The Righteous Judgement of God

Temple Baptist Church - 9-24-2017

Romans 2:1-11

Introduction:

A.  We spent quite a while in chapter one of Romans because of its importance.  It sets forth the gospel and accountability to God’s truth.  It sets forth the wrath of God against holding the truth in unrighteousness. 

B.  Romans, chapters 1-3, condemns the unsaved sinners of all types.

1.  Chapter one deals with the heathen lost who are accountable for the light of conscience (inherent or inward light) and the light of creation (outward light).  God condemns the heathen lost.  No sin is off limits to them.

2.  Chapter 2 condemns the self-righteousness religionist and the lost Jew.  God condemns the religious lost.  They are seemingly holy on the outside but filthy on the inside.

C.  The self-righteous do two things:

1.  They look down upon the openly sinful in unrighteous judgement.

Luke 18:9-11  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  (10)  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  (11)  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Matthew 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

2.  They despise the longsuffering and goodness of God to the sinful.  They want to see the “sinners” get what they deserve, not realizing that the same longsuffering and grace extended to the “sinners” is also extended to the self-righteous.

a.  God is good to the sinful lost.

b.  God is good to the self-righteous lost.

c.  God is not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance.

D.  The unsaved Jews:

1.  They think that they are right with God because of their Lineage. The Jews could trace their religious ancestry all the way back to Abraham. Somehow, they felt that this lineage gave them an ironclad guarantee of salvation. Nothing could have been further from the truth! One only becomes a Christian by placing his faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross at Calvary!

2.  They think that they are right with God because of their Law.  The Jews somehow felt that the Law and rituals it described gave them a certain higher standing in the eyes of the Lord. They felt that just possessing the Law and knowing it, was enough to put them in a right relationship with the Lord.  What they thought was a guarantee of salvation turned out to be a guarantee of condemnation.

3.  They think that they are right with God because of their promised Messiah.  Jesus Christ was born as a Jew.  Though they looked for the Messiah, they rejected the Son of God.  They still look for His coming instead of accepting the Lord Jesus Christ. 

4.  They think that they are right with God because of their past Leadership. They had Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses.  Because the Jew had a spiritual lineage, because they had the Law, because they felt they were in a relationship with God, they felt superior to everyone else on the planet. They felt that it was their responsibility to show everyone else the way.

5.  However, none of these things could produce salvation for the Jew. There was one thing that saved then, one thing that saves now and one thing that will save forever: Faith in the gospel, the finished work of Jesus Christ!