Read Romans 2:1-16
Whenever we find ourselves feeling justifiably angry about someone’s sin, we should be careful. We need to speak out against sin, but we must do so in a spirit of humility. Often the sins we notice most clearly in others are the ones that have taken root in us. If we look closely at ourselves, we may find that we are committing the same sins in more socially acceptable forms. For example, a person who gossips may be very critical of others who gossip about him or her.
In His kindness, God holds back His judgment, giving people time to turn from their sin. It is easy to mistake God’s patience for approval of the wrong way we are living. Self-evaluation is difficult, and it is even more difficult to bring ourselves to God and let Him tell us where we need to change. But as Christians we must ask God to point out our sins, so that He can heal and forgive them. Unfortunately, we are more likely to be amazed at God’s patience with others than humbled at His patience with us.
When Paul’s letter was read in the Roman church, no doubt many heads nodded as he condemned idol worshipers, homosexual practices, and violent people. But what surprise his listeners must have felt when he turned on them and said in effect, “You are just as bad, and you have no excuse.” Paul was emphatically stressing that we have all sinned repeatedly, and there is no way apart from Christ to be saved from sin’s consequences.
In verse 7, Paul says that those who patiently and persistently do God’s will find eternal life. He is not contradicting his previous statement that salvation comes from faith alone. We are not saved by good deeds, but when we commit our life fully to God, we want to please Him and do His will. As such, our good deeds are a grateful response to what God has done, not a prerequisite to earning His favor.
Although God does not punish us immediately for sin, His eventual judgment is certain. We don’t know exactly when it will happen, but we know that no one will escape that final encounter with the Creator.
People are condemned not for what they know but for what they do with what they know. Those who know God’s written Word and His law will be judged by them. Those who have never seen a Bible still know right from wrong, and they will be judged because they violated those standards that their own consciences dictated. God’s law is written within them.
If you have traveled around the world, you would find evidence in every culture and society of God’s moral law. For example, all cultures prohibit murder, and yet in all societies that law has been broken. We belong to a stubborn sinful race. We know what is right, but we insist on doing what is wrong. It is not enough to know what is right; we must also do it. Admit to yourself and to God that you frequently fail to live up to your own standards, much less to God’s standards. That’s the first step to forgiveness and healing.