Impartial & Righteous Judge

Would you please turn with me to Romans chapter 2? Romans chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. So we'll read from 1 through 11. Romans chapter 2. 2. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you the judge practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet do them yourselves, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

For God shows no partiality. Let us pray. Father, we come before you this morning and once again want to thank you for the opportunity you have given us to gather together and worship you through songs and through prayer. Now as we worship you through the hearing of your word, may you bless our time together, Lord. Speak to us through your word. And may you, Lord, change us by your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

So from this passage, we will see who the impartial and righteous judge is. So that’s sermon title for today, the impartial and righteous judge. Have you ever seen a person showing bias, bias towards some people while ignoring and rejecting others based on the color, caste, religion or behavior?

Have you seen anyone choosing a friend because he’s a smart guy in the class who scores well? Have you seen a low grader being rejected by others in the class? Again it could be intellectual standards, external appearances or financial status. It can also happen anywhere. In schools, corporates, markets, marriages or religious institutions.

Have you seen it? Everyone of us might have witnessed it before our eyes, right? Right? How about you doing it? Have you looked down on others because they do not match your personal preferences? Have you showed partiality in any area of your life or in this Gospel Life Church?

It is time that we address the issues of our heart today. So last time, when we were in Romans 1, we have seen how God gave up some people to their own sins as a sign of judgment after they have suppressed the truth of God and dishonored God by turning away from Him.

They have no excuse before God for what they have done. Paul, after talking about those Gentiles, now turns to the Jews and says, “You have no excuse too.” Why? We will see that in this passage. So in this passage, in these 11 verses that we are going to meditate today, we’ll see that Paul is saying three things about man and three things about God. Three things about man and three things about God. So three things about man. So these are the three things. The one who judges others is condemning themselves because they are practicing the same things they are condemning others for.

And we see flawed life of people. We see that in verses 1 and 2. And in verses 3 and 4, we see man thinks he can escape the judgment of God. And he also belittles the goodness of God. It's a faulty thinking of man.

And the third one is that man’s heart, which is hard and impenitent, stirs up the wrath of God, which is a faulty heart. And three things about God. Kindness should lead us to repentance. And we see that in verse 4, the goodness of God.

And the second one is God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. We see that in verse 5. That’s the righteousness of God in judgment. And the third thing about God is God is impartial in his judgment. And he punishes the wicked and rewards the good. And we see that from verse 6 through 11. So impartiality of God in judgment. So these are the six things, three things about man and three things about God that we’re going to look at now.

So first, what is the definition of the word judge? The word judge means to decide the results, to conclude or to make legal decisions or to condemn. Which means to express complete disapproval or sentence to punishment or declare somebody as unfit. That’s what condemn means.

So the word judge also has this connotation of ruling over others. In other contexts, it is also used for discernment. Just discernment. But here, in this particular text, we see this word judge is used with this meaning of condemnation. So, we can clearly see that the second half of Romans 1 is all about Gentiles, right? So, Paul is addressing the Gentile situation. And Romans 2 is about Jews. Jews. So Paul is talking about Jews and addressing their situation. So we might have this basic distinction in mind if we grew up in some Christian circles, that we might have believed that Jews are God’s people, true God’s people, while Gentiles are not.

Some carry this thought into Christianity and think that Jewish Christians are better than Gentile Christians. Because they think that God is more interested in Jews and in Israel than in Gentiles elsewhere. Or that he favors Jewish Christians more than Gentile Christians. Look at how Paul starts the second chapter with the word, “therefore.”

Chapter 2, verse 1, “therefore.” Therefore, that word is linking the two chapters, chapter 1 and chapter 2. The flow of thought continues from chapter 1 to chapter 2. Look at the last verse of chapter 1. What do we see there? “Though they know God’s righteous decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

with the first verse of chapter 2. “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you the judge practice the very same things.” What’s happening here in these two verses? In one case, chapter 1 verse, the last verse, in one case the religious people who outrightly rejected God, the religious people knew the truth but rejected it, and they approved when others did the same things that they did. That is sin. But in this case here in chapter 2, the religious people who knew the truth more deeply than the religious people rejected it, and they condemned others when they did the same things as they did.

You see the difference? Which one is better among these two worst behaviors? Do you remember the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15? It is not just about the prodigal son who is lost, but also his elder brother who was very obedient to his father, but not from his heart. So both the prodigal and the elder son are lost.

So Romans chapter 1 is about the prodigal, while Romans chapter 2 is about the elder brother in that sense. Romans 1 is about people who do not honor God. And Romans chapter 2 is about people who honor themselves, but not God and others.

So we’ll see three things about man in the first five verses. First we see is the flawed life. So verse 1, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you the judge practice the very same things.” Verse 2, “we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.” The one who judges others is condemning themselves because they’re practicing the same things. They’re condemning others. Paul is talking to those who are judging others or putting them putting others us down or condemning others.

He’s not just talking to men but also women. They could be young or old, it doesn’t matter. So all those who judge others have no excuse before God because they themselves cannot live up to their own standards by which they are judging. One day when they stand before God and when God asks them saying, “Why did you judge that?” They cannot say because it will only be blank after that.

So you better have a good reason before you judge others. And please do not think for one because there is no better reason at all. It is like a student who failed in the class beating up his brother for not getting good grades.

Just imagine if a High Court or a Supreme Court judge does the same things as the criminals whom he judges. How would you respond to that? We normally are hard on other people than ourselves, right? When we sin, we do not condemn ourselves, but try to justify ourselves and defend ourselves. But when others commit the same sin, we let hell break loose on them, right?

We act as if we are throwing them in hell immediately. Do you remember how James and John responded on one occasion? In Luke chapter 9, verses 51 through 55, you see this thing. When Jesus sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of Samaritans to make preparations for him. But the people there in Samaria did not receive him.

So when the disciples saw that, so in that verse it says, and when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, look at their boldness, to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. But Jesus rebuked them.

So we show all our self-righteousness while judging others, but are blind to our own sin. So in this context, there is no difference between a self-righteous person and an unrighteous person. Both reject God and live their own sinful way. One assumes that God approves of him. The other knows that God does not approve of him. That’s the difference. The one that assumes that God approves him does not know that he is condemning himself by the very condemnation that he pronounces on others.

The self-righteous man is blinded to his own flaws in life. A self-righteous person or a hypocrite judging others is like a person standing before a mirror and judging the person in the mirror. Who’s in the mirror? By their own words, he or she condemns themselves without their knowledge.

So second thing that we see here in this passage is that men have faulty thinking. So verse 3 and 4 we see, “Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things, and yet do them yourselves, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” So we see the man thinks he can escape the judgment of God and he belittles the goodness of God. Paul is using two rhetorical questions to make a point about man’s faulty thinking here.

When Paul asks, “Do you suppose you will escape the judgment of God?” He’s showing that men assume things about God that are not true, but at the same time showing that no one who practices evil can escape the judgment of God. Again, Paul shows that men presume or belittle God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience as they act sinfully.

I think the mind is a great gift that God has given to mankind. It is our mind that separates us from the animal kingdom. It is our mind that shows that we are made in the image of God. The human mind looks like it does not have any limits in its imagination, right? That is greater than AI, and artificial intelligence cannot even come closer to a human mind. Human minds have achieved great things, even inventing artificial intelligence and robots ways that we see even today, but are now afraid of their own inventions, thinking of the great damage they can do to humans.

But I think humans should be even more afraid of their own minds than artificial intelligence. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, sin affected every area of man’s life including his mind. What was supposed to be thinking holy thoughts now thinks evil and sinful thoughts. That’s our mind. Have you ever wondered why you and I get dirty thoughts? Because we are born in sin, or born with sin. And this sinful mind in us is so wicked that it can even deceive us.

I mean we are capable of deceiving ourselves. Have you ever noticed that? Your mind tells you that you are always right and the other person is always wrong. Your mind tells you that God is pleased with you when he is not. Your mind can create new narrative that sounds so good to you even though it is a lie which is manufactured in your own mind and make you look like you are godly and others around you are not.

This is evident when there is a fight between two people, right? Be it between husband and wife, or parents and children, or between friends or colleagues. The human mind can assume things and recreate an entire new narrative to escape guilt or trouble. Sadly, this mind assumes some things. It assumes that God is just like us, changeable and corruptible, and convinces us that it is okay to overlook his word.

It belittles the true attributes of God, like reducing the intensity of God’s wrath just to satisfy our fears. Atheists reject the idea of God just to get rid of the guilt within them, so that they can live out their sinful life and not be accountable to anyone.

Religious hypocrites do not reject the idea of God, the belief that there is a God, but minimize God to someone whom they can manage and think that they can get over with their sins and escape judgment by convincing God that they are right.

That’s what our minds do. It is faulty thinking of man. And the third one we will look at is a faulty heart. We’ll see that in verse 5. “But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath. And God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” Man’s heart, which is hard and impenitent, stores up the wrath of God.

Matthew 15, verse 18 and 19, it says, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” So that’s why who said that? Jesus himself said that about man’s heart.

Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” First of all, man’s heart is sinful from the beginning. And when he hardens his heart by ignoring the warnings to repent of his sins, or by ignoring God’s word on a regular basis, then he is losing his chances to repent of his sins. He’ll become incapable to repent and thus he accumulates God’s wrath for himself.

And one day it will be poured out on him and he will experience every ounce of it. There are many examples in the Old Testament where we see God’s wrath being poured out. We know what happened in the days of Noah, right? Genesis 6:5, “the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” and there was a great flood that wiped out almost all humanity. We can see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19:24, “Now the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” He destroyed those cities completely. We know what happened to Pharaoh in Egypt, right?

He was given ten chances with each plague to repent of his sins, but he chose not to. Exodus 9:34, “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.” This is after the seventh plague.

If we read what God said to Abraham while covenanting with him in Genesis 15, verse 13, “Then the Lord said to Abraham, Know,” verse 13, “that your offspring will be sojourners in the land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.” Look at verse 14. “But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”

Why 400 years of gap? Verse 16 answers that. “And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” So for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. Once it’s complete, once they’re full of sin, God judged them.

All throughout the Bible we see pattern of people ignoring the warning from God and hardening their own hearts instead of repenting of their sins. And as a result they have experienced God’s wrath upon themselves. Paul writing to church in Corinth warns them by pointing them back to Moses’ time and the journey in the wilderness. If you would please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10.

1 Corinthians 10. We’ll read few verses here and let the Bible speak for itself. 1 Corinthians 10 verses 5 through 12. “Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’”

8. “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did and 23,000 fell in a single day.” 9. “We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.” Now look at a few things here in this passage. You know, people were eating and drinking being. They’re very self-centered idolaters, the Bible calls them, and they were judged. And there are people who committed sexual immorality and they were judged. But look at the last one, verse 10, it says, “people grumbled.”

Do you see that as a serious sin? They just grumbled. They were not happy with God for what he has provided them. They were not happy with the leading of Moses. They grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer. Sin is serious, whether it’s smaller or a big one in our sight.

So this warning, these same warnings apply even to us today. So let us not assume that God was hard on sin in the Old Testament, but now after the cross he is soft on sin. Let us not assume that. If your mind tells you so, then do not believe it and guard your heart that it might not become hardened and unrepentant.

So we must take care that we do not have a fatty heart. So now we’ll focus on three things about God. The first one is the kindness of God in judgment. Romans 2:4 says, Paul says, “What do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” Dear Paul reminds people that God is rich.

Right by the way, he owns the universe and all that is in it. All the platinum, diamonds, gold, silver, and every material you find on earth, it belongs to him. I’ve heard this joke long back and it goes like this. A group of scientists goes to God and says, “We have discovered how to make man from the dust, so we do not need you anymore.”

To that God says, “Show me how to do that.” And when one scientist bends to grab some dust, God immediately stops him and says, “Uh-uh, go get your own dust.” What do you and I have that is not God’s? Not even ourselves, let alone our stuff.

We all belong to God because He made us. Well, Paul is not talking about the material stuff here when he says that God is rich. He says that God is rich in kindness, forbearance and patience. We look at these three words. Kindness is His benevolence. Kindness is His benevolence, a goodwill towards us, his affections or care for us. The dictionary defines it as a quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. So God’s kindness can be seen everywhere in this universe. The reason the earth is still in its axis, the reason many are enjoying sunlight and rains, the reason and many are eating, working and sleeping is all because of God’s kindness towards humanity, despite our sins.

All the chaos that we see on this earth is because of man’s sin and its consequences. But all the good things that both the good and the evil people experience in their daily lives is because of God’s kindness. His kindness is too great for us to understand.

God is rich in forbearance or tolerance. God is not short-tempered or easily angered and He does not take action immediately. Suppose a person walked into your house and started to misbehave very badly with your family, how would you respond? Will you not take action immediately by kicking him out of your house?

Human beings live in God’s world and misbehave with God all the time. How should God respond to that? If God were like us, he would have immediately sent everyone to hell, probably. But thank God he’s not like us. He’s unlike us. He bears with us daily.

He’s long-suffering towards us. And that is why we are all alive even today, and the earth is not yet destroyed. God is rich in patience. Again, the dictionary defines it as a capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering, without becoming annoyed or anxious.

God is very patient with the sinful world. He is delaying his judgment in one sense, but he never ignores it. When wickedness is increasing day by day in this world, God is not anxious about it, though it displeases him. He shows tremendous patience towards sinners.

Paul picks up the thought and says that all this goodness of God is meant to lead people to repentance. The reason God is delaying His judgment is so that people will repent of their sins, not continue in them. Some will grab the opportunity to realize God’s goodness towards them and repent of while others will continue to reject God for a sinful lifestyle and store up for themselves God’s wrath.

Then one day, they will have to face God and His judgment. God is truly rich in all His attributes and characteristics like kindness, patience, mercy, grace and love. However, it does not compromise on His righteousness or justice. He’ll show love not at the expense of His holiness. He’ll show mercy not at the expense of His righteousness.

They both go together. So we’ll see the second point that righteousness of God in judgment. So in verse 5, Paul talks about God’s righteous judgment and says that it will be revealed. First, God’s judgment is righteous because He is righteous and holy. God’s intentions are always right. His character is always perfect. His nature is always pure. So his judgment is always clean.

There are no under table dealings with God, which can twist his judgment. When God judges, it will be a sound judgment. Paul says that this judgment will be revealed. That is a future tense. It will be revealed in the future when all sinners stand before God for the final verdict thrown into the lake of fire to be burned forever and ever.

That would be a very horrible sight to look at or even imagine. Souls burning forever and ever with no end to that torment. There'll be no hope, no chance to get out of that place. God's holiness demands that kind of authority over man.

And God's holiness demands that kind of punishment for man. It is said that every year 56 million people die. That is 6,000 deaths every hour and two deaths every minute. Where are they spending their eternity? Is there any hope that people can escape this judgment of God?

And the Bible says yes, there is. And that's the good news, that's gospel for us. For that we need to look to the past where the judgment of God has already been revealed very on that cross two thousand years ago. When Jesus died on that cross, he experienced the judgment of God fully on himself, but not for himself.

He experienced it for our sake, so that we can escape that eternal judgment in hell. We were supposed to die under that judgment. But Jesus took our place and offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins on that cross. And only if we repent of our sins and turn away from them and believe that Jesus died for us, we will receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life and not judgment.

For all those who repented and believe in Jesus, their judgment is finished on that cross. They will not be judged again for their sins. Now they no longer need to fear any judgment of God. They are eternally safe in God's hands from God's wrath.

How about you, dear friend? How about you? Is your soul eternally secure in God's hand? So the third thing that we'll see about God is that His impartiality in judgment. Or impartiality of God in judgment. So verse 6 through 11. Verse 6 through 11. “He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality

“give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” These verses might raise some questions about God's judgment.

Will God judge people looking at their works? And the answer is, yes. Yes, God will judge us looking at our works. Now, a reformed Christian might say, how can that be? We have heard and learned and believed that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, based on scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.

It is only faith that matters, right? If you think about works, then we might slip into living by works and not by faith. We might end up believing another gospel like people in Galatia. Oh, there is a danger in talking about works, so it is better not to talk about works at all. A reformed Christian might immediately respond in such a way without thinking what Paul is saying here about works.

Listen to the question once again. Will God judge people looking at their works? I said looking at their works, not based on their works. God will consider our works because they are the fruit of our faith. Paul is not saying that those who have received eternal life are saved by their works, but God looks at their works and sees if they truly have faith or not, and judge them based on their faith that produces works.

A dead faith cannot produce good works. If you do not display good works in your life, then you must ask the question, is your faith dead or alive? A dead faith is no faith at all. If that is the case, then your works are evil in God’s sight and you will be exposed to God’s wrath and fury, and the judgment for that is eternal destruction of your soul in eternal fire, hellfire. I wish and pray that none of us who are here will face that day in such a way. That is why we constantly call people to repent of the sins, turn away from them, and put their trust in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us on that cross. On that day, the final day, when we stand before God, He will judge us impartially.

For He is a righteous and holy God who is incorruptible. You cannot deceive Him or bribe Him into twisting the final judgment. He is not in your control or mine. No one can convince Him by creating a false narrative about their life and constantly speaking it before Him.

Not one of our sinful world to be convinced of such lies. He is unchanging eternally. He will always remain the impartial and righteous Judge. It does not matter to him whether a person is a Jew or a Gentile, white, yellow, brown or black, high class, middle class, low class, educated or uneducated, a director of a company or a janitor. He treats everyone equally, even so He judges them equally. All that matters is how you stand before Him, with faith or without faith. That determines your eternal destiny. If you are here and not sure about your eternity, then please talk to someone here who can help you with the answers.

If you have not repented of your sins and trusted in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, if you have not received God’s forgiveness, I would urge you to do it soon and receive His forgiveness. Plead with Him. Ask Him to forgive your sins. Ask Him to forgive you and give you eternal life. Do not postpone your decision for you do not know whether you will see tomorrow or not. As long as it is today, make your choice. If you are a Christian and have passed the judgment of God, then rejoice in it and do the same.

Remember, remember, we are not the ultimate judges. Only God is. Moreover, we are not impartial and righteous like God. We show bias, right? We are partial people. We show partiality rather than impartiality. So, do not judge others, but be kind and patient in bearing with others, just as God did with us.

Dear members of GLC, do that, especially with your brothers and sisters in the Gospel Life Church. Will you? Is that not what you signed up for when you joined as a member and made that covenant promise before God and this church? You signed up for this one, right? right?

So, when do you want to do that? Only when other people are good to you? People are messy, right? Even Christians are messy. Let us remember that God has already judged Christ in our place on that cross. So let us not judge one another, but let us be kind to one another.

So know that you are obligated to be kind and forgiving towards your brothers and sisters in this Gospel Life Church. So let us bear one another and not judge others, but leave their sins to the true judge, to the impartial and righteous who already took care of it on that cross. And He will discipline those whom He loves and sanctify them. Let it be so. Amen.