Judges Shall Be Judged

In chapter 1 of Romans, as we saw last month, Paul delivers a stinging indictment of humanity. As he begins unfolding the Gospel message, he first shows that people fight mightily to suppress the knowledge of God revealed in creation and refuse to glorify or thank Him. By so doing, they subject themselves to His present judgment—freedom to sin as they please. Thus, they take the inevitable downward path into ever-viler sin, finally coming to the point of “moral insanity,” where they declare evil to be good and good to be evil.

As chapter 2 opens, Paul is thinking of the many objections he has heard as he has taught these truths to believers all over the Roman world. He knows that not everyone will agree with his assessment and that some, in fact, will reject it out of hand. Dr. James M. Boice writes: “Instead of acknowledging that what Paul said about the human race is true, most of us make excuses, arguing that although Paul’s description may be true of other people, particularly very debased individuals or the heathen, it is certainly not true of us.… In the second chapter of Romans Paul is going to disabuse us of these erroneous ideas.”

The first excuse Paul anticipates would come from a non-believer with high standards of morality. Paul may have Gentiles, Jews, or both in mind here; the only certainty is that he is thinking of people who consider themselves “decent” and “upright” citizens. Such people are tempted to think that their high morals (by human standards) exclude them from the indictment of chapter 1. But not so. Paul says such people are “inexcusable” (or “without excuse”). Why? Because even while they look down on and judge others in their moral superiority, they “practice the same things.” Paul means exactly what he says here—these proud individuals are just as guilty of the same violations of their own moral code as others against whom they cast aspersions. But in the darkness of their hearts and the foolishness of their minds (Rom. 1:21–22), they cannot see their own guilt. However, God—He who judges “according to truth”—can see, and therefore He is perfectly aware of how miserably these self-satisfied individuals match up to His standard, which is the only one that ultimately matters. Therefore, no one should think that his or her moral performance will suffice to deliver from the judgment of God.