OUR study in Romans two weeks ago presented the list of iniquities and sins into which the heathen peoples plunged because they “refused to have God in their knowledge;” the mention of these iniquities is found in the concluding verses of the first chapter of Romans. From the facts stated concerning the depths of sin into which men will fall when they refuse God, the apostle proceeds to draw the following conclusions:
“Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things. And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his works.” Rom. 2:1-6.
“Wherefore” is the word with which the apostle begins the foregoing quotation. He signifies in this manner that he is now about to draw his conclusion from what he has already said. His conclusion is easily understood. The man who condemns the crimes and the unnatural sins that are enumerated in the first chapter, and yet who practises the same things is left without excuse. The very fact that a man will say that such things are wrong shows that he knows better, and therefore he will condemn himself in the day of judgment. He has said that such things are wrong in others. The man can not be found who will make the bold claim that the sins enumerated by the apostle are right. Every one condemns such things in others, and by condemning them in others he thereby condemns them in himself. Such is the clear logic of the apostle.
Then may we know of a surety that “the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things.” And we can follow the apostle still further in saying, “Reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” In condemning the heathen for practising such iniquities we pass judgment upon ourselves, unless we repent and are cleansed from the very sins that they are doing. We show by our own sentence of judgment against them that it would be right for God to pass sentence against us. And we may go still further. The heathen themselves who practise these sins are not without the evidence that they are doing wrong. They themselves will condemn in each other the things that are being practised, and they thereby join in the condemnation.
This first part of the second of Romans, when studied in connection with the last part of the first chapter, ought to make it perfectly plain to any one that God is just when He passes the sentence of condemnation upon the sins that men commit. These things show that God is good because He will not in any manner nor under any circumstances pass over such wrong-doing. And the goodness of God is all the goodness there is in the universe. And when God shows us the evil of wrong-doing it is that He may at the same time impart unto us the goodness that comes from Himself. For God by His Spirit impresses every one that it is necessary to come to Him if we would escape this thraldom of sin that we condemn in the world about us.
But those who condemn sin (and all do), but who do not accept the only remedy, place themselves in the category of despising the goodness of God. For immediately following the apostle’s statement that they that judge or condemn this course of sin are not to escape the judgment of God, he adds, “Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
The goodness of God in showing all mankind what is right, and thus planting in every one the disposition to condemn the wrong, is designed to lead us to repentance. It is designed to lead us to turn from the wrong and to seek the power from God that will enable us to repent of sin by confessing the wrong and turning our feet into the ways of right-doing. But when we do not avail ourselves of the wooings of the Spirit of God, in that very act we show that we despise the riches of God’s goodness. We show that we are willing to follow on in sin, trusting to some plan of human devising for our salvation.
And when we refuse God, we not only show by that act that we despise His goodness, but we make our hearts hard and impenitent, and this in turn “treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Thus does effect follow cause. Thus is it shown that God’s judgments are righteous, and that they follow logically and philosophically the “despising” of His goodness. And thus is it shown that God does not reject any one until He has borne long and suffered long with him.
Every man will receive according to his works, is the statement of the last part of the quotation. A man’s works represent what he has actually done. And if he has continued to work the works of sin in the face of God’s efforts to save him from sin, he has already condemned himself by saying that the sin is wrong. And, therefore, he can not blame God if He concurs in the judgment that man has already passed upon his own wrong course. The impenitent sinner can not lift his head in the judgment to protest against the Lord when He arises to render the sentence and to execute the judgment. Thus will every act of the Lord be shown to stand in justice and fairness. T.