Sermon notes February 9th, 2025

Romans 1:25-2:29

The Apostle Paul had just gotten started in Romans 1 on explaining the wrath of God against evil men. But obviously there were those who questioned Paul about how God deals with those who have never heard the gospel. Those who lived long before Jesus ever came on the scene. Even before Abram and Noah? You know the proverbial man who lived on an island and never talked to anyone and had any knowledge of God from any source, what about him? Paul answers the question in verse 20.

Romans 1:20-22

20   For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 

1. Our God is so gracious He has shown Himself to everyone through all He has created. The problem people have, is they are tempted to worship the creation instead of the Creator. 

21   because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  

22   Professing to be wise, they became fools,

• Everyone, whether they are willing to admit it or not, knows there is a creator. God has put it into the heart every man.

Ecclesiastes 3:11                           New King James Version

11   He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

1. God has put eternity in man’s heart. Though living in a world of time, man has the idea of eternity. Instinctively he thinks of “forever,” and though he cannot understand the concept, he realizes that beyond this life there is the possibility of a shoreless ocean of time.
2. God judges every man according to his own heart, whether he has ever heard of God or has rejected what somehow, he knows within himself. All men know right and wrong.

Romans 1:25-28

25   who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26   For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 

27   Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

28   And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. 

• Because of men’s refusal to retain God in their knowledge, either as Creator, Sustainer, or Deliverer, God gave them over to a debased mind to commit a catalog of other forms of wickedness. This verse gives deep insight into why evolution has such enormous appeal for natural men. 
• The reason lies not in their intellect but in their will. They do not want to retain God in their knowledge. It is not that the evidence for evolution is so overwhelming that they are compelled to accept it; rather, it is because they want some explanation for origins that will eliminate God completely. They know that if there is a God, then they are morally responsible to Him.

Romans 1:29-32

29   being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 

30   backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 

31   undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. 

32   who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

• Those who abuse sex, who pervert sex, and who practice the other sins listed have an innate knowledge not only that these things are wrong but also that they themselves are deserving of death. 
• They know this is God’s verdict, however much they seek to rationalize or legalize these sins. But this does not deter them from indulging in these forms of ungodliness. 
• In fact, they unite with others to promote them and feel a sense of cam-ar-ader-ie with their partners-in-sin.
• We know these guys are lost, but what about the unreached heathen? 

What then, is God’s answer to the question “Are the heathen who have never heard the gospel lost?” Not all! The condemnation of the heathen is if they did not live up to the light which God gave them in creation. Instead, some become idolaters, and as a result abandoned themselves to lives of depravity and vileness.

Now the Apostle Paul in chapter 2 addresses another group of people, we’ve seen the heathens those who live only for the lust of the flesh even though they know what is right and wrong. Now it’s those who judge.

There are three categories ALL PEOPLE FALL INTO

• The Unrighteous ------ Heathen/Barbarian    
• The Self- Righteous----Seeing the unrighteousness in others 
• The Over Righteous-----Smug moralist

Romans 2                                        New King James Version

1   Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 

• This second class(self righteous) consists of those who look down their noses at the heathen, considering themselves more civilized, educated, and refined. 
• They condemn the pagans for their gross behavior yet are equally guilty themselves though perhaps in a more sophisticated way. 
• Fallen man can see faults in others more readily than in himself. Things hideous and repulsive in the lives of others seem quite respectable in his own. 
• But the fact that he can judge sins in others shows that he knows the difference between right and wrong. 
• If he knows that it is wrong for someone to steal his wife, then he knows that it is wrong for him to steal someone else’s wife. Therefore, when someone commits the very sins he condemns in others, he leaves himself without excuse.

2   But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 

• What the smug moralist needs is a lesson on the judgment of God. The apostle proceeds to give that lesson in verses 2–16. The first point is that the judgment of God is according to truth. It is not based on incomplete, inaccurate, or circumstantial evidence. Rather, it is based on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

3   And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 

• Secondly, the judgment of God is inescapable on those who condemn others for the very sins they practice themselves. Their capacity to judge others does not absolve them from guilt. In fact, it increases their own condemnation.
• The judgment of God is inescapable unless we repent and are forgiven. Do you realize there are people who have excepted or confess they believe in Jesus but have never repented? Many understand the term repentance to mean “a turning from sin.” Regretting sin and turning from, these are related to repentance but are not the precise meaning of the word. In the Bible, the word repent means “to change one’s mind.” The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8–14; Acts 3:19). 

 

 

Acts 3:19                                       New King James Version

19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

• In summarizing his ministry, Paul declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds”. The short biblical definition of repentance is “a change of mind that results in a change of action.”

Acts 26:20                                     New King James Version

20   but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

• Repentance is not a work we do to earn salvation. No one can repent and come to God unless God pulls that person to Himself (John 6:44). Repentance is something God gives—it is only possible because of His grace (Acts 5:31; 11:18). No one can repent unless God grants repentance. All of salvation, including repentance and faith, is a result of God drawing us, opening our eyes, and changing our hearts. God’s longsuffering leads us to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), as does His kindness (Romans 2:4).

Romans 2:4-11

4   Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 

5   But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 

• The fourth thing we learn about the judgment of God is that it is graduated according to the accumulation of guilt. Paul pictures hardened and unrepentant sinners treasuring up judgment for themselves, as if they were building up a fortune of gold and silver. But what a fortune that will be in the day when God’s wrath is finally revealed at the judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20:11–15)! In that day the judgment of God will be seen to be absolutely righteous, without prejudice or injustice of any kind.

6   who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 

7   eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 

8   but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 

• Those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but rather obey unrighteousness, will be awarded indignation and wrath. They do not obey the truth; they have never answered the gospel call. Rather, they have chosen to obey unrighteousness as their master. Their lives are characterized by strife, wrangling, and disobedience—sure proof that they were never saved.

9   tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 

10   but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 

• The verdict will be glory, honor, and peace to everyone, Jew or Gentile, who works what is good. And let us not forget that no one can work good, as far as God is concerned, unless he has first placed his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The expression to the Jew first, and also to the Greek does not indicate favoritism, because the next verse points out that God’s judgment is impartial. So, the expression indicates the historical order in which the gospel went out, as in 1:16. It was proclaimed first to Jews, and the first believers were Jews.

Romans 2:11-12

11   For there is no partiality with God.

12   For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 

• Mere possession of the law is not enough. The law demands perfection and continuous obedience. No one is accounted righteous simply because he knows what the law says. The only conceivable way of obtaining justification under the law would be to keep it in its entirety. But since all men are sinners, it is impossible for them to do this. So, this verse really setting forth an ideal condition rather than something that is capable of human attainment. I other words “we need a Savior”

Romens 2:13-14

13   (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 

14   for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 

• Verses 14 and 15 are a interlude, looking back to verse 12a, where we learned that Gentiles who sin without the law shall perish without the law. 
• Now Paul explains that although the law was not given to the Gentiles, yet they have an innate knowledge of right and wrong. 
• They know instinctively that it is wrong to lie, steal, commit adultery, and murder. 
• The only commandment they would not know intuitively is the one concerning the Sabbath; that one is more ceremonial than moral.
• So, what it boils down to is that the Gentiles, who do not have the law, … are a law to themselves. They form their own code of right and wrong behavior from their moral instincts.

Romens 2:15-16

15   who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 

16   in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

• This verse is a continuation of the thought in verse 12. It tells when those without law and those under the law will be judged. And in doing so it teaches one final truth about the judgment of God—namely, that it will take into account the secrets of men, not just their public sin. Sin which is secret at the present time will be an open scandal. When Paul adds, according to my gospel, he means “so my gospel teaches.” My gospel means the gospel Paul preached, which was the same one which the other apostles preached.

Romans 2:17-20

17   Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 

18   and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 

19   and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 

20   an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 

• He prided himself on being a guide to the morally and spiritually blind, a light to those who were in the darkness of ignorance.
• He felt qualified to correct the foolish or untaught and to teach babes, because the law gave him an outline of knowledge and of the truth.

21   You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 

22   You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 

23   You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 

24   For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

25   For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 

• This combination of high talk and low walk caused the Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God. They judged the Lord, as men always do, by those who professed to be His followers. It was true in Isaiah’s day (Isa. 52:5) and it is still true today. Each of us should ask:

1. If of Jesus Christ is their only view
2. Can they see of Him in you,
3. (Insert your name), what do they see?

Isaiah 52:5                                 New King James Version

5   Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord,             “That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who            rule over them. Make them wail,” says the Lord,                    “And My name is blasphemed continually every day”.

 

 

Romans 2:26-29

26   Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 

• Thus, if a Gentile adheres to the morality prescribed by the law, even if he isn’t under the law, his uncircumcision is more acceptable than the circumcision of a Jewish transgressor. In such a case the Gentile’s heart is circumcised, and that is what counts.

27   And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? 

• The superior behavior of the Gentile condemns the Jew, who, with his written code and circumcision does not keep the law or live the circumcised life, the life of separation and sanctification.

28   For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 

• The Lord is not swayed by external considerations of race or religion; He looks for inward sincerity and purity.

29   but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

• True circumcision is a matter of the heart—not just a literal cutting of the body but the spiritual reality of surgery on the old, unregenerate nature.
• Being a Christian is not about how many times you go to church or even how good you look while you’re going. It’s truly a matter of the heart. Circumcision was Gods way of making a strong point.