Principles of God's judgment Romans 2 v 1-16.
Three sub-headings: a) God's righteousness. b) God's goodness. c) Man's choice.
a) God's righteousness; "the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Romans 2 v 5.
GOD is the judge:
The religious man, in this case the Jew, sets himself up as a judge of others, pointing the finger at those who live carelessly. No one has anything to fear from the judgment of men, for the judgment is God's. "Fear not them, which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10 v 28.
The God who is OMNIPRESENT, who is everywhere, at all times, who spans all time.
The God who is OMNISCIENT, who knows everything, who needs no counsellor, who requires no witnesses, because His judgment is perfect.
The God who is OMNIPOTENT, who has all power, who created and commands all forces of nature, who exerts His power as He please.
God's judgment is certain:
Says Paul, "do you think you will escape the judgment of God?". Do you think you are too religious, too special, too big, or even too insignificant, that you will escape?
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God". Romans 14 v 11-12.
"And I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened......." Revelation 20 v 12. What books? The record of your life, every word, every deed. The day of judgment beckons, how will it be with you?
God's judgment is according to truth:
Since God is the only truth, this means that it will be according to the FACTS as God sees them. All of us present an image of ourselves, but God sees us exactly as we are.
Revelation 19 v 2 "True and righteous are His judgments" We may deceive our family, our friends, even ourselves, but the facts of our lives, all of them are known, the evidence is there, we cannot deceive God.........what we did, when we did it, why we did it, whom we hurt in the process, including God Himself. There will be no deviation from the facts of what we committed while we lived.
God's judgment will take account of the number and nature of the sins we commit:
"treasuring up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" Romans 2 v 5. Clearly, every day we are adding to our debt to God. There is a statement in Hebrews 2 v 2 , which is often neglected by preachers and teachers, and is very relevant here "if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation.?"
This means that every sin will be paid for, each day, sin piled upon sin, adding to our debt, every one of which we will pay for in terms of eternal punishment. Many think today that if one sin takes us to hell, we might as well go on sinning. This is sheer folly because all we are doing is adding to the problem. Just as, in the bible there are degrees of reward for believers, there are also degrees of punishment for the unbelieving. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus spoke of "laying up treasure in heaven".
Here Paul speaks of laying up treasure in hell - a fearful thought but nevertheless a reality.
God's judgment will be according to our deeds :
"Who will render to every man according to his deeds." Romans 2 v 6. There are plenty of good intentions, but the judgment will be based on what we actually did. The word "render" carries the idea of payback, which was hinted at in the previous paragraph. Did I live my life in well doing, did I do that which is good in the sight of God, or was I contentious and disobedient and following a life of sin? We will see later in chapter 3 that, in fact, no-one has lived a good life, in biblical terms, and what is being stated here is the principle given to Israel of old "and it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us." Deuteronomy 6 v 25. These were God's terms for salvation, but none kept them. The judgment will be on my own deeds, so why am I concerning myself about others?
The judgment of God will be impartial:
"There is no respecter of persons with God" Romans 2 v 11. It will not matter your nationality, your gender, your social standing, your life achievements, your blood lines, all will be treated on the same level. God has no favourites, there is no respect of persons, no bias, no preference with God for anyone - completely impartial. "Those who sin without the law shall also perish without the law - as many as have sinned within the law shall be judged by the law." Romans 2 v 12 Please refer to the following scriptures, Acts 10 v 34-35; Ephesians 6 v 9; Colossians 3 v 23; 1st Peter 1 v 17, which along with Romans 2 v 11 here, gives a five fold assertion that God is totally impartial, and His judgment will be impartial.
The judgment of God will expose the secrets of men:
Only Jesus Christ whose "eyes are like a flame of fire" Revelation 1 v 14 is fit to judge the world (please read the whole of Revelation chapter 5) nothing will escape His attention. Even while here, His glory veiled in human flesh, He could see beyond the surface of men "all things are naked and laid bear before the eyes of \him with whom we have to do" Hebrews 4 v 13 "He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the councils of the heart" 1st Corinthians 4 v 5
"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known" Matthew 10 v 26.
These are the unalterable principles of God's judgement affecting us all. ARE WE READY FOR THIS AWESOME DAY?
Tomorrow the goodness of God.
Three sub-headings: a) God's righteousness. b) God's goodness. c) Man's choice.
a) God's righteousness; "the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Romans 2 v 5.
GOD is the judge:
The religious man, in this case the Jew, sets himself up as a judge of others, pointing the finger at those who live carelessly. No one has anything to fear from the judgment of men, for the judgment is God's. "Fear not them, which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10 v 28.
The God who is OMNIPRESENT, who is everywhere, at all times, who spans all time.
The God who is OMNISCIENT, who knows everything, who needs no counsellor, who requires no witnesses, because His judgment is perfect.
The God who is OMNIPOTENT, who has all power, who created and commands all forces of nature, who exerts His power as He please.
God's judgment is certain:
Says Paul, "do you think you will escape the judgment of God?". Do you think you are too religious, too special, too big, or even too insignificant, that you will escape?
"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God". Romans 14 v 11-12.
"And I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened......." Revelation 20 v 12. What books? The record of your life, every word, every deed. The day of judgment beckons, how will it be with you?
God's judgment is according to truth:
Since God is the only truth, this means that it will be according to the FACTS as God sees them. All of us present an image of ourselves, but God sees us exactly as we are.
Revelation 19 v 2 "True and righteous are His judgments" We may deceive our family, our friends, even ourselves, but the facts of our lives, all of them are known, the evidence is there, we cannot deceive God.........what we did, when we did it, why we did it, whom we hurt in the process, including God Himself. There will be no deviation from the facts of what we committed while we lived.
God's judgment will take account of the number and nature of the sins we commit:
"treasuring up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" Romans 2 v 5. Clearly, every day we are adding to our debt to God. There is a statement in Hebrews 2 v 2 , which is often neglected by preachers and teachers, and is very relevant here "if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation.?"
This means that every sin will be paid for, each day, sin piled upon sin, adding to our debt, every one of which we will pay for in terms of eternal punishment. Many think today that if one sin takes us to hell, we might as well go on sinning. This is sheer folly because all we are doing is adding to the problem. Just as, in the bible there are degrees of reward for believers, there are also degrees of punishment for the unbelieving. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus spoke of "laying up treasure in heaven".
Here Paul speaks of laying up treasure in hell - a fearful thought but nevertheless a reality.
God's judgment will be according to our deeds :
"Who will render to every man according to his deeds." Romans 2 v 6. There are plenty of good intentions, but the judgment will be based on what we actually did. The word "render" carries the idea of payback, which was hinted at in the previous paragraph. Did I live my life in well doing, did I do that which is good in the sight of God, or was I contentious and disobedient and following a life of sin? We will see later in chapter 3 that, in fact, no-one has lived a good life, in biblical terms, and what is being stated here is the principle given to Israel of old "and it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us." Deuteronomy 6 v 25. These were God's terms for salvation, but none kept them. The judgment will be on my own deeds, so why am I concerning myself about others?
The judgment of God will be impartial:
"There is no respecter of persons with God" Romans 2 v 11. It will not matter your nationality, your gender, your social standing, your life achievements, your blood lines, all will be treated on the same level. God has no favourites, there is no respect of persons, no bias, no preference with God for anyone - completely impartial. "Those who sin without the law shall also perish without the law - as many as have sinned within the law shall be judged by the law." Romans 2 v 12 Please refer to the following scriptures, Acts 10 v 34-35; Ephesians 6 v 9; Colossians 3 v 23; 1st Peter 1 v 17, which along with Romans 2 v 11 here, gives a five fold assertion that God is totally impartial, and His judgment will be impartial.
The judgment of God will expose the secrets of men:
Only Jesus Christ whose "eyes are like a flame of fire" Revelation 1 v 14 is fit to judge the world (please read the whole of Revelation chapter 5) nothing will escape His attention. Even while here, His glory veiled in human flesh, He could see beyond the surface of men "all things are naked and laid bear before the eyes of \him with whom we have to do" Hebrews 4 v 13 "He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the councils of the heart" 1st Corinthians 4 v 5
"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known" Matthew 10 v 26.
These are the unalterable principles of God's judgement affecting us all. ARE WE READY FOR THIS AWESOME DAY?
Tomorrow the goodness of God.
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