Romans 2:12-16 – In Defense of the Faith

Apologetic

The judgment according to works described by Paul in Romans 2:6-16 begs the question, “What essentially defines a good work?” The truth is, there has been and is a great amount of good done by people who are not followers of Jesus Christ. Emerging generations are leading the way in issues of social justice, for example. Will works such as these have any merit with God at the final judgment?

I contend that what defines a work as good is not the work itself, but that which motivates and empowers the work. A Christian and a non-Christian may do the same work, but for vastly different reasons. A non-Christian’s end-goal may range from selfish ambition to a sincere desire to ease the suffering of humanity. The Christian’s work has its source in God, is empowered by God, and has as its goal praise and glory to God. Jesus has said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

If the highest motivation for a work is found in humanity, then the work dies with humanity. If the highest motivation for a work is glory and praise to God, then this work reaches beyond time and into eternity. There is the differentiation. Temporal purpose? Or eternal purpose? Perhaps this is what Paul means in verse 16 when he says that “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” The work itself is visible to all, but only God sees the motivation behind the work.

Romans 2:6-11 – For the Glory of God

Missional

God’s purpose for salvation is not merely intended to be expressed in eternity, but in time, as well. Let us go back to the Garden of Eden. Prior to the Fall, Adam enjoyed God’s presence. He also pleased God in his dependence upon divine wisdom and provision. All of creation functioned as God intended, with himself at the center.

When sin entered the garden, everything was thrown into disarray. Interpersonal relationships became contentious and difficult. Work became laborious and mundane. Creation was knocked out of its orbit around God. Adam, who was created in God’s image, had a son named Seth “in his own likeness, after his image.” I take this to mean that Seth carried the sinful nature that resulted from the Fall. This sinful nature desires centrality in the universe in the place of God.

The remainder of God’s story in Scripture and in time is a mission of restoration to creation’s original state, with God as the center. When an individual is saved, he/she becomes an agent of this mission. This salvation is repeatedly and emphatically taught throughout the Bible as a gift of God’s grace. The individual is not saved to merely rest in his/her security until the time of the final restoration. The Christian is saved to engage in the mission. Christians must work, by the grace of God given, toward the restoration of creation to its proper orbit around the centrality of the Creator. Grace enables and empowers mission.

At the judgment of which Paul speaks, the works judged will give evidence concerning who lived life engaged in the mission and who lived life in pursuit of their own centrality. Grace and mission go hand-in-hand. God’s grace is a gift of desire for God’s glory to be known. Therefore, works reveal the presence or absence of God’s grace in each individual’s life.

Romans 2:6-11 – For the Church

Ecclesiastical

The Christian life is full of tensions that often pull believers from one extreme to the other.  One of these tensions involves free grace and good works.  The Bible consistently teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone.  Yet, Romans 2:6-11 teaches that all people will be judged according to works.  This tension of grace and works is often difficult to navigate, and is at times confusing.  The temptation is to emphasize one truth to a much greater degree than the other.  Some people may claim grace in such a manner that they rarely, if ever, reflect upon the commands of God and growth in holiness.  Other people are fixated upon commands to the extent that they either despair over their failures, or they become proud of their own goodness.  It would be fair to guess that all Christians wander back and forth between the two positions.

The truth is that God deals with his children according to grace, and he expects his children to live in such a way so as to honor him.  We must not neglect one biblical truth in deference to another.  Though we may find grace and works difficult to reconcile, God has established both as essential in the outworking of his purposes.  Therefore, if one is despairing of his/her shortcomings concerning God’s commands, remember grace.  If one is negligent in pursuing a God-honoring life, remember that God commands obedience, and seek the grace to obey.

Criteria for Judgment – Romans 2:6-11

Romans 2:6-11 “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.”

Textual

Notice that verses 7 and 10 parallel or explain each other.

“to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (verse 7).

“(There will be) glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good” (verse 10).

In verse 7, the good works are the seeking of glory and honor and immortality, and the reward is eternal life. In verse 9, the reward is glory and honor and peace given for doing good. The reward for seeking is the finding of what is sought.

Likewise, verses 8 and 9 parallel or explain each other.

“but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey  unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury” (verse 8).

“There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil” (verse 9).

The evil works that earn wrath and fury are self-seeking and disobedience to the truth.

Verse 11 is the primary point of this text. The criteria by which the Jews will be judged are identical to that by which the Gentiles will be judged. Paul is confronting the Jews’ misplaced security in their ethnic and national identity. He says that this universal criteria are the works of one’s life, not one’s family tree or religious affiliation. The question that naturally arises out of this text is, “Do these verses contradict Paul’s prevalent teaching concerning free grace and salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone?” This teaching is not unique to Romans 2. Paul expresses a similar thought in 2 Corinthians 5:10. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” The question is not answered in this text. However, Paul will clarify the relationship between the free gift of salvation by faith alone and judgment that accords with works in the remainder of this chapter (especially in verses 25-29). For now, it is simply important, even vital, to recognize that the works of one’s life will play a prominent role in the determination of one’s eternal destiny.

Romans 2:2-5 – For the Glory of God

Missional

The mission to which Christians are called is not merely about calling the irreligious and the pagan to repentance.  It also involves calling the religious out of their perceived place of security and comfort.  If the mission is the exaltation of the glory of God, and I believe it is, then this mission must be engaged among all who seek to establish their own righteousness, inside and outside of the church.

The great difficulty with those who are religious is that they are blinded by the “goodness” of their works, especially in comparison to those around them.  They may attend church regularly, offer correct answers in Sunday School, and help out their neighbors in times of need, yet still remain unconverted.  Do you remember the account of the rich, young ruler?  He asked Jesus how he may have eternal life.  Jesus told him to keep the commandments.  The young man claimed to have kept the commandments from his youth.  Jesus then replied, “You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).  The wealthy man could not part with his wealth and went away dejected.

Would the act of giving away his possessions have saved this young man?  We know from the Scriptures that there is but one way of salvation, and that is by faith in Jesus Christ.  Had the rich, young ruler given everything away, and counted on that act as his righteousness, he still would have lacked one thing.

The good news is that in Christ, God’s righteousness is revealed.  Why would one hope in his/her own feeble attempts at righteousness when perfect, divine righteousness is available?  Why would one think that God would be impressed with the righteousness of mere humans when Christ’s righteousness is offered to all?  This is the glory of the gospel that the religious fail to see.  If the rich, young ruler had seen the infinite, glorious treasure in Christ, he would have gladly relinquished his earthly trinkets.  If the religious would but see the supremacy of Christ’s works, they would give up on establishing their own.

The mission to the religious is the heralding of the surpassing glory of Christ’s works over their own works.  There is a better way than trying to live up to God’s standard of perfection.  There is no security in such a pursuit.  For one failure is the death of the self-righteous.  The only security for mortal man is resting in the only one who has ever attained God’s standard of holiness.  Jesus perfectly lived for us.  Jesus sacrificially died for us.  This, alone, is our security.

Romans 1:13 – In Defense of the Faith

Apologetic

Paul, as the apostle to the Gentiles, evangelized and discipled much of Asia Minor and Europe.  He is the human author of the majority of the New Testament.  The Protestant Reformation was born out of Pauline theology.  The gospel that the apostle Paul preached is central to modern Christianity.  In fact, Paul has said, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).

Skeptics see an opportunity in this statement of Paul to rattle the foundations of Christianity.  For they assert contradictions between Paul and Jesus that are irreconcilable.  For example, Jesus taught primarily about life in the kingdom of God, while the center of Paul’s teaching is justification by faith.  Paul writes of the end of the law for righteousness.  Jesus says that “it is easier for the heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void” (Luke 16:17).

The first of these differences is due to cultural context rather than doctrinal differences.  Jesus’ life and ministry took place within the context of Judaism.  God still related to and governed his people on the basis of the Old Covenant.  There was great messianic expectation among the Jews at this time.  They had high hopes for the return of a geo-political nation of Israel to a state of prominence, peace, and prosperity.  When the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6), they were asking a question that was prevalent in the minds of the Jews.  It must also be noted that Jesus ministered among a people, the Jews, who were already part of the kingdom theme.  Therefore, Jesus’ emphasis upon the kingdom of God is necessary to correct wrong thinking and misguided expectations.  Jesus taught the spiritual nature of the kingdom, which was expressed in the material world.

Jesus demonstrated this to Pilate saying, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews” (John 18:36).  Jesus’ kingdom is a spiritual kingdom.  This truth influences the behavior of the kingdom’s citizens in this temporal world.  Because Jesus’ kingdom is eternal, the disciples did not fight for temporal power.  Their focus was turned toward ultimate things.

Paul’s ministry was among people who had no Davidic heritage and, thus, no messianic expectations.  The kingdom teaching that connected with the Jews would not have been nearly as effective with the Gentiles.  Paul had to teach the Gentiles about the nature of God and how mankind relates to him.  His emphasis upon justification by faith is quite fitting for people outside the realm of Jewish religious thought.

What about the law?  The statements of Jesus and Paul appear to be contradictory.  This, however, is not the case.  Skeptics often point to Jesus’ interaction with the rich, young ruler as evidence that Jesus’ teaching was primarily ethical in nature, as opposed to Paul’s faith-based teaching.  When the young man asked Jesus how one may gain eternal life, Jesus pointed him to the law.  Therefore, the skeptics conclude, Jesus taught an ethical, behavior-oriented religion.  The skeptics need to keep reading.  The young man claims to have kept the law from his childhood, yet he still recognized that he fell short of the requirement for eternal life.  Jesus then adds, “You lack one thing: go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21).

Does this one thing provide further evidence for the skeptic?  Only if one concludes that the act of giving to the poor is a saving act.  I would assert that it is the looking forward to the treasure in heaven, by faith, that frees an individual to give away his/her wealth.  What would motivate a wealthy man to give away his treasure?  The sure promise of greater treasure.  A positive response of faith in the promise of Jesus would have resulted in the salvation of this young man, and the opening of his fist to release his temporal wealth.  Faith results in works.

Paul did not claim that the law was totally useless.  he claimed that law-keeping contributes nothing to the justification of the sinner, save awakening him/her to the utter sinfulness of every human being.  In fact, Paul says that the only way one can truly keep the law of God is by faith.  Romans 3:30-31 says, “(God) will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?  By no means!  On the contrary, we uphold the law.”  Faith results in works.  There is no contradiction.  There is contextualization.