Text
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 yourself—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 in 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 and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality (Romans 2:1-11).
Truth
I hesitated to address this text because to answer the question why God causes and permits trials and sufferings, most people think of here and now. But when the weight of eternity comes into play, eternal wrath must be discussed. This fury will even help shut the mouth of unbelievers if they understood just how painful and horrific God’s wrath is for those that do evil! God’s justice should make every believer’s mouth tremble to speak as speaking the words of God and also motivate us to pray for the conversion of people who are currently under the wrath of God! This passage definitively argues that the reason people will suffer wrath is because they judge people, condemn in hypocrisy, always looking out for their own interests and resistant to follow the truth but follow sinful paths. There will be no escape from the eternal trial of Hell and the constant rendering of suffering for the works of evildoers. Thus, people suffer because they live in sin. They suffer the wrath of God and the fur of God and the judgment of God and the tribulation of God and the distress of God. I believe that these renderings are both eternal and temporal because unbelievers can attest to tribulations and distresses they have experienced. These Jews and Greeks might not express their pain in terms of wrath and fury. But the believer sees how God is involved in every aspect of life. Does this mean that believers should tell lost people that every time they experience pain it is the wrath of God? I think we should be slow to speak in times of pain, being sensitive to the individual and the context. But if we love people, we will tell them of the coming judgment and how it is expressed in this life to wake us up from unbelief so that we might come to cling to the One who suffered the wrath of God on the cross! And if they don’t repent and believe (which is expressed according to this passage as patience in well doing, seeking for glory and honor and immortality and doing good) but instead have hard and impenitent hearts, they will experience an even more painful path of punishment! And this punishment is righteous, even though it is very sobering. God has to render righteous judgment to everyone to maintain His love for righteousness and goodness. So, we can warn about the fury of God’s wrath but we must also encourage with the blazing goodness of His mercy in Christ for those who repent and believe: the reward of glory, honor, immortality! Paul repeats glory and honor and then gives peace as the promise for those who do good! And the promises of God for eternal life should also encourage a believer to endure all the suffering that comes from doing good. God’s rendering of each work should also exhort us to do good by avoiding unnecessary pains caused by evil works and sinful pursuits.
Tidbit
God causes and permits trials and suffering because God is committed to righteousness to repay people with hard hearts and wicked deeds.
Tradition
What have men and women said before us?
Takeaway
1. Examine your life for any possibilities of hypocrisy.
2. Don’t presume God will have mercy on you for your evildoing. You might receive wrath if you don’t repent from it.
3. Soften your heart and repent from any known sin.
4. Meditate on how God will repay you according to your deeds. How you live and respond to trials and suffering will be judged.
5. Preach the gospel to lost people so that they might escape the wrath and fury of a righteous God eager to judge, through Christ alone.
Testimony
How have people experienced this text, truth, tidbit and/or takeaway?
Test
You are on a lunch break and some co-workers who are conversing about the party they loved where there was drinking and drugs. They know you are a Christian and ask you, “How come you don’t drink and smoke?” How could you include the consequence of wrath and fury for those who do evil into the conversation, instead of merely saying, “I’m a Christian” (i.e., I might be self-righteous). What would it like to lovingly warn them of the destruction to come, while also pointing them towards the solution of wrath, namely, Jesus Christ?
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