Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Part 3: Cause and Effect

Romans 2:1-16

As if anticipating the excuses of his audience from the last section, Paul now begins a two-part dissection, in chapter two, of the argument of anyone who would object to their condemnation from chapter one. Step one is to establish that the cause of right actions leads to the effect of good rewards. Conversely, wrong actions are followed by bad punishment. Paul constructs this leg of his rhetoric in three succeeding segments.

First, he clarifies that none of us have any right to judge others, because we are all guilty of wrongdoing. Second, and pursuant to that first point, God will certainly respond to men in a manner commensurate with their conduct; the gift of eternal life for those who do well, but wrath for those who do poorly. Third, as the capstone of points one and two, Paul points out that all who sin will perish, whether they have the law of Moses or not. The reason is that the moral code of God is written on man’s heart by design. It is hard-wired into our psyche, and we cannot escape it no matter how much we try.

So, we should not judge because we all do wrong. God justly responds to the conduct of men. And, because of God’s justice, sin leads to punishment for both Jew and Gentile.

It is absolutely critical that we understand and agree that we are personally culpable for our own actions. We live in a day and time when our culture is ardently striving to avoid responsibility. It is always someone else’s fault, never our own. We who have come to know the Lord Jesus are not immune from the tendency to vacillate and deflect. We learned the art of blame shifting from our first parents, who engaged in it as soon as God came calling in Genesis 3 to inquire about what they had done. We would do well to strive for a different course of action; one that has the integrity to take responsibility for what we do.