RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

Chapter 22: Paul’s Treatise on Man’s Condemnation

“There is none righteous, no, not even one.”

John 3:16 is the good news or “gospel” of God in a very condensed form, concisely expressing God’s desire to save mankind from judgment. All the apostles of Jesus Christ were divinely commissioned to convey this message of hope to the world. While John 3:16 is among the most succinct expressions of the gospel, the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is among the most detailed, systematic treatments of it.

In the greeting at the beginning of the letter, Paul emphasizes his divinely appointed role as one to whom the gospel was entrusted. He expresses he was “set apart for the gospel of God,” that he “served God in the preaching of the gospel,” that he was “eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome,” and that He was “not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:1-17).

After confirming his commission as God’s appointed custodian of the gospel, Paul embarks on delineating its actual content in the rest of the letter. But in doing so, the first thing Paul teaches is the universal condemnation of mankind. This spans from Romans 1:18 – 3:20, and comprises 15% of the entire letter. His goal is to prove that God, in the examination of man’s works, has determined all are sinners and worthy of judgment; there are no exceptions. Paul makes his case by breaking all humanity into three distinct categories: devout religious Jews, ethical people (whether Jews or Gentiles) who condemned sinful practices, and idolatrous immoral Gentiles who gleefully sinned. In this way he covers the entire moral spectrum.

On the one end you have devout, religious Jews. The Jews were God’s chosen people, descendants of Abraham to whom God promised to make a great nation. God Himself would rule that nation, and through it all the other nations of the world would be blessed. God Himself commanded Abraham and all his descendants to observe the rite of circumcision as a sign of God’s covenant blessings. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was the father of Jacob. And God Himself gave Jacob the name “Israel.”

Over hundreds of years the children of Israel became a great nation in accordance with God’s promise. God Himself gave the nation His moral Law, the Ten Commandments, miraculously engraved on stone. The religious rite of circumcision and the centrality of God’s Law formed Israel’s national identity, and it is what separated them from other nations throughout history. The Jews deemed themselves secure from God’s judgment on account of having been circumcised and given God’s Law.

On the other end you have idolatrous Gentiles. The Gentiles were those who were not Israelites or Jews. As such, they also were not recipients of God’s covenant promises. The nations to which they belonged did not have God’s Law or genuine prophets to convey God’s infallible messages. Gentiles were given to the worship of false gods through idols. And as a society they were unashamedly engaged in gross debauchery. Murder, rioting, cruelty, sexual perversions, rebellion and the like were things they not only openly engaged in, but were proud of.

In-between the devout, religious Jews and the immoral, idolatrous Gentiles, you have ethical people who condemned evil practices. These could be Jews or Gentiles who did not approve of the murderous, sexually immoral, rebellious behaviors of others. They not only recognized such behaviors were morally wrong. They strove to do the right thing and condemned those who brazenly sinned.

From these three categories, the contrast cannot be more stark. The Jews are enlightened as to who is the true God, circumcised as a covenant rite to that God, knowledgeable of His commands as revealed in His Law, and part of a nation and culture that reinforced the Law through parental instruction, national festivals, and weekly religious assemblies. The idolatrous Gentiles are unenlightened, uncircumcised, ignorant of God’s Law, worshipers of false gods through idolatry, and are sexually immoral, violent, and totally depraved. The ethical people include anyone who strove to do the right thing and condemn the depraved activities of others.

Paul systematically shows all three categories of people are liable to God’s judgment. His points may be restated this way:

Idolatrous, immoral Gentiles are liable to God’s judgment because they sin having rejected God’s revelation of Himself in creation.
Ethical people (whether Jew or Gentile) who condemn the sinful behavior of others are liable to God’s judgment because they also sin like those whom they condemn.
Religious Jews are liable to God’s judgment because they sin despite having God’s Law and being circumcised.

This division of thought is clearly seen in Paul’s use of words and general themes.

In the first section, Romans 1:18-32, we clearly see Paul has idolatrous, immoral Gentiles in view. He continually employs “them” and “they” throughout this section; a marked contrast from the use of “you” and “your” in the other sections. “They are without excuse,” “they did not honor him as God,” “they became fools” and so on. Paul also specifically cites idolatry as the trait of these people. They “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image” and they “served the creature rather than the creator.” Finally, he strongly condemns their character in relation to sin. They are “filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” These idolatrous, immoral Gentiles are portrayed as the worst for they enjoy sinning.

Paul argues idolatrous Gentiles are liable to God’s judgment because they sin having rejected God’s revelation of Himself in creation. Gentiles did not have the benefit of the revelation of God’s Law like the Jews. But Gentiles did have another revelation that has existed throughout human history: the testimony of God’s existence, power and divine nature as manifested in creation. But rather than worship God as a holy, all-powerful Being separate from His creation, they “became futile in their speculations” and “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” — their gods were idols in the image of man, animals or insects. What should have been self-evident in observing nature — God’s transcendent existence — they rejected. From there they rejected other things that should also have been evident from nature: that men and women were sexually designed for each other. But they rejected this obvious lesson from nature also, and instead engaged in homosexuality and lesbianism. Three times Paul uses the phrase “God gave them over” to signify God’s permitting fallen men to fulfill their evil, sexually perverse desires and engage in all manner of wickedness. Since these Gentiles rejected the revelation of God in creation, they are liable to God’s judgment.

In the second section, Romans 2:1-16, Paul has in view ethical people who condemn those who gleefully engage in evil behaviors like those just cited. Here Paul uses “you” and “your” as opposed to “they” and “them.” “You are storing up wrath for yourself,” “do you think lightly,” “because of your stubbornness,” and so on. He also begins this section by specifically citing the character of those in view as those who judge, repeating himself three times. “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Paul has in mind ethical people who view themselves as morally superior to others because they do not unashamedly and gleefully engage in sinful behavior.

Paul argues ethical people who condemn others are liable to God’s judgment because they still sin themselves. They may not gleefully practice sinning like others, but that is not the point. God’s judgment is based on whether you sinned, not whether you gleefully sinned and are happy about it. To put it another way, the issue is not whether you nod your head in agreement with God and say, “It is wrong to do this or that.” The issue is whether you do this or that. Since even ethical people fall short of this standard, they are liable to God’s judgment as well.

In the third section, Romans 2:17-29, Paul specifically has Jews in view. He begins this section with the phrase “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’” and describes them as those who have been “instructed out of the Law.” He then goes on to completely dismantle the two things every Jew thought safeguarded them from God’s judgment: the Law and the rite of circumcision.

Paul argues Jews are liable to God’s judgment because they still sin despite having God’s Law and being circumcised. Yes, they may have received the revelation of God’s Law and agree it is good not to steal or commit adultery — but they still steal and commit adultery. And as respects circumcision, what value is being circumcised if the person breaks God’s holy Law? Sinning essentially negates one’s circumcision. So Jews are also sinners, and liable to God’s judgment as well.

In the fourth and final section on man’s universal condemnation, Romans 3:1-20, Paul summarizes everything he has established in the previous three sections. After a short digression on the value of a Jewish heritage, he quotes numerous scriptures stating the inescapable conclusion: “There is none righteous, not even one.” This is God’s verdict on all mankind whether it be the immoral idolater, ethical person or devout Jew. Everyone is without excuse, stands condemned before God, and is worthy of judgment.

Paul’s treatise showing the just condemnation of these three different groups is far reaching. Several points are in order.

Man still rejects God’s revelation of Himself in nature. He is just more sophisticated about it now. Scientists, philosophers and other highly educated people authoritatively declare “God does not exist,” “Nothing in science requires the existence of a personal God,” or “There is no personal God; there are only forces in nature that bring order to the universe.” Such statements may seem profound, insightful and wise to the minds of fallen men. But in reality such pontifications only reveal the utter blindness of the speakers — they are all as guilty of rejecting God’s self-revelation in creation (and as foolish) as the man who worships a tree.

Homosexuality and lesbianism are not only immoral but also unnatural. One does not even need to look at a Bible to reach this conclusion. Even a young child given a block puzzle knows the square block belongs with the square socket, and the triangular block belongs with the triangular one. But modern man has not only rejected the evidence in creation of a transcendent God. He has also rejected basic, rudimentary principles of what nature teaches regarding sexuality. Homosexuality and lesbianism involves sexually unnatural activity — simple observations of male and female anatomy should make this obvious.

While the world may consider these unnatural sexual expressions indications of moral progress, in reality they indicate a greater depth of depravity and blindness that God desires to save individuals from. When a society deems those who consider same sex relationships unnatural as being insensitive, hateful, or bigoted, it reveals not how radical are those who hold to a heterosexual view of sexual expression, but rather how completely blind to even natural reason society has become.

Paul’s arguments apply to ethical people no matter where they are in the moral spectrum. It does not matter how distorted and twisted a person’s standards may be. They stand condemned even on the basis of those standards.

No matter where people land on the moral scale, there always exists some behaviors they deem morally unacceptable. The faithful husband may regard the unmarried couple living together immoral. That couple may deem adultery immoral. The adulterer may deem lesbianism immoral. And lesbians may in turn deem prostitution wrong. Everyone has something they consider morally wrong.

Paul’s argument of man’s sinfulness applies to every person right where they are at. We could say “You who say you should not be sexually immoral, you also say it is wrong to lie. Have you ever been sexually immoral or lied? Never mind whether you were proud of it, did you commit the act? If you are going to judge other people for their wrongdoings based on your own standards of right and wrong, have you not violated your own standards countless times and thereby condemned yourself?”

Professing Christians can make the same error as Jews by thinking they are protected from God’s judgment on the basis of works. Baptism, attending church, and giving thanks over meals are all things Jesus and His apostles taught. But doing these things in no way safeguards a person from God’s judgment. And yet how many people adopt this false view! People think “I will be spared God’s judgment; I have been baptized” or “God will not judge me; I go to church every Sunday.” Is this not the same error the Jews made as respects circumcision?

Paul’s arguments against this type of thinking could likewise be employed. We could say “If a man is not baptized and yet fulfills all the other commands of Christ, is he not for all practical purposes baptized? And if you are baptized, and yet you do not keep all Christ’ commands, have you not negated your baptism?” The point is baptism, church attendance, and praying over meals in no way protects a person from God’s judgment. Good works in no way saves a person.

Paul the apostle was divinely commissioned by God with the gospel or “good news.” An essential part of the gospel is understanding all mankind is guilty of sin and worthy of God’s judgment — this is true of Gentiles, ethical people, and religious Jews. Gentiles are liable to God’s judgment because they sin having rejected God’s self-revelation in creation as a transcendent, all-powerful God. Ethical people who denounce the immoral practices of others are liable to God’s judgment because they violate their own standards of right and wrong. Religious Jews are liable to God’s judgment because they still sin even though they have fulfilled religious rites and know God’s Law. You fall into one or more of these three categories, and therefore you likewise are liable to God’s judgment

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

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