The Righteous Judgment of God (Part 2)

SERMON:             GM15-062

SERIES:              Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained &           Applied

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM (June 28, 2015)

SECTION:          The Perversion of Righteousness (Romans 1:18-3:20)

SUBTITLE:        The Righteous Judgment of God (Part 2)

SCRIPTURE:     Romans 2:6-11

SUBJECT:          The basis of God’s judgment

SUMMARY:       The basis of God’s judgment is works of men in this life

SCHEME:           To motivate each member of NKBC to pursue the things of God in                                  this life rather than the things of this world

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Our theme is:  God’s will judge you according to your works

 Proposition:        The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of persons.

Interrogatory Sentence:  Why is God just in His judgment of the Jews?

Transitional Sentence: This passage supplies three reasons why God is just in His judgment of the Jews:

·        The Jews are guilty of practicing sin in their daily lives (2:1-5)

·        God judges according to the works of men in this life (2:6-11)

·         The law does not exonerate the Jews from judgment (2:12-16)

The Perversion of Righteousness

Section Two * Romans 1:18-3:20

Title:           The Righteous Judgment of God (Part 2)

Text:           Romans 2:6-11

Theme:       The basis of God’s judgment

Thrust:       The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of persons

Trans:        This passage provides three aspects about the basis of God’s judgment:

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Stated (vs. 6)

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Supported (vss. 7-10)

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Summarized (vs.11)

INTRODUCTION

A.      Introduction

John Wesley lived by the principle that said, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." (-- John Wesley)

How will you do at the judgment seat of Christ?

What will the results be for you when Christ judges what you did in this life?

         

Today, I want to share with you that God’s judgment of your life will be based on     the works that you performed in this life.

B.      Sub-Introduction

Announce the Text: Our text for today is Romans 2:6-10. Please take your bibles     and turn there.

“who will give to everyone according to his working, to those who by patient endurance of the truth are seeking glory and honor and incorruption – eternal life, but to those who are contentious and who disobeys the truth, but obeys unrighteousness, wrath and anger, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that is working evil, Jew first and the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace to all that are working good to the Jew first and to the Greek. For there is no respect of person with God.” (Romans 2:6-11, GDM)

Review Last week we began looking at the fact that the Jews are under the wrath of God. Last time we saw that Paul declared that the Jews, or the Hebrews were under the judgment of God. Paul made a case that the Jews actually deserved the wrath of God because they were committing the same sins that they were condemning the Gentiles for committing.

In verses 1-5 we saw how Paul made it clear that the Jews deserved the charge that    he leveled against them. Paul made it clear that no self-righteous and unrepentant person, whether they are a Gentile or a Jew will escape the judgment of God.

Paul made it clear that the Jews were actually banking, or warehousing, or storing      up the anger of God against the day of final judgment. Paul reminded the Jews of   God’s patience, His goodness and His mercy which we saw was designed to bring       the Jews to repentance.

         

We also took a look at five important principles that can be seen in verses 1-5:

·        There is no viable defense for sin. So don’t excuse your sin, confess it!

·        God is just or perfect in everything He does. So trust Him fully!

·        The design of God’s patience and goodness is to bring us to repentance.

·        A sinful and hardened heart refuses to repent & be reconciled

·        Refusing to utilize God’s goodness and patience and not repent aggravates God’s anger and judgment (chastisement) against a sinner

Background to the Text:

Historical - Remember this is the close of winter almost spring of AD 57 and Paul     is in Corinth waiting for a ship to travel to Jerusalem and He writes this letter.

Textual – This section, 2:1-3:8 is part of the larger section of 1:18-3:20.

Literary – this is a narrative by the Apostle Paul

Preview – Our text this morning divides itself into three parts; vs 6 gives us the principle, vss. 7 - 10 supports or proves the principle, and vs. 11 explains why God judges according to our works.

Repeat CPS – Today I want to motivate you to pursue the things of God in this life rather than the things of this world since God is going to judge what we pursue in this life because what we pursue gives evidence of salvation.

How will God judge you? What is the basis of God’s judgment?

This passage provides three aspects about the basis of God’s judgment:

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Stated (vs. 6)

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Supported (vss. 7-10)

·        The Basis of God’s Judgment Summarized (vs.11)

         

[So, let’s dig into the first aspect about the basis of God’s judgment, and that is…]

1D     The Statement of God’s Judgment (Vs. 6)

“…who will render to each one according to his works…”

First of all, Paul is going to continue his argument contained in vss. 1-5 in this section.

The word “who” is a reference to God. Vs. five ends with the words, “…you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…”

It is God who will render the suitable compensation.

The word “render” means “to give, to provide, to supply or to furnish.” The idea it means “to give back.” It was used for the paying of a debt or restoring of a due of any kind.

God is going “to give or pay what is rightly deserved” to every person; whether they are redeemed or lost, Jew or Gentile.

Second, this principle is nothing new to the Jews. The fact that God is     going to reward or recompense each individual for their works is not a new one. In fact this principles is developed clearly in the OT.

The basis for God giving or paying exactly was is due is “according to works.” This refers to the works of an individual in this life time.

This teaching that the Jews were already familiar with is not been rescinded or retracted:

For example:

“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then he will reward each according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27, NKJV)

“…it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, who end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:15, NKJV)

         

“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works.”  (2 Timothy 4:14, NKJV)

The basis for God giving or paying exactly was is due is “according to works.”

By reminding the Jews that God will judge them based on their works     is a reminder that simply being a Jew will not spare them from God’s anger.

Stop here for a minute and let this sink in. First of all, what question immediately comes to your mind as you read this verse? Answer is: If God judges people ‘according to their works’ how can salvation be by grace alone?

Salvation is by grace and grace alone. The very heart of the covenant of grace is the extension of God’s mercy and grace to people who do not deserve mercy or grace. Paul reminds the Ephesians of this tremendous in truth in vss. 8 and 9 of chapter two:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is         the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV)

But if salvation is by faith, how does works turn up in this diatribe of Paul’s? Listen to verse 10 of chapter two:

“For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, NKJV) 

True salvation is revealed in an individual or is seen in an individual by the visible perseverance in doing good works. The person whom God has saved by grace demonstrates that he/she has been saved by grace by the evidence of good works. The outward works are the evidence of inward faith and salvation.

Salvation then is not by works but true salvation will without fail produce works. The presence of genuine and godly works in your life shows that you are truly saved. As a matter of fact, the good works that are visible are a viable indicator in God’s eyes of someone who has truly been saved.

The opposite of course would be true – if there are no consistent genuine and godly works in an individual’s life, you can safely conclude that person is not genuinely saved.

This is the basis of God’s coming judgment on both the Jews and the Gentiles. When God sees genuine and godly works God knows they are the product of a truly born again heart. When God sees works that are unrighteous and not godly, He knows that these works come from a heart that is not genuinely born again.

In this section Paul is not talking about the basis for salvation, Paul is talking about the basis of God’s judgment. Paul is stating the basis of God’s judgment.

The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of persons.

[So, having stated the basis of God’s judgment, Paul goes on by…]

2D     The Support of God’s Judgment (Vss. 7-10)

“…eternal life to those who patient endurance seek for glory, honor, and immortality…”

Paul will now support the basis of God’s judgment by outlining     the only two possible results of God’s judgment.

True or genuine salvation is revealed in a believer’s life by persevering in doing good works and here Paul’s supports the basis of God’s judgment.                                     

First – the highest “good work” that a believer does is to seek or desire glory. This is the glory of God

What is the chief end of man? It is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever

“…whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NKJV)

“You who fear the LORD praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him…” (Psalms 22:23, NKJV)

“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20, NKJV)

A person who does not have a desire to glorify God cannot be a true believer. To live to glorify God is to show the nature of God implanted inside you.

So, a genuine believer seeks glory – not glory for him or herself and not in a fleshly, self-seeking way, but longs to glorify God now and to share in God’s glory in the future.

Paul will tell the Romans in chapter 8, “…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21, NKJV)

Listen to this, “…to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14, NKJV)

Why did God call you to salvation by the gospel? So that you could obtain the glory of Jesus Christ!

When a genuine believer seeks after the glory of Christ the believer is seeking after Christlikeness. So, a good work that demonstrates a person is genuinely saved is that they persevere or endure in seeking after Christlikeness in this life.

What are you pursing? Are you pursuing Christlikeness?

Paul supports the basis of God’s judgment as judging the works of the Jews and Gentiles by their patient or enduring pursuit of glory or Christlikeness.

Secondly, Paul supports the basis of God’s judgment by the works of the Jews and Gentiles by their patient or enduring pursuit of honor.

Now this is not worldly honor that almost all of mankind pursues. This honor is the honor that comes from God. This is the honor that is found in the principle of Matthew 25:21:

“…Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will        make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV)

A genuine believer not only desires and seeks Christ’s glory or Christlikeness, but a genuine believer desires and seeks the honor that God bestows on genuine believers who are faithful.

Thirdly, a true believer seeks immortality or incorruption. Paul put it like this:

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption and tis mortal must put on immortality.” (1Corinthians 15:53, NKJV)

A genuine believer desires to shake this present body that is weak, crippled, limited, and is actually dying in order to put on or obtain a new body that is perfect in every way.

A genuine believer does not have the same mind set as the unbeliever when it comes to this present body. I am not saying we don’t do our best to take care of it and to use it to its fullest capability, but the world worships this present day body and they are not actively, let alone patiently pursing a heavenly or Christ like body.

So God gives eternal life to those who actively and patiently pursue glory, honor, and immortality. God does not give eternal life because people do these things. Paul is describing what a genuine believer looks like. These are qualities and characteristics of having been genuinely saved.

Paul’s argument is that a person who has the life of God will show the character of God in their life by patiently pursing honor, glory, and immortality. It is on this basis that God will judge the Jews and the Gentiles.

Do not be confused nor be wrong here. Salvation and justification by faith and faith alone does not mean that there is no Christ like evidence displayed and worked out in the life of a genuine believer. This is what Paul is telling the Jews who thought God would never judge them because they were Jews.

Just as the bible teaches that God saves sinners by faith, it also teaches that God will judge our works.

At salvation a sinner simply believes and repents by faith. But once a sinner repents and believes, the believer will show that salvation took place by obedience to God and the patient enduring seeking after Christlikeness, the honor that God bestows and the immortality that comes from God.

So the basis of judgment of a genuine child of God whether they are a Jew or a Gentile is the patient enduring or continue in doing good.

Next, Paul continues to support the basis of God’s judgment but now from the viewpoint of the unredeemed or the unsaved, whether unsaved Jew or unsaved Gentile works. They will be judged on the basis of their works also.

Here is how to tell if someone does not belong to God and belongs to this world. Let’s look at verse 8.

“…but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness…”

First – they are selfish or self-centered in their ambitions. The initial meaning of this word ambition refers to someone who has been hired. They are only doing the work for a selfish or self-centered reason, to be paid. This person does not care if he or she does good or bad, they just want the money.

So, the idea here is that the person is not a believer does everything for the specific purpose of pleasing or serving him or herself. Even if they are doing some good or beneficial the underlying motives are not for God’s glory but for their own pleasure or self-serving needs. This person does have time or room for God, the things of God or the people of God because they are filled up with doing everything they do to make them happy.

Second – the unredeemed are disobedient to the truth of God. The person who wants it their way for their own pleasure has no desire to discover and obey the truth of God.

Thirdly – the unredeemed may not obey God’s truth, but they by nature obey something. That something is unrighteousness or sin. The sinner is in bondage to sin. Sin is the master of the unsaved sinner, whether Jew or Gentile.

And so the unsaved Jew or Gentile pursues his or her own self-interests, has no desire to obey God’s word, and is in bondage to sin. 

TWO RESULTS

Paul makes it clear that God is going to judge the Jews. They do not escape judgment because they are Jews. There are two results that will occur when God judges.

First result of God’s judgment –is found in the last part of verse 8 and in verse 9.

Wrath – this is God’s wrath. It is the strongest kind or type of anger. It is anger that reaches a feverish pitch. This anger of God occurs when God’s mercy and his grace have been fully exhausted. When God displays his wrath or his indignation is when he has come to the end of His patience and tolerance with sin and with men who refuse to repent. This is where God vents his utmost anger on those whose works though their persistent and unstopping rebellion against Him.

Be very careful at this point. This is not God’s hottest anger for the vilest, grossest, or nasties sinners. This isn’t the boiling anger of God for the Hitler’s, or child-molesters, or rapists, homosexuals, abortionists, and such. This is the anger that will fall upon good, moral, sweet men and women who seek their selfish pleasure, disobey God’s truth, and obey sin in their everyday life.

Indignation – this is God’s agitated and extreme anger that rushes out against someone relentlessly. The root of the word gives the idea of moving rapidly. It was used to describe the rapid breathing of a man as he chased an enemy in a great rage.

It was used to describe Pharaoh’s murderous anger at Moses in Exodus 10

It was used by Luke to describe the fury of the Jews in the synagogue at Nazareth which drove the Jews to want to throw Jesus off of a cliff

It was used of the Ephesians pagans who resented Paul’s preaching

Listen, on the final judgment day, at the great white throne judgment God’s indignation will explode like a burning volcano on all men, Jew or Gentile who spent their life seeking their own will, disobeyed God’s truth, and obeyed sin.

As a result, Paul says there will be tribulation and anguish or distress on the soul of every man whether they are Jew or a Gentle who does evil.

Tribulation has the root meaning of extreme pressure. It is translated as affliction, anguish, distress or persecution.

Distress or anguish literally means a narrow place. It came to refer to severe confinement. It is interesting that the second most punishing punishment, second to the death penalty is solitary confinement. We know that a part of the experience of hell will be the absolute, isolated lonely eternal confinement of a soul with no hope of every being released.

Do you get the picture?

Paul uses the phrase the Jew first and also the Greek twice in this paragraph. The Jew never imagined that they would be judged by God. They were Jews for goodness sake. Yes, God will judge those dogs, those Gentiles because they are Gentiles, but God is not going to judge His own chosen people, the Jews.

Not only does Paul state emphatically that the Jews will be judged, Paul expertly supports the basis of God’s judgment of the Jews by the very works that they produce. Just as God will judge the Gentiles. Genuine believers produce works that result in eternal life and unbelievers produce works that result in the violent, unrelenting, anger and indignation of God rolling over them.

Look at what the genuine believer who demonstrates genuine salvation by good works receives. They receive at least three (3) things:

Glory – they are given Christlikeness

Honor – they are honored by Christ

Peace – they have peace with God

Paul reminds us once again that the order of judgment consists of the Jews being judged first and then the Gentiles. The unbelieving Jew will be judged and condemned. Then God will deal with the Greek, or the Gentile.

Well, Paul states that the Jews will in fact be judged and Paul supports this statement with the criteria of their judgment.

Theme:       The basis of God’s judgment

Thrust:       The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless                        of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of                       persons 

[Lastly, we see…]

3D     The Summary of God’s Judgment (Vs. 11)

“For there is no partiality with God.”

What does this mean? What does it mean that God does not have partiality?

Well, partiality means “to receive a face” In other words, it means to give consideration to a person because of who that person is.

A classic and I think the best illustration of what it means that God is impartial is seen in the statue of justice portrayed by a woman who is blind-folded.

The idea is that justice is impartial or blind and justice is not tempted to render decisions for or against someone because of who they are.

Sadly, we know that there is partiality in most courtrooms.  But    because God has perfect knowledge of every detail and because He is perfect in all of His character and nature, He will judge

the Jews and Gentiles based on their works without any regard to who the person is.

God does not look at the person – he looks at the conduct. He looks at the works. The works do not lie, they speak for themselves.

You may say you are a believer but if your works are selfish ambition, disobedience to God’s truth, and obedience to sin, they your works show you are not a genuine believer.

Works do not lie. So this perfect and impartial judge will determine whether your life was lived in pursuit of God’s glory or in self-seeking unrighteousness.

Theme:       The basis of God’s judgment

Thrust:       The judgment of God is according to your works in this life regardless                        of whether your works are good or bad because God is no respecter of                       persons 

[What do you say that we wrap this up?]

CONCLUSION

 An unbelieving farmer wrote to the editor of his local newspaper, who was a Christian. He said; “In defiance of your God I plowed my fields this year on Sunday, I disked and fertilized them on Sunday, I planted them on a Sunday, I cultivated them on Sunday, and I reaped them on Sunday. This October I had the biggest crop I have ever had. How do you explain that?"  The editor replied: “God does not always settle his accounts in October.” (Lou Nicholes, Word of Life Fellowship, Schroon Lake, NY).

We don’t know when God will execute His judgment, but we do know that day is coming. God will judge each person, both Jew and Gentile, both believer and unbeliever on the basis of works.

Today I want to motivate you to pursue the things of God in this life rather than the things of this world since God is going to judge what we pursue in this life because what we pursue gives evidence of salvation.

[So, what should you do?]

I.       The Application

          P First, remember that you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There is coming a day when God will judge your works that were done in this life. Do    not be lulled into thinking that what you do or don’t do as believes will not be           scrutinized by God. Remember you will stand before God one day.

          P Second, examine your basis of your claim of genuine salvation. Salvation is           not an action or decision in the past. Genuine salvation is evidenced by certain           good works that each believer was predestined to complete. Paul exhorted the           Corinthians to examine the evidence of their claim of being believers in order to           determine the validity of their claim. What are you pursuing in this life?                         Examine the basis of your claim.

          P Finally, look to God and depend on Him to enable you to patiently continue                    in good works. God has given to His children everything that they need to             live  godly in Christ Jesus. Utilize everything that He has given us in faith and           dependence upon Him through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

So, I exhort you as genuine believers to: always believe that God is just. God will deal with the lost, Jew or Gentile and will deal with you perfectly and justly on the basis of your work in this lifetime. I exhort you to patiently and with great endurance seek Christ like character, the honor that comes from God and the immortality that God bestows on those who are genuinely saved.

Remember, Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10, NKJV)

Let’s pray! J

Benediction Blessing:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Philippians 4:23, NKJV)