A bronze balance scale standing level on a stone table in early morning light.

The Book of

Romans 2

It is easy to agree that the world has gone wrong. Paul turns to the one nodding along and says: you too.

29 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–3:20The problemEveryone needs the gospelChapter 2
3:21–5The answerRight with God by faith
6–8New lifeFree in Christ, led by the Spirit
9–11God and IsraelHis promises stand
12–16Living itLove in a church of Jews and Gentiles

God’s Righteous Judgment

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another.

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For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

God’s kindness leads you to repentance

Romans 2:4

But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Reflect

The same things

Paul says the one who judges others has “no excuse,” because “you who pass judgment do the same things.” Where do you find it easier to see other people’s faults than your own? What would it look like to let “the riches of His kindness” lead you to repentance today?

God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.

There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Greek.

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or defending them

on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.

How God judges

Whiteboard

God’s judgment is nothing like ours. It is true, it weighs what each person has really done, it has no favorites, and it sees what is hidden. And the Judge is Christ Jesus, the same One the gospel offers as Savior.

Pray

The One who sees

God “does not show favoritism,” and one day He “will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus.” Ask Him to search your heart and show you what you would rather keep hidden. Thank Him that the Judge is also the Savior, and ask for a faith that shows itself in “doing good.”

The Jews and the Law

Paul

you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? The one who is physically uncircumcised yet keeps the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

Early morning light streaming through an open wooden doorway into a dark stone room.

A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Question

Quick question

Paul ends the chapter by asking what really makes someone belong to God.

Where does Paul say true circumcision happens?

You’ve experienced

Romans 2

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A verse to carry with you

Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4

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