The Judgement Day Of Mr. & Ms. GoodPerson: Romans Series #5

In Romans chapter 1, the apostle Paul sets forth the truth that all people everywhere are sinners and are in desperate need of a Savior. So in that dark, black background, as he lays the velvet background of human sin, he shows the diamond of the Gospel, and it sparkles with all of its clarity and purity against the backdrop of the sinfulness of the hearts of men.

In Romans chapter 1 Paul brings the total pagan before God and shows that the pagan needs Christ as his Savior. Then in Romans 2 he brings the good, moral person and shows that the moral person needs a Savior. He brings the church member, the religious person, and shows that this person also needs a Savior. Then, in the third chapter he brings the whole human race together and shows that all men everywhere are sinners and they desperately need a Savior.

In Romans 2:1 there is a change in subject. He changes by saying, “Therefore thou….” Up to this point he had been using the word, “they.” Now he turns his attention to an imaginary individual. Five times in verse 1 he says “thou.” “Thou are inexcusable, O man.” “Whosoever thou art that judges.” “When thou judge another, thou condemns thyself. For thou judges the same things.” Then down in verse 3—two times again. “Thinks thou this, O man, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”

It’s as if Paul has been talking to total pagans, and now he turns to another individual and addresses himself to that individual. The question we raise is, to whom is Paul speaking? Who is this imaginary individual? This individual Paul is talking to here is that person who believes that what has been said in Romans chapter 1 does not apply to him or her. This person believes that he or she is a good person. They believe they are good enough to get to heaven.

Paul is addressing in Romans chapter 2 the good, moral individual. I want to call them Mr. or Ms. GoodPerson. I want to write to Mr. GoodPerson or Ms. GoodPerson. Every individual wants to proclaim his or her goodness. Many people are smug in their own goodness. They are smug in their own good deeds, and they somehow think this is sufficient before God.

We note three times in Romans chapter 2, Paul mentions the judgment of God. In verse 2, “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth….” In verse 3, “Do you think that you will escape the judgment of God?” In verse 5, “The revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson, the Bible teaches there is going to be a day of judgment. The Bible says God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath appointed.

I.  The World Will Experience the Confrontation of Christ (Romans 2:1-3)

As the apostle Paul teaches about the sinfulness of mankind in Romans chapter 1, I imagine Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson standing while he has been preaching about the pagan and their need of Christ. No doubt they have said, “They really need to hear what you have to say.” Then, Paul suddenly, dramatically turns and looks at them and says, “Do you think you will escape the judgment of God?”

God’s judgment is impartial. In Romans 2:11 it says there is no respect of person with God. Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson have gotten themselves into the habit of criticizing other people. They have gotten themselves into the habit of passing judgment on the conduct and behavior of other individuals. In Romans 2:1, we read, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that criticizes; for when you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge do the same things.”

We know that the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 that we are not to criticize others. Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Yet somehow the favorite indoor sport of many people is passing judgment on the behavior of other individuals. The Bible said that in so doing, when good, moral people pass judgment on those who are around them, they pass judgment upon themselves.

Why does the Bible tell us we are not to pass judgment on others? One of the reasons is that when we criticize other people, we are putting ourselves in the place of God. We are saying,  “Move over, God. I am all-knowing; I’m all-capable of understanding the hearts and minds of individuals.”

Additionally, when we criticize other people we are claiming moral superiority over them. But this verse of Scripture says that the good, moral person who judges the behavior of others is guilty of the same things he sees in the lives of other individuals. So the Bible says we are not to pass judgment on others, because in so doing, we actually condemn ourselves.

Every time we criticize the behavior or the activity of another person, we are really sealing our own condemnation. In criticizing the behavior of another person, we are saying there is a right and there is a wrong. We are saying there is a standard whereby behavior is to be judged. When we criticize we set up a standard, and according to the teachings of the Bible, none of us have perfectly lived up to the standard. We may be 99 percent right, have done right on 99 percent of the occasions. However, if we have 1 percent failed to live up to the standard, 1 percent failed to be everything you ought to be, then the Bible says you are a sinner, and you are facing the judgment of Almighty God.

The confrontation is that the judgment of God is not only impartial, but it is inevitable. In verse 2 we read, “We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.” The Scripture does not say here that the judgment of God is according to that which is true, but the judgment of God is according to truth. Truth is that by which everything else is determined to be true or false. The Bible is teaching here that every individual one day will be judged by God on the basis of that which corresponds to reality.

In John 17:17 the Bible says, “Thy word is truth.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “1 am the truth.” There is coming the time when Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson, like every person, is going to be judged according to the Word of God and the Son of God and when they put themselves alongside the perfect standard of God’s Word and the perfect standard of God’s Son.

The judgment of God is going to be inescapable. In verse 3 we read, “Thinks thou this, O man, who judges those who do such things that you the same that thou shall escape the judgment of God?” He is saying there is no escape from the judgment of God. Paul uses a word here that is taken from the language of mathematics. When he says, “Do you think?” he is using a mathematical word. It means “to figure, to calculate.” We read in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.”

II.  The World Will Exemplify the Confirmation of Christ (Romans 2:4-5)

Scripture basically confirms the fact that the Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson deserve the righteous judgment of God. Why does the good, moral person, like every other person in the world, deserve the judgment of God, and why is it called the righteous judgment of God?

They deserve the judgment of God because of what good people despise. Verse 4, “despised thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering.” There we have a trinity of blessings from God: 1) The goodness of God; 2) The forbearance of God; and 3) The longsuffering of God—God being slow to avenge wrong. Yet the good, moral person despises this. He looks down on this. The righteous judgment of God is deserved when any individual despises the goodness and the mercy and the love of a holy, righteous God.

They deserve the judgement of God because of what they decline. Paul states, “…not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” God’s goodness is the common grace of God. There is saving grace that brings us into the family of God, but there is common grace experienced by all of the members of the human family.

If you had three good meals today, if you had a good bed to sleep in last night, if you have a good home to live in, if you are able to live relatively without fear, if you have a good family, if you have a sane mind, if you have a sound body, you have experienced the goodness of God, the common grace of God. This life experience should cause Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson to say, “God has been so good to me, the least I can do is repent of my sins and give my heart and my life to the Lord Jesus.” The goodness of God is not an invitation to sin. The goodness of God is an incentive to repentance.

We have learned what good people despise, decline, and now discover. We read in Romans 2:5, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” That verse is saying that every day a lost person lives in sin they are accumulating wrath that they will experience on the day of wrath.

The Greek word for “treasures up” is really where we get our English word thesaurus. It means to store up, collect, hoard up. The picture in the background here is the picture of a miser who is hoarding pieces of gold, gradually accumulating those pieces of gold. Scripture is saying here that whether you be a total pagan or a good, moral person, the sins you commit on a daily basis are bringing forth an accumulation of sin in your life that will result in an accumulation of wrath on the day of wrath.

In Isaiah 1:31, we read, “Your evil deeds are the spark that sets the straw on fire.” It is saying exactly what Romans 2:5 is saying. The impenitent, the unbeliever, whether he be a total pagan or whether he be a good, moral person, is accumulating his own store of wrath. And at the day of wrath, he will bring his own judgment upon himself by the things he has done and the sins he has committed.

There is a real danger for the good, moral person. Mr. GoodPerson and Ms. GoodPerson have the danger that day by day they accumulate these sins that are leading him and her to the day of wrath. We read, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart.”

Every day a person refuses to repent of his or her sin and come to Christ, they are hardening their heart. The Greek word here is the word from which we get the word, sclerosis. You’ve heard of arterial sclerosis. It means a hardening of the arteries. Hardening of the arteries will result in the grave. Sclerosis—hardening of the soul—will result in the lake of fire.

There are good, decent people who live every day accumulating wrath against the day of wrath. Every day they reject the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s one more day they get sclerosis of the soul. And there may come a day that they can hear the songs, but they won’t move them anymore.

III.  The World Will Exclaim the Condemnation of Christ (Romans 2:6-16)

Paul now quickly lays before us the basis, the principles upon which every individual, including this good, moral person, will be judged. There are three principles of judgment by which every individual is going to be judged.

First, every individual is going to be judged on the basis of conduct. In verses 6-10, we read:

Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.”

There are two groups of people. In verse 7 we have the saved. In verse 8 we have the lost. In verse 6 Paul says that every individual will be judged according to their conduct. Keep in mind we are not talking about salvation here. We are not saying that you are going to be saved on the basis of what you do. We are not saying that you are saved by your conduct. We are saying that judgment is going to be on the basis of your conduct. What you do does not save you, but what you do demonstrates whether or not you are saved.

In verse 7 is the saved person. What is a saved person seeking in life? They are seeking glory and honor and immortality. The result of that kind of life is eternal life. This kind of lifestyle demonstrates that individual has been saved.

What about the lost person in verse 8? He is a contentious person. That is, he is in rebellion against God. He’s in rebellion against the things of God. So he does not obey truth. He obeys unrighteousness. What is the result?

Paul gives four words, which when packed together, give one of the most graphic pictures of hell in all of the Bible. Indignation—that means the explosive wrath of God. Wrath—means the slow-rising wrath of God. It’s like the dynamite stick and the fuse that burns down to it. Indignation is the dynamite stick, the fuse is the slow-rising wrath of God, and one of these days the fuse will hit the stick and the explosion will occur.

Then Paul says there will be tribulation, such trouble and anguish as human beings ever could imagine. Then he says anguish. The word anguish means to confine, narrow down, to restrict. It is the picture of the awful loneliness of a soul in hell without God.

People may say, “I haven’t accepted Jesus as my Savior, but if I go to hell I’ll have plenty of company down there in hell.” But this verse here says that hell is going to be tribulation and anguish, and it means to be confined. It means to be in solitary confinement. You won’t see anybody else in hell. You aren’t going to have a big party down there in hell. You won’t be shouting and rejoicing down there in hell.

Second, all people are going to be judged on the basis of conscience. In verses 12-15 we read:

For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law (that is those who have never had the opportunity to hear): and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law (that is those who have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel); (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which do not have the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.)

He is saying here that all people everywhere are going to be judged on the basis of conscience. This really touches on the whole question of, what about those who have never heard the Gospel? There are some basic principles here that provide the foundation for answering the question regarding those who have never heard.

One principle is that some people have more opportunity than others. There are some, he calls here, without the law, and there are some in the law. Since you are reading this book, you are in the second category. You are in the law. That means you have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel, even though some people have a greater opportunity than others.

But the second principle is that all people have some light. Romans 1:19: “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them.” That’s the two-fold light that every person in the world has. There is the light of creation—God has manifested His reality to them in creation. Then there’s the light of conscience—God has manifested Himself in them.

There is something deep, down inside of every individual that lets you know there is a God. God has written His moral and His spiritual law in the heart of every individual, and God has given every individual a conscience. The conscience is that faculty of soul that distinguishes between right and wrong.

The conscience is the moral beeper that goes off in your heart when you know you’ve done wrong. The Bible has a great deal to say about that conscience. The Bible talks about a good conscience, but it also talks about a vile conscience. The Bible talks about being convicted by your own conscience; then the Bible talks about a weak conscience.

Then the Bible talks about having your conscience seared with a hot iron. That’s why the very moment you know that you are a sinner, the very moment you know you are lost and need Jesus Christ—at that very moment you need to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The third principle is that God is going to judge every individual on the basis of the calendar. In verse 16, we learn that God has already picked out the day of judgment. It’s already circled on God’s calendar. The countdown is already on. We are one day closer to the day of judgment. In the day—“in the day—when God shall judge the secrets of men.” What an awesome statement. In that day God is going to judge the secrets of men.

Did you know the Bible says that every hidden thing is going to be revealed, and that which men and women have done in the secret place will be shouted from the housetop? There is coming a day of judgment, and the Bible says that in that day of judgment God will reveal, God will judge, and will pass judgment on the secrets of men. Who is going to be the judge? Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came the first time, the self-righteous judged Him. They passed judgment on His actions, they passed judgment on His motives, they analyzed and tore up everything that Jesus Christ said, and finally they brought Him to judgment before Pontius Pilate. He was found innocent and condemned to die. The first time He came, He came and was judged. The second time He comes, He’s coming to be the judge. Every individual is going to have to stand before the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are now back to the sparkling diamond. We are back to the good news. The bad news is that whether you are a total pagan, whether you are a lost church member, or whether you are even a good, moral person like Mr. GoodPerson or Ms. GoodPerson—the bad news is all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death. But the good news is you can have your case settled out of court.

We are all under the judgment of God. We all deserve the wrath of God. We all deserve the judgment of God. But the Good News of the Gospel is that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Mr. GoodPerson? Ms. GoodPerson? Mr. GoodBoy? Ms. GoodGirl? There is hope for you and for all of us. We can settle out of court by allowing Jesus Christ to come into our lives and sit upon the thrones of our hearts!