ROMANS CHAPTER 2

Verse 1
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things.

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else - Having condemned the blatant immorality and crass wickedness of mankind in no uncertain terms, the apostle now directs his attention to moralists, those who might well have agreed with his condemnation of the world in general, but who would, at the same time, have exempted themselves from that condemnation. His words apply with equal force to stoic Gentiles and self-righteous Jews both of whom labor under the illusion that their own high-minded ethical sensitivity sets them apart from the great majority of mankind which fails to measure up to their lofty moral standards. In fact, the innate human tendency to cling to the pretense of self-righteousness poses one of the most deadly threats to the only way to deal with the reality of man's unrighteousness, the righteousness of God by faith in Christ. This delusion must be destroyed if the Gospel is to stand. Martin Franzmann correctly notes: As long as man still has the righteousness and pride and strength to judge his fellowman, he is not ready for the beggary of faith, he is not ready to receive the radical rescue of the righteousness of God. (Franzmann, p.44,45)

The verse begins with the connective Therefore which links the entire previous section with that which follows. This term is typically used in Greek to denote an inference or conclusion drawn from that which went before. That linkage is further indicated by Paul's repetition of his earlier word without excuse (cf. 1:20. These two references are the only times in the New Testament that St. Paul uses this word. Greek - analogetos). In this instance the assertion of excuselessness comes in the dramatic form of a personal challenge, You, therefore, have no excuse, you... so that anyone who might have thought himself exempt from the preceding indictment may now recognize its application to him.

The moralist mindset inevitably leads to relative righteousness and judgementalism. Hence the apostle identifies the moralist as you who pass judgement on someone else. The concept of judgement is crucial in this segment. Forms of the word (Greek krino) occur eight times in the chapter. It is used in the typical judicial sense of passing judgement upon someone or something. The concept is strongly reminiscent of Christ's admonition in the Sermon on the Mount: Do not judge or you too will be judged, for in the same way that you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1,2; cf. also Mark 4:24; Luke 6:36,37). In this regard, William Hendrickson offers a very important distinction:

Does this mean that all manner of judging is absolutely and without any qualification forbidden, so that with respect to the neighbor we are not allowed to form and/or express any opinion whatever, at least that with regard to him we must never voice an adverse or unfavorable opinion?...It is clear that no such wholesale condemnation of forming an opinion about a person and expressing it can have been intended... What then did Jesus mean?...The Lord is here condemning the spirit of censoriousness, judging harshly, self-righteousness, without mercy, without love. To be discriminating and critical is necessary; to be hypercritical is wrong. (Hendrickson, p.356,357)

The hypocrisy of the moralist, who condemns others in self-righteous disdain, is revealed in that you who pass judgement do the same things. Those who indulge in self-righteousness make two very serious mistakes. First of all, they underestimate God's standard of righteousness, failing to recognize that the demands of the holy Law of God are absolute, not relative. This is the theme of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew.5-7). Secondly, they underestimate the depth of their own sinfulness. Human beings have an incredible ability to overlook our own faults while exaggerating the faults of others. To use our Lord's image, we might call this tendency the speck and beam syndrome (cf. Matthew 7:3-5). . .

Verses 2-3
Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?

Now we know... - The apostle now expresses a matter of common knowledge. The basis in truth for the judgment of God is obvious to all and beyond reasonable dispute. That which God does is true by definition. Unlike the judgment of human beings, which is subject to error, God is not capable of doing that which is not right or saying that which is not true. This is axiomatic. The personal favoritism which enables the moralist to condemn others for things of which he himself is guilty does not apply to the absolutely impartial judgment of God. Here precisely the same standard will be applied to all. That dreadful impartiality ought to strike terror into the heart of every moralist. No mere man, particularly one who has presumed to sit in judgement on his fellow men, could dare to stand before the judgment seat of the Almighty. God knows all things. The carefully concealed hypocrisy of men is fully revealed to Him. None will escape God's judgment.

Verse 4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

The moralist considers himself safe and secure, resting comfortably on his own ethical achievements. He wrongly perceives the kindness, tolerance and patience of God to be indications of divine approval. Thus he is guilty of showing contempt these gracious attributes of God. The NIV's translation, you show contempt, is an apt rendering of the original. The Greek verb kataphroneo literally means to look down upon something or someone and to underestimate their true value. It often carries the connotation of disregarding or even despising. Man sees permissiveness and toleration in God's forbearance. This is a fatal misreading of the divine purpose. God's longsuffering is meant to give man time for repentance. Peter offers a more accurate assessment of the situation:

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance...Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our brother Paul wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. (2 Peter 3:9,15)

Three attributes of God are cited, kindness, tolerance, and patience. Kindness (Greek - chrestotes) refers to God's goodness. Our English word God originally meant The Good. All goodness there is comes from God. As the Apostle James reminds us: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17). The classic theologians of the Middle Ages correctly referred to God as summum bonum, that is the chief or the highest good. The second attribute of God in our text is tolerance (Greek - anoches). The term's root meaning is to hold back. It is often translated as forbearance or delay. Sin justly deserves punishment and yet God holds back His righteous wrath so that fallen man may be given time to repent. Man foolishly misunderstands this forbearance as permissiveness and often persists in his sin. Finally, Paul cites the patience of God. The Greek word is makrothymia. This intriguing term actually means long suffering. It is sometimes used of a powerful ruler who does not exercise his right to vengeance against the enemy who has wronged him.

The goal of God's kindness in these matters is repentance (Greek - metanoia). This crucial concept refers to a basic change of heart and mind. In the moral realm it refers to a basic change of mind about sin - a change from loving sin to renouncing it and returning to God for forgiveness. Biblical repentance includes the following components: 1. recognition of sin; 2. contrition, that is, sorrow for sin; 3. faith in forgiveness for Christ's sake; 4. willingness, wherever possible to undo the damage caused by the sin; and 5. conscientious resolve not to repeat the sin in the future.

Verse 5
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgement will be revealed.

Because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart...To toy with the patience of God is to court disaster. Such recklessness is pure folly, the result of stubbornness and your unrepentant heart. The word stubbornness translates the Greek sklerotes which means to become hardened. The hardening of the heart is a regular theme in Scripture (cf. Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4; Matthew 19:8; Mark 3:5; 6:52; 8:17; John 12:40; Hebrews 3:8,15; 4:7). Sin desensitizes man spiritually. The progressive impact of unrepented sin makes man more resistant to the will and Word of God. The unrepentant heart eventually becomes as hard and unresponsive as stone (cf. Ezekiel 36:26). In the English language, the medical term sclerosis is based on this same Greek word. Arteriosclerosis, for instance, refers to the hardening of the arteries. The hardening of the arteries may take a person to the grave, but the hardening of his spiritual heart will take him to hell. (MacArthur, p.120)

You are storing up wrath against yourself... The apostle had introduced the concept of God's wrath in 1:18 (The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.) The righteous anger of a holy God against the sinful corruption of humanity is not merely a future threat: it is present reality. That wrath is already being revealed as the devastation of sin wreaks its havoc throughout the world every day (cf. pp.33-37). Paul uses the effective image of the miser who slowly, painstakingly accumulates his treasure. James Boice observes:

There is an interesting image suggested by Paul's language at this point, for Paul speaks of the stubborn and unrepentant person "storing up wrath" for the day of God's judgment. It is the image of a greedy individual, a miser, who has been storing up wealth which, contrary to his expectations, is destined to destroy him. I think of this man as storing up a great horde of gold coins, placing them in an attic above his bed where he thinks no one will find them and where they will be safe. He keeps this up for years, amassing a great weight of gold. But one day, while he is sleeping and oblivious to his danger, this great weight of gold breaks through the ceiling of his bedroom, comes crashing down onto his bed, and kills him. He thought of his wealth as salvation, but it was death. (Boice, p.220)

The day is coming when God's kindness, tolerance, and patience will come to an abrupt and eternal end. On that day the wrath that has slowly accumulated through all of the ages will be poured out upon rebellious mankind. The Lord's righteous judgment will be revealed before the eyes of every human being who had ever walked upon the face of this earth. For those whose sins have not been cleansed in the blood of Jesus it will be a grim and horrible day of reckoning. The ancient prophet Zephaniah provides what may be Scripture's most vivid description of that day:

That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord's wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth. (Zephaniah 1:15-18)

The greatest hymn of the medieval era, Dies Irae, was written on the basis of this text, every word of which breaks like a clap of thunder upon the conscience of the sinner. Its author was Thomas de Celano, friend and biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. The text has inspired many of the great composers of classical music and it appears in virtually every historic hymnal of the Christian Church.

Day of wrath, O day of mourning! See fulfilled the prophet's warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning.
O what fear man's bosom rendeth when from heaven the Judge descendeth
On whose sentence all dependeth.
Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth, through earth's sepulchers it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.
Death is struck and nature quaking; all creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.
Lo, the book exactly worded wherein all hath been recorded;
Thence shall judgment be awarded.
When the Judge His seat attaineth and each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.
What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding
When the just are mercy needing?
King of majesty tremendous, Who dost free salvation send us.
Fount of pity, then befriend us.
Think, good Jesus, my salvation caused Thy wondrous incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation!
Faint and weary Thou hast sought me, on the cross of suffering bought me;
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Righteous Judge, for sin's pollution grant Thy gift of absolution
Ere that day of retribution.
Guilty now, I pour my moaning, all my shame with anguish owning:
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant, groaning.
From that sinful woman shirven, from the dying thief forgiven
Thou to me a hope hast given.
Worthless are my prayers and sighing; yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying.
With Thy favored sheep, O place me! Nor among the goats abase me,
But to Thy right hand upraise me.
While the wicked are confounded, doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me, with Thy saints surrounded.
Lo, I kneel with heart submission, see, like ashes my contrition;
Help me in my last condition.
Day of sorrow, day of weeping, when in dust no longer sleeping.
Man awakes in Thy dread keeping!
To the rest Thou didst prepare me on Thy cross, O Christ, upbear me!
Spare, O God, in mercy, spare me!

The language of the Apostle is most helpful in understanding the purpose and significance of the great Day of Judgment. Popular impressions to the contrary notwithstanding, the purpose of Judgment Day is not to decide who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. For the overwhelming majority of humankind that will have already been decided at the moment of death. In fact, the souls of the dead will have already been in either heaven or hell, depending upon their spiritual condition at the moment of death. Neither those who are alive and remain unto the coming of our Lord to be snatched up with Him together in the clouds nor those who greet His coming with desperate fear and frantic but futile attempts to escape will be in any doubt whatsoever as to their eternal fate. The purpose of Judgment Day is not the announcement of a decision as to anyone's salvation or damnation. Instead, the Day of Judgment will demonstrate the perfect righteousness of God, the Judge. That is clearly indicated by the unusual Greek syntax of this verse. The phrase St. Paul uses in reference to Judgment Day is literally translated God's righteous judgment's revelation day. Before the entire universe of men and angels the verdict will be announced, and all will know and acknowledge that verdict as righteous and true. Lenski notes:

The last day and its final judgment will clear up everything, answer every question, dissipate every doubt. The righteous judgment of God will be revealed and no creature will find even the least flaw in its perfection. This is strange in a way and yet true. Every judge, by virtue of being a judge, is himself judged by any and every verdict. Any unjust verdict of his condemns, first of all himself as being guilty for pronouncing it; any just verdict acquits him in the same way. The fact that God should apply this to himself, that he should be concerned about his judgments and the verdict that he renders upon himself by means of them, may seem strange, and yet it is not, for he is righteousness itself. The fact that on the last day not a soul will even question a judgment of his will be due to the revelation God makes and of the moral nature of those to whom it makes it when they stand at last face to face with him. (Lenski, p. 144)

Verses 6-8
God will "give to each person according to what he has done." 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.

God will "give to each person... - What now follows has been rightly described as the lightning stroke that kills all moralism, root and branch (Lenski, p.146). Paul here expounds the Law in all of its mortal severity and Judgment Day as the culmination and fulfillment of the Law's just demands. No man can endure it and live. The false hopes of those who dream of earning their own salvation are revealed as delusion and self-deception. The demands of the Law are absolute. Those who would earn their own salvation must obey the Law perfectly.

Scripture is completely consistent in describing the evidentiary role of works on the Day of Judgement (cf. Isaiah 3:10-11; Jeremiah 17:10; Matthew 16:27; 25: 31-46; John 5:28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 6:8; Revelation 20:11-15). This is the result both of the nature of faith which invariably reveals itself in the deeds of love which are the result of our experience of the love of God in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:14-24,26) and the nature of Judgment Day as the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Good works are empirical, while faith is not. Hence the good works which are the fruit of faith serve as the public evidence in this public judgment. In the individual secret judgment of each man during his life and at the moment of death, faith and unbelief alone are decisive. In order, however, to demonstrate the rightness of this judgement in public, before all of creation, works serve as the evidence which can be seen by all. Good works, deeds of love that flow from the love of Christ are the unmistakable evidence of faith. Evil works, deeds of selfishness and sin, are the unmistakable evidence of unbelief. Thus judgement, not salvation is by works. John MacArthur summarizes:

Salvation is not by works, but it will assuredly produce works. The presence of genuinely good deeds in a persons life reveals that he has truly been saved, and in God's infallible eyes those deeds are a perfectly reliable indicator of saving faith. In the same way, the absence of genuinely good deeds reveals the absence of salvation. In both cases, deeds become a trustworthy basis for God's judgment. When God sees works that manifest righteousness, he knows if they come from a regenerated heart. When he sees works that manifest unrighteousness, he knows if they come from an unregenerated heart...Paul's point in the present passage is that a person who possess the life of God will reflect the true character of God, and that it is on the basis of that reflected godly character that he will be judged. It is just as impossible for a person having eternal life to indefinitely fail to reflect God's character as it would be for him to indefinitely hold his breath. Eternal life induces spiritual breathing just as surely as physical life induces bodily breathing. John Murray succinctly noted that "works without redemptive aspiration are dead works. Aspiration without good works is presumption." (MacArthur, p. 130,132)

The perfect justice of God's judgment is affirmed with a quotation from Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12:

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. (Psalm 62:12)

If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? (Proverbs 24:12)

The righteousness of God's judgment can be seen in that every human being, without exception, will be judged on the completely objective basis of their own deeds. No one will be passed by. No one will be allowed to slip through. The basis of judgment will be the same for all for the justice of God is perfect.

To those who by persistence in doing good... - All of humanity falls into one of two categories, the saved and the damned. The former are here categorized by a life of persistence in doing good. The deeds in question in this section, whether good or evil, are not isolated actions but consistent lifestyle patterns. All Christians sin, but sin cannot be allowed to have dominion in the heart where Christ is Lord. The Christian life is a daily struggle to put our faith into practice, to overcome the everpresent temptations of devil, the world, and our own sinful nature as we move on toward the goal. The word persistence means to endure or to stand firm. Jesus uses the same word in Matthew 24: But he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:13). It literally means to remain under and describes carrying a burden or bearing a load. Its use here emphasizes the struggle that is the Christian life. Lenski observes: In a wicked world we are constantly tempted to throw off the burden, to remain under it no longer, to run free in the false freedom of those who do evil as they please. Only those who hold out shall be saved. It faith, faith alone that holds out; Paul kept the faith. The continuance in faith is evidenced by the endurance in the good work. (Lenski, p.150)

The aspirations of the Christian in that daily struggle are summarized with three important nouns. The first is glory (Greek - doxa). The highest goal of a believer is to live a life that glorifies God. Whether, then, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31). At the same time, we eagerly anticipate the glory that will be God's gift to us in heaven (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:17; Colossians 3:4). The believer seeks not the fading glories of this transitory world (Sic transit gloria mundi.) but the everlasting glory of the eternal God. Secondly, the Christian seeks honor. Once again, the term is used not a self-serving, worldly way but in reference to the honor that comes from God. Those who have fought the good fight and finished their course will be honored by the heavenly Father as He says one day: Well done, thou good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:21). Finally, the true believer seeks immortality, the long awaited day when the ancient curse of death will be lifted. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.( 1 Corinthians 15:53).

The gift of God to those who live by faith is eternal life. This is one of the most beautiful and powerful words in the New Testament. Eternal life in the Bible is a matter of quality not quantity. Every human being, even the damned, will have eternal existence. But for those who are unsaved that eternal existence will mean the endless torment of Hell. Eternal life can be realized only in Christ, as by faith we are restored to the abundant life of harmony with the Creator for which mankind was created in the beginning. Jesus defined that life perfectly when He said: Now this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

Verses 8-9
But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile;

But for those who are self-seeking... Now comes the other side of the contrast as the characteristics of those in the second category are presented. The life of the believer is characterized by persistence, the willingness to stand firm, struggle, and patiently endure. The life of the unbeliever is characterized by self-seeking. The NIV translation is a bit weak. The Greek word (erithia) literally means selfish ambition, the desire for complete and immediate gratification of my own desires. The root meaning of the term refers to a hireling or a mercenary who does what he does simply for money. As long as he gets paid he doesn't care what he does or who he does it for. It is a most fitting designation for the dilemma of sinful men. The devil uses man's love for immediate gratification as the bait in the trap of temptation. We are lured into evil by glittering promises of pleasure with no thought of the implications or consequences of our actions. The endless cry of sinful man is I want what I want and I want it now! The life that is lived to scratch our every itch and satisfy our every desire as quickly as possible masquerades as freedom. But in reality it is ever increasing bondage as we become slaves to our own selfish pleasures and needs. The shackles of that slavery will drag us down into the depths of Hell. Paul has already informed us that the unrighteous suppress the truth by their wickedness (1:18). He now returns to that theme. The self-seeking are those who reject the truth and follow evil. The truth about God is clearly revealed in nature and in His Word. That truth is spurned in favor of evil. Note once again the implication of a deliberate act of choosing. The alternatives are weighed. A decision is made. Truth is cast aside and replaced by evil.

The fourfold consequences of that fatal mistake are detailed. First wrath (Greek - orge) the strongest kind of anger; anger burning at a fever pitch. This is the personal, passionate anger of the holy God. It includes, to use Martin Franzmann's phrase the high and sober majesty of the Judge (Franzmann, p. 47). Wrath is coupled with anger. The Greek (thumos) represents agitated, vehement indignation - from a root which has to do with moving rapidly: the violent breathing of an enraged man in pursuit of an enemy. The consequences for every human being who does evil are trouble and distress. Trouble (Greek - thlipsis) originally described the exertion of extreme pressure and is sometimes translated as affliction, anguish, or persecution. Revelation 14 uses the term in its original sense to describe the crushing of the grapes of wrath in the winepress of God's judgment (Revelation 14:18-20). Distress (Greek - stenochoria) literally means a place of confinement or estreme constriction, to be hemmed in with no way of escape. The combination of the two terms here calls to mind the sort of desperation described by Christ's warning to the women of Jerusalem of the coming judgment when doomed sinners would cry out to the mountains fall on us! and to the hills, Cover us! (Luke 23:30). Under the absolute justice of the Divine Judge these consequences will fall without exception upon every human being who does evil. This horrible punishment will come first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. The Children of Israel were the firstborn of God, the beloved apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 30:10). They were the recipients of God's promises and the witnesses to the fulfillment of those promises. But now, having abused their place of priority in the grace of God, the Jews have a priority in punishment. The prophet Amos had written: You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all of your iniquities. (Amos 3:2). Israel must stand first and foremost under the judgment of God. Those who were first in salvation opportunity will also be first in judgment responsibility. The Gentile (Greek), however, is not exempt from that punishment. He too will be judged and condemned.

Verses 10-11
But glory, honor and peace for eveyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

But glory, honor and peace... - The dreadful punishment of the wicked was described only once but the gift of God's grace is presented twice in this segment. The words glory and honor which appeared earlier (vs. 7) are now repeated for emphasis. In this instance the blessing of peace is added. This is the equivalent of the Hebrew shalom, the sense of invincible security and well-being which is God's gift to all who place their trust in Him. The order of salvation is also re-emhasized, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, in the same way that the apostle had earlier emphasized the order of judgement. The phrase here echoes Paul's previous usage in chapter one: for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew and then for the Gentile (1:16). So that no one will mistake his basic point the apostle concludes with the universal generalization - For God does not show favoritism. All will be saved on the same basis, and all will be judged on the same basis. Neither the Jewish legalist nor the Gentile moralist can expect special treatment on the basis of their own self-perceived advantages. God absolutely does not play favorites. The Greek word (prosopolemptes) literally means to receive a face, that is to give special consideration to a person because of who he is (cf. Acts 10:34; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25; 1 Peter 1:17). That why justice is symbolically presented as a blindfolded woman who cannot see those who appear before her so that all may receive the same treatment. Unfortunately such impartiality is seldom experienced within the justice systems and courts of men. Partiality is the way of the world. God does not play favorites. Those who presume to stand before Him on the basis of who they are or what they have done will find themselves sadly disappointed.

Verse 12
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

All who sin... - The moralist operates with the law as a means of escape from God's judgment. This false sense of security is deadly folly. That is revealed in this verse which describes two routes that lead to the same goal. All who sin will experience the same fate. Sin is the great leveler. Everyone who sins will stand before God condemned. Men are to be judged on the basis of the revelation which God has given them. Hodge correctly notes: The ground of judgment is their works; the rule of judgment is their knowledge. (Hodge, p.80) Those who have received the special revelation of God's written law, the Law of Moses, will be judged on the basis of that law. Those who have not received the written law will be judged on the basis of the revelation which God has given them in nature and conscience. But all will be judged and every sinner will perish. The Law of Moses was the chief identity factor and the boundary marker for the distinctiveness of Israel. Devout Jews prided themselves in the fact that they were the people of the Law and they scorned the Gentiles as those who were without the Law. But the possession or absence of the Law is not the crucial factor. It is sin that is decisive, not the presence or absence of the Law. All who sin will perish with or without the written Law. Perish (Greek - apollumi) is a strong word. It means to be destroyed but not annihilated. It is used in reference to both physical and eternal death. Jesus uses the same word in John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Verse 13
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.

For it is those who hear the law... - The moralist judge cannot avoid being self-condemned by the very law to which he clings. If the attempt is made to be justified on the basis of law, then that justification must take place not on the basis of mere possession of the law, but on the basis of obedience to it. The verse does not use the ordinary Greek word for hearing (akouo), but rather a more intense verb (akroates) which is used in reference to those whose business it is to listen carefully and attentively. James sounds a similar theme: For if anyone was a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. (James 1:23-24; cf. also Matthew 7:24-27) The law demands complete conformity. Those who obey the law will be declared righteous. The standard of judgment before the law is actual compliance. Only those who obey, perfectly and without exception, can ever hope to stand before God under the law. This is the first instance in which the key verb to be declared righteous (Greek - dikaioun) is used in the Epistle. It appears fifteen times throughout the letter. The forensic (relating to the court) sense of the term is clearly indicated here.

Verses 14-15
(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law... - The parentheses around verses fourteen and fifteen in the English text indicate that these two verses constitute a digression from Paul's basic argument, as he pauses to demonstrate specifically how Gentiles who are not aware of the written Law can still justly be held accountable to the law before God. In the preceding chapter (1:18-20) the apostle has asserted the excuselessness of all mankind on the basis of God's self-disclosure in nature. That argument is now taken a step forward as Paul contends that while the Gentiles do not possess the specially revealed Law of Moses (who do not have the law), nevertheless they are not entirely without the law. The law of God is, in fact, made known to them and brought to bear upon them in another way. Therefore, they are not exempt from responsibility to the law but have become a law for themselves. When we speak today of men who are a law unto themselves we are usually referring to lawless men who recognize do standard other than their own will or desire. In this text, the meaning of the phrase is exactly the opposite. Every human being, by reason of what has been implanted in our nature by God, is subject to the law.

Do by nature the things required by the law... - As we observed in chapter one (1:26, p.53), when Paul refers to nature, or to that which is natural, he is reflecting the conviction that God is the Creator of everything and that the order of the created world as it has been ordained by God reflects the will and purpose of the divine Creator. Accordingly, when the text indicates that the Gentiles do by nature the things required by the law we are being told that God has provided a moral sensitivity which is an inherent part of what we are as human beings. John Murray comments: What is done "by nature" is done by native instinct or propension, by spontaneous impulse as distinguished from what is induced by forces extraneous to ourselves. (Murray, p.73) The Gentiles' knowledge of the law's demands was neither taught nor acquired by exposure to the Law of Moses. It is instinctive, unlearned knowledge, the vestige of the image of God in which mankind was first created (Genesis 1:26-27). The basic standards of human decency which have characterized every human culture and civilization since the dawn of time bear witness to the reality of the natural law within man.

Since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts... - Paul; now proceeds to explain how this could be possible. The two verses are linked together with the pronoun since, indicating that Verse fifteen will explain the basis for that which had been asserted in Verse fourteen. Gentiles who do not have the law, do by nature the things required because God has caused the requirements of the law to be written on their hearts. The Law of Moses was written by the finger of God upon two tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). But the moral law had existed long before Mt. Sinai, written by God upon the heart of every descendant of Adam and Eve. The Ten Commandments are merely a summary and application of that moral law for the nation of Israel. The verb, are written, is passive to emphasize that God is the source and author of the law. Their hearts denotes the inward person, the identity and personality of the individual. The language is reminiscent of Jeremiah 31:33 where the prophet foretells a time when I will write my laws on their hearts.

Their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing... - The word conscience (Greek - suneidesis) literally means knowledge with or co-knowledge. Conscience is not the law written in man's heart. It operates on the basis of that inner law but is distinct and separate from it. This is emphasized by the word also in the text. Conscience is part of what I am and yet at the same time it is not merely the equivalent of my consciousness. Lenski observes: I myself know, and conscience too, knows. This is especially apparent when conscience blames me, when I should like to hush it up but find myself unable to do so and may even be driven to desperation by my conscience." (Lenski, p. 167) Franz Delitsch offers the following exhaustive definition:

The conscience, therefore, is man's natural consciousness of the law in his heart. It is the religious/moral determination of his self-consciousness dwelling in the human spirit. Conscience even operates against the will in all forms of the life of man. It is the ethical side of the general sense of truth which remained in man even after his fall; the knowledge concerning what God will and will not have. That knowledge manifests itself progressively in the form of impulse, and judgment, and feeling. The conscience gives witness to the inward law, and therefore thoughts are called forth within a man by the testimony of conscience appear and arise within a man which either excuse or accuse him. These excuses and accusations are in controversy with one another like opponents in a court of law. This process arises both in response to individual actions and overall condition. With this law written on his heart, with this continuous attestation of it by conscience, the Gentile, as says the apostle to the Gentiles comes to stand eventually before the judgment of God which He executes through Jesus Christ, the Savior not only of man but of humanity. (Delitsch, 164,165)

The words accusing and defending are technical legal terms which describe the judicial process of bringing charges against someone and then making a defense against those charges in court. Conscience functions both negatively and positively. When the action in question is contrary to the law, then conscience accuses, provoking guilt and fear. On the other hand, if the action in question is not contrary to the law, then conscience may serve not as prosecutor but defender. It must also be noted that in either case the conscience of sinful man is never completely or consistently reliable. Franz Pieper emphasizes:

But since the Fall the conscience does not give a fully reliable testimony concerning the will of God. There is such a thing as an erring conscience. Fallen man regards certain things as permitted, yea, even commanded, which God has forbidden. He will commit idolatry (Galatians 4:8), submit to the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:11), or, murder Christians (John 16:2). And fallen man regards as forbidden what God has permitted. He will, for instance, abstain from certain foods (Romans 14:1ff.). Therefore since the Fall the knowledge of God's immutable will is gained with certainty only from God's revelation in His Word, namely in Scripture. (Pieper,I, p. 532)

Verse 16
This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

This will take place... - The apostle now resumes the main thrust of his argument. In Verses twelve and thirteen, prior to his digression on conscience, he had made reference to being judged by the law or being declared righteous. He now returns to that theme as he warns once again of the coming of the great Day of God's Judgment. All moral judgment takes place in anticipation of the Judgment Day. Cancel this day, and the keystone is broken out of the arch of all moral reasoning, all moral responsibility, all moral impetus to do the things of the law. (Lenski, p. 172) Every time conscience acts to accuse or defend it is in anticipation of the Final Judgment. Thus conscience is, in Martin Franzmann's words, a secret miniature of the Last Judgment carried about in the heart of every man (Franzmann, p.51). The typical word order is reversed in the Greek, with the verb preceding the subject to emphasize the action of judgment. Thus literally - Judge will God! The twisted deliberation of human conscience will be replaced on that day by the absolute certainty of divine deliberation. Nothing will be hidden or concealed. All of men's secret thoughts will be revealed. The awesome reality of absolute judgment is hurled against the self-confidence of the moralist. All hidden motives and every secret thought and desire will be laid bare before the Almighty Judge who alone knows all things. As one of the ancient collects of the communion liturgy acknowledges: Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit...(cf. Isaiah 66:18; Psalm 139:1-4; Hebrews 4:13).

Through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. - The fact that God will judge the world through Jesus Christ is repeatedly attested in Scripture (cf. Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 17:31; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1). The gospel which Paul proclaims declares the reality of that judgment. This is not Gospel in the narrow sense in contrast to the Law, but Gospel as the entire message of salvation, a message of divine grace which can forgive and overcome sin but cannot ever compromise with sin. The Christ who is the content of the gospel as the Savior of mankind appears in that Gospel also as the Judge of man. (Franzmann, p.51) . This gospel recognizes that grace is not cheap. The holy God could not tolerate or overlook sin. And so our salvation was purchased by the payment of an awful price in the blood of God's only Son. Nor is that grace cheap in the lives of God's people. It demands of us what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the cost of discipleship.

Verses 17-20
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship with God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth -

Having addressed the problem of moralism is general, the apostle now turns his attention specifically to the moralistic legalism of the Jews, the covenant people of God. Paul lists the advantages which the Jews perceived themselves to have and demonstrates the manner in which these blessings from God have been distorted into self-righteous barriers to the righteousness of God which is by faith. John Murray points out that this tragic segment shows how close lies the grossest vice to the highest privilege and how the best can be prostituted to the service of the worst. (Murray, p.82) Lenski aptly compares this series of phrases to a cluster of boxes within boxes. Each statement contains the next. Open the first box and you see the second; open the second and there is the third; and so on to the last. (Lenski, p. 179)

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; - The children of Abraham had originally been called Hebrews, because they came to Canaan from the Mesopotamian city of Haran beyond the Euphrates River, and were descended from Eber of the line of Shem.(cf. Genesis 14:13; 10:21). They had also been called Israelites or the Children of Israel designating them as the descendants of Jacob whose name God had changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28). By New Testament a descendant of Abraham was typically referred to as a Jew (Our English word Jew is derived from the Greek - Ioudaios; and the Latin - Judaeus). The term is derived from the name of the tribe of Judah. Its usage is rare until after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom at the end of the period of the divided monarchy. From that time on, the designation Jew is used to mean a member of the Jewish people or a practitioner of Judaism. The Jews themselves used the term to distinguish themselves, as descendants of Abraham, God's chosen people, from the other races and nations of men, all of which were lumped together under the heading Gentile (Latin - gentes, nations). The Hebrew name Judah means One who is Praised (Genesis 29:35) and the Jews of Paul's day bore that name as a badge of great honor and pride. They believed themselves to be a unique and specially favored people of God. The name Jew was associated in their own minds with all upon which they prided themselves.

If you rely on the Law - The Greek verb epanapauo (you rely on) has the basic sense of rest upon. It suggests comfort, contentment, and complacency. The phrase thus captures the Jewish attitude toward the Law which Paul intends to criticize - the sense of confident security that enabled the Jew to consider himself superior to others because of his possession of the Law. Texts like Psalm 147:19-20, (He has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws.) which were intended to praise the God's amazing grace, became the basis for on-going national self-congratulation. Despite the prophets' repeated warnings to the contrary (cf. Jeremiah 7:3-7), the majority of Israel came to believe that they were safe from God's judgment simply because God had chosen to entrust His Law to them. The Law here means the whole Mosaic system and the way of life which resulted from it, the civil and religious polity of the Jews which created their distinctiveness among the nations. The Jewish apocryphal book 2 Apocalypse of Baruch, written during the intertestamental period, typifies this attitude:

In you we have put our trust, because, behold, your Law is with us, and we know that we do not fall as long as we keep your statutes. We shall always be blessed; at least, we do not mingle with the nations. For we are all a people of the Name; we, who received one Law from the One. And that Law which is among us will help us, and that excellent wisdom which is among us will support us. (48:22-24)

Charles Hodge offers this pointed observation:

This they relied upon; the fact that they were within the Church, were partakers of its sacraments and rites; that they had a divinely appointed priesthood, continued in unbroken succession from Aaron, and invested with the power to make atonement for sin, was the ground upon which they rested their hope of acceptance with God. Within that pale they considered all safe; out of it, there was no salvation. Such was the false confidence of the Jews; such has been, and is, the false confidence of thousands of Christians. (Hodge, p. 92)

And brag about your relationship to God; - This verb is used thirty-seven times in the New Testament and often carries the negative connotation of excessive or self-righteous boasting. When the Jews boasted of their relationship with God, in truth they were bragging about themselves, and the rights and privileges which they enjoyed with God because of who they were. They were convinced that their nation monopolized God's favor and that all the other nations were His enemies. He loved them and them alone. Martin Franzmann summarizes the entire verse in this way:

The Jew knows the will of God; there is no doubt of that, least of all in the mind of the Jew himself. He wears with pride the name that sets him apart from the nations, he rests in high confidence upon the Law, which God had declared to him alone (Psalm 147:19f.), he exults in the God who is particularly his God, the God of Israel, and clings to Him with a tenacity that both amazes and irritates the nations among whom he dwells. (Franzmann, p. 52,53)

If you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instucted in the law - Superior knowledge was another of the special distinctions of the Jews. God had indeed entrusted the special revelation of His will to Israel. The attitude in question is a sort of I know something you don't know! sense of superiority. The apocryphal Baruch rejoices: Happy are we, Israel, because we know what is pleasing to God! (4:4). Paul uses the same word approve in 1:28. In both instances it carries the idea of testing something in order to determine its value, such as precious metals (cf. p. 55). The verb instructed (Greek - katecheo) is the term from which catechism is derived. It is used in reference to any form of oral instruction, especially associated with the learning by repetition which was the characteristic method of religious teaching among the rabbis of Israel.

If you are convinced that you are... - Israel is well aware of its privileged position. Some commentators suggest that the phrases which follow are axioms and slogans by which Saul the Pharisee once lived. Four times, a distinction is drawn between the more privileged and the less. In each instance, the distinction is not an expression of concern or compassion for the disadvantaged, but an assertion of Jewish superiority. They are the guide, light, instructor, and teacher. The Gentiles, in contrast are the blind, those who are in the dark, the foolish, and infants. The profound blessing that God had graciously bestowed upon Israel, having given them in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, had been twisted instead into a source of self-righteousness, superiority, and pride.

Verses 21-24
You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

You, then, who teach others... - To set yourself up as a teacher of others and yet not apply the very principles which you teach to yourself is not only inconsistency but arrogance and hypocrisy. The psalmist sternly denounces such blatant hypocrites:

What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in you lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander you own mother's son...Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces with none to rescue. (Psalm 50:16-20,22)

Paul may well have had in mind our Lord's stinging rebuke of Israel's religious leaders, recorded in Matthew 23. This extended denunciation is Christ's strongest condemnation of the legalism and hypocrisy of the Jewish religious establishment. At the heart of that condemnation is the charge that these moralists fail to apply the same rigorous standard to themselves which they apply to others:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do for they do not practice what they preach...Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to...Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Woe to you, blind guides!... Woe to you teachers of the law and Phariseees, you hypocrites!... You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence...Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness...You snakes, you brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matthew 23: 2-3, 13-16, 24-28, 33)

To possess the law; to know the law and even to teach the law to others is not enough, for God judges by the truth; not by appearance or profession but by actual deeds. Whether the sin was stealing, adultery, or idolatry, the law demands perfect obedience (cf. the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:17-7:28). The teaching of truth (orthodoxy) in the absence of living the truth (orthopraxy) is sheer hypocracy. The contradiction between profession and practiceserves to discredit both God and his truth in the eys of the world.

Israel's failure to fully obey the law which had been entrusted to them, and the divine judgment which that failure brought upon them had frequently resulted in the scorn and derision of the nations in the past. The heathen misunderstood God's judgement upon His people in the form of defeat and captivity as a sign of the weakness of Israel's God. They failed to recognize it for what it was, a sign of God's justice. Paul argues that Israel's contemporary inconsistency also serves to discredit God before the the Gentile world. The Jews claimed to be the custodians of the God's holy Law. And yet they often failed to observe that Law in their own lives. The apostle's words here are based upon Old Testament texts from Isaiah and Ezekiel.

And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, "These are the Lord's people and yet they had to leave his land." I had concern for my holy name which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. Therefore say to the house of Israel, "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone." (Ezekiel 36:20-22)

"And now what do I have here?" declares the Lord. "For my people have been taken away for nothing and those who rule them mock," declares the Lord. "And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed." (Isaiah 52:5)

Verses 25-27
Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirement's, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

Circumcision has value if you observe the law... - Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of the penis, was instituted by God in Genesis 17:9-14. It was the single most important act which established the covenant between the Lord and the descendants of Abraham.

Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come, every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household, or those bought with money from a foreigner - those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

Circumcision was not merely symbolic action. According to the command and promise of God, divine power was at work here to apply and seal the covenant of divine grace (cf. Romans 4:11). Thus, Lutheran theologians affirm that circumcision was a genuine means of grace, one of the sacraments of the Old Testament. Dr. P.E. Kretzmann writes:

Thus circumcision was a sacrament, a means of grace in the Old Testament, a rite through which God transmitted the blessings of His covenant to the children of Abraham...Above all, circumcision was the seal of the righteousness of faith, Romans 4:11, and a type of Holy Baptism, the corresponding sacrament of the New Testament. Through the water of Baptism, as an external sign, the righteousness of God, the forgiveness of sins, is sealed unto us. (Kretzmann, I, p.37; cf. also Pieper,III, p. 214)

However, those who spurn that grace through unbelief and disobedience, forfeit the blessing that God has graciously conferred upon them. Old Testament circumcision, like New Testament Baptism, is not some magical ritual which guarantees salvation simply by going through the proper motions, ex opera operata. Hence the prophets sternly warned complacent sinners not to trust that the fact of their circumcision would save them despite stubborn and defiant disobedience of God and His Will. Moses wrote: Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. (Deuteronomy 10:16 cf. also Jeremiah 4:4). Just a few moments before his murder by a Jewish mob, Stephen declared: You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears!...You always resist the Holy Spirit. (Acts 7:51)

It is just this attitude, which viewed circumcision as a mark of superiority and an automatic guarantee of salvation, to which Paul directs his criticism in this segment. Rabbinic Judaisim expressed that tragically misplaced confidence in the Mishnah with comments like these: No circumcised Jewish man will see hell. and, God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised would be sent to hell. Abraham sits before the gate of hell and never allows any circumcised Israelite to enter. (MacArthur, p. 160). It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of this ceremony for the first century Jew. James Dunn notes: Circumcision was fundamental to the typical Jew's self-understanding, the mark of his religious distinctiveness, the badge of national privilege, the seal of God's covenant favor to Israel as His chosen people. (Dunn, p. 127) During the Intertestamental Period, under intense persecution, circumcision became a crucial test of covenant loyalty and a mark of Jewish national distinctiveness (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:48,60-61; 2:46). That sense of uniqueness was heightened by the negative reaction to the practice within the prevailing Greek culture which viewed the circumcision as a distasteful disfigurement of the body.

Paul is careful not to deny the benefit of circumcision as the sign and seal of God's covenant of grace. However, when one who has been circumcised rejects the faith and obedience which was the substance of that covenant, to lay claim to the promises of grace and the privileges of the covenant was presumption and mockery. Martin Franzmann correctly emphasizes:

Circumcision is the sign both of God's gift to the Jew and His claim upon the Jew; the covenant of which it is a sign puts a man under both the promise and the commandment of God; the Jew speaks his Amen to the promise by obeying the law of God...Circumcision is no magic spell but the dealing of the living God with responsible man. If man breaks the law, his circumcision cannot save him; it indicts him. (Franzmann, p. 55).

Physical circumcision avails for nothing when the heart remains defiant and disobedient. In such circumstances, it is as though you had not been circumcised. Centuries before, the prophet Jeremiah had scornfully lumped the Jews together with their pagan neighbors as men who were really uncircumcised, despite their careful observance of the ancient ritual.

"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh - Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole House of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." (Jeremiah 9:25-26)

If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements... - The physical act of circumcision is not decisive. It is the obedience of faith that truly matters. The Gentile who obeys the requirements of the law will stand before God on the same basis as the Jew, despite the fact that he is not circumcised. The absence of physical circumcision will not be a disadvantage in the eyes of the Lord. To the orthodox Jew, this assertion would have been positively scandalous!

The one who is not circumcised physically... - Yet the apostle goes on to press the point even further. Not only will the uncircumcised Gentile who obeys the law stand before God on the same basis as the circumcised Jew; but the Gentile's obedience will also condemn the disobedience of the self-righteous Jew who has broken the law despite all of the advantage which he has enjoyed.

The charge is sharp indeed! By resting on the law, in the false confidence that what the law requires is a strict observance of the practice of circumcision and the maintenance of the cult with its attendant laws, the devout Jew is actually transgressing the law. He has missed the point of the law and of circumcision. What he counts as doing the law, Paul counts as transgressing the law! In consequence it will not be a case of the faithful Jew passing judgment on the lawless Gentile, but rather a case of the law-fulfilling Gentile (by his faith and life) passing judgment on the law-transgressing Jew. (Dunn, p.127)

Verses 28-29
A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men but from God.

A man is not a Jew... - Membership in the Israel of God is not, and has never been, a matter of ethnic descent. To be a Jew inwardly, by the heart, and by the Spirit is a matter of faith not bloodlines. From the beginning it was God's purpose to bless all the nations through the Descendant of Abraham (cf. Genesis 12:2-3). The blessing which God graciously showered upon the Jewish nation always served His consistent purpose for the salvation of humanity. To cherish a single nation, while consigning all the rest to perdition would have been unworthy of God - a total denial of His essential nature. God declared His universal purpose to the Messianic Servant in Isaiah 49: It is too small a thing for you to be my Servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6) Hans LaRondelle summarizes God's purpose in the selection of the Jews as the chosen people in this way:

Israel's election did not imply the rejection of the other peoples, but rather their inclusion. Israel was chosen, not just for its own salvation, but to lead the whole world to share in her saving knowledge and blessing. In short, Israel was chosen to represent the attractive character and saving will of Yahweh to the Gentiles. (LaRondelle, p. 92)

John the Baptist sternly warned the Jews of his day not to rely upon the false security of their identity as the blood descendants of Abraham: And do not think you can say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. (Matthew 3:9). The recognition that membership in the Israel of God is a matter of faith, not birth is of central importance in Romans. The apostle will return to this basic theme many times in the course of the Epistle. For example, in Chapter 9. verse six, he writes: They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.

A preoccupation with external forms and ritual is generally indicative of an absence of spiritual vitality and faith. First century Judaism's obsession with outward conformity to ritual and law was symptomatic of the decline of true religion among the Jews. Charles Hodge writes: Whenever true religion declines, the disposition to lay undue stress on external rites comes to the fore. The Jews, when they lost their spirituality supposed that circumcision had the power to save them. (Hodge, p. 102)

Such a man's praise is not from men but from God. - As noted above, the name Jew was derived from the Old Testament tribe of Judah. Judah is drawn from a Hebrew root which means praise. St. Paul's closing remark in this segment thus becomes a pointed reminder of the misplaced spiritual priorities of those who believed themselves to be worthy of praise because of their proud lineage. He who is inwardly a Jew, whose circumcision is circumcision of the heart, and who lives by the Spirit, not by the written code seeks praise not from men but from God.

ROMANS CHAPTER 3

Verses 1-2
What advantage is there then in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

What advantage is there then in being a Jew... - The apostle had demolished Jewish overconfidence in the privilege of being God's chosen people and legalistic reliance upon circumcision as the authentificating badge of covenant membership. Paul now anticipates and rebuts Jewish objections to his argument. If, indeed, membership in the people of Israel counts for so little, was God's entire relationship with His Old Testament people pointless? Absolutely not! In rejecting covenant presumption, Paul had not rejected the whole idea of the covenant. In no way did he turn his back on his heritage as a Jew and he now strongly affirms the value God's covenant with Israel (Much in every way!). To be among the chosen of God was a great blessing. Later in the Letter, Paul details those blessings in this way: Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh. (9:3-5).

First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. - The introductory phrase First of all usually implies the beginning of a list in which other items will follow. In this instance that is not the case. The phrase here signifies priority in the sense of importance or significance. The blessing specified here is not the entirety of the advantage...in being a Jew, but it is first and foremost on the list.

The verb have been entrusted (Greek - episteuthesan) means to place something of great value, a treasure, in someone's custody for safe keeping. The treasure does not belong to the custodian, but has been given over to his care by its owner. The priceless treasure in this instance is the very words of God (Greek - ta logia tou theou). The reference in this passage, as in the other three occurrences of the term in the New Testament (cf. Acts 7:38; Hebrews 5:12; 1 Peter 4:11), is to the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. The Greek noun logia is the diminutive form of the term logos (word). Its use in reference to the Old Testament is of profound theological significance. In Classical Greek the noun refers to an utterance inspired by God, a divine oracle. The great Princeton theologian Benjamin Warfield writes on the classical use of the term:

No lower sense can be attached to "logia" in these instances than that which it bears uniformly in its classical and Hellenistic usage; it means not "words" barely, simple "utterances," but distinctively "oracular utterances," divinely authoritative communications, before which men stand in awe and to which they bow in humility; and this high meaning is not merely implicit, but is explicit in the term. It would seem clear again that there are no implications of brevity in the term; it means not short, pithy, pregnant sayings, but high, authoritative, sacred utterances...It characterizes utterances which are emanations from God. (Warfield, p.403)

St. Paul's use of this term in reference to the Old Testament Scriptures clearly reveals that he regraded the prophetic writings to be the very Word of God Himself. As Warfield insists, we have in this text conclusive evidence that the Old Testament Scriptures, as such, were esteemed by the writers of the New Testament as an oracular book, which in itself not merely contains, but is the utterance, the very Word of God...nothing other than the crystallized speech of God. (Warfield, p.404). Those who assert that the Bible is not, in and of itself, the Word of God but merely contains the Word of God or conveys a divine message to the hearts of believers, must do so in defiance of this clear passage and others.

To have been entrusted with the very words of God was an unimaginably great privilege as well as an equally immense responsibility. As the poet William Cowper wrote:

They, and they only, amongst all mankind,
Received the transcript of the Eternal Mind;
Were trusted with His own engraven laws,
And constituted guardians of His cause;
Theirs were the prophets, theirs the priestly call,
And theirs, by birth, the Savior of us all.

Verses 3-4
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

What if some do not have faith? - The difficulty still remains. Having dismissed Pharisaic legalism as just one more form of worthless moralism which cannot justify man before the righteous God, Paul must still contend with the reality that Israel has rejected her Messiah. Despite the fact that the Jews enjoyed the advantage of having been entrusted with the very words of God, the great majority of the nation had consistently denied and defied their Lord. As Stephen declared shortly before his martyrdom:

You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers; you always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered Him - you who have received the Law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it. (Acts 7:51-53)

Note that Stephen also emphasizes the great gift of God's revelation to highlight the obstinacy and ingratitude of Israel's unfaithfulness to God. They were the nation which had received the Law that was put into effect through angels and yet they would not believe. They scorned and rejected the prophets and their message. Ultimately they repudiated and crucified the Messiah whom God had sent to deliver them.

Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? - But the unfaithfulness of men does not and cannot invalidate the faithfulness of God. God has kept His covenant with Israel despite Israel's persistent refusal to honor and obey Him. The delicate wording of Paul's question serves as a reminder that not all Jews had rejected the Gospel. But what if some did not have faith? The Lord always preserved unto Himself a faithful remnant that had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18).

Not at all! Let God be true and every man a liar. - The exclamation Not at all! is the strongest negative expression possible in the Greek language. It carries the connotation that that which is being denied is absolutely out of the question, utterly impossible. The thought that the faithfulness of God could be undone by the unfaithfulness of man in inconceivable to the apostle. The validity of God's promises and the faithfulness of His truth cannot be determined by a public opinion poll. The majority of Israel has rejected the truth of God. It remains true nonetheless. In fact, if every man on the face of the earth rejected the truth of God it would still remain the truth. The truth of God must be affirmed even in the face of universal denial. If that affirmation reveals all of humanity to be liars, then so be it. The truth of God must stand. His Word holds, whatever else may break. Where His will and the will of man collide, it is for faith axiomatic that the will of man is false. (Franzmann, p.59) The connection between truth in this phrase and faithfulness in the preceding phrase is significant. God is faithful because He is true.

As it is written: "So that you may be proved right... - Paul quotes from Psalm 51:4, the great penitential psalm of David, to illustrate his point At the moment of his deepest degradation David rejects any pretense of self-justification and makes no attempt to conceal or excuse his sin with Bathsheba so that the righteous judgment of God may be revealed to all. He is completely willing to accept the personal consequences of his action so that God may be seen to be righteous and just.

Verses 5-8
But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" Why not say - as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say - "Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved.

But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly... - The convoluted reasoning of sinful man can excuse, justify, and rationalize anything. Paul produces one more example of this twisted thinking (I am using a human argument.) According to this perverted logic if God's just judgment of the sinner serves to glorify Him then we ought to sin all the more so that God can receive greater glory. Furthermore, if our sinning and God's judgment upon it actually benefits Him then why should we be condemned for our sins? Paul will deal with this theme more explicitly later in the Epistle (cf. 6:1-4). The example, however, is not merely hypothetical. This is a charge which has actually been raised against the apostle by his enemies (We are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say.). It should come as no surprise that the great teacher of salvation by grace through faith without the works of the Law would have been accused of encouraging immorality and lawless living. In the language of theology this position is called antinomianism (literally - against the law). His legalistic enemies believed that the apostle was encouraging men to sin so that good might come from their sinning. Those who distort and deny the Gospel in this way are consigned to the damnation they will most certainly receive (Their condemnation is deserved.).

Implicit in this impertinent and blasphemous argument is the accusation that Paul is insinuating that God is unrighteous and that His judgment is unjust. John MacArthur effectively paraphrases the charge in this way:

If God is glorified by the sins of Israel, being shown faithful Himself despite the unfaithfulness of His chosen people, then sin glorifies God. In other words, Paul, you are saying that what God strictly forbids actually brings Him glory. You are saying that God is like a merchant who displays a piece of expensive gold jewelry on a piece of black velvet so the contrast makes the gold appear even more elegant and beautiful. You are charging God with using man's sin to bring glory to Himself, and that is blasphemy. You are impugning the righteous purity of God. Not only that, but if man's unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say about God's judgment? If what you say is true, why does God punish sin? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (MacArthur, p.173)

Paul rejects this nonsense in the strongest terms possible, Certainly not!. He repeats the same emphatic Greek expression me genoito which he had used earlier in Verse 4. This idiocy is absolutely impossible. It is not worthy of serious consideration! To challenge the righteousness of God or the justice of His divine judgment is completely out of the question. Any argument which presumes to do so is presumptuous and blasphemous. It must be rejected out of hand. The creature never has the right to sit in judgment over the Creator. That which our limited human reason cannot comprehend must simply be accepted by faith.

Verses 9-18
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.""Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

What should we conclude then? - Paul has thus far eliminated any and every possibility of self-justification. Ignorance is no excuse because of the self-disclosure of God in nature (1:18-23) and the law written in the heart of every man (2:14-16). The immorality of those who have been given over to sinful desire (1:21-32) has been condemned along with all of the pretensions of moralism (2:1-11). Jewish reliance upon ethnic identity, possession of the written law, and the external rite of circumcision has also been rejected (2:17-29). The unavoidable conclusion is that no man can justify himself before God.

Are we any better? Not at all! - This universal indictment knows no exceptions. Paul includes himself and all the members of the congregation in Rome, Jews and Gentiles alike, among those who are subject to the dominion of sin, and thus under the wrath and judgment of almighty God. The NIV translation fails to reflect the forensic nature of the language used in the original. The phrase they have rendered Are we any better? actually says What then do we plead in our own defense? The use of this courtroom jargon then carries through into the next phrase, We have already made the charge, where the verb made the charge (Greek - proaitiaomai) is a technical legal term used to indicate a person previously indicted for a given offense.

Are all under sin. - In the Greek text all is placed at the beginning of the phrase for particular emphasis since the apostle's basic point is the universal scope of the indictment. In the verses which follow, Paul makes the same point by using the negative contrast none six times in referring to man's absolute lack of righteousness before God. The preposition under (Greek - hupo) does not simply mean to be beneath but to be totally under the power, authority, or control of someone or something. It is often used in Greek to describe the absolute power of King over his subjects or a master over his slaves. Paul's use of the term here is intended to convey the concept that man is completely subservient and in bondage to the dominion of sin. The noun sin (Greek - hamartian) is singular. The individual transgressions of the law, the sins, which men commit are not the root of man's moral dilemma. Sin is not merely unfortunate habits or bad behavior. It is a malignant, evil, power which holds humanity in its deadly grasp. Sin is what we are by nature. The particular sins that we commit are only the symptoms of the moral disease which infects us, not the disease itself.

As it is written... - Paul now introduces a series of Scriptural proofs to demonstrate the total depravity of man. Dr. James Dunn comments on the effectiveness of Paul's use of the Hebrew Old Testament to demolish Jewish pretentiousness:

The final nail in the coffin for any special pleading or defense is provided by a powerful string of quotations from the Jewish Scriptures - entirely appropriate, since the only defense in view is the Jewish claim to special status and consideration before God...No defense remains. As soon as these Scriptures are read without the blinkers of Jewish presumption of privilege, they become a devastating indictment of all peoples, Jews as well as Gentiles...When such Scriptures assert that no one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks God, no one does good, no one fears God, the mean no one! (Dunn, p. 151)

Six Old Testament texts are cited; Psalm 14:1-3; 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8; and, Psalm 36:1. The quotations are freely cited with some adaptation from the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament. This grim catena of condemnation can be subdivided into three basic segments: 1. the sinful condition (vs.10-12); 2. the sinful life (vs.13-15); and, 3. the sinful source (vs.17-18). The verb it is written is the standard formula for the introduction of Old Testament Scripture, not only in the Book of Romans, but throughout the New Testament (cf. Romans 2:24; 3:4,10; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13,33; 10:15; 11:8,26; 15:3,21). It translates the Greek perfect tense which indicates action completed in the past with ongoing significance for the present and the future. The revelation of God's Word in Old Testament Scripture is an accomplished fact. That which has been written is permanently valid and binding for every believer. This is the same powerful word which our Lord used three times during His temptation to banish the trickery of the Evil One (cf. Matthew 4:1-11).

There is none righteous... - The indictment begins with a paraphrase of Psalm 14:1-3:

The fool says in his heart, "There is not God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (cf. Psalm 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20)

We have previously noted that righteousness is a major concern in the Letter to the Romans (cf. p.26f.). It is to that great theme that the apostle now returns as he begins his grim description of the natural condition of every human being apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Paul uses the term righteous in its ordinary forensic sense - to be declared not guilty before the bar of divine justice. To assert that There is none righteous is not to say that no one ever does anything that is morally right. The subject of the text is not specific actions or even general patterns of behavior. The apostle's concern is the righteousness which enables a man to stand before God justified. That perfect righteousness is found only in Christ.

The negative assertion is repeated three times for unmistakable emphasis: no one righteous, not even one...no one who understands, no one who seeks God...no one who does good, not even one. James Boice observes:

If God says something once we should listen to what He says very carefully. If He says the same thing twice, we should give Him our most intense and rapt attention. What if He repeats Himself a third time? Then surely we should stop all else, focus our minds, seize upon each individual word, memorize what is said, and ponder the meaning of the saying intensely, attempting to apply the truth of God's revelation to our entire lives. (Boice, I, p.306)

There is absolutely no possibility of righteousness other than the declarative act of God in Christ. Nor can there be degrees or levels of righteousness. One is either completely righteous in Christ, or completely sinful without Him. There can be no in betweens. That righteousness which is not perfect must be judged to be unrighteousness by the holy God.

The unrighteousness of man is revealed in humanity's inability to understand the things of God. Perfect knowledge and understanding of God were at the heart of the divine image in which our first parents were created. With the fall into sin, the divine image was lost. Our understanding has been tragically twisted and distorted by sin. Paul warns the Corinthians:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

The apostle goes on to make his assertion even more emphatic in the following chapter. The dilemma is not merely that men do not understand - they are completely incapable of understanding. The cannot understand. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

No one seeks God... As Adam and Eve fled from their Creator in the cool of the evening, so their descendants have consistently sought to evade and avoid God. All of man's desperate attempts to devise his own religion and all of the ridiculous idols which he has fashioned for himself are indications of our obstinate determination to spurn the love of the Creator and replace Him with false gods more to our liking. Every one of these efforts is doomed to failure, as pathetic as our first parents fig leaves.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. - Fallen mankind All have turned away. The Greek verb in this phrase in ekklino which means to deviate, to wander, or to depart from the right way. In a military context the word refers to soldiers who have turned to run away from the enemy and desert the field of battle. The phrase recalls the words of the prophet Isaiah: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6). Instead of believing in and following Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), humanity chooses to walk in the way which seems right to a man but whose end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). The adjective worthless (Greek - echreothesan) carries a strongly negative connotation. It is used to describe that which is completely useless and without value. It's Hebrew equivalent was often used in reference to milk that had turned sour and rancid. The Greek word sometimes refers to the senseless laughter of a moron. Paul uses the term in the same way in Titus 1:16 in reference to corrupt and deceitful men: They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. Jesus combines the two closely related meanings of this word (spoiled and useless) when in the Sermon on the Mount He speaks of Christians as the salt of the earth and warns: But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled upon by men. (Matthew 5:13) The emphasis in the original text is on all and together. This malignant pattern is universal. It applies to every segment of humankind. As respects well-doing there is not one; as respects evil-doing there is no exception. (Murray, p.104) The closing phrase of the series is perhaps the most devastating of them all - There is no one that does good, not even one. The Greek verb chrestotes (does good) refers to that which is upright, specifically to that which is morally correct. No human being can measure up to God's absolute standard of right and wrong.

Karl Barth, the leader of modern neo-orthodoxy, forcefully argued that the Biblical doctrine of man's total depravity is not only foundational to Christianity but is also demonstrated by the entire course of human history.

If all the great outstanding figures in history, whose judgements are worthy of serious consideration, if all the prophets, psalmists, philosophers, fathers of the church, reformers, poets, artists, were asked their opinion, would one of them assert that men are good or even capable of good? Is the doctrine of original sin merely one doctrine among many? Is it not, rather, according to its fundamental meaning the doctrine that emerges from all honest study of history? Is it not the doctrine which, in the last resort, underlies the whole teaching of history? Is it possible for us to adopt a different point of view from that of the Bible, Augustine, and the reformers? What then does history teach about the things that men do or do not do? Does it teach that some men at least are like God? No, but that - There is none righteous, no not one. Does it teach that men possess a deep perception of the nature of things or that they have experienced the essence of life? No, but that - There is none that understandeth. Does it provide a moving picture of quiet piety or of fiery search after God? Do the great witnesses of truth furnish a splendid picture, for example of prayer? No - There is none that seeketh after God. Can it describe this or that individual and his actions as natural, healthy, original, right minded, ideal, full of character, affectionate, attractive, intelligent, forceful, ingenuous, of sterling worth? No - They have all turned aside. they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one. (Boice, I, p.308)

"Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit." - Having decisively described the sinful condition of all men, the apostle now proceeds to document the manifestation of that condition in the sinful life of all men. The first of the three quotations in this verse comes from Psalm 5:9. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit. A person's character is invariably revealed in his conversation. Thus the apostle uses a striking series of references to the organs of speech - throats, tongues, lips, and mouths. Jesus declared: The mouth speaks of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. (Matthew 12:34-35; cf. also 15:18). The throat is to the heart as an open grave is to the decaying corpse within. As the stench of death pours out of the open grave so the foulness of spiritual death is constantly revealed by the speech of unregenerate man. The hallmark of sinful man's communication is deceit. The Greek term doulioo (speak deceit) has the basic meaning of luring someone into a trap. It is the tempting bait which conceals the deadly hook. The tense of the verb in the original is imperfect which denotes continuously ongoing action. Deceit is the native language of sinful man, a habitual and normal part of his life.

"The poison of vipers is on their lips." - The next quotation comes from Psalm 140:3 - They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's; the poison of vipers is on their lips. The text literally says that the poison of vipers is under their lips, thus rendering a vividly accurate picture of these deadly snakes. The fangs of a viper normally lie folded back into the snake's upper jaw. When the creature thrusts his head forward to strike the hollow fangs drop down and the venom is injected through them into the hapless victim. Luther remarks that this is a most fitting description of the lies and deceptions fostered by false teachers.

But the poor wretches do not even recognize this poison as the death of their souls. Therefore he uses the expression "under the lips"as if to say, death lies subtly hidden while outwardly it appears as life and truth in the very words of their doctrine. (Luther, 25, p.230) .

The deadly lie is carefully concealed beneath the semblance of truth, as they tell people what they want to hear and thud lead them to death and destruction.

"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." - The quotation is from Psalm 10:7 - His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. Cursing (Greek - ara) is a word for the most intense malediction, that is desiring the worst for a person and expressing that desire through open condemnation and defamation. Luther comments:

This "cursing" is a matter of openly attacking a person with insults, denunciations and blasphemies, and of wishing him evil...They do not do this slothfully, but as I have said, with great zeal. For he uses the expression "their mouth is full," that is, abounding in curses. Luther, 25, p.231)

Bitterness (Greek - pikria) does not refer to physical taste but to strong hostility and anger against an enemy. The root of this bitterness is jealousy, for as Luther aptly observes jealousy is the bitterness of the heart just as love, on the other hand is the sweetness of the heart. (Luther, 25, p.231) David describes such people in Psalm 64:3-4: Those who have sharpened their tongue like a sword...aimed bitter speech as their arrow, to shoot from concealment at the blameless; suddenly they shoot him and do not fear.

Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery marks their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. - Wicked words now escalate to violent and destructive deeds. The excerpt is from Isaiah 59:7-8:

Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.

Like a moth inexorably drawn to the flame, sinful man is obsessed by death. The children of Cain have reaped a bloody harvest throughout human history. We have come view death as a panacea, the solution to our problems, the means to the achievement of our goals and desires. 19th Century Scottish Evangelist Robert Haldane wrote: The most savage animals do not destroy so many of their own species to appease their hunger as man destroys of his fellows to satiate his ambition, his revenge, or his greed. (MacArthur, p. 190). We are swift to shed blood. There is an irresistible eagerness to the killer instinct in man that seems to be increasing as time progresses. One in every three children conceived in the United States is slaughtered before birth in the bloody holocaust of abortion. A baby born in any one of America's fifty largest cities today faces a greater risk of being murdered than the risk faced by an American soldier in WW II of being killed in combat. Human life is cheap in this world as sin leaves ruin and misery in its wake. Lenski agrees:

Where those feet have trodden this is what they leave in their trail. How true the graphic picture is thousands of cases under our own observation show; ruthless, devastating feet crushing and shattering, leaving wails of misery to tell where they have been; a history full of broad bloody trails, and the countless little cruelties as miniature copies. (Lenski, p. 235)

The prophet Jeremiah had denounced the self-serving leaders of Israel who offered their people false reassurance and cried: "Peace! Peace!" where there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14) The root cause of humanity's relentless violence is sin. As long as men are in bondage to sin there will never be lasting peace for as Paul observes; the way of peace they do not know. Our failure to recognize sin as the source of our personal problems and the difficulties of society makes it impossible for us to deal with those problems in a substantive way. John MacArthur quotes the following gripping description of sin:

It is a debt, a burden, a thief, a sickness, a leprosy, a plague, poison, a serpent, a sting; everything that man hates, it is; a load of curses and calamities beneath whose crushing most intolerable pressure, the whole creation groaneth...Who is the aged grave-digger that shovels away the dirt for a grave? Who is the painted temptress that steals his virtue? Who is the murderess that destroys his life? Who is the sorceress that first deceives and then damns his soul? - SIN. Who with icy breath blights the fair blossoms of youth? Who breaks the hearts of parents? Who brings old men's grey hairs with sorrow to the grave? SIN. Who, by a more hideous metamorphosis that Ovid ever fancied, changes gentle children into vipers, tender mothers into monsters and their fathers into worse than Herods, the murderers of their own innocents? SIN. Who casts the apple of discord on household hearts? Who lights the torch of war, and bears it blazing over trembling lands. Who by divisions in the Church, rends Christ's seamless robe? SIN. Who is this Delilah that sings the Nazirite asleep and delivers up the strength of God into the hands of the uncircumcised? Who with winning smiles on her face, honey flattery on her tongue, stands in the door to offer the sacred rites of hospitality and when suspicion sleeps, treacherously pierces our temples with a nail? What fair siren is this who seated on a rock by the deadly pool smiles to deceive, sings to lure, kisses to betray, and flings her arm around our neck to leap with us into perdition? SIN. Who turns the soft and gentlest heart to stone? Who hurls reason from her lofty throne, and impels sinners, mad a Gadarene swine, down the precipice into a lake of fire? SIN. (MacArthur, p.191,192)

There is no fear of God before their eyes. - The apostle's grim documentary of depravity concludes with a quotation from Psalm 36:1 - An oracle from my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: there is no fear of God before his eyes. The fear of God is one of the great concepts of the Bible. Solomon rightly declares that The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10). Luther indicated his recognition of the central importance of this idea in his Small Catechism in that he began each of his explanations to the Ten Commandments with the words We should fear and love God that... In this positive sense, for the believer, the fear of God is not fright or terror. It is, instead, the reverential awe of the creature in the presence of the holy and almighty Creator. It is the realistic and right frame of mind for man before God. It is closely linked in Scripture to worshiping God, obeying Him, and departing from evil. To fear God above all things enables us to conquer all of our other fears. William Dahlmann writes:

And if we so fear Him, we shall rise superior to all other fears, we shall then have nothing else to fear, and be entirely free of all the fear, worry, and bitterness that otherwise galls our life...The fear of God makes fearless men; docile children to God, but unconquerable heroes to the world. The fear of God made little David the victor over giant Goliath; the fear of God made Daniel look into the jaws of the lions rather than close his windows toward Jerusalem; the fear of God made three Israelites walk into the fiery furnace rather than bend the knee to the image of Nebuchadnezzar; the fear of God made Joseph walk into prison rather than sleep with Potiphar's wife; the fear of God made John the Baptist rebuke wicked King Herod though it cost him his head; the fear of God made Peter and John stand up before the court and say: "We must obey God rather than men!" though it would cost them dearly. The fear of God made Luther, the solitary poor monk, face the spiritual and temporal powers of the world and say: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me. Amen!"...Luther rightly calls this fear of God a virtuous heroine that will not be frightened by man's fuming , storming, and threatening, but when she must offend either God or man will say: "We must obey God rather than men." (Dahlmann, p.36,37)

For the unregenerate sinner, who neither loves nor honors God, fear in its ordinary sense of dread and terror, is an entirely appropriate reaction to the frightening reality of God's wrath. Rebellious man would do well to be afraid of the Lord's judgment and restrain his conduct accordingly. But man's sinful nature is such, that even this reasonable restraint is absent from his character. Blind to the fatal consequences of his actions, he obstinately persists down the decline to destruction for There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Verses 19-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

Now we know... - This pair of verses brings the first major portion of the Epistle to the Romans to a decisive conclusion. Know (Greek - oida) refers to knowledge that is certain, self-evident, and complete. It is the verb typically uses to introduce an obvious or inescapable conclusion. The noun law refers to the entire Old Testament and the message of law and gospel which it clearly conveys. Those who are under the law include every human being, both Jews and Gentiles. Paul has already demonstrated that all of mankind is subject to God's law: the Gentiles through God's revelation of Himself in nature and conscience, and the Jews through God's revelation of Himself in sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament. Therefore all are without excuse so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. The phrase so that every mouth may be silenced indicates the absence of objection or argument in the face of overwhelming evidence. Like Job in the presence of his Creator, no man will be able to speak in his own defense before the almighty Judge: I am unworthy. How can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once but I have no answer - twice, but I will say no more. (Job 40:4-5) The language here is thoroughly forensic. The accused stands in the dock before the bar in the court of divine justice without one shred of evidence to offer in his own defense. The NIV's translation of the phrase the whole world held accountable muddles the courtroom flavor of the language. The Greek word which this phrase translates is a hapaxlegomenon (a word which only occurs once in the Bible). It literally means subject to judicial action or liable to punishment from the court.

Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight... - Verse 20 begins with the Greek conjunction dioti (Therefore). This is the strongest word in the Greek language to express the logical linkage between the preceding reasoning and the conclusion which now follows. The argument which began in Romans 1:18 now comes to its decisive conclusion - No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law. This conclusion is absolutely categorical. The negative is all-embracing, allowing for no exceptions whatsoever. Not one human being can ever justified before God as the result of his own good works or obedience of the law. The works of the law can never secure God's favorable verdict - neither for the Jews with their moralistic, self-righteous use of the written law of the Old Testament, nor for the Gentile moralists who strive to conform to the natural law written in their hearts. James Dunn stresses the pivotal importance of this text:

This verse delivers the coup de grace, the final and fundamental reason which actually serves as the basic theological underpinning of the whole argument. All this must be so ( the whole world answerable to God for its unrighteousness) because "by works of the law shall no flesh be justified before Him." Its importance for Paul is confirmed by his use of the very same assertion in Galatians 2:16, where it clearly fills the same role of expressing a fundamental axiom of Christian thought. ((Dunn, p.158)

Rather, through the law... - The law is intended by God to accomplish exactly the opposite of justification namely the realization or conviction of sin.

This Word abolishes forever all moralistic delusion that after all we sinners might be justified because of works of law that are in some way wrought by ourselves...The moralistic teaching and following are prominent today, entire denominations are swept away by them, to say nothing of the pale moralism of the secret orders and of worldly ethical preachments...It is obvious what application this finds today while the voice of the modernist, the rationalist, and the ethical reformer finds so many ears. (Lenski, p.245, 242)

The law functions as a mirror which reveals the spiritual condition of man in hideous reality. Thus lex semper accusat, the law always accuses. It cannot comfort or save, it can only condemn. Yet, even this negative purpose serves the cause of salvation in a profoundly important way for only the man who is fully convinced of the totality of his own sinfulness can fully understand his absolute need for a Savior. In this sense, the law prepares the way for the gospel. Martin Franzmann writes:

It is no mere chance that the "clearest gospel" of the Letter to the Romans is prefaced by the fullest, the most profound, and the most incisive proclamation of wrath and judgment that the New Testament contains. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith. Neither "salvation" nor "faith" can be understood aright unless they are seen against the dark background of the wrath of God on all ungodliness and wickedness of men, as 1:18-3:20 proclaims it. This proclamation makes it clear that all men, Gentile and Jew, are in desperate need of deliverance, of the absolute miracle of salvation, and that they can only receive it passively, in faith. The old status of man under sin and under wrath is, for man, irrevocable and fixed. If he is to have a new status, he can obtain it only if God, his Judge, creates it. (Franzmann, p. 63)

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