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 ESV)
This passage has quite a few different components to it that I thought would be beneficial to explore and reflect on today. It first touches on a very important point of God's judgement vs ours especially looking at the judgement of others for sin that we fall victim to as well. I especially liked in verse 4 talking about how God's kindness is meant to lead us to repent of our sins, not just falling into this pattern of sin and being ok with it because God will forgive us but understanding that we've done wrong and sinned against our God and need to desire to be made right with him.
Reproducing the same Greek text as Psalms 62:13 and Proverbs 24:12, in verse 6, Paul reiterates the concept that we will be rendered according to our works. I'm not telling anyone to change their views on this topic, but I'd just like to look at this and take consider it for what it's worth and reflect on it. As I've said before, I see the gospel's call to love the Lord fully, put your trust in him, spread his word to all people, and show others God's love by serving so that they may see and know him. We are his earthly instruments to show his eternal love to all people if we willingly let him (and sometimes he'll even use us when we're unwilling). However you personally believe it, I know there definitely is a call for us to love and serve others that Jesus talks about on many occasions in the gospel (I think Matthew 25:31-46 is a great example of this when Jesus speaks of the final judgement), and we need to think about this call to love and serve on a daily basis.
I think this is a major part of what we are called to do as followers of Christ that is getting looked over quite often in a self focused lifestyle, and for the sake of our souls we cannot let this happen as the last part of the passage alludes to.
"Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges."
ReplyDeleteNo excuse. We have no excuse to judge one another. We can listen to God's explicit judgement of certain actions and thoughts, but we cannot judge the individual who performs said actions.
Every single person has been made in God's image and is therefore an inherently good person, an inherently beautiful person. We should love one another so extravagantly that God is seen in us. For we can love individuals without condoning wrong thoughts or actions by showing them the one wholesome truth that is God. The way we do this is through God's love. Toward everyone.
Their are far too many individuals who feel threatened by members of the Church and feel condemned by Christians. This is a shame and a result of wrongful actions by our fellow earthly brothers and sisters...
I agree with Marcus that there is a definite call to love our neighbor, and love is an action. Jesus in his parable of the sheep and goats on judgment day, denied the goats entry into heaven because they had not cared for one of the least among us. This is not to say that works are the cause of their denied entry, but that the absence of works was a symptom of a greater problem.
ReplyDelete"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
(James 1:22 ESV)
The next chapter of James contains the argument that faith without works is dead. I say all of this not to say that works are the only focus of our lives,, but that they are an expression of the condition of our hearts.
"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."
ReplyDeleteRomans 2:6-11
Going along with loving one another, we have to be selfless, honor the righteousness, and a living representation of our faith. The passage constantly talks about our faith and action going together. Most of the time, I personally have hard time carrying out the action, whether it is a simple gesture of kindness or helping those who are in need. If we profess that we are followers of Jesus Christ, I think that comes with a great responsibility and task: actually follow what Christ has done for us. And I think for us, who are now entering graduate school, med school, or real jobs, it is really important to be a doer. I think actions really speak louder than words to those who are not familiar with christianity. Like Marcus, Bryan, and Travis said, one important thing is not to be judgmental but loving and self-sacrificing individuals (which perfectly shows how physicians should treat their patients).
So there is a lot here, and I initially wanted to talk about judging other people, but then this other part proved to be more interesting. It goes:
ReplyDelete"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."
What caught my eye was the description of who God will accept; those that demonstrated patience in well-doing. Those that day after day try their hardest to do whats right, regardless of how hard or frustrating it may seem at the time. Quite honorable, and something we should all strive for. But as always, this is exactly what I do not do. I get bored doing what I'm supposed to do- there is no excitement to me in doing what is expected since the outcome is known already. For the most part, people who always do what they're supposed to (at least on the surface) bore me so I tend to move on. I find it more exciting to bend rules and find loop-holes, or better yet, disregard rules altogether, it adds a thrill to everyday life. That should have come as no surprise to anyone that knows me. Now, more often than not, this behavior contradicts a lot of what God has laid out for us. It's self-seeking because I do it for the entertainment value disregarding the posible influence, whether direct or indirect, that it might have on others. As I looked back/thought about all the things I have written about myself, I can just safely add this one to the list of things that'll get me destroyed. In theory the fix is easy, just do what you're supposed to, what you know is right, but that's easier said than done. Sometimes its easier to act a certain way to bring by a change in mindset, than to try to change your mindset to bring by a change in actions, so I'll try that. Hmm...I can feel myself getting bored already....
Oh! Almost forgot. I know you've been here for a little while but no one ever gave you a proper hello. So hello San Diego, glad you could join.
I also particularly liked verse 4, where it says that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repent of our sins. Connecting this thought back to the prior verses about not judging one another, I see a lesson that I need to hear more often. Obviously, we are not supposed to take advantage of God's grace. Yet sometimes it is tempting to just thank God that we are not condemned as we deserve. We have to repent and ask that we not fall into the same sins again. Furthermore, we are supposed to take what grace we have received and share it with others.
ReplyDeleteThis falls in line with the parable of the unforgiving servant. (Matthew 18) He is forgiven by the king, but turns around and imprisons someone who owes him money. Our grace is meant to be a shared joy, but it is very easy to keep it to yourself. I find it challenging to turn around and spread that joy as I ought.
There was a great sermon at passion city last semester that discussed exactly what Travis talked about, that faith without works is dead. Verse 6 does not mean that each person will have their goods and bads tallied up, with the "good" people getting into heaven, as many people wrongly believe in Christianity (this was my belief before I truly knew Christ). Instead, these works serve as a barometer for what's truly in your heart. We need to be constantly evaluating ourselves; not only should we produce fruits of the spirit, but we need to make sure that we are doing these for the right reasons. It's so easy to serve sometimes just because everyone around you is doing it. When those around you disappear, where will you be? This is very important, because you can be so good that you deceive yourself.
ReplyDelete