By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 21-32 of chapter 1.
1.1.1. In that study, we continued to look at the consequences that occur
because of men’s sin. We saw that in
this life God’s wrath is demonstrated in giving over rebellious people to their
sin so that they suffer in their own bodies the full effects and consequences
of their sin against God.
1.1.2. We saw how the wickedness of mankind has come about, and noted that men
perform their wickedness because they have been given over to wickedness by the
Lord.
1.1.3. We looked at the depths that men and women fall into sin. We also looked in that study at why the most
vile of wicked acts performed by people occur.
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at verses 1-10 of chapter 2.
1.2.1.1. In this chapter, Paul begins to develop theological precepts concerning
the basis upon which the Lord acts as judge over creation. Acting as judge is one of the activities of
the Lord, part of His reign over all of creation. Thus, this chapter begins a very important
foundation of doctrine which every sensible person ought to be very interested
in and desire to study.
1.2.1.2. Paul will begin to discuss on what basis God in the end times will
judge the entire world of people who have ever lived . Paul states that judgment will fall upon all
who do wickedness in this life, while honor and peace await all God’s people,
those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and serve the Lord.
1.2.1.3. Paul begins to describe here how that what is meted out to a person
when he appears before the Lord as His judge after this life has nothing to do
with the physical heritage from which he descends, his nationality, race,
religious affiliation, cultural background, social class, station in life,
etc. Rather, what a person shall receive
from the Lord is completely based upon what the person does in this life,
whether good or bad, as well as the attitudes of his heart in doing the things
that he does. A good action with bad
motives is really a bad act.
1.2.1.4. We people must recognize at the outset the fact that when it comes to
judgment that God is omniscient (all knowing) and intimately knows the heart of
each and every person who ever has or will live. We might fool people all of our lives, but we
will never fool the Lord for He sees right into our hearts and innermost
thoughts.
2. VS 2:1 - “1 Therefore
you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you
judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same
things.” -
Paul tells us that because of what he shared previously concerning the
wrath of God that is constantly building up against all those who sin that
anyone who judges another is condemning himself
2.1.
In the previous chapter, Paul had delved into the
depth of sin which non-believing impenitent men, particularly Gentiles, had
slide into. He listed also a massive
list of all of the grievous sins which those men have committed. Paul explained that the depth to which people
go in sinning is due to the fact that God has given them over to their sin, and
as a result they do not only those things which are unrighteous, but also those
things which are improper, dishonoring to their bodies, and going against
nature (speaking in particular of practicing homosexuality).
2.2.
In this chapter, Paul addresses the self-imposed legalist
who is trying to live a lifestyle that is righteous for the most part on the
external. Verse 17 of this chapter
reveals that Paul is thinking in particular about those who were Jews and who
were seeking to establish their own righteous standing before God based upon
their own works in attempting to keep God’s Law.
2.3.
There are many self-imposed religious legalists in our
day. The legalist is
self-righteous. He thinks that he is
living a righteous life before God and judges others who don’t match up to his
life. However, in considering himself
righteous the legalist reduces God’s commands to the ones that he himself
thinks are important and which he is able to keep. He also tends to measure himself not to God’s
standards of righteousness, for to do so he would always fall short, but rather
to others, and as a result he is always able to believe that he is better than
most. When he does fail to meet God’s
standard of righteousness he either justifies his actions, rationalizes them,
or looks at his potential for doing good rather than his failure. However when others fail he judges them not
by their potential but rather by their actions.
2.4.
Paul tells the one who is attempting to establish his
righteousness before God based upon his works that God’s judgment of people
will not be one of showing partiality to people, but rather will be based
completely upon truth, and that all people shall be judged based upon the “same
standard.” The Jews were trading
upon the idea that because they were Abraham’s descendants and were
circumcised, that somehow God would turn His glance away from the sin which
dwelt within their hearts and which they had committed, and that therefore they
would be judged upon a special standard by God, being Jews.
2.5.
In this book of Romans, Paul tells the Jews (and all
who are attempting to establish their own righteousness before God based upon
their works) that they will be without excuse in the day of judgment because
they have not received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Because of the fact that they judged and
condemned others for their sins, this shows that they do know right from wrong,
yet that they have excused their own sin due to the relationship that they
presumed that they had with God, being descendants of Abraham.
2.6.
Our tendency as people is to see other peoples’ sin as
being much worse than our own. We even
tend sometimes to harshly criticize another person for the same sin that we are
sinning in our own life. However, we as
people need to realize that when we stand before God, it will be our own works
that will be on trial, and no one else’s will matter when it is our turn to be
judged. Our own sin will be just as evil
as the sin of others.
2.7.
We need to give up trying to be acceptable to God based
upon our works, if that is what we are doing.
No man but Jesus could keep all of God’s Laws, and to break just one of
them disqualifies a person from being accepted by God based upon works. As was mentioned, the self-imposed legalist
cannot keep all of God’s Laws however he has a list that he thinks are the most
important ones and he tries to keep those on that list. However, to break any of God’s Laws is to
bring disqualification before God.
Besides, it is the same God who created each law, so breaking any one of
God’s laws is to disrespect God and in effect to sin against all of His
Laws. People need to simply accept
Jesus’ sacrifice and righteousness as being sufficient for us, for Jesus paid
the price of our sin debt before God, taking all of our sins upon Himself! God is completely satisfied with Jesus and
His sacrifice for our sins.
3. VS 2:2 - “2 And
we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such
things.” -
Paul tells us that God’s judgment always falls rightly upon those who
regularly commit various sins
3.1.
In this verse, Paul is revealing something about God
and His judgments. God’s judgments are
always based upon “works,” the things which we have or have not done in
our body while upon this earth. Our
failures will be judged according to God’s Law, and consist of things that we “should
have” or “should not have” done.
3.2.
The judgment of believers in Christ that will occur
just after the rapture will likewise be based upon a person’s works, even
though it will be a “judgment of rewards,” not for condemnation and
punishment of sin.
3.3.
People of this world tend to justify and rationalize
their sins, and due to the hardness of their hearts toward God they usually do
not even realize when they sin. However,
if they were to stand today before God, they would come to realize that in fact
they sin often and recklessly. Before
God they will one day realize that God’s judgment ‘rightly falls upon’
them. All unbelievers ought to repent
and receive Jesus Christ today before it is too late and they suddenly wake up
and realize just how badly they have messed up, now to spend eternity in hell.
4. VS 2:3 - “3 But
do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such
things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of
God?” -
Paul tells us that if we do the sinful things that God judges the rest
of the world for doing that He will judge us also for this
4.1.
God’s standard of absolute impartial justice is the
foundation upon which all stability in the universe is based. If God were not absolutely just and impartial
to all, then people could never know if they could trust God with anything in
their life. Scripture clearly reveals
that God is impartial to all and that His standard of absolute justice can
never be abrogated. Therefore, Paul
writes here that people of this world are foolish to think that they can pass
judgment upon others for sin in their life, yet think that if they have sin in
their own life, that for some reason God will overlook their case and be
partial to them.
4.2.
I have sometimes heard people say that they have
worked out their own relationship with God, made some sort of deal with God,
and they really think that they are where God wants them to be. However, since there is one standard for
righteousness and one manner in which we may be brought to God, namely through
the shed blood of Jesus upon Calvary’s cross, anyone who believes he has worked
out his own deal with God is self-deceived and one day will fall under God’s
condemnation for rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice He
performed on their behalf.
4.3.
People of this world who do not know Jesus as their
Lord and their Savior are trading upon the fact that God is so good that He will
not judge them for their sin, that somehow in their case God will make an
exception for them. However, if any
person does not receive Christ as Lord and Savior he will be absolutely without
excuse on judgment day, and he will suffer the eternal punishment of hell in
the
5. VS 2:4 - “4 Or
do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience,
not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” - Paul asks the question of
whether or not we take for granted the goodness of God knowing that it is His
goodness which is designed to lead us to repentance
5.1.
All that happens to us in this life that is favorable
to us is from the God who is in control of every detail that occurs in this
world, and He causes all that occurs in our life in order that we might come to
repentance in Him.
5.2.
To ‘think lightly’ of God’s kindness,
forbearance, and patience is to take it for granted and to feel that in some
way that we have deserved receiving it.
To not be molded by His kindness, forbearance, and patience and to not
let these things lead us to repentance is to ‘despise’ God’s goodness,
or to ‘think lightly’ of it. It
is very evil and presumptuous of man to not be brought to repentance after
experiencing the incredible kindness, forbearance, and patience of God.
5.3.
God’s ‘kindness’ is seen in all of the little
things that occur in our life that are favorable to us. Strangely, those who are in the world tend often
to look only on those unusual experiences of suffering or deprivation that
occur in this world and think that as a result that there must not be a God, or
that if He does exist He is not continually doing deeds of ‘kindness’
and goodness. However, God’s ‘kindness’
is seen in the fact that a person has fairly good health, clothes on his back,
tends to have food to eat meals every day, has shelter over his head, and that
things tend to usually work out so that he is able to have work in order to pay
his bills.
5.4.
God’s ‘forbearance’ is seen in the fact that
God puts up with His people in spite of their little faith and their tendency
to commit sins, even habitual sins. Paul
wrote in 2 Tim. 2:13, “13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He
cannot deny Himself.” How faithful
and forbearing the Lord is in all of our lives!
5.5.
God’s ‘forbearance’ of man’s sin is seen first
of all in the fact that when man, who is a sinner and therefore deserves the
judgment of hell, wasn’t destroyed by God after the fall but rather God sent
His only begotten Son to pay the penalty of death which man deserved. Paul wrote about that in Rom. 3:25, “25 whom
God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed
over the sins previously committed.”
5.6.
God’s ‘patience’ is seen in the fact that He is
“slow to anger,” and that even though we sometimes deserve God to snuff
out our life immediately, He gives us time to have a change of heart and to
come to repentance. God has incredible ‘patience.’ Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 3:9 that Christ has not
yet returned and is withholding His judgment of the world because of His
patience in waiting for the people of this world to come to repentance, “9 The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
5.7.
We Christians should never take God’s goodness for
granted, we need to be people who are diligently seeking the Lord and repenting
when we find that our lives are outside of His will for us. We should be so grateful to the Lord for His
kindness, forbearance, and patience extended toward us that we will be quick to
judge and remove sin of every form from our lives when and if it should crop
up.
5.8.
Peter Hardt, a friend of mine, once sent me a family
newsletter. In this newsletter, he
included some points that the Lord had spoken to him about from working the
garden at his house. I will include some
of those thoughts here... Sins in our
life are sort of like weeds in our garden.
If we let even the smallest weed in our garden go unchecked, it can put
out seeds or underground runners and then weeds can pop up all over the
garden. In fact the longer you wait to
pull up any weed, the more damage that will be caused to the garden, the more
likely will be the fact that the weed will spread, and the harder it will be to
pull out the weed. Likewise, the longer
we let an action or an attitude go unchecked in our life, the more damage it
will cause to others, the harder our heart will be toward the Lord, and the
harder it will be for us to give control over that and other things in our life
to the Lord. Also, in our garden it will
do no good to merely cut off a weed at the surface, even a small weed. If we don’t get the roots of that weed out,
then the weed will just grow back next time stronger and healthier. Likewise, we Christians need to get to the
root of the sins in our life and eradicate them entirely from us with God’s
help.
6. VS 2:5 - “5 But
because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for
yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” - Paul tells us that stubborn,
unrepentant, and rebellious men are storing up wrath for themselves on the day
of God’s judgment
6.1.
Speaking to the self-imposed
legalist who is trying to establish his righteousness before God based upon his
own works, Paul writes in this verse that they have a stubborn and ‘unrepentant
heart,’ just as do the lawless Gentiles whom God has given over to their
sin, and, that they are also ‘storing up wrath’ for themselves, the
wrath that will be experienced when they stand as unbelievers before the Great
White Throne Judgment to be condemned to eternal hell in the Lake of Fire that
burns for eternity.
6.2.
For the self-imposed
legalist, as for all who have not received Christ as Lord and Savior, he will
experience the full fury of God’s wrath upon him for his sins on that day when
there is the ‘revelation of the righteous judgment of God.’ His
judgment to hell will be a righteous judgment, and he will be completely
deserving of it, for he will have “no excuse” for not coming to saving
faith in Christ.
6.3.
If you are trying to establish
a relationship with God based upon your own works and righteousness, then you
are simply ‘storing up wrath’ for yourself for judgment day. The only way that a person can avoid God’s
wrath is to accept Christ’s righteousness and payment upon the cross for his
sins, and come to God through His “grace,” apart from any works.
7. VS 2:6-8 - “6 who
will render to each person according to
his deeds: 7 to those who by perseverance in
doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but
to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.” - Paul tells us here that judgment will be
rendered according to a man or woman’s deeds which they have committed
7.1.
As I stated earlier, all of
God’s judgments of men are based upon their works. A man’s justification is based upon grace and
faith, however he will be judged by the things that he has done, by his
works. Non-believers will be judged
according to their works, and their punishment shall be fitting to the deeds
which they have done in their bodies.
Christians will likewise be judged by their works in the judgment of
believers, a judgment which will produce rewards for works done, all punishment
for sin being placed upon Jesus upon the cross.
7.2.
In verses 7 and 8, Paul
contrasts the judgment that will occur for believers with the judgment that
will occur for non-believers, those who will incur His wrath. At first glance it appears however that a
believer shall be justified by his works before God. This is not Paul’s point in these
verses. Paul is not trying to explain
here how that a person becomes justified before God as a believer in Jesus
Christ, he does that later in this book.
Rather, a person’s works are a reflection of his faith, or rather a
production of his faith. Therefore, when
a person stands before God he will be a believer and as a result have amassed
works that are righteous and pleasing to God, or he will be a non-believer and
will have amassed works that will not be righteous or pleasing to God. Therefore, believer’s lives can be described
as Paul does here as being ones, ‘who by perseverance in doing good seek for
glory and honor and immortality,’ they “persevere in doing good”
(Perseverance of the Saints”). Non-believer’s
lives can be characterized as being those, ‘who are selfishly ambitious and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness.’
7.3.
The Old Testament clearly
taught that a person’s judgment by God would be according to his/her works:
7.3.1. Jeremiah 17:10, “10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his
ways, According to the results of his
deeds.”
7.3.2. Isaiah 3:10-11, “10 Say to the righteous that it will go well with
them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions. 11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with
him, For what he deserves will be done
to him.”
7.4.
Jesus taught that a person
shall be judged according to his works, and that those who will be declared
righteous before God will be those who commit righteous works:
7.4.1. Matt. 16:27, “27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory
of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to
his deeds.”
7.4.2. John 5:28-29, “28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in
which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, 29 and shall come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the
evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
7.5.
The New Testament writers
clearly taught that judgment would be based upon a person’s works:
7.5.1. Paul taught that believers in Christ at the Judgment of Believers will
be judged according to their works: 1
Cor. 3:11-15, “11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which
is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds upon the foundation
with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will
become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with
fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any
man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. 15 If
any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be
saved, yet so as through fire.”
7.5.2. The book of Revelation teaches that at the Great White Throne Judgment
of non-believers that their judgment will be according to their works: Revelation 20:11-15, “11 And I saw a great
white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled
away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was
opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things
which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were
in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14
And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death,
the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of
life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
7.5.3. James taught that “faith produces works,” and that a faith
without works was dead, or did not exist:
James 2:14-20, 26, “14 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he
has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or
sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to
them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what
is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no
works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith,
and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my
faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons
also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish
fellow, that faith without works is useless? 26 For just as the body without
the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
7.6.
Christians persevere in
seeking ‘glory’ in that they seek to see God glorified in everything in
life. They also are aware that the Lord
has promised that they shall share in His glory, and be glorified with Him, so
in that sense they seek for that day when they shall go to glory and receive
the ‘glory’ promised to them.
7.7.
Christians persevere in
seeking ‘honor’ in that they desire to ‘honor’ God in everything
in their life. They also try to be
people of ‘honor’ who do the honorable and praiseworthy thing in
situations, which causes them to be a good witness to the world.
7.8.
One day Christians shall be
honored by the Lord when He tells them that they have done well as ‘good and
faithful’ servants. Some believers
however, as Paul mentions in 1 Cor., shall be saved yet as by fire.
7.9.
Christians have been
promised by God that they shall enjoy ‘immortality,’ as they shall spend
eternity with Him. Non-Christians shall also
be immortal yet never enjoy eternity, however Christians are seeking for that
day when they go to be with the Lord and begin that incredible and wonderful
life in glory that shall last for eternity.
7.10.
To true Christians Paul
promises that God has laid up for them ‘eternal life’ with Him away from
the presence of any and all evil.
7.11.
Non-Christians are described
by Paul in verse 8. Everything that a
non-Christian does is done in “selfish ambition.” Even though a non-Christian may do a good
work, there is a motive behind that work that is selfish and is designed to
promote himself or herself. There is
really no work that a non-Christian can do that is acceptable to God because
the motive of their works is not honoring to Him. Plus, anything that is done that glorifies
man instead of God cannot please God (1 Cor. 10:31).
7.12.
Non-Christians ‘do not
obey the truth,’ for they do not respond to the truth. If they responded to the truth, then they
would come to God, the source of all truth.
Non-Christians are rebelling against the truth and are in fact afraid of
where it might lead them, and thus they are trying to block the truth out from
their life. You can see this so clearly
when you get into conversation with many people of this world. You can talk about any subject in the world,
yet if the conversation turns to “Jesus,” the one who said He is, “the
way, the truth, and the life,” then people get real uneasy and defensive,
and the conversation gets very strained.
7.13.
Instead of obeying the truth,
non-Christians ‘obey unrighteousness,’ that is, they commit acts of
unrighteousness and sin. They go with
the flow of this world that is unrighteous and in rebellion against God, and
they ‘obey’ the things that the world is doing in ‘unrighteousness,’
for they are in agreement with the world, and they are in rebellion against
God.
7.14.
Paul writes that all
non-Christians are “without excuse” (Rom. 1:18-20), and therefore they
shall suffer God’s ‘wrath and indignation.’ I have defined God’s ‘wrath’ adequately
in my commentary on Rom. 1:18-20, however God’s ‘indignation’ seems to
bring to mind His emotional reaction against evil and sin, that which He hates
and shall forever eradicate from His presence.
7.15.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary
defines this Greek word translated ‘indignation’ here as
1) passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling
up and soon subsiding again
2) glow, ardour, the
wine of passion, inflaming wine (which either drives the drinker mad or kills
him with its strength).
7.16.
From the moment we Christians
came into a relationship with Christ through God’s grace, we began amassing
works by which we will one day stand before God and be judged. We ought to take seriously the fact that what
we are doing today and each day of our life will effect not only the lives of
the people around us, but our own life for eternity. We would be wise to try to pile up as many
truly righteous works as we can since God is taking note of every single deed
in order to perfectly recompense us on that day of the Judgment of Believers.
7.17.
It is ok for us as
Christians to seek after those things for which we shall be rewarded by God in
eternity. In a sense we ought to try to
outdo one another in righteous deeds. That
kind of competition would probably be good for our brothers and sisters in our
life, as it could only challenge them to do good works.
7.18.
Many times people come into
the church who are ‘selfishly ambitious,’ and from the moment they come
in they have an agenda that they are trying to achieve through the church. Other times, people who are otherwise
faithful Christians become ‘selfishly ambitious’ after they are
appointed to a leadership role in the church.
They have never had power before, and suddenly they have that power, and
as the philosophers have said, “Power Corrupts.” Paul wrote that a person appointed to the
position of an elder should not be a new Christian since he could easily become
conceited and corrupted because of the power he receives as an elder. Paul also said in 1 Tim. 5:22, “Do not lay
hands upon anyone too hastily and thus share responsibility for the sins of
others; keep yourself free from sin”. We in the church have to always be on the
alert for those who we see who show signs of being ‘selfishly ambitious,’
seeking to step up the ladder in the church for selfish reasons. We need to also be sure that every person who
performs anything in a leadership capacity has first been given a good amount
of time of testing which will show where their hearts really are at, and how
faithful they really are.
8. VS 2:9 - “ 9 There
will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of
the Jew first and also of the Greek,” - Paul tells us that when God judges the world
that there will be tribulation and distress for every soul who does evil
8.1.
In this verse, Paul reveals
what some of the punishments shall consist of for non-believers in the final
judgment, the Great White Throne Judgment:
‘tribulation and distress.’
Paul typifies the non-believer as the one ‘who does evil’ because
of the fact that determining who is saved from one who is not, he can rely on
Jesus’ words, “by their fruits you shall know them.”
8.2.
Jews will be judged first
because being recipients of the Law, they have more light and therefore are
accountable for more in the judgment.
When Paul refers to ‘the Greek’ he actually means the Gentile
person who is a non-Jew.
8.3.
The Greek word “thlypsis” which is translated ‘tribulation’
in this verse refers a great crushing pressure.
Jesus used this word when said to His disciples what is recorded in John
16:33, “33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the
world.””
8.4.
The ‘tribulation’ and
‘distress’ referred to here by Paul shall be characteristic of hell,
that place that Jesus described as “outer darkness,” where there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
8.5.
This Greek word translated ‘distress’
has the connotation of claustrophobia.
8.6.
No non-believer shall escape
these punishments at judgment, for they shall occur upon ‘every soul of man’
who is a non-believer. The souls of
non-believers who have died have been in Hades, a place of torments for
non-believers, so in the resurrection of the unrighteous the soul will be loosed
from Hades and rejoined with a resurrected body which shall never perish, and
that person shall appear before the day of the Great White Throne
Judgment. Thus, Paul writes that this
judgment shall occur upon the ‘soul’ of every non-believer.
8.7.
This verse ought to motivate
a non-Christian to repent and receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior so
that he can avoid spending eternity in a place filled with ‘tribulation and
distress.’
9. VS 2:10 - “10 but
glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek.” - Paul tells us that for the believer in Christ
that instead of the judgment of condemnation that he awaits ‘honor and peace’
when the Lord returns for him
9.1.
In this verse, Paul states
rewards that will be inherited by those who are believers on Judgment Day: ‘glory, honor, and peace.’ There will be no condemnation or suffering
for the believer in Christ after the judgment of believers!
9.2.
Paul typifies the Christian
as the one ‘who does good,’ since he knows that “faith produces works,”
and a person’s life will be characterized by “good works” if he has come
to salvation.
9.3.
God has promised us
Christians an eternity filled with ‘glory and honor and peace,’
therefore we ought to hold steadfast to the Lord and never weary of doing good
deeds for God and the
9.4.
All believers shall share in
the Lord’s ‘glory,’ as they shall have the same glorified body as does
He. All believers shall be raised up in
the resurrection to ‘honor,’ as they are deemed good and faithful
servants. All believers shall enter into
eternity which shall consist of eternal ‘peace’ with the Lord and every
enemy of the believer shall be vanquished for eternity.
10.
CONCLUSIONS:
10.1.
As we consider this study
and how to apply the things that we have looked at in our lives, the fact of an
impending judgment after this life for both the believer and the unbeliever
ought to be a motivation to each of us.
10.2.
Since God will judge each
person based not upon his intentions but rather upon his deeds, and also
because God intimately knows each person’s heart and motives, this should
motivate each of us to get our hearts right with the Lord and to not lose heart
in doing God’s will, in doing good.
10.3.
Knowing that we shall be judged
in this way ought also to motivate each of us to know as much as we can in this
life about God’s nature and will for us.
We need to spend time each day in God’s word studying it and seeing how
to apply it to our lives so that we will not be found ignorant of His will for
us.