality. What does it mean to sin without the law? It means to sin without the blank law. without the written law. So that's what it means to sin without the law. It means to sin without the written law of God, like the Bible, or the Ten Commandments, or a sort of access to special revelation, the Word of God, that is.

The Jews thought they were better than the Gentiles because they had the Ten Commandments. Paul is making the point that everyone who sins, whether they have the written law of God or not, will be judged. That's Paul's point in verse 12. Verse 13, we'll read just here. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. Verse 13 affirms once more that possessing the written law of God did not make the Jews better than the Gentiles. Possessing the written law of God did not make the Jews better than the Gentiles because it is not hearing the law of God that is important, but blank the law of God. Doing, right? That's what Paul said there. It's the doing of the law of God.

According to verse 13, only the doers of the law will be justified, declared righteous in God's court of law. Is it true to say that those who obey the law perfectly will be declared righteous on the day of judgment? Yes, right? Those who obey the law perfectly will be declared righteous on the day of judgment. That's a true statement. Is it true to say that such people exist who obey the law perfectly and will therefore be declared righteous on Judgment Day? No, right?

So Paul is dealing here in hypotheticals, especially again verse 13. And how do we know that? Again, I have a good friend, I mean a good friend, and I'm probably going to ask him, you know, listen, he doesn't know who I'm talking about. Sarah doesn't know who I'm talking about.

But I have a good friend, and we've had many good discussions about Romans chapter 2, and his understanding is that essentially Paul is saying that, you know, Jimbo who lives in some tribe somewhere who's never had a Bible, because he's doing the best he can, he'll be saved.

And I just think when we look at what the scriptures are saying is, unless Jimbo is obeying the law perfectly, he will not be saved. He's got to be perfect in the keeping of the law. And we know that random Jimbo and random tribe who doesn't have a Bible doesn't do that. He just doesn't. His heart is sinful.

And again, I think what really drives this home for me that I am interpreting this correctly, that I don't, and I've read lots of commentaries as well, but the reason I really think this has to be the way we interpret it is We see where Paul is going. Paul is going to make it so unbelievably clear in Romans 3, 9 and following that none is good. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God.

So he can't be saying this person perfectly exists in chapter 2, verse 13. So if a man were able to satisfy the conditions imposed, he would receive the reward promised. Only this blank possibility does not de facto exist. No man is able to yield the required obedience. Only this hypothetical possibility does not de facto exist. Now verse 13 is totally hypothetical.

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. There are no doers of the law when it comes to justification. Don't you see? That is precisely Paul's point. Verse 13 brings the moral man to despair of himself. Rely on works, and they must be perfect works. And there is none of us who has ever done a perfect work of righteousness. So he's trying to help these Jewish readers who think that they're He's trying to help them see that you're not. You have to be a perfect doer of the law.

Well, verse 13 is totally hypothetical. It is also making a legitimate point when we've already been stressing, only those who are doers of the law will be justified. But this raises the question, if only doers of the law will be justified, and I have not been a doer of the law, how will I ever be justified, right? So if only doers of the law can be justified, and I know that I'm not a doer of the law, how in the world will I ever be justified?

The answer to this question takes you right to Romans 3, 21 and 22, where Paul is building. So he's building this masterful argument. And that's where he's going to take us, is to answering that exact question in chapter 3, verses 21 and 22. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. for all who believe.

I still remember being in the 7th grade, no, what grade would I have been in? I was older than that. Might have been in the 11th grade, but I was winning. Anyways, in some grade, doesn't really matter. And my teacher asked, he said, Are you saved by works? And of course I said no. And he said, in what sense are you saved by works? And I just remember sitting there thinking, how in the world can I answer this question because I'm not saved by works. But well, this brings us to our question here. In what sense can you say that you are saved by works?

And I remember sitting there thinking, I can't say I'm saved by works. But then there was also part of me that knew that I had to be. I grew up in a really good church. God was really like a church where God is really blessed like this one, where we are today, praise the Lord. But I still was confused a little bit because I knew about the act of obedience of Christ in the past, but it hadn't really clicked with me until this moment where I was sitting and thinking, I know that I'm not saved by works, but part of me knows that I have to be saved by works. It's gotta be some, not my work, but there's gotta be some righteousness, right? There has to be. So, how are you saved by your, not your works, how are you saved by works? In what sense?

You are saved by the works of Christ in your place. So that's what goes in that blank. You are saved by the works of Christ in your place. God in no way lowers his standard to save you. He fulfills the standard in Christ. We didn't change his standards. So in that sense, you are saved by works. But let's be very clear, the works of Christ in your place. Not my works or your works, but Christ's works in our place. So that's the sense in which you're saved by works.

Paul's point in Romans 2.13, that the doers of the law will be justified, then refers to the way that justification works under the law. Although sinners cannot ever fulfill the conditions to be right with God, believers stand before God justified according to works because Christ's perfect righteousness is imputed to us by faith. Christ works for us.

God does not, oh well, I said what I just was about to say. God's work does not, God does not blank his standard of righteousness to save you. God does not lower his standard of righteousness to save you. He blanks his standard of righteousness to save you. He fulfills his standard of righteousness to save you. Verses 14 and 15. answer a potential objection. So here's some things that people might object.

How can Gentiles, who do not have the written law of God at Sinai, be condemned, right? You can understand, I mean, I think on an emotional level we can all feel that, right? I mean, come on, that guy over there who didn't get to have the written law of God? How can someone who has never heard the gospel be condemned? And Paul answers that is that some, while some may not have heard the gospel, they have the blank law written upon their heart. They have the work. So verse 15. We'll start in verse 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. they show that the blank, the work of the law, is written on their hearts. Well, our conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. So they have the work of work, the of the law, I should have had of, work of the law upon their hearts as those who are made in the image of God. Their blank bears testimony that they are accountable to God, their conscience, right, their conscience. So everybody, whether they've never had a Bible or they've had a Bible, everybody has a conscience. And that is a reflection of God's law, which is the work of the law, which is written on their hearts.

And they feel that they have disobeyed the God before whom they must give an account. Commenting on these verses, J. Gresham Machen remarks, here the apostle does seem clearly to teach that the voice of conscience, which speaks in the very constitution of man's nature, is the voice of God.

He does not mean that men really obey that law, as it ought to be obeyed. On the contrary, he is very clear indeed in teaching that all have disobeyed. They have disobeyed the law, but at least the law is there in their hearts. Because of their disobedience, they are under the condemnation of the law. The law can therefore of itself never give them any hope. But that is not the fault of the law.

The moral law is written in the very constitution of their being, and if they do not heed it, they are without excuse. Let me give you an example of how the moral law is written even on the pagan's heart because he is indeed made in the image of God. McWilliams says, even a pagan will recognize, I need to honor my parents. And when he does not honor his parents, his conscience will accuse him. The law, the duty, is written on the heart of man.

Verse 16. makes absolutely clear that no man will be justified by his keeping the law because God judges the blank of men, the secrets. The secrets, verse 16. On that day, when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. What does Paul mean by according to my gospel? God judges the secrets of men.

In what sense is God's judgment according to the gospel that Paul preached? Well, what Paul is saying is according to the message that I've been preaching to you, God is going to judge you. That's essentially what Paul is saying. According to the message I've been preaching, God is going to judge.

And so if you are to faithfully preach the gospel, you must preach the blank of God. You must preach the judgment of God. Paul has been saying, I've been preaching to you this gospel, and this gospel, my gospel, which is really God's gospel, includes this doctrine of judgment. Judgment is a part of the proclamation of the gospel. Because man is under condemnation until Christ takes that condemnation on himself in their place.

So if you are to faithfully preach the gospel, you must preach the blank of God, the judgment of God. According to my gospel, that is to say, I blank it in my gospel. I preach. I preach. According to my gospel, that is to say, I preach it in my gospel. It is a necessary part of the gospel preaching. God judges the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. And all this is doing for us this afternoon or this morning is it's just revealing to us that we need Jesus.

That's what Paul is doing here. Paul isn't in the business of beating up on people to beat up on people. Paul doesn't take joy in some sort of messed up way to expose people for the sake of exposing them. He's wanting all of his readers, and by divine inspiration in his writing, us today, just to see, Jesus is the answer. I love Jesus. Jesus is the best because I have nothing apart from Him. That's what Paul is doing for them. Hopefully, that's what he's doing for me and for you.

So, can you faithfully preach the gospel if you do not preach God's judgment against sin? Right, right. No, you can't preach the gospel faithfully people have to know I need Jesus that if there's no judgment Why do I need Jesus? I have to it has to be judgment for me to know I need Jesus What is the cross about?

At least in part it's at least in part God the cross is about a lot of things but it is in part about God's judgment against sin Let's go ahead and just finish up here Do you see what Paul has been doing throughout this exploration of Romans chapter 2 verses 1 through 16?

He is trying to show the absolute inability for anyone to save themselves by their law-keeping. He is driving you out of yourself. He is driving you out of what you think you have done. He has told you that God's judgment will be according to blank, that is truth.

That was back in verse 1 or so. His judgment is according to righteousness, that's in verse five, and works, verse six. Oh, I have all the verses right there. Why did I try to guess? He has told you that God's judgment will be blank, universal, it'll be impartial, and deal with your heart. So he showed all these things.

So anybody who reads that honestly says, okay, God's judgment is gonna be according to truth, according to righteousness, according to my works, according to, it'll be universal, there's no escaping it, it'll be impartial, it'll be according to the heart, All of us have to go, okay, I need a savior. But that's what Paul is doing.

Why would Paul preach the inability of self-salvation? He is wanting to drive every single reader to Christ. He loves you too much to tell you that your good works will save you. He loves you too much to let you go on thinking you can do something to save yourself. He is telling you, stop and run to Jesus. He is the only one. Delight in him, go to him.

Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law's demands. Could my zeal no respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress, helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die.

Well, let's pray and conclude. And next week is, I'm having a reading week next week, so I'm gonna be not having our lesson, but we'll meet again in two weeks and we'll be back on our normal schedule. And I think we're actually ahead of schedule, so we'll see. Let's pray.

Dearly Father, we thank you so much for this time. Lord, we know there are lots of inclinations in the human heart, every human heart, to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. But instead, Lord, of thinking highly of ourselves, would we think highly of Jesus Christ? and would we think much upon Him and how He's done it all and how we can actually really just receive and rest upon Him alone for our salvation. And that whatever good works we get to do by the power of your Spirit in us flow from a sense of the wonder that Jesus has done it all for us, that we are trying to earn something. We're just simply living out of what has been given to us freely. Oh Lord, help us as we strive to live this way. We fall short, but our Jesus is better. Jesus is able to stoop down wherever we fall and pick us back up in mercy and in grace. It's in his name we pray. Amen.