Romans 2:12

Romans 2:12 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.

Notice that Paul states that all who have sinned will perish. By this statement, he removes any hope for a person that has sinned to avoid perishing by their improved works. He has just finished a passage about all men being judged on their works and being given the gift of eternal life if they meet God’s standard. Here in verse 12 he clarifies the standard of righteousness needed to receive eternal life. The truth given here is that once a person has sinned, it is too late for human beings to work themselves into being right with God because the standard is perfection as Jesus also confirmed in Mt. 5:48.

The little girl in the photo above is obviously giving Santa quite a list of things she wants. As she and all human beings grow to maturity, they crave and desire all kinds of materialistic stuff and even covet God given attributes they do not possess. The sin of covetousness alone condemns 100% of the human beings that have ever lived. No human being can meet the perfect standard of righteousness required, and Paul makes that clear a little later in Romans 3:23 when he states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

There is only way for human beings to have the gift of eternal life and that is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Praise God that Paul begins explaining that good news in Romans 3:21.

Romans 2:10-11

Romans 2:10-11 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. (11) For God shows no partiality.

In the photo above, there is glory and honor for all these students who successfully finished the work requirements for their diplomas. In a like manner, Paul asserts in verses 6-10 that eternal life will be rewarded to all whose works pass God’s standard and wrath for those who do not meet this standard. While most assume that verses 7 and 10 refer to the improved works of regenerated believers in Christ and verses 8 and 9 refer to the works of unbelievers, the immediate context, as well as Biblical truths revealed elsewhere, indicate that not a single human being in the history of the world has ever met God’s standard of righteousness in and of themselves even after regeneration. Therefore, no human being has ever met the standard of good that Paul is referring to in verse 10, and no one will receive eternal life based on their own works. Paul is simply stating two important truths in verses 7 through 10. First, if anyone ever did meet God’s perfect standard for doing good, he would give them eternal life with or without the Law. Second, since no one ever has met or is capable of meeting this standard, mankind has a huge problem that the Law of Moses can never solve. God does not show partiality and the Law does not give the Jews any advantage in receiving eternal life. Paul explains here what he later says clearly in Romans 3:10 and Romans 3:20. In these two passages he says there is none righteous and that no one will be justified through works of the law.

In the bad news that Paul covers in Romans 1:18 through Romans 3:20, Paul is asserting that man cannot look inward for the righteousness required to stand before God justified and receive eternal life. The message is to abandon all hope for human works, either through the Law or without the law, to aid in making a person right with God. Praise God that the good news of the gospel gives human beings a way to be made right with God and Paul explains it beginning in Romans 3:21.

Romans 2:8-9

Romans 2:8-9 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (9) There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

From the beginning, America has needed jails to restrain and lock up evildoers. Since human justice must rely on an imperfect knowledge of the facts, an entire legal industry of lawyers is needed to be advocates for both the guilty and the innocent. The truth is often cloudy and blurred, which sometimes causes the guilty to go unpunished and the innocent to be unjustly punished.

However, when you consider God’s holy righteous standards, then it is clear that no human being can possibly make it through a single day without transgressing God’s standard in word, thought, and deed. Since nothing is concealed from Him due to His perfect knowledge, no lawyer could possibly hide or spin this unrighteousness to make it appear to conform to His perfect standard. Those that are guilty by human standards are also guilty by God’s standards. Those that are innocent by human standards and law are guilty before God, because God’s standards go to the very heart and nature of human character. Attitudes and thoughts that can be hidden from human scrutiny are laid bare before God. For example, while envy, jealousy, etc. are not human crimes, they are unrighteous and ungodly character flaws in the sight of God that do not go undetected. Therefore, all human beings fall into the category described in Romans 2:8-9 and everyone will incur wrath and fury if they stand before God to be judged by their own works.

Praise God that through His gospel, Paul will explain later how human beings can be judged by the works of Jesus Christ instead of their own.

True Free Grace Blog

Since the Bluecollar Blog has been discontinued, the inactive True Free Grace Blog will soon become active again with posts that will be open to discussion from all points of view. This does not mean the posts on Jazzycat are not open to discussion as comments are welcomed here as well.

Romans 2:6-7

Romans 2:6-7 He will render to each one according to his works: (7) to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

All of the football players in the photo above are judged on each play and the coaches render a grade based on their performance. The games are filmed, and there is no hiding from the camera as every move is revealed in slow motion and stop action. In a like manner, Paul explains that God is going to render to each person according to his works. Thus far in his gospel explanation, Paul has only revealed the bad news of human sin and unrighteousness. He has condemned both Jews and Gentiles as being equally guilty before God’s righteous judgment, and now he says God will render to each one based on these works. Later in Romans 3:10 Paul confirms clearly and plainly that there is none righteous. Therefore, one hundred percent of humanity does not have any hope based on God’s judgment of their works. The bad news that began in Romans 1:18 has gotten even worse here in Romans 2:6-7.

As verse 7 points out, God will give eternal life to everyone who does good and meets His standard. However, according to Scripture, the requirement for human beings to meet God’s standard for establishing their own works righteousness is nothing less than perfection. Uh oh, “Houston we have a problem!” That problem is that no one will receive eternal life based on their works and Paul clearly states that in Romans 3:10, 3-20 and elsewhere.

Many theologians take verse 7 to mean the overall behavior of regenerated believers and transport a born again Christian into verse 7. However, Paul has not yet even explained the gospel principle of justification by faith alone. He doesn’t begin that until Romans 3:21. In the gospel believers are covered in the righteousness of Christ through faith and are judged based on the perfect righteousness of Christ; not their own. Here in Romans 2:6-7 Paul is talking about God’s judgment based on a person’s own works, and to view the works of a regenerated person as being sufficient in and of themselves; is to make the atonement of Christ unnecessary. God could have simply made belief in God the standard, regenerated these believers, judged their improved works, and bypassed the atonement of Christ. The entire gospel reveals this to be insufficient. The gospel shows that human works before and after regeneration to be insufficient for God to give eternal life. I am puzzled as to how anyone thinks their works after regeneration will be the basis for God giving them eternal life.