“YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE”
Romans 2:1–16 — Who Is Paul Talking to Now?
Imagine hearing Romans read aloud for the first time.
Paul has just described a world that has rejected God.
Idolatry.
Sexual immorality.
Greed.
Envy.
Murder.
Strife.
Deceit.
Gossip.
Arrogance.
No love.
No mercy.
Maybe you're sitting there thinking:
“Paul is exactly right.”
Maybe you even have some people in mind.
Then Paul says:
“YOU, THEREFORE...”
And suddenly things get uncomfortable.
PAUL TURNS AROUND
Remember how Romans 1 ended.
Paul described people who knew God's righteous decree and nevertheless continued doing what was wrong.
Then, without stopping, he says:
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else...”
— Romans 2:1
There were no chapter divisions when Romans was written.
So don't let the big 2 in your Bible interrupt Paul's argument.
Romans 1:32 flows directly into Romans 2:1.
And notice something else.
In Romans 1:20 Paul said rebellious humanity was:
“without excuse.”
Now Paul says to the person passing judgment:
“You... have no excuse.”
Same verdict.
That should get our attention.
WHO IS THIS “YOU”?
That's an important question.
Paul hasn't yet said:
“You Jews...”
He will become much more explicit in verse 17:
“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew...”
So we shouldn't put that label on verse 1 before Paul does.
For the moment, Paul addresses:
THE PERSON WHO JUDGES SOMEONE ELSE.
The morally confident person.
The person who can recognize sin when somebody else commits it.
And Paul's point is devastatingly simple:
“For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”
— Romans 2:1
Paul has moved from:
THEM
to:
YOU.
DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN NEVER CALL SIN SIN?
No.
Paul has just spent an entire section calling sin exactly what it is.
His point cannot be:
“Nobody should ever say anything is wrong.”
The problem is something else.
It is condemning another person while imagining that my own sin somehow escapes God's judgment.
I can see your greed.
But not mine.
Your arrogance.
But not mine.
Your lack of mercy.
But not mine.
Your sin deserves judgment.
Mine has an explanation.
Paul won't allow that.
GOD DOESN'T GRADE THAT WAY
Paul says:
“Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.”
— Romans 2:2
Then he asks:
“So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?”
— Romans 2:3
That's the question.
Not:
Can you recognize somebody else's sin?
But:
WHY DO YOU THINK GOD WILL TREAT YOUR SIN DIFFERENTLY?
God's judgment is based on truth.
Not reputation.
Not religious background.
Not comparison with somebody worse than I am.
Truth.
MAYBE GOD'S KINDNESS HAS FOOLED US
Then Paul says something particularly interesting:
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience...?”
— Romans 2:4
Why would God's patience become a problem?
Because we can misunderstand it.
Nothing happened when I sinned yesterday.
Nothing happened today.
Maybe God isn't particularly concerned.
Paul says we've misunderstood God's kindness.
“God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.”
— Romans 2:4
God's patience isn't permission.
It is:
AN OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT.
That's a very different way of looking at God's patience.
BUT WHAT IF I REFUSE?
Paul continues:
“Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself...”
— Romans 2:5
Notice the contrast.
God gives:
kindness
forbearance
patience
And the person responds with:
stubbornness
and an:
unrepentant heart.
God's patience should soften the heart.
Instead, the heart becomes harder.
Paul says judgment is coming.
And then he tells us something about that judgment.
“GOD WILL REPAY EACH PERSON...”
Paul says:
“God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’”
— Romans 2:6
That sometimes surprises readers of Romans.
Isn't Romans the book about salvation by faith?
Yes.
Keep reading.
We're only in chapter 2.
Don't make Paul contradict something he hasn't even finished explaining.
Here Paul is talking about the impartiality of God's judgment.
He continues:
“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”
But:
“for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
— Romans 2:7–8
Whatever else Paul is going to teach us about grace and faith, he clearly does not believe our lives are irrelevant to God's judgment.
That is worth remembering as we continue through Romans.
THEN JEW AND GENTILE APPEAR AGAIN
Paul says there will be trouble and distress for everyone who does evil:
“first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
— Romans 2:9
Does that sound familiar?
Go back to Romans 1:16.
The gospel is God's power for salvation:
“first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
Now judgment comes upon those who do evil:
“first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
Salvation:
JEW AND GENTILE.
Judgment:
JEW AND GENTILE.
Then Paul says it plainly:
“For God does not show favoritism.”
— Romans 2:11
That is where his argument is heading.
HAVING THE LAW DOESN'T SETTLE THE MATTER
Now Paul begins moving toward the Jewish person more specifically.
Some people have God's revealed Law.
Others do not.
Does possessing the Law give someone an automatic advantage at judgment?
Paul says:
“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”
— Romans 2:13
Again, don't hurry past that because you're already thinking about something Paul will say in Romans 3 or 4.
Let Paul make his point here.
HEARING IS NOT DOING.
Possessing God's Law is not the same thing as obeying God's Law.
Knowing what God says doesn't automatically make anyone righteous.
That's going to become very important.
WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE MOSES' LAW?
Paul says Gentiles do not have the Law in the same way Israel does.
Yet sometimes Gentiles:
“do by nature things required by the law.”
— Romans 2:14
Paul says they:
“show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness.”
— Romans 2:15
Paul isn't saying Gentiles secretly possess the entire Law of Moses.
He is explaining why people without that Law can nevertheless have moral awareness.
Their consciences accuse them at times.
At other times, defend them.
Again Paul's larger point is difficult to escape:
GOD'S JUDGMENT IS IMPARTIAL.
Having Moses' Law doesn't automatically save the Jew.
Not having Moses' Law doesn't place the Gentile beyond God's judgment.
God knows what is really there.
AND WHO WILL DO THE JUDGING?
Paul finishes this section by saying all of this will happen:
“on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 2:16
That's an interesting ending.
People judge what they can see.
God judges:
THE SECRETS.
And He does it through:
JESUS CHRIST.
The gospel Paul preaches includes judgment.
The Jesus who saves is also the One through whom God will judge.
NOW LOOK AT WHAT PAUL HAS DONE
At the end of Romans 1, it would have been easy to feel pretty good about ourselves.
Look at all that wickedness!
Then Paul turns around:
“You, therefore...”
And suddenly nobody gets to stand outside the courtroom pointing at everybody else.
God judges according to truth.
God's patience calls us to repentance.
God shows no favoritism.
Possessing religious knowledge doesn't exempt anyone.
And even the secrets of the heart will be judged.
Paul is gradually closing every escape route.
Why?
Remember where he started:
“The gospel... is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
— Romans 1:16
Before Paul shows us how desperately we need God's solution—
he is making sure we understand:
EVERYBODY HAS THE PROBLEM.
But he's not finished yet.
Because one person listening may still be thinking:
“But I'm different.
I have God's Law.
I belong to God's covenant people.”
Paul is ready for that person too.
His next words are:
“NOW YOU, IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A JEW...”
— Romans 2:17
Now there can be no question about whom Paul is addressing.
And that is where we'll go next.
ROMANS 2:17–29
DOES HAVING THE LAW MAKE ISRAEL RIGHTEOUS?
Keep your Bible open.
Paul is still building his case.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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