Sermon Notes for Romans 2

Romans 2:1-5
M. Kelly
Dec. 30, 2012

Paul's great theme is that the wrath of God against sinners is here now and points to a great day of wrath when all God's wrath will be poured out.

Our attempts at righteousness are filled with unrighteousness.

Paul is not ashamed of the wrath of God and preaches it first. Men today say coming to God because of His wrath is a low motive for coming to Him. It is the chiefest motive for coming to Him!

God tells us the truth. He doesn't candy coat it. His wrath is not against sin, it is against sinners.

Reality and truth exists regardless of our feelings and perceptions. God's wrath is a reality. Death exists because sin exists.

The preaching of these doctrines is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation!

The lists of sins that Paul and other authors of Scripture have in the Bible are not what other people are. They are what WE are!

The only reason we are not worse than we are is because of God's restraining grace. The nature of all sin is utter ruin and destruction if allowed to run its full course.

Man actively suppress the truth of God. They do these things and heartily approve of those who do them.

v.32 They KNOW the truth. They JUDGE others by it. They COMMIT the same things. They have PLEASURE in those who do them!

The first category are the bad ones who do these things and approve them.

The second category are those who judge others for doing them and thinks he himself is okay. Self righteous. Paul dismantles this argument too!

Paul was self righteous and so he knows what he is talking about here. Ref?

Lessons
1. Men know that there is a righteous law which judges all men.v 1
Man suppresses this truth yet he judges others by it! Man is without excuse!

2. We cannot justify ourselves before God by being better than others. v.3
Judging others is a way that we try to justify ourselves. Self righteousness. It is a temptation to exaggerate the sins of others while minimizing our own. Our we saved because of our obedience to the law? NO! We are saved because of the mercy of God.
Many see God's delay in punishing sin as God's approval of it. Nothing can be farther than the truth!

Do we not contemn others for the very things that we do? 2 Samuel 12; John 8:2-7

Horizontal righteousness is easy to obtain by pointing fingers at other's sins.

Christian maturity is understanding that there is only one righteous....Jesus Christ!

We need to understand the trajectory of all history....the judgement of God and the coming last day of God's wrath.

3. The sinful nature of others is significant.
The word significant means "sign". Other's sinful natures point to our own sinful nature! We can see other's sins so that we can see our own sins. We ought to examine ourselves when we come into contact with other's sins. If we are the subject of the judgements of other men, what about the righteous judgement of God? Those who are the recipients of God's grace ought to show grace to others. To pass judgement is to contemn one's self. We see a blueprint for our sanctification in the sins of others. Their sins point to our own sins and give us a blueprint for where we need to mortify sin.

4. Judgment is the issue of life and the issue of death. Romans 2:1-5
No excuse for you who pass judgment. You practice the same things. God's judgment falls on both!

Those who say there is no judgment or wrath of God did not get it from the Bible. They got it from their father, the Devil. "You shall not surely die!"

The Gospel is about judgement and the wrath of God. It's about the only escape from it....Jesus Christ!

5. Speaking out about others is not the issue in the Christian life.
Speaking out about the sins of the culture and the government is not the issue. It's about reforming ourselves! If Christianity were all about marching and protesting the sins of government and changing laws to conform to the Bible, that would be easy. But it is about reforming and conforming ourselves to the Bible and that is much harder.


🎉🎉Marsha🎉🎉

But none of these things move me, (not knowing what shall befall me v. 23) neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24 KJV)