VERDICT by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  It is a shock to some people, or even just puzzlement, that we are going through our end-times series through Romans. “What does Romans have to do with the end-times?” they ask. The answer is “a lot!” By studying Romans, we are learning the foundation of theology, and eschatology (study of the last days) is a part of theology. Already we have seen how the idea of God’s temple and importance of Nations are directly and indirectly mentioned in the Book of Romans. Understanding why they matter will help us understand their roles in Revelation. Today we turn to Romans 2 for our message titled “VERDICT,” where we will see yet another important doctrine of the end times, judgement. People think that there is no judgment to life. You can live any way you want to, and there are no consequences. You can have all your kicks, and there are no kickbacks. Such is not the case. The Book of Romans reminds us that there is a judgment coming when God will judge every single person for every single deed. In fact, that’s what most of the Book of Revelation is all about.

Romans 2 (page #1733) 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. 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?”

Context: As we are going further and further in the Book of Romans, we are learning that the church in Rome in the first century was composed of both Gentile background and Jewish background believers, with the Gentile background ones becoming the majority over time and due to circumstances (remember Claudius kicked the Jewish people out of Rome). They were now in charge and were probably feeling superior and justified in their new status. On the other hand, the Jewish background believers who had returned after Claudius’s death were probably feeling somewhat sidelined and even being treated as obsolete. Maybe, they were even trying to compensate by claiming that they had the Law of God, unlike the lawless Gentiles. We get this through reading between the lines.

Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to get both groups straight. In Romans 1, he schooled the Gentiles as to Cosmology (Creation of the world) and History of Cultures and Civilizations (the downward steps from Knowledge to Self-Destruction). This is something the Jewish background believers knew very well, and you can almost see them with a smirk on their face – “That’s right Paul. Teach these ignorant pagan Gentiles what we’ve always knows through the Law.” But listen to Romans 2       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, 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, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 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.” I can see the Jewish background believers sit back and say, “I thought Paul was taking up for us, but I guess not…”

By the way, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul was also writing to all churches in all places and times. All of us must be reminded that we all stand condemned before a holy and a righteous God, and there is a day of judgment coming when all of us will have to give an account of our lives. So, if we do good, we get “glory, honor, and immortality,” and if we do evil, we get “indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish?” Romans 2:16 “in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”

Application: Did you know that there is a day of judgment coming for you? Don’t be like the students who ask, “will this be on the test?” or even “do you have a final exam?” Are you ready for that day? What assurance do you have that you will make it on that day?

With that said, there are 4 kinds of people that Paul is addressing in Romans 1-2:

1. Rebellious Gentile

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

We focused on this group last weekend. They represent a system that rejects God’s knowledge and goes down the steps towards Self-Destruction: Knowledge ® Rebellion ®Idolatry ® Sexual Immorality ® Homosexuality ® Self-Destruction.

How do they think about the judgement of God? Romans 1:32 “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

Application: Do you know people like that? Are you praying that God will open their lives before it’s too late?

2. Moralistic Gentile

Romans 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.”

Who is Paul referring to here? He is referring to the Moralistic Gentile. He is referring to the self-righteous person who sees the Rebellion in society and shakes his head, who sees the Idolatry in society and sighs, who sees the Sexual Immorality in society and hugs his/her spouse and tells them how much he/she loves them, who sees the Homosexuality in society and warns his/her children to stay away from that mess, and who sees all the 23 vices mentioned in Romans 1:29-31 and reminisces over a time when things were different in the old days. There is a shift from the plural to the singular.

Romans 2        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?”

Application: Do you know people like that? They are “good people,” but they are internally no different. Are you praying that God will open their lives before it’s too late?

3. Hypocritical Jewish Person

Paul is addressing the Jewish person who feels morally superior to the lost Gentiles Romans 2        17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident 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 babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

In Matthew 5, Jesus had already raised the standards for the self-righteous.

	You have heard it said	But I say to you
1	You shall not murder	“If you are angry with your brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment.”
2	You shall not commit adultery	“Look at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart.”
3	You shall not swear falsely	“Do not swear at all: neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem or by anything else.”
4	‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’	“But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
5	‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’	“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;”

When you understand the context, then you understand certain passages that are otherwise confusing. Romans 2        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, 15who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)…28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

4. God-fearing Jewish Person

Romans 3        1 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? This is where Paul was when he was trying to kill Christians. He was not a bad person by the his standards, but he was a God-fearing man trying to save what he thought was his faith.

Listen to his conclusion – Romans 3          9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10   As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Who better to say all this than the man who called himself “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Illustration: Dad’s testimony of talking to his granddad who told him that there is no guarantee that Allah would let him into heaven on the day of judgment.

Invitation: As Adrian Rogers would say, “I wouldn’t trust by best 5 minutes on earth to get me into heaven.”

We are all guilty before God, no matter which category we belong to.

Only in coming to Christ can we be saved. Are you saved?