Romans 2:1-16
1Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
2And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.
3But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
5But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
6who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:
7to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life;
8but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
9There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
10but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
11For there is no partiality with God.
12For 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;
13for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
16on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
This is where I imagine Paul, even though he is writing a letter, is up on a stage screaming and being very adamant about his point. There is no partiality with God. Are you impartial? Is there an “us vs. them” mentality lurking inside you? God will judge us equally and according to our deeds. So then, we should do good things, right?
Verse 15 is sticking out to me today. Not just because i put it in boldface font, but because of the message Paul embedded here. We are not saved by our deeds, nor are we dictated our deeds by what we are told. Sure, we can agree to comply or reject these things, but why do we do what we do? Somehow, in the essence of a human being, we do things because we want to. Sure, we can say we “have” to do something, but we don’t have to do anything. Often times we are convinced by the choices. Some times we prefer one outcome to the other, so we choose to pick one way over another, depending on our motivations.
What makes you prefer one side over another? Paul here is telling us it comes from whatever is written on our hearts. We are not saved by our actions, rather our actions reflect our salvation. We become doers of the word because we believe in it. We have faith in God’s word and therefore our actions reflect that “according to each man’s faith.” What motivates your choices?
