Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, everybody, we're back in the Book of Romans now. Who wrote the Book of Romans?
Paul. Who was Paul?
He was an apostle. What does that mean?
He saw the resurrected Christ and was also commissioned for ministry by him. That's right.
I haven't asked those questions in a while. I want to make sure we're remembering. We're doing an inductive Bible study.
Right.
What does this mean? Yes.
Bingo. Using the Bible to study the Bible.
So we're trying to do that the best we can, to kind of start in the immediate context and work our way out if we need to, to do so, for clarifying what each part means.
And we're also trying to remember, even as it gets more and more difficult, I think, as when we study books over long periods of time, we go a little bit by little, like we're doing here on Sunday.
We can kind of forget, okay, what has happened in this book. What has happened. Now we're only in Romans 2, so hopefully we at least kind of remember what we've covered so far.
But just trying to remember some of those highlights as we go so far. What maybe are some of the highlights that we've covered. So we've gotten through Romans 2, verse 6.
What are maybe some of the kind of major points we've made? What is Romans about?
Why is he starting where he is? What's he doing?
Yeah, all people are under the same judgment. That was kind of. He's starting to round out that argument in chapter two because he's showing that God's wrath is revealed by the. The deepening ungodliness of the world.
Yet people know God, but they suppress the truth. Right.
They can know God, but they reject him anyway.
Why does Paul make that point clear? What's he trying to show?
He's trying to show that they are without excuse. Excuse.
We are without excuse.
So Paul is showing us what is Romans about. What have I been saying? What's the main point of Romans?
Yeah, summary of the gospel. So he's summarizing the gospel. So he's starting here.
He gives us in chapter 1, verse 16 and verse 17, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
So it is made available for everyone.
He also says to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
This is kind of language he repeats throughout. He makes the point that the righteousness of God is revealed in that those who by faith are righteous, they live.
So if you want life, you have to be righteous. If you want to be righteous, you can only be so through Faith.
And then your life must also be one that is lived by faith.
And so he's kind of protecting against those errors of lawlessness and legalism on both sides by saying that.
And now chapter two, he is continuing to establish that all are guilty, basically. And he's going to do this even through chapter three.
So he's being really comprehensive. But two, even though we haven't really gotten to the specific part, he's really transitioning to talking about the Jews, the Israelites.
He's talked about the whole world already, and now he's going into them. He'll kind of go back and forth. He wants to establish that all are guilty.
So if we start kind of where we left off, we read verse six last week, but we're going to start there again, just as a reminder. So he says, God, he will render to each one according to his works.
He will render to each one according to his works.
So what he's showing is that this was something, that this is kind of how the Jews would talk. Now, he's not just paying lip service to them, but genuinely, God judges people by their works.
Your works are not good enough.
They are not righteous.
But if you, through faith, are righteous, then your works are actually Christ's works. And so God does judge by works. So what's he doing here? He's just using a Jewish framework of works to condemn the Jews. So he's already explained that everyone else is condemned without excuse for their sins. But the Jews too, even with the law, they condemn themselves.
Why or how do they condemn themselves? With the law. They have the law. How are they also condemned?
They think it saves them. And even more than that, something else. They don't obey it.
So they're guilty. You're right.
They're thinking that having it.
Now, not every Jew would have thought this, but they're thinking that having it is what is going to be their rescue. But they're not even obeying it. It's crazy.
It's crazy. So Paul explains.
So these next few verses, we have verses 7 through 10.
And I think verses 7 and 10 are kind of like mirroring one another. Verses 8 and 9 kind of do that too. So we're going to talk about verses 7 and 10 together.
So first we read to those who by patience and well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality. He will give eternal life. And then verse 10, he says, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good.
So what Paul is doing with these two verses 7 and 10, he's just kind of Restating things. Sometimes when you're reading the Bible, if you're looking close, you might notice that the beginning of this section and the end of it, they kind of have the same phrase or the same subject matter.
And sometimes that can help us interpret because the authors are not just randomly writing stuff, they are authors. Authors put structure to what they write. And typically, the way they structure things kind of emphasizes something about it. So when we see that these two verses, parallel, verses 8 and 9 kind of go together, we can maybe draw some conclusions. Sometimes it's hard to see what exactly am I supposed to draw, but it's still helpful to note when we're kind of picking up on the structure of the passage, sometimes it'll kind of eclipse in the middle and point to one thing that's really important.
So he's restating. He's saying good works by faith are done in the pursuit of glory, honor, and immortality. And those are the results of faith.
You receive glory, honor, and immortality. You receive eternal life.
Now, what does a life look like that pursues these things?
Like, if you were pursuing glory, honor, immortality, what would your life look, you know, like, what would a Christian life look like if we're pursuing those things?
Any idea?
Glory, honor, immortality.
You probably don't think of yourself as pursuing those very much, do you?
Maybe immortality, we usually would think of eternal life, right?
But if you're living in light of the pursuit of glory, well, what.
We probably want our lives to match the glory of the Lord's. We want to walk in a manner that is worthy of the gospel.
We want to lead lives that are righteous by faith.
Well, if we're pursuing honor, we might do the same thing. If we're pursuing immortality, perhaps we're thinking that my current moment is just that. It's a moment. It's one moment in my life. My life is probably going to be much longer.
And yet if you're pursuing immortality, then your life is a blip. It's nothing.
And so we might live with a different perspective, the choices we make. Something might seem really important now, and maybe my Christian convictions are telling me not to do something, but it'd be really fun or would seem really fulfilling.
And maybe I can just, you know, kind of put that behind me later. Well, if you're thinking of immortality, eternity, you might make a different decision, because why risk eternity for something that's a fleeting moment of pleasure?
It's just not worth the risk. So you see, our lives are shaped if we are pursuing these things, even if we don't think about these words in particular, this is how Paul is describing it.
Well then he kind of gives us the inverse in between these two.
So in the middle verses 8 and 9.
But for those who are self seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil.
So now the opposite is true. The opposite is true. Even if you do good things, if they are self seeking, then you're not obeying the truth.
What does it mean to be self seeking.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Something? That.
[00:11:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that's one way to put it. It's seeking something for yourself only. It is kind of another way of saying so selfishness.
We are seeking what ourselves prize the most.
And typically that means forsaking others, forsaking the glory of the Lord. Because we're being self seeking.
And if we are being self seeking. So even if I'm doing something that seems good, if I'm not doing it out of faith, then I'm maybe doing it so I look good. Or to pursue the peace or just to do a social convention, try to not stand out, just be a normal person in the world, that can still be self seeking if I'm not doing it out of faith.
So that's what he's saying. And if we are being self seeking, we're not obeying the truth. Instead you receive tribulation and, and distress.
What is tribulation and distress.
Anyway? Just generally, what does tribulation and distress refer to? Or what do you think it refers to here? Yeah, hard times, trials.
That's definitely generally what it means.
And here I think these words are trying to indicate something even more to us. I think it's referring to an eternal tribulation, eternal distress, eternal punishment.
And the reason I'm saying this is because we see clearly in verse 7, he will give eternal life.
Well, the result for the opposite is tribulation and distress.
And if the reward is eternal, then we can see this elsewhere in Scripture too. Then the punishment is eternal. It is eternal tribulation and distress.
And so we want to obey the truth but not be self seeking.
How can you obey the truth without being self seeking?
Aren't you just trying to like do the right thing to make yourself feel good or to kind of just you're supposed to. So you're just going to do the right thing because that's what you're supposed to do.
Because even that can be self seeking. How can we obey the truth without being self seeking?
Yeah,
[00:14:10] Speaker B: to be self seeking is to do something of your own will. So to follow the truth and to obey the Lord is to do it out of his will. It's to do what he says for the entire purpose of advancing the kingdom, not to bring glory to yourself. Like, like, oh, I want to do this so I look better in front of my friends. Not doing it like that. It's because I want to do that because I prefer that there's less people now.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a really good answer.
Yeah, it's doing his will, but also you importantly said for his glory.
Faith in Christ, not pursuing our own goods, even though the pursuit of what is glorifying to God is also actually for your own good.
Your best good is in the glory of God.
But if we're pursuing our own good and hoping to find the glory of God, we'll miss.
But if we pursue the glory of God, we'll hit it and he will do good unto us.
So that's very good and important for Paul's purposes here.
He repeats one phrase twice in these verses 7 through 10. What phrase does he repeat twice?
Can anyone find it?
What?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: The Jew first and also the Greek.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: That's right. The Jew first and also the Greek. What does this remind you of? From Romans? Where else does he say this?
If we need a hint, it's probably the most famous verse we've covered so far.
Anyone know Romans 1:16?
For I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.
First to the Jew and then.
And also to the Greek.
Also to the Greek.
Okay, why is he repeating this phrase again?
Does anyone know?
He's trying to make an important point.
He is trying to make an important point. You know what it is?
That's true. Absolutely. And he says he confirms what you're saying, Levi, in verse 11. For God shows no partiality.
God shows no partiality.
What is partiality? Or maybe it'll be easier this way. What are examples of how people today maybe show partiality?
Teacher having a favorite student.
Yeah, that can happen.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Racism.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Racism. Yeah, that's a good example.
How else?
Parents favoring one child over another. Mm, yeah, they can be partial.
We don't need to decide who is the favorite right now.
Yeah.
Any others?
You know, sometimes these are kind of implicit. We don't think about them as we do them.
You know, we might treat some people as better than others just purely based on how they look or maybe how we get along with them. Huh?
Yeah, definitely. Partiality can be Shown there.
Yeah. So you're kind of getting. It's. There's a negative connotation to this.
You know, like you could show partiality in a way that's fine. Like, I should definitely be partial to my wife over every other woman. Right. That makes sense. No one's saying that's bad, so. But the kind of. The way it's being used here is in a negative sense.
God shows no partiality.
The Jews presumed. We've already kind of covered this language. They presumed upon God's kindness and his election of them, that they were better off in God's kingdom. They just presumed, because of his kindness, were better off than the Greeks, than the Gentiles. But Paul is saying that God came to the Jews first and Christ did as well.
But he also came to the world, to the whole world.
Right. We just were in John 4. On Wednesday, he leaves Judea to Samaria and he seeks out the woman at the well, a Samaritan.
So Christ, he did come to the Jews first. But you can see even in his ministry, he's hinting that it's not going to stop here. This goes to the world. There is no partiality, which means everyone is judged by the same standard, their works.
So are your works. I want you to kind of answer this to yourself. Are your works faithless or are they rooted in faith and worked by the Spirit?
Are they faithless or are they rooted in faith?
Paul continues in verse 12. Now, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.
And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
What is Paul doing here?
What's he doing? Note the word for.
So the for is helping us see that this is how God shows no partiality.
He shows no partiality. How? For all who have sinned without the law perish without the law. All who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. What's he doing?
Let's kind of walk through it. This will help us. Who has sinned without the law?
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Gentiles.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: Gentiles. That's right. Who has sinned under the law?
Jews. That's right. And we're talking about the law of Moses specifically, not just generic laws.
The Jews are judged based on the law, which they have all disobeyed at some point.
That's kind of straightforward. So how are Gentiles judged if the law was not given to them, given to us?
Well, he's going to explain this in verse 14.
So we'll kind of save It. So he's going to help us see how Gentiles are judged if they don't have that law.
He's saying that sinning without the law, you'll also perish without the law. So there is a judgment, but by what standard?
We'll get there in a second verse 13.
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
All right, so what is he explaining here?
Yeah, that's right. So he's hitting again on that same theme, that you're judged by your works.
It's not just having the law, having the tablets outside your, you know, the Ten Commandments outside your school or whatever, that's not saving you.
It's doing it. Not just hearing, but doing it because, right, everyone will be judged according to his works.
Now, don't jump off the deep end. Paul's going to explain how ultimately we're still, remember, justified by faith. He's already said that. He's going to explain it more. But this concept of being judged by works is important.
What does righteous mean?
So he's been using this word. What does righteous mean?
Yeah, following God's law is righteous.
And so righteousness would then be holiness, purity of character towards God's law.
Right. So to be righteous is to be completely right in the right in your conduct.
And what does justified mean?
I would say declared righteous.
You can be justified and yet still sin.
So you may not be created again righteous, but you are declared righteous in God's sight.
So what is God's standard?
It's one of those words, righteousness.
God's standard is righteousness. And how can someone be righteous?
He must be justified. That's right.
God requires righteousness.
We have none.
We must be declared righteous. We must be justified. This is so important for Paul in Romans, just like it was if you remember when we went through Galatians last year.
But first, basically, he's trying to show if you live by the law, then you are judged by its standard. If you are judged by the law, then you must obey it perfectly to be justified.
And the problem with that is that no one completes it perfectly. Nobody can. And so nobody can be justified through the law. There needs to be another way to be justified. This is what he's arguing.
So there needs to be another way. But first Paul wants to explain that the Gentiles are also condemned. So he's saying, look, you have the law, but you've got to do it perfectly to be justified.
Now let's move over to the Gentiles and see why they also need to be justified. Verse 14.
For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
So first, to read in context, we need to remember what the law refers to. So what is the law?
What law are we talking about?
That's right, the law of Moses, the law, you know, Exodus through Deuteronomy, Roughly, that law. How do the Gentiles.
So it's not all laws, it's the law of Moses. But how do Gentiles do what the law requires?
How do Gentiles do what the law requires?
They do it by nature. I need to grab a handout because there's a picture. There's a little graph on your handouts you can look at at the bottom there, Which I made all by myself.
Do what?
[00:26:11] Speaker B: No help with AI?
[00:26:12] Speaker A: No, no help with AI.
Just my hands and canva.
I know. Very impressive. It's.
Please stop. Please stop.
No, but seriously, hopefully it makes sense so Gentiles can obey God's standard. Levi said by nature.
So I think he's right. There's something about our nature that helps us to know right from wrong. Right?
Is this true? Do people naturally have some sense of right and wrong?
Huh?
Morals. Yeah, that's right.
Maybe. What are like examples?
Because people disagree on all sorts of very fundamental things.
But, you know, generally. I'm sorry, you have an example.
Yeah.
I think that is almost completely universal right now. There are, like, areas where people are like, oh, that's not really killing, or that's a justified killing. But, like, generally people don't want to be murdered, and so that becomes law. Do not murder.
So there is something natural here. So if you look, I have something called natural law in that left circle. You see that this is what I'm talking about.
We're saying that in principle, the truths of natural law can be understood by people.
Now remember, sin suppresses the truth. So it's going to be mixed, mangled, faded at points. Different cultures are probably going to cover up different aspects of the natural law with their sin rather than others. But in principle, it's knowable, it's obvious.
And the divine law to the right of it, that is referring to the law God gave. So this is what the Jews have. They have the divine law. Or even if you say the law of Christ, what the Bible presents to Christians is divine law.
Now, both of those are reflecting what's above it Eternal law. What do you think that is?
[00:28:37] Speaker B: God's established law.
[00:28:39] Speaker A: Yeah, it'd be like God's established law, but basically God, since God is who he is.
He is the law.
God is the law.
The eternal law perfectly reflects his character.
God. He doesn't have a law that's placed against him. He is a law unto himself because his character is perfectly righteous. So God's eternal law is like the definitive objective. What is right, what is wrong.
Natural law is how people try to reason and understand the eternal law.
And right we get it wrong.
Divine law is how God has taken his eternal law and translated it into human words for the law of Moses, specifically for the Jewish people at the time.
And then human laws, when we might take what does the Bible say?
What does nature say? And how can we write laws that reflect eternal laws? So human law is like the laws of the state of Oklahoma. That's a human or a positive law. It's written down.
So again, in principle, the truths of the natural law, which reflects God's eternal law can be understood by people, even though it's marred by sin.
In fact, because of sin, people suppress the truth and unrighteousness. But there is something knowable which means what we are without excuse.
That's exactly what argument Paul has been making about Gentiles. He's making a.
A natural law argument that there's something about nature that we can perceive and it condemns us because we disobey it.
We don't do what is right, even though we can know so because natural law is perceivable by everyone. Even Gentiles are condemned because we have natural law that we violate, whereas the Jews had divine law that they violated. But those are both coming from the eternal law. And so at the end of the day, we're both violating God's eternal law and our unrighteous. And we need help. We need to be justified.
This is why Paul can say, they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.
So he's saying this natural law, it's written on their hearts, it's in their conscience. You can deny and suppress all you want, but evidence of God's moral order is tattooed on your heart.
You are condemning yourself.
And then verse 16 says, on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
So whether Jew or Gentile, you have God's standard given to you in a way that gives you no excuse to disobey. And God will judge you of all wrongdoing, even the secret sins of your heart.
Now, why is God's judgment of even the secrets of men a good thing?
It's good because he is righteous. All sin will be punished. And yet, even with our secret wicked thoughts all the way to our actions, that can be wicked.
By faith you can be righteous.
That's the heart of Romans.
By faith you can live and be righteous.
So that's what he's doing. He's just in this section where he's reminding us of the condemnation of all people.
But at the same time, that's pointing us to the source of salvation for all people.
So if you have not believed, then you should turn to Christ and be justified. Because whether you have the law or not, you have no excuse.
But Christ is merciful, Right? We read God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Let's pray and we'll pick up here next week.
God, we thank you for the gospel that you show no partiality.
Lord, thank you. That we too may be justified through faith in your son. God, we pray that you would draw more that have not believed to yourself today that they would be redeemed from their sin and would live lives in the direction of glory and honor and immortality in the pursuit of you. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
