I. Man’s Judgment
A. Man judges others against his own goodness (Rom. 2:1).
1. Ask any lost man if Hitler or Charles Manson deserves judgment; most will say yes.
2. The lost man doesn’t see his unbelief as sin.
B. The lost man condemns himself (Rom. 2:3). See the list in Rom. 1:29-32.
1. By saying that some things are wrong, he admits that there is a difference between right and wrong and that he understands the difference.
2. Some people claim that there is no natural law of absolute right and wrong.
Note: A Christian is not really judging the lost man when he points to his sin. A lost man is actually condemned already and is awaiting his sentence to be read and executed.
II. God’s Judgment
A. It is based on truth (Rom. 2:2). God’s truth is an unchanging standard; unlike men’s opinions.
B. It is longsuffering (Rom. 2:4).
1. Man say’s that for God to be good, he wouldn’t judge harshly a man who does good.
2. God will allow a man to continue living his life without judgment coming immediately.
3. All the blessings God grants to the lost are meant to point him to Christ (Matt. 5:45, Acts 14:16-17).
4. Even the bad things that happen to the lost are the result of God’s grace, and these events, too, are meant to point him to Christ.
III. Rejected Light vs. Recieved Light
A. Received light leads men to God (Rom. 2:7).
1. Gentiles have the light of conscience (Rom. 2:14-15) and nature (Rom. 1:19-20, Psa. 19:1-5).
2. This light answers the age old question, “How are the heathen saved who have never heard of Christ?”
a. It seems like a paradox, but the grace of God accounts for the high infant mortality rate of third world countries. Those children die in innocence.
b. One can read of seemingly miraculous ways that the gospel has gotten to benighted bushmen throughout the years.
c. One can also hear of seemingly miraculous ways that American heathen have been brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. There are many accounts of adults who have lived as atheists, drunkards, Catholics, etc. who have been saved after hearing the gospel.
B. Rejected light lays up “treasures” of God’s wrath (Rom. 2:5,-6,9).
Note: The witness of the conscience can be seared and defiled through repeated sin (I Tim. 4:2, Titus 1:15).
C. The Jews have three witnesses (conscience, nature, the Law) (Rom. 2:12).
1. Paul directs sarcastic remarks toward Jewish “guides” (Rom. 2:17-24).
2. Circumcision without keeping the Law is worthless (Rom. 2:25).
Note: Gen. 17:1 states that if the Jews don’t keep the Law they have broken the Abrahamic Covenant.
3. A Gentile who follows the Law in his conscience is as good as a circumcised Jew.
