The Critic Meets the Judge...

Several years ago there was a book written called I'm O.K., You're O.K., which became very popular. What I hope we’ve seen from our study in Romans Chapter 1 is the message that says: "I am not O.K. You are not O.K. No one is O.K." This may sound like bad news, and it is. Even those of us who regard ourselves as religious, spiritual or moral are far from God’s idea of O.K. We’re all a mess!

It’s at this point in Paul’s letter to the Romans, that many of the self-righteous Jews -- and Christians as well -- were probably shouting a loud “Amen” to the condemnation of sinners in the first Chapter. But in Chapter 2, Paul turns to these religious and morally superior types and points the finger at them: “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.” (Romans 2:1)

The focus of Romans Chapter 1 is that none of us have any excuse: we are all sinful. The focus of Chapter 2 is that GOD alone is the Judge. Nobody is entitled to judge. By the very act of judging someone, we acknowledge that there is a standard not being met. But that same standard applies to us as well. The truth is that we do not live perfectly by any standard. We are all self-righteous and -- again -- without excuse.

When we judge others, we aren’t just wrong in assessing the moral standing of others but we are also wrong in assessing our own moral standing. When we act self-righteously, we make two grave errors: we underestimate the height of God’s standard of righteousness and we underestimate the depth of our own sin. It is a universal temptation to exaggerate the faults of others while minimizing our own, to notice the small speck in someone’s eye, but not the log in our own. (Matt. 7:1-3)

“. . . And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. . .” Do you understand the intense scrutiny and thorough intensity of God's judgment? Let's turn for just a moment to that judgment: God will judge according to Truth (Rom. 2:2). His judgment will be inescapable (vs. 3). God’s judgment will be according to our deeds (v. 6) and without partiality (vs. 11). Finally, God’s judgment will be according to the Gospel (vs. 16).

None of us will be able to stand before God and open our mouths to say a thing in our defense. False morality will be exposed for the hypocrisy that it is. What a scary thought. Everything we’ve done in secret, every thought, every sinful desire we’ve indulged, every evil word spoken or even thought, every sin will be revealed. What a mess! We certainly are not O.K. But. . . this is why Paul gives us this teaching in Romans. Even though this doctrine of God’s judgment seems like bad news, it is in fact very necessary information that we should be glad to know. Why? Stay Tuned to Romans….

-Pastor Mark