Condemned – With or Without Law

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? 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.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But 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; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:1-16)

Paul continues his argument in order to reach the conclusion that all men and women are under sin and subject to the wrath of God, and that when it comes to this the Jews are not in a better position than the Gentiles. Although the argument is detailed, it is easy to follow his reasoning. To make the passage more manageable, we will loosely divide it into three sections – v. 1-5, 6-11, and 12-16. In the process, v. 17-29 will also become clear.

After David committed adultery with a woman and arranged to have her husband killed, Nathan the prophet told him a story about a rich man who took a poor man’s lamb and slaughtered it for his own guest. David was outraged and declared the such a man deserved to die. But Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” Nathan never said that the rich man did not deserve to die, or that David should not have passed judgment, or that David’s judgment was wrong; rather, for the prophet to make his point, he depended on the fact that David would pass judgment and on the rightness of David’s judgment. Thus the problem was not that David passed judgment on the rich man or the judgment that the man deserved to die, but the problem was that the king did not pass the same judgment on himself.

Paul now writes as if to address a debate partner, a Jew who passes judgment on those who commit the sins condemned by the law, such as idolatry, homosexuality, and others listed in Romans 1. He says the one who passes judgment has “no excuse,” but not because he passes judgment. The assertion that he has “no excuse” depends on the fact that this man passes judgment and that his judgment is correct. Rather, Paul means that this man does the same things that he judges others for doing, and he has no excuse for doing these same things, because his passing judgment on others shows that he is aware that these things are wrong and sinful. But he does them anyway, and thus he has no excuse.

It is important to grasp this. If we assume that the Bible does not take a judgmental stance, then we will miss the point of Romans 1-3. This is one of the most judgmental sections in all of Scripture, because it condemns everybody, and anybody who is anybody. These beginning verses of Romans 2 are intended to include more people under condemnation, namely, those who correctly use the law to condemn others. In fact, it condemns even those people who condemn judgmental people, those who take a judgmental attitude toward those with a judgmental attitude. When they judge those who judge others, they do what they condemn others for doing, and so they condemn themselves as well, and further illustrates the apostle’s argument.

Paul affirms that the man who condemns people for doing the things listed in Romans 1 is right. He writes, “Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” Thus in condemning them, this man merely agrees with God. And even if the man does not condemn them, God himself condemns them and punishes them. Again, the problem is not that he condemns people for their idolatry, homosexuality, greed, malice, and other sins, but it is in the fact that he does not condemn himself for doing the same things. So at this stage of the argument, now that the others are already shown to be under condemnation, Paul shows that this man who correctly condemns others is also under the same condemnation.

Although the argument applies to any man that fits the accusation, Paul clearly has the Jew in mind. He makes this explicit in verse 17 and writes, “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew…You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” (v. 17, 23). This is in keeping with his intention to show that on this matter the Jew does not stand in a superior position to the Gentile (3:9). So he writes, “So when you…do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 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.”

Christians are often accused of hypocrisy. Do Christians make correct judgments about people’s sins, but then do some of the same things themselves? Of course! But this just illustrates the point that Paul is making, that in ourselves we are awful people, and worthy of damnation. The difference with true Christians, and not those who merely pretend, is that we will condemn ourselves as well, and repent of our sins. We admit that in ourselves we would be just like the non-Christians – idolatrous, driven by strange lusts, and filled with greed and malice. We have no righteousness of our own, but Jesus Christ saves us with his righteousness, and even though we still stumble in many ways, his Spirit works within us and makes us better and better.

The next section (v. 6-11) might seem slightly strange at first, but the difficulty is minimal if we keep in mind the purpose of his argument. Paul cannot be suggesting that eternal life can be attained by doing good, and “good” here is defined by the law, because soon after this he would conclude, “There is no one who does good, not even one” (3:12) and “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (3:20). He is not contradicting himself or working against his own purpose.

He begins the section by stating that God “will give to each person according to what he has done” (v. 6), and elaborates on this so as to reach the conclusion, “For God does not show favoritism” (v. 11). So this falls under his general purpose to show that all are under condemnation, and that the Jews are not better off than the Gentiles. This corresponds to verse 13, where he says, “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” It is not enough to have the law or to hear the law, but one must obey the law for it to show him righteous; otherwise, the law would expose him as a sinner, worthy to be damned.

But do the Jews obey the law? No, they break the law, and they break the law so regularly and thoroughly that Paul says, “As it is written, ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you'” (v. 24). God does not show favoritism to the Jews in this regard just because they are Jews. Just as he condemns the Gentiles for their idolatry, homosexuality, greed, malice, murder, and so on, he condemns the Jews for doing these things as well. Therefore, just having the law does not save the Jews, because they hear it but do not obey it. On the other hand, the Gentiles both do not hear it and do not obey it. Thus the Jews and the Gentiles come under the same condemnation. The apostle also applies this line of thinking to circumcision (2:25-27).

In any case, as Paul explains in the third section (v. 12-16), the Gentiles do have the law in a sense, or a law. Although they do not have the law as a “written code” (v. 27), their behavior seems to suggest a vague awareness of right and wrong, and a vague awareness of how right and wrong are defined by the law, so as to imply that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts as part of their constitution as human persons.

This does not necessarily mean that they possess the full moral code in their hearts, and still less does it mean that they follow it. Further, they do not always agree on the exact set of moral principles, so that one culture may consider it wrong to commit adultery and murder, but consider it acceptable to steal, and another culture may consider it wrong to steal, but acceptable to commit adultery and murder. Nevertheless, it remains that some of them consider it wrong to murder, and some of them consider it wrong to steal, and their thinking about these things sometimes superficially coincide with the law. And this shows that they have an instinctive albeit ambiguous awareness of right and wrong, and the moral principles that define right and wrong.

It is important to prevent misunderstanding. Paul does not say that by instinct the Gentiles could know God, or achieve righteousness, or attain salvation. He has already stated that non-Christians suppress their knowledge of God and turn to idols and fables, and that although they know God’s righteous decree that those who commit idolatry, homosexuality, and other sins deserve death, they not only continue to do these things but also approve of those who do them. The main purpose of Romans 1 and 2 is to reach the conclusion that all are under sin and subject to divine punishment. Therefore, he does not intend to say that the Gentiles can benefit from their innate knowledge of God and his moral laws.

Instead, his point is that although the Gentiles do not have a written code of worship and conduct as the Jews possess, they nevertheless have some awareness of its contents in their hearts, so that they are accountable to this just as the Jews are accountable to the written code. His intent is to condemn the Jews just as he condemns the Gentiles, and then condemn the Gentiles just as he condemns the Jews. So whether Jews or Gentiles, whether with or without the written code, those who consider it wrong to murder people still murder people, and those who consider it wrong to commit adultery still commit adultery. Even when Gentiles invent their own moral principles, and their own definitions of right and wrong, they still cannot live up to their ideals. Thus all men show that they are lawbreakers, and sinners subject to the wrath of God.

This is also the biblical answer regarding the fate of those who pass from this life without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul writes, “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.” Those who have been exposed to the Bible will be condemned to hell for not believing and obeying the Bible, and those who have never been exposed to the Bible will be condemned to hell even without the Bible, because it remains evident that they are sinners and lawbreakers. This is the result of Paul’s argument of comprehensive condemnation. How I rejoice that all men are condemned! “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge” (3:4). I approve every step of God’s plan, and I rejoice because by the condemnation of all sinners God will show forth his righteousness and make his justice evident.

A man is condemned because he is a sinner, both by birth and by transgression. It takes a very stupid and perverse person to ask, “What happens to those who have never heard the gospel?” Same as always. No man is saved by not hearing the gospel. The fact that God has sent forth salvation in Jesus Christ does not somehow mean that all men who do not hear it are saved! Those who hear it and believe it will be saved. Those who do not hear it or do not believe it are condemned by the sins that have always condemned them. What is the conclusion of the matter? “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin” (3:9). It makes no difference whether a person is a non-Christian Jew or a non-Christian Gentile – God will send him to hell and torture him forever.