Romans 2:1–29: God's Impartial Judgment and the Circumcision of the Heart (two sessions)
God's righteous judgment, without favoritism
See how Paul brings the one who judges others under the same verdict as 1:18–32. God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance, and God will judge every person according to his deeds and without favoritism, Jew and Gentile, with the law or without it, on the day when he judges people's secrets through Christ Jesus. Judgment according to deeds is real, and it is not a second way of salvation alongside faith.
Outline
- The one who judges others is without excuse; God's kindness leads to repentanceRom 2:1–5
- God will repay each one according to his deeds; God does not show favoritismRom 2:6–11
- Not the hearers but the doers of the lawRom 2:12–13
- The work of the law written on the heart, and the day of judgmentRom 2:14–16
observation · 4
Read Rom 1:32 and then 2:1–3. Whom does Paul now address? What does he say this person does, and what happens when he judges others? Compare “without excuse” in 1:20 and 2:1.
In 2:4–5, list the three things Paul says belong to God's “riches.” What is God's kindness meant to do? What is the hearer “storing up” instead, and for what day? Compare Exod 34:6.
Rom 2:6–11 is built like a ring. Find the opening statement (2:6) and the closing statement (2:11). Between them, what two kinds of people and what two outcomes does Paul describe? Where does “first for the Jew, then for the Greek” appear, and where have we seen it before (1:16)?
Read 2:12–16. What two groups does 2:12 describe, and what happens to each? What does 2:13 contrast? What do the Gentiles of 2:14–15 do, what is “written on their hearts,” and what do their consciences and thoughts do? When and through whom will God judge (2:16)?
interpretation · 6
Why might someone take God's patience as a sign that he will not judge? According to 2:4–5, what is God's patience for? How does “the day of wrath” in 2:5 relate to the wrath already “being revealed” in 1:18?
Paul says God “will repay each one according to his deeds” (2:6), yet later says “a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (3:28). Read 2:6–11, 3:20–28 and 2 Cor 5:10. How can both be true? What do the two common conservative readings of 2:7 and 2:10 say?
What does Paul mean when he says that “it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous” (2:13)? Read Lev 18:5 and Rom 3:20. Weigh the two readings: is 2:13 the law's standard that no one meets, or a description of believers whose obedience is the evidence of faith?
Who are the Gentiles of 2:14–15, who “do by nature what the law requires”? Gentiles in general, Gentile Christians, or a supposed case? Compare Jer 31:33 with Rom 2:15. Why does it matter that Paul says “the work of the law,” and that their thoughts are “accusing or defending them”?
Says ὅταν (hotan, “whenever”) with the subjunctive describes what happens from time to time; ἔθνη (ethnē, “Gentiles”) has no article; they do τὰ τοῦ νόμου (ta tou nomou, “the things of the law,” literal), a concrete and partial phrase. Implies The phrase “a law to themselves” does not mean a law of their own making but the law's demand present in them (2:15).
Uncertain Who these Gentiles are. (1) Gentiles generally, who at times do some of the things the law requires. Grounds: “whenever” and the partial phrase; φύσει (physei, “by nature”) most naturally goes with “do”; their conscience and thoughts are “accusing or even defending” (literal), which suits a mixed record rather than the obedience of faith; and the verses serve 2:12, which says that those “apart from the law” are still accountable, as 1:32 has already said. (2) Gentile Christians, with the law written on their hearts as Jer 31:33 promised (“inscribe it on their hearts”; אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה, ekhtavennah, “I will write it,” literal). Grounds: the echo of Jeremiah; φύσει may go with “who do not have the law,” as ἐκ φύσεως (ek physeōs, “by birth”) does in 2:27; 2:14 begins with “for” and may give an instance of the “doers” of 2:13; and 2:26–29 appears to describe believers. (3) A hypothetical case. The commentary leans to (1); the main alternative is (2). Interpreters divide: Chrysostom and Calvin took them as Gentiles generally; Augustine took them as believers under the new covenant (and allowed the other view); Cranfield and Gathercole argue for Gentile Christians; Moo takes them as non-Christians; Schreiner changed from the first view to the second.
Uncertain Whether φύσει goes with “do” (the commentary's lean, with the BSB) or with “who do not have the law” (main alternative). Uncertain Whether “written on their hearts” alludes to Jer 31:33; the weight given to it goes with the identification of these Gentiles.
Leader: whichever view the group finds stronger, the records do not present 2:14–15 as a way of salvation apart from the gospel. On reading (1) these verses serve the indictment: 2:12 says that those without the law still perish for their sin, and the “even” before “defending” suggests that accusation is the usual verdict of conscience.
Rom 2:16 has no main verb of its own. Which earlier statement does it complete: 2:15, 2:13, or 2:12? What does it mean that God will judge people's “secrets,” and that he will do it “through Christ Jesus”?
application · 2
Paul says that those who judge others “do the same things” (2:1). Where are you quick to condemn in others what you excuse in yourself? How should knowing that God's judgment “is based on truth” (2:2) change the way you examine yourself before you judge anyone else?
Have you ever taken God's patience as permission to keep sinning? Romans 2:4 says his kindness “leads you to repentance.” What would turning from a specific sin look like for you this week, and how does God's kindness make that turn possible?
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits