로마서 Chapter 2

Translation: ESV

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.

Key Message

One who judges others while practicing the same things condemns himself by his own judgment.

▸Paul turns directly to face the moralist (especially the Jew) who had been nodding along in agreement with the indictment of the Gentiles in chapter 1.

Paul turns directly to face the moralist (especially the Jew) who had been nodding along in agreement with the indictment of the Gentiles in chapter 1. 'O man, every one of you who judges' refers to the person who criticizes others' sins while doing the same things himself. Since the act of judging presupposes knowing the standard, doing the same thing becomes self-condemnation.

Related Verses

Judge not, that you be not judged.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?
2

We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Key Message

Since God's judgment is just and based on truth, no one can claim any privilege before it.

▸Judgment 'rightly (κατὰ ἀλήθειαν)' means a just judgment based not on appearance or status but on actual conduct.

3

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?

Key Message

The ability to judge others' sins does not exempt one from judgment for the same sins of one's own.

▸A rhetorical question exposes the self-deception of the moralist.

4

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?

Key Message

God's rich kindness and patience is a grace meant to lead to repentance, so one must not take it for granted or presume upon it.

▸God's kindness (χρηστότης), forbearance (ἀνοχή), and patience (μακροθυμία) are three successive positive attributes.

5

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.

Key Message

Failing to repent is daily accumulating the wrath that will be received on the day of final judgment.

▸A hard and impenitent heart is the act of 'storing up wrath (θησαυρίζεις ὀργήν).

6

He will render to each one according to his works:

Key Message

God's final judgment is a just repayment to each person according to what he has done.

▸Reflecting Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12, this verse declares that God's judgment is based on deeds.

7

to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

Key Message

To those who endure in doing good and seek God's glory, eternal life is given.

▸The positive side of judgment according to deeds is presented first.

8

but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Key Message

To those who reject truth and pursue unrighteousness, God's righteous wrath comes.

▸This is the negative side of judgment.

9

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

Key Message

God's judgment does not distinguish between Jews and Gentiles; it applies first to those who have received more.

▸The universality of judgment is emphasized.

10

but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

Key Message

Glory and honor and peace are given to all who do good, and this applies equally to both Jews and Gentiles.

▸This is the reward symmetric with the judgment in verse 9.

11

For God shows no partiality.

Key Message

Since God does not show partiality based on appearance or ethnicity, no one can claim any privilege.

▸This is the conclusion of verses 9–10.

12

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Key Message

The standard of judgment is proportional to the amount of light received; those who have the law are judged by the law.

▸The standard of judgment differs according to whether one has the law or not.

13

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Key Message

Before God, the righteous are not those who hear the law but those who do the law.

▸It is not possessing or hearing the law but doing it that is the standard of righteousness.

14

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

Key Message

Gentiles also recognize the requirements of the law through conscience and nature, so the absence of the law cannot be an excuse.

▸That Gentiles can 'by nature (φύσει)' do what the law requires means that God has given human beings the capacity for moral cognition.

15

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Key Message

The conscience of the Gentiles is a trace of God's law written on their hearts, showing that they too possess a standard of moral judgment.

▸Conscience (συνείδησις, syneidēsis) is 'knowing together' — knowledge that knows together within oneself about one's own actions.

16

on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Key Message

On the day of final judgment, God will judge through Jesus Christ not only outward human deeds but also the hidden interior.

▸The evidence of conscience will be made public on the day of final judgment.

17

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God

Key Message

Jewish privileges — the law, boasting in God — can become either a blessing or a curse depending on how they are used.

▸From verse 17, Paul directly names the Jew and enumerates one by one the privileges they rely upon.

18

and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;

Key Message

Knowledge of God's will through the law is precious in itself, but without accompanying deeds it brings greater responsibility.

▸Two further intellectual privileges of the Jew are enumerated.

19

and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Key Message

The Jewish calling to guide the Gentiles is noble, but if one does not live by that light, the calling becomes hypocrisy.

▸The Jew considered himself a spiritual guide to the Gentiles.

20

an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth —

Key Message

Those who claim to be teachers of knowledge and truth bear a greater responsibility to live according to that teaching.

▸The Jewish self-understanding is further enumerated.

21

you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

Key Message

The gap between teaching and doing creates the hypocrisy of the teacher, which is greater condemnation before God.

▸Now three sharp rhetorical questions follow.

22

You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Key Message

Professing religious piety while living in a way that contradicts it is genuine hypocrisy.

▸The second and third rhetorical questions.

23

You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

Key Message

Boasting in the law while breaking it dishonors God's name before the Gentiles.

▸This is the theological conclusion of the three examples in verses 21–22.

24

For, as it is written, 'The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'

Key Message

The disobedience of God's people causes the tragedy of the Gentiles blaspheming God's name.

▸This quotes Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 36:20–22.

25

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

Key Message

External religious rites have their meaning only when connected to inner obedience; rites without obedience are empty shells.

▸The benefit of circumcision has meaning only when connected to obedience to the law.

26

So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

Key Message

What God sees is not an external religious sign but the person's actual life and obedience.

▸The logic of verse 25 is applied in reverse.

27

Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.

Key Message

A life that does the law judges the one who has legal knowledge and religious signs but does not do it.

▸The Gentile who does the law will in fact condemn the Jew who has the law and circumcision but breaks the law.

28

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.

Key Message

True Jewish identity lies not in external signs but in inner spiritual reality.

▸Paul redefines what it means to be a 'true Jew.

29

But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Key Message

True circumcision is that which is effected by the Spirit in the heart, and true praise comes not from people but from God.

▸The true Jew is one who has received circumcision of the heart.