Romans 2:7

Romans 2:7

In our last Bible study we finished Romans Chapter 1 and started with Romans Chapter 2. At the end of Romans Chapter 1 Paul had given a revealing and unpleasant account of human nature and the kinds of sins that humans so easily fall into. The problems of the world, center around the sin problem. Money will not solve as many things as some people think, because unless you solve the sin problem, more money will only give you more opportunities to sin.

We need to look at a couple of more of the sins in depth that are listed at the end of Romans 1. Paul made it clear that humans have a problem with truthfulness. He said in Rom. 1:29 that humans are full of deceit, and he said in verse 31 that they are covenant breakers. Humans tend to lie and to not tell the truth, especially if they have something to gain. I was at a used car dealership the other day and was talking to one of the salesmen, and he told me that he has learned that you just cannot believe anyone in his business. He said that he and his friends have a saying that if someone’s lips are moving, then that means that they are lying.

Studies have proven that not only are humans good at lying, but they are also very poor at discerning the truth. One of the reasons that lies are so damaging, is because humans are so good at lying and it is difficult to know when someone is telling the truth or not. That’s also why one witness should never be believed in a courtroom. Paul said that humans are full of deceit. It is the nature of humans to hide from the truth and to avoid the truth.

Paul also said that humans are covenant breakers. A contract is a covenant. It is an agreement between two parties. If someone agrees to something, you would expect them to fulfill their side of the bargain. For the servant of God, a verbal agreement should be just as binding as a written one. You are only as good as your word. God keeps His word, and the spoken word of God is just as meaningful and reliable as the written word of God. A believer in Christ should be known as someone who tells the truth. The world has come to realize that what someone says often cannot be trusted, and therefore they have written agreements. They will tell you anything to make you happy, or to make a sell, or to make a profit. Later when you remind them of what was said, they will refer to the written document and will place no importance on their own spoken words. That’s one of the reasons that serving God is so wonderful, and the study of God’s word is so fulfilling. God does not lie. You may go your whole life and never find an honest person, but you will find one in God, and you will find truth in the word of God.

Paul said that humans are full of deceit and are covenant breakers. Jesus said in John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do... When he speaks a lie he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it." Lying will result in many negative consequences, and the worst consequence is listed in Rev. 21:8 with other sins where the Bible says, "But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

There is a lie and its horrible consequences, but thank God that there is also truth with its good and pleasant consequences. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." The way to escape the penalty of your own sins is not to hide from them, not to live in deceit, but to come to the truth about them. The truth is that you have done things that you ought not to have done, and the truth is that Jesus will forgive you if you ask him, and the truth is that you ought not to do them again. When you admit these things, then you will be a truly honest person, because you will be honest about yourself before God. Shakespeare said something similar. He said, "To your own self be true. You cannot then be false to any man."

In our society we know an awful lot about family problems. We know very well that families can disintegrate, and that relationships can deteriorate. Some people have made millions of dollars getting you to buy their books and go to their seminars, telling you that all these problems can be fixed, if you just do things their way. The hypocrisy of that entire situation is that if you looked at the personal lives of most of those people, you would find that they have more personal problems than the average person. Of course, what Paul is telling us in Romans is that at the core of these human problems is the sin problem; and the only long-term resolution is for people to come to know and to serve God. Paul said in Romans 1:30 that humans commit the sin of disobedience to parents, and he said in Romans 1:31 that people also commit the sin of being without natural affection.

Natural affection is the love and concern that people should have for each other that should come naturally. Some of the horrible reports that we hear of physical and emotional and sexual abuse that goes on in some homes is due to the sin that is inherent in humans that results in some being without natural affection. How is it that a parent could abuse their child, and take some kind of sadistic pleasure in seeing their own child suffer? What kind of mad impulse could spur a parent to hate or to harm the innocence of their own offspring? Unless more people turn to Christ, the crimes against one’s own flesh and blood will only multiply. That’s exactly why whenever there is a crime against a child, the police must first consider the possibility that it was committed by one of the child’s own family members. But justice will eventually be served because Jesus loves all the little children and He said in Mat. 18:6, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Some of the horrible things that happen to families are because of the sin, the error, the failure of being without natural affection. Other problems in families are caused because of what Paul said was disobedience to parents. This is a sin that is committed by children. Most parents give good advice to their children. Most parents, even the unbelieving, want good things to happen to their children and want their children to do what is right. Almost no one wants their child to become a criminal or a drug addict or in other ways to fail to realize their potential. Most children are given advice and admonishments from their parents to do good and to do right. So what happens, what goes wrong? What often happens is that the child is disobedient to the parent. If only children were more obedient, they would become wiser and better people and would commit fewer sins.

The problem centers around the fact of children being disobedient to parents. The answer is for children to become more obedient. You can’t force someone to become more obedient. Someone must be obedient because they choose to be. If there is a problem with disobedience among children, it’s not the fault of the parent. It’s the fault of the children, and it’s a fault that is due to the sinfulness of human beings. The problem is the sin problem, and the answer for children is the same as for the parents: to turn from their sins and to the Lord.

Our society often gets things mixed up. You will hear from many sources that when children go wrong it’s the fault of the parents. But the opposite is usually true: when children go wrong, it’s their own fault. If only they had not fallen into the sin of being disobedient to parents. The parent-child relationship is referred to in one of the Ten Commandments, and the responsibility is not put on the parents, it’s put on the children. It says, "Honor your mother and your father." No one has a chance at doing what is right unless they choose to do what is right because they want to. And this is just as true for children as it is for any human.

The idea of children honoring parents and children being obedient to parents is a very important concept for proper human existence. It even goes beyond human relationships because it is also at the core of a human’s relationship with God. God is called our Father, not only because He takes care of us as His children, but also because we can only be rightly related to Him when our attitude is one of honor and obedience to Him. Jesus prayed to the Father and said, "Not my will, but thine be done." A child’s rebellion against his parents is on the same level as rebellion against God, and often the one is the cause of the other. Again, the solution is simple yet profound: turning from sin and selfishness, and turning to Jesus in surrender and with an obedient spirit.

Paul is talking about the two groups into which humans are divided and he says in Romans 1:7-9, "To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also to the Gentile."

At the end of Romans chapter one Paul mentioned disobedience to parents as one of the great sins. Now in Romans chapter two Paul is describing how all humans are divided into two groups spiritually. One characteristic that distinguishes the one group of humans from the other is obedience. Some people obey the truth and other people do not obey the truth. The truth is offered to both equally because God is the same to all. Some people obey the truth, but others are contentious and do not obey the truth. Humans are responsible for their actions and for their attitudes towards truth and they will be held accountable. This is the psychology of salvation, and it is the mystery of iniquity. Why do some people turn to God and ask for forgiveness and others do not? Those who want what is good and what is right will turn to God, no matter what their circumstances or background or childhood. On the other hand those who do not want what is good will not turn to God because they remain in the bitterness of deceit. It all comes down to human choice.

That’s why the relationship of children to parents is very similar to the relationship of humans to God. All children have the same basic opportunity: they can choose to obey and honor their parents or they can choose to not do so. No one forces them to do the one or the other. It is their choice, and they must live with the consequences. They are free moral agents. The same is true about a person’s relationship with God. Everyone has a similar opportunity: to have an attitude of obedience towards God or disobedience. Each person chooses for himself and must live with the consequences of his choice. Jesus said what the result would be for anyone who chooses to seek God. He said; "Seek and you shall find." And Paul said what the result would be for anyone who does not obey the truth. He said in Rom. 2:8 that the result would be "unrighteousness, indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish."

For those who obey the truth when God offers it to them, there are very wonderful consequences. Rom. 1:10 says, "But glory, honor, and peace to every man that works good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." With such a clear choice and with such a great difference in the consequences, we would think that more people would choose God instead of their own selfishness. Perhaps some will think that God will make an exception in their case, and that it will be different for them and that they will be able to live in the pleasures of sin and get away with it. But Rom. 2:11 says, "For there is no respect of persons with God." In other words He treats all humans the same way.

God is not prejudiced. God is fair. All humans live under the umbrella of His immutable moral and ethical principles. You cannot hope that God will make an exception in your case. Your case, the case of your life and what you have done with it, will be handled fairly and justly by God, and on an equal basis with all other humans. Rom. 2:12 says, "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law."

One of the ways that the Bible categorized humans was as Jew and Gentile. The Jews are the descendants of Jacob, and the Gentiles are all other humans. God had meant for the truth to go through the Jews to the rest of the world. They failed, but God succeeded because Jesus was a Jew and He is the light of the world. Those who are raised as a Jew are religious people who hear the righteous law of God pronounced on a regular basis. It is not uncommon for them to read and to recite the 10 commandments and other commandments from God. The Gentiles are often not religious. They do not read the Bible or any of God’s commandments. But even they have an innate moral law and a conscience that reminds them that they ought to do what is right. Rom. 2:13-15 says, "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; Who show the work of the law written in their hearts; their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing one another."

At this point in Romans chapter two Paul turns his attention to those that are religious and especially to the Jew. They might think that because they have the law of God that they have a better chance of being justified before God than the Gentiles who do not have the law of God. But the law can justify only if you keep it with no failures. It can only condemn, otherwise. Another problem with the law is that it is often only external. A person can appear to obey many things in the law, and yet in their hearts be full of sin. We will be judged for the total picture; not only what we do on the outside, but also what goes on inside. Man sees the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. If you rely on the law and your ability to keep the law and your relationship to the law, you will be in big trouble because you will be judged for that which is outward and that which is inward. Rom. 2:16 says, "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."

The gospel means good news. In spite of the condemnation of the law, in spite of your own failures to obey God’s law and to obey your own conscience, and in spite of the fact that God knows every thing about you, even your greatest secrets; you can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ. You need only to turn to Him with an attitude of obedience and a request for forgiveness.

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