Romans 2:5-11, REB
5 But corresponding to your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath on the Day of Wrath, when the righteous judgment of God is revealed,
6 who will repay each person according to his works
7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and incorruptibility, there will be life in the age to come.
8 But to those who are selfishly ambitious and refuse to be persuaded by the truth but are persuaded by unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
9 Affliction and distress will be upon every human soul who works evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
10 but glory and honor and peace will come to everyone who is doing good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,
11 for there is no partiality with God.
Romans 2:5-11 NLT
5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality {not subject to corruption, unending, purity, sincerity} that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger {orge} and wrath {thu-mos} on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead {pursuaded to follow unrighteousness} live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble {tribulation, extreme pressure} and calamity {distress, restriction} for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil [bad, harmful, wicked, worthless,ill]—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show partiality.
Review
[1] God’s wrath is revealed in two ways: presently in the law of retribution {1:18} and ultimately {2:5} in the final judgment where we stand before God.
[2] There is a JUDGMENT DAY which is future, it is on the calendar.
[3] God will Judge through Christ…
Romans 2:16…
In the day when God, through Jesus Christ, will judge what people have kept secret.
Romans 3:19…
Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is silenced and the whole world is held accountable to God.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:10…
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
John 5:22-23…
Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Revelation 20:11-12
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Paul in I Corinthians 15…
25 For He must reign until he has put all his enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For He “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When He has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all.
[4] No one is exempt from this judgment: no one can escape it. We are all accountable. The Jews believed they were the exception: that they would not be judged.
Introduction
Today we pick up at verse 5…
[1] Storing or stockpiling wrath
5 But because you are stubborn [rebellion] and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Paul has already established the fact that God is forbearing, patient and kind. To forbear is literally to “hold back.” God is holding back on His wrath. Here is the problem: it is one of presumption…man thinks that since God has not judged him for his sins that He is not going to. In other words, we take God’s kindness for granted, assuming that He will always be kind and withhold judgment. Every act of transgression is a piece of kindling or bale of straw that we are stacking around us. The coming judgment is fire: so in our rebellion we are piling kindling for the fire.
The solution to this terrible problem is repentance, ASAP.
[2] Salvation by Grace, judgment by works.
6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.
Salvation by Grace, Judgement by works…sounds like an oxymoron, a paradox, a contradiction. If SALVATION IS BY GRACE, I am sure that it is; then how can we be judged by our works? There is a simple answer, the all knowing Christ is the judge. You and I could never judge another man by works…we would judge him strictly by what we could see and not by the condition of his heart.
Good works are not determined by the deed itself but by the motive. Look at what Paul says,
He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.
What are you seeking? Glory here is not vain glory, it is the glory of being like Christ. Honor is not prestige, it is pleasing God and getting a well done. There is no way Jesus can be in you and not come out. The little boy asks his dad, “Who is bigger dad, you or Jesus?” The dad said, “Why Jesus of course.” The little boy said, “Then if Jesus is in you, He should stick out.” We humans never know a person’s motives. We can make a calculated guess but God doesn’t have to guess: He knows the heart and the motive. We don’t even know our own heart or motives. The judgment we will face will be just because we will be judged by our works and our motives.
Lets look a little further for proof…
But he will pour out His anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness {injustice, transgression, unrighteousness} [persuaded by unrighteousness]. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.
The unrepentant [1] Live for themselves, [2] Refuse to obey {rebellion} and [3] They take the wrong path by obeying unrighteousness. REB reads, take evil for their guide. They give way to their passions.
Paul says if we live unrepentant self-willed lives we will suffer…There will be tribulation {extreme pressure} and distress {extreme restrictions} for every soul of man who does evil. There will be infinite freedom in heaven but none in hell. Some paint the picture of parties in hell but Dr. Wiersbe thinks hell might be solitary confinement. Loneliness can be tormenting. One thing is sure, there will be no parties.
[3] A Clear Choice
But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show partiality.
A missionary in China was teaching children and he told them the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. He asked them, who do you want to be like? The rich man or Lazarus. One of the kids raised their hand and said, “On the earth I want to be the rich man, in eternity, I want to be Lazarus.” In other words, this kid wanted the best of both worlds.
Life is made up of choices and the most important choice you’ll ever make is what you do with the gospel of Christ. If you repent and serve HIM, you will gain an endless [perpetual] and infinite reward: if you reject Him and do your own thing, you have nothing to look forward to; you have no hope. Hell and destruction awaits the rebel.
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