The Epistle to the Romans
Lesson 6
The Sin of Self Righteousness

Reading Assignment: Romans 2

Introduction
Keep in mind that the section of Romans relating to “Condemnation-Righteousness Required” extends from Romans 1:18 to Romans 3:20.

The scathing indictment seen in Romans 1 carries over into Romans 2, in which we see two classes of people who disdain and sit in judgment upon others.

• In Romans 2:1-16, we see the heathen, Gentile or pagan self-righteous moralizers who feel superior due to race, culture, education, environment or morality.
• In Romans 2:17-29, we see Jewish, self-righteous religionists who feel superior due to their superior
  religion.
• In Romans 1, we saw the unrighteousness of man. In Romans 2, we shall see the self-righteousness of man.

In this lesson, our study will cover the entire second chapter of Romans.

Importance of this Lesson

• It is impossible for a man to see and feel the need for the righteousness of God until he sees himself as God sees him. In these early chapters of Romans, God faithfully exposes man’s utter sinfulness and lack of divine righteousness.
• It is important that we see this clearly. In studying Romans 2, two things must be kept in mind.
  1. In Romans 2, Paul is neither discussing the way of salvation nor the means of obtaining eternal life. He is discussing the subject of God’s judgment and the principles by which that judgment is exercised.
  2. God’s judgment of the lost is not to determine if they are saved but to decide their punishment.

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The Lesson

• Romans 2 deals with those who say “not me,” “I’m not that bad,” “Romans 1 is not for me,” “I do the best I can,” “I’m moral, religious and better than a lot of other people.” However, Romans 3:10 says, “there is none righteous” and Romans 3:12 says, “there is none that doeth good.”
• Romans 2 is the greatest portion of the Bible relating to the principles and processes of God in His judgment of men. Refer also to Romans 3:19 where God declares the entire world to be guilty and to
  Acts 17:31 which states that God will judge the whole world.

I. SEVEN PRINCIPLES, WHICH GOVERN GOD’S JUDGMENT OF MEN. The first six principles refer generally to the respectable, self-righteous Gentiles who rejected the light they had. These six principles are as follows:

1. Romans 2:2, …the judgment of God is according to truth…
   1. Remember that God sees and knows everything we do and are. He knows our secrets and our motives (Psalm 139:1-10; Hebrews 4:13).
   2. Romans 2:1 indicates that many sit in judgment on others for the very things, which they are guilty of themselves. It is evident we usually do not see ourselves as God sees us.
2. Romans 2:5, the judgment of God is According to Accumulated Wrath …treasurest up unto thyself wrath against (in) the day of wrath….
   1. This Christ-rejecting, sin-loving, truth despising world is going to someday experience the outpouring of God’s wrath. Read Revelation 6:17, 15:1, 16:1, and 16:12-17.
   2. Sinners judge others unjustly and esteem themselves better than others (Romans 2:3). At the same time they despise the riches of God’s goodness, forbearance and long-suffering and refuse to repent (Romans 2:4). Thus, sinners actually accumulate, or treasure up unto themselves, wrath for the time when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
      • How foolish of sinful man to think that he can escape the judgment of God (Romans 2:3)!
      • The riches of God’s goodness are so evident toward all men that all should readily repent (Romans 2:4).
      • Millions permit material prosperity to blind them to their spiritual need.
3. Romans 2:6, the judgment of God is According to Deeds
   1. God has a record of everything anyone says or does. Note Romans 2:16; Matthew 12:36; Revelation 20:12.
   2. A sinner will sometimes foolishly say, “All I ask of God is justice.” That is what we see in this verse. God will render perfect justice at the judgment. What all men need is mercy!
4. Romans 2:11, God’s judgment will be Without Respect of Persons
   1. Romans 2:7 and 10 declare that God will reward the righteous.
   2. Romans 2:8 and 9 teach that God will punish the rebellious and disobedient without respect of persons, whether Jew or Gentile.
      • Please remember: Paul here is not telling us HOW to be saved. Nor is it stated how God’s righteousness is obtained.
        Romans 3:12 clearly states that “there is none that doeth good.”
        Romans 3:20 states that “…by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified….” Note also Romans 4:4.
      • Salvation is never presented in scripture as a reward. It is a precious gift (Romans 6:23).
      • What we have in these verses is simply a statement that there is reward for the righteous and retribution for the wicked “without respect of persons.”
5. Romans 2:12-15, God’s judgment will be According to Actions (Doers)
   1. Romans 2:12 indicates that all will be judged according to the light and privilege they have.
      Two things must be noted here:
      1. No one but Christ has ever kept the law. Read Matthew 5:17, James 2:10, and Galatians 3:10.
      2. The Bible does not teach that living up to the light they have saves people. God’s judgment will be determined by how they responded to that light.
   2. If it were possible for a sinful person to keep all the law of God, the law would justify him. But all who try to be saved by keeping the law are under a curse (Galatians 3:13). Romans 8:2-4 explains how the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us.
   3. James Denney said, “no degree of familiarity with the law avails if it is not done.”
6. Romans 2:16, God’s judgment will be According to the Secrets of Men
   1. In the day” - Revelation 20:11-15, at the judgment of the “Great White Throne.”
   2. “The secrets of men” – We cannot hide anything from God. Read 2 Chronicles 16:9 and
      Proverbs 15:3.
   3. “By Jesus Christ” – Christ will be the judge in Revelation 20:11. Read John 5:22, 27.
   4. “According to my Gospel” – Here again we note Paul’s special relationship to the Gospel. Part of that Gospel message was the certainty of judgment.
      • This concludes the six principles upon which God’s judgment is based in relation to respectable, self-righteous, moralistic Gentiles who rejected the light they had.
      • In the balance of this lesson , we see Jewish self-righteous religionists who feel superior due to what they believe is their superior religion

II. THE SEVENTH PRINCIPLE WHICH GOVERNS GOD’S JUDGMENT OF MANKIND (judgment that is according to genuineness – not mere religious profession.)

1. While these verses apply particularly to religious Jews, they are certainly applicable to all that boast of a religion they do not practice.
2. Romans 2:17-18 – They restest in the law and makest thy boast of God (that it came from God.)
3. Romans 2:19 – While being blind themselves, they prided themselves that they were a …guide of the blind…. It was a case of the blind leading the blind. See Matthew 15:14. Compare the Laodicean church of Revelation 3:17.
4. Romans 2:20-21 – They claimed to be instructors, teachers of babes. O, yes! They knew all the right answers. They had the form of knowledge. Note 2 Timothy 3:5.
5. Romans 2:22-24 – Because they were guilty of the very things for which they condemned others, they caused the Gentiles to blaspheme God. Note the illustration of David in 2 Samuel 12:14.
   • Compromising, worldly, backslidden professing Christians today must share this same guilt.
6. Romans 2:25 – circumcision – The word denotes Israel as compared to the “uncircumcision,” the Gentiles. In Genesis 17:9-14, circumcision became the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham. It sets Israel aside as a chosen, separate and holy people.
7. Romans 2:25-26 – In these verses the Lord is saying that what counts is reality and genuineness – not mere outward ceremony. If the Jews did not obey the law, their circumcision meant nothing. They were no better than uncircumcised Gentiles.
   • How many today who have never been genuinely converted, are depending on some rite like baptism or on their church membership?
8. Romans 2:27-29
   1. A believing Gentile, who sincerely seeks to obey the law, is in a position to judge a Jew who professes to have the law but does not obey it.
   2. In these verses, we need to understand what Paul writes in Romans 9:6-7. …For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children….” So, who is a real Jew? Not he who is one outwardly and knows the letter of the law, but he who is one inwardly, whose spirit and heart have been changed.

Examination

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