God’s Universal Truth (Romans 2:6)
This paragraph begins with a jarring truth declaration: God will repay each person according to their works (Romans 2:6). This is a repeated declaration that is made throughout the scriptures. The psalmist states that this is true.
Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work. (Psalm 62:11-12 ESV)
In our study of Jeremiah’s prophecy, he also taught this truth:
I, the LORD, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. (Jeremiah 17:10 CSB)
Jesus made the same declaration:
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:24-27 ESV)
The apostle Paul made this point in his letter to the Galatian churches:
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8 ESV)
What I want us to see as we begin is that this is an undeniable truth that is found in many places in the scriptures. God will repay each person according to their works. Now there is another important aspect to this truth that the apostle Paul wants to make clear to his readers. He also wants to make clear that when we read that God will repay each person according to their works, he means every person without exception. Look at Romans 2:9-11.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:9-11 ESV)
God does not play favorites. God is not partial. It does not matter your race, gender, social status, economic status, or cultural background. Every person without exception will be judged by their works. In our last lesson we talked about the games that we play. We think we will be the exception. We think that we have an excuse. We think that we will somehow escape with our sins. But we do not have any excuse and there is no escape if we continue to practice sinning. According to Romans 2:9, if we do evil, we will be judged and it does not matter who you are. According to Romans 2:10, if we do good, we will be rewarded and it does not matter who you are.
So is that the simple message? Is that all that needs to be said? If you do good, then you will be rewarded and if you do wrong, you will be judged? Sometimes this is the way God and religion are portrayed. In fact, it has been so long portrayed this way that people will think that if they are a good person, then they will be rewarded and they will go to heaven. This is why people at funerals scour the lives of the deceased to see if they were a good person and did not do bad things. We want to simplify the message to just go and do good. While it is true that we have been created to do good works (cf. Ephesians 2:10), the history of humanity shows that there is no one who is good. We want to define good in a way that means we are good because of what we are doing right now. Humans do not look to God’s definition of good. We make our own definition of good. We will look at this problem when we come to chapter 3. But I think it is important for to take a moment to realize that being repaid according to our works is not a comfortable place to rest. So what is the path to the gospel? Where is the apostle Paul wanting to take us by proclaiming that God will repay every person according to their works? Let’s return to Romans 2:6-8 and spend some time considering how God is going to reward each person.
The Pursuit (Romans 2:7-11)
Paul wants us to think about what we are seeking. It is an important question. What are seeking in this life? What are you seeking for yourself? What are you seeking in this world? What are you looking for? Now there is an important premise that we must consider. Everyone is seeking something. No one is immune. All of us are looking for something in this life. All of us are seeking something for ourselves. Everyone is searching in this world. So the apostle Paul is going to ask us here in Romans 2 about what we are seeking.
Eternal life is given to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality. Wrath and fury are those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth. Notice Paul depicts these two paths in terms what you are seeking. But I wonder if you are like me and you read verse 7 and you read verse 8 and you are confused because they both sound selfish. Eternal life is to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality? We understand verse 8. Wrath and fury are for those who are selfish, who are self-seeking, or are selfishly ambitious. But what does Paul mean that eternal life is to those who have a motivation to seek glory, honor, and immortality?
Jump down to verse 29 to help us understand where Paul is going with this point. In Romans 2:29 Paul will conclude this paragraph saying, “His praise is not from man but from God” (Romans 2:29 ESV). The problem is not the desire for glory, honor, and immortality. The problem is where we want to receive these things from and from whom we receive it. There is one way to seek glory. You can elevate yourself among people. You can make decisions in your life so that people revere you and praise you. You can work really hard, or show off your intellect, and display your talent so that people glorify you because of you and what you do. You do something and you expect and desire people to praise you. This is a great temptation. We want attention. We want people to see what we are doing and praise it. We want people to glorify us. We like it. We want them to honor us. We like being elevated. We can certainly see that humans have within their hearts a desire for immortality. Think about how many movies have been made about finding some mythical fountain of youth so that you can drink and live forever. Think about how many people have written books, given interviews, and have shows in which they explain how to live longer. If you drink this juice, eat this plant, have this special concoction, use UV light masks, and the like then you will live longer. There are people cryogenically freezing themselves trying to achieve immortality. Humans seek glory, honor, and immortality.
How To Pursue
So what is the problem? The problem is that we can choose to seek these things in selfish ways. We live without regard for people and without regard for God so that we can get the glory, honor, and immortality that we inwardly desire. There is another problem with seeking these things in selfish ways. The other problem is that these things are temporary and empty. The glory that comes from people is so nice for the moment and then it is gone. Last week’s praise does not last to this week. Glory in the moment does not carry over to next month or next year. Earthly glory and honor is momentary. Can you imagine if my wife asked me why I do not tell her I love her and my response is because I told her on the day we were married and that should be good enough. No, we understand it does not work like that. We live life and make decisions and we wonder if that love is still there. The glory and honor from people just does not satisfy. This is certainly true with all of our plans for immortality. Who has been successful in achieving immortality? No human has obtained immortality.
But there is another way to seek glory, honor, and immortality that does not require selfish ambition and selfishness. There is a glory, honor, and immortality that comes from God. Romans 2:29 says this. There is a praise that comes from people and there is a praise that comes from God. Later in this letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul will say that we will be glorified with Christ is we suffer with him (Romans 8:17). God has true glory, honor, and immortality that he is offering to all who will obey him. The glory God gives is far greater and far better than any glory a human can give to you. The honor that God gives far surpasses any honor that a human can give to you. There are scriptures telling us that we are going to reign with Christ (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 20:21-23). Reigning here is nothing in comparison to reigning with Christ. I asked earlier who has been successful in achieving immortality. Jesus has conquered sin and death. We see Jesus destroying the power of death so that we know that we can have immortality with him.
Persistent In the Pursuit
Now look carefully at Romans 2:7. Eternal life is given to those who are persistent in doing good. How are they persistent in doing good? What causes them to not grow weary in doing good? Why do they continue to not be self-seeking? Why do they refuse to disobey the truth? They are persistent in doing good because they are seeking true glory, honor, and immortality. They do not want the seen which is temporary. They want the unseen which is eternal. They want true life. They want true honor. They want true glory. This is why they persist in doing good. They do not merely do good. They do good because they have hearts that desire what God is offering to his children.
This is why the scriptures are constantly telling us that we need to seek him, pursue him, press on to the goal, and run the race that is before us. God does not tell us to take up our inner tube and float in this life. God gives glory, honor, and immortality to those who pursue him. This is the amazing grace of God. God could just tell us to seek him because he is God. But we serve a good God who tells us that everything we could ever desire is fulfilled in him. Seek glory, honor, and immortality but understand something: only God can give those things. Seeking after these things from any other source is empty and unsatisfying. God is holding glory for us to be enjoyed when persist in seeking him by doing good. Let’s conclude by listening to how Paul said these things to the Philippians. Paul speaks about having a righteousness that comes from God. He wants that so
…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11 ESV)
Paul wants to attain the resurrection of the dead by any means possible. So what does Paul do? Keep reading.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 ESV)
Paul presses on to the goal for the prize of the upward call. Paul is striving for God. Paul is striving to reach the prize. Paul is striving to attain the resurrection of the dead. This is what pushes him to run the race and strain forward to what lies ahead. In the final analysis, the problem is that we do not want this glory, honor, and immortality enough to strain forward to the prize. We are too content in this world. We are too pleased by our possessions and our tv shows. We are too happy with what we have that we sit and float rather than run and press. We persist in doing good and run with endurance because the prize will be worth it. We persist in doing good and run with endurance because God will render to each person according to their works.