God’s
Power Discovered In Obedience
Romans 2:1-16
Jim
Davis
How
many of us would like to be judged by the standards we set for others?
It is not hard to figure out how others ought to be living; the standards
by which they should live, actually seem quite simple to us. The greatest
difficult is applying those seemingly simple standards to our own lives.
Personal application of the principles we impose on others is the real
test of our sincerity concerning truth. We may know the simple answers
for the religious world to find unity in Christ, but how do we fare when
it comes to unity. This is the real test of our belief in unity. So it
is with a multitude of dilemmas in which we find ourselves.
Romans
2:1-3
You,
therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because
you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment
against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere
man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you
will escape God's judgment? (NIV)
"The
problem, however, is that once you admit that there is a clear standard,
truths that are hard and fast to which you can appeal in judgment of others,
then you have to be willing to sit under the same standard yourself. And
that is what everyone who issues judgment longs to avoid. Loud denunciation
of the horrible failings of others does not in any degree alter the facts
concerning ourselves." (Steve Zeisler, High-Minded Hypocrisy, http://pbc.org/dp/zeisler/4292.html)
The
Essence of the Passage
The
essence of this passage has to do with hypocrisy.
This is not a lesson on how we should resist judging our fellowman. Nowhere
in this passage is Paul rebuking the readers for judging sin as sin. This
is no parallel discussion to Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount
where Jesus condemns critical unjustified judgment. The heart of the lesson
deals with failing to live up to what we recognize as true. If we are capable
of judging what is right and wrong in the lives of others, surely we are
competent to discern between right living and wrong living in our own lives.
The
Jews had no difficulty believing in one sovereign God. The Jews had the
advantage in that they had a written code by which to live. They prided
themselves because of their possession of the law. It had been preserved
and passed down by Jews. They felt that a mere possession of the law constituted
righteousness. However, they had rewritten the code to fit their own desired
lifestyles.
The
greater the knowledge -- the greater the sin. The end result of the Gentile
and Jewish approach to living was identical. One was just as ungodly as
the other. In reality, the Jews who possessed the law were more ungodly,
for they not only understood the sovereignty of God; they also had special
written revelation. However, their belief in God made them no different
from those who refused to believe in God. Both were without God and without
hope.
Living
Powerless Lives
A
life without obedience to God is hopeless because it is absolutely powerless.
God's eternal power and nature had been made known to both Jew and Gentile.
The Gentiles refused to accept the testimony of nature; the Jews refused
the written testimony. Both had denied the power of God. It is absolutely
essential for both to turn from their self-centered existence and accept
the power of God now available to both through believing the gospel of
Christ. (1:16-17)
Hypocrisy
is powerless to salvage our lives.
Hypocrisy is pretense. It is a form of godliness without power to change.
Hypocrisy seeks to resist change. It may look for what is wrong in another
to justify the wrong in us.In the
outset of the lesson I asked this question: " How many of us would like
to be judged by the standards we set for others?" A more penetrating
question is, How would you like to be judged by the standards you know
are right and expect others to live up to, but you are unwilling to adhere
to? Such
judgment will leave us powerless to salvage our lives.
There
are two ways in which we can experience the power of God in our lives.
One way is through obedience. When we obey God, God's salvaging power through
Jesus Christ is exerted in our lives. The second way we may experience
God's power in our lives is through disobedience. Disobedience brings God's
power through discipline.
Romans
2:6-9
God
"will give to each person according to what he has done."...
for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil,
there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every
human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; (NIV)
One
way brings good news. The other brings bad news. The power we discover
in each is the power witnessed in the resurrection. We have a choice to
experience God's salvaging power or his wrath power.
The
psalmist says, "One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that
you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will
reward each person according to what he has done." (Psalms 62:11-12 NIV)
Solomon wrote, "If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not
he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know
it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs
24:12 NIV)
Galatians
6:6-8
Anyone
who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his
instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what
he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature
will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the
Spirit will reap eternal life. (NIV)
We
must not overlook the fact that trouble and distress for those who do evil,
is experienced in their earthly existence. Paul writes, "The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of
men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made
it plain to them." (Romans 1:18-19 NIV) God has turned the Gentiles over
to their own self-destructive ways to run headlong after their own selfish
desires. Look at God's temporal judgment against the Jews throughout Old
Testament history.
I
was at the laundry washing some quilts. A lady had a roll of quarters lying
on the laundry table. She walked off and left them on the laundry table,
as she busied herself with her laundry. When she came back, I said, "You
must be a trusting soul to leave your money like that.” She replied, "No,
I know God will punish whoever gets my money three times over." She said
it in humor, but her basic concept about God is right. We pay for our wrongdoing.
Some believe that you pay seven times over. Of course, there is really
no way to measure the distress and trouble we receive because of our wrong.
It is as immeasurable as the power of God.
The
difficulty with disobedience is that God punishes us in the present. If
we refuse to allow God's discipline to persuade us to repent we will store
up God's wrath against us for his righteous judgment in that final day.
Why
is this punishment brought upon the disobedient? Simply because they know
better! The Gentiles knew God through nature and deliberately denied him.
The Jews had special advantage in that they had special revelation from
God and lived no different. Both refused to obey God's law written on their
hearts.
A
few years ago a man drowned off Clearwater beach. The tide was going out
and the current was strong where the water was rushing out of the narrow
passages of the intercostal water way. He got caught up in the current
and was actually pulled away from shore. He began trying to swim against
the tide to get back to shore. He soon became tired and drowned. Experts
said that he should have relaxed and floated out with the tide and waited
to be rescued.
The
sovereignty of God is moving this world toward a final destination.If
we refuse to go with him it is like swimming against the current. The power
of the God, which is intended to save us, will drown us. The world may
persuade you to think that swimming against the current is the way to live
but you will drown. The world may even make it look like the easiest way
to live. But it will leave us powerless to salvage our lives. We may stay
afloat, but we will lose ground fast. We may even invent ingenious ways
to stay afloat, but God's grace is our only hope. We may even try to convince
ourselves we are going in the right way. He can rescue us.
Notice
the warnings against harmful desires that plunge us to destruction in the
following verses.
1
Timothy 6:8-10
But
if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who
want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish
and harmful
desires
that plunge
men into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager
for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many griefs.
(NIV)
Experiencing
the Power of God’s Grace
I'm
speaking about bad news. This
part of what we are talking about this morning is not the most popular
aspect of God's grace today. I thought I would tell you the bad news first.
Could a God full of grace allow us to run headlong into destructive living
without making an effort to discipline us for the purpose of salvaging
our lives. Would he not prolong humanity's suffering by not allowing us
to reap what we sow?
I
have saved the good news to last because I want to impress upon you with
the availability of God's power to salvage lives. What do we do when we
reach a point in life where we know we do not have the power to make it
on our own? How about discovering God's power for living?
When
the reigns of leadership fell to Joshua after the death of Moses, Joshua
was faced with the responsibility of leading the children of Israel across
Jordan to the promise land. Forty years in the wilderness of S-I-N had
taken its toll. The Sinai dessert may have been harsh, but at least it
seemed familiar and safe. So God out of the riches of his kindness reassured
Joshua by telling him "No one will be able to stand up against you all
the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will
never leave you nor forsake you. 'Be strong and courageous, because you
will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers
to give them. Be strong and very courageous.
. . Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will
be with you wherever you go.'" (Joshua 1:5-7a, 9 NIV)
Amazingly,
God's kindness, tolerance and patience had sustained them for forty years
as he disciplined and punished them for their sin. Now God's power is ready
to lead them into the promise land. The richness of kindness of his power
was astonishing.
The
nature of God's power makes it attractive.
Romans
2:4-6
Or
do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience,
not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because
of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath
against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment
will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has
done." (NIV)
When
we stubbornly refuse to repent of our hypocrisy we show contempt for the
riches of God’s grace. God’s kindness, tolerance and patience had been
spurned. Those were the very things that should have led them to repent.
The
gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Although contempt
was shown for his grace, we should realize how God wishes to exert his
power in our lives.
God
exerts his power through the riches of his kindness. (2:4)
The kindness of God's power is designed to lead us to repentance. But God's
kindness cannot be held in contempt.
My
four-year-old grandson, Dakota, was helping me move my office a few days
ago. He climbed upon the U-haul and ask, “Papaw can I help you?” I said,
“Of course!” I handed him my smallest inkjet printer. He was all smiles.
I placed it in hands carefully --- with some doubt whether I should. He
proceeded to go down the ramp and tripped and fell. My printer hit the
ground and just fell apart. The housing around the printer ended up in
several pieces. Dakota got up with a fearful look in his eyes and began
to cry. I could tell he was afraid I would be mad. So I brushed him off
and told him it was okay. I assured him that I could put it back together.
I
knew I had trusted him with something I had no business trusting a four-year-old
with, but I thought it would be okay, especially since I had let him put
it on the truck earlier. I knew he really wanted to help, so I entrusted
him with something important. If he had gone to back of the truck and thrown
it off, well that would be a different story. That would have been contempt
for my kindness. Who wants to tolerate another’s contempt? But he was struggling
to live up to his responsibility. What more could you ask? (A few days
later I did put the printer back together, and surprisingly it works, although
the power source plug is not was originally.)
God's
exerts his power in tolerance. But
God will not tolerate our indulgence with sin. Job says, "Nevertheless,
the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will
grow stronger. (Job 17:9 NIV) It is obvious, holding to God's ways is a
condition to growing stronger in him.
The
reason why God is showing us the qualities of his grace, and not judging
us immediately, is not because he approves of our sin. It is because he
understands the nature of our struggles. If there were no struggle, there
would not be any need for patience or tolerance.
God's
power is exerted through his patience.
God is patience in dealing with our weakness, but he will not tolerate
hypocrisy. Jeremiah lived in difficult times when he wrote, "The LORD is
good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good
to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." (Lamentations 3:25-26 NIV)
Hebrews
6:11-12
We
want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order
to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (NIV)
The
kindness, tolerance and patience of God's power are designed to lead us
to repentance. It is encouraging when we understand God knows our deepest
darkest secrets (2:16), and is willing to save us through the riches of
kindness.
Romans
2:6-7
God
"will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who
by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will
give eternal life.
(NIV)
Hebrews
7:25
Therefore
he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because
he always lives to intercede for them. (NIV)
Isaiah
3:10
Tell
the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit
of their deeds.
(NIV)
Conclusion:
The
power of God is not a quick fix or easy solutions for all the world's problems
or even for all the church's problems, not even for all of my problems.
It is the deep, abiding, sustaining presence of God every step of the way.
"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
It is kind, tolerant and patient to struggling souls.
For
a person initially coming to Christ the future is strange territory. The
past seems safer and it is known, but ahead of you is the unknown, unsafe
and unfamiliar. It can be intimidating as we look into the unpredictable
future. But the good news of the gospel is that we don't have to face the
unfamiliar all alone. We face it in the power of God.
Two
lifestyles are paralleled in Romans 2. One way may seem very unfamiliar
as we think about living up to the standards we recognize as right. The
other way may seem like the quick fix we have been looking for to solve
all our problems. It says, just accept yourself as you are, but expect
the world to live up to your standards of right. The quick fix has to do
with the way we want others to live, while ignoring the way we live. One
way will leave us abandoned by God. The other way promises us the presence
and power of God.
Justice
- When you get what you deserve
Mercy
- When you don't get what you deserve
Grace
- When you get what you don't deserve
God
gives us what we don't deserve. It is a power to overcome the harshness
of our own hypocrisy.