CRITICAL NOTES
Romans 2:5.—Thou art hoping to escape the judgment of God, but instead art heaping up treasure of wrath. It is not God who treasures up, but thy destruction is from thyself.
Romans 2:6.—Account will be taken of the aim which has governed the moral action.
Romans 2:7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, [to such] eternal life.—Future glory is contrasted with present shame.
Romans 2:8.—ἐριθείαν denotes the spirit which seeks the victory of the party which one has espoused from self-interest in contrast to the spirit which seeks the possession of truth.
Romans 2:9. Affliction and distress.—Metaphor from a wrestler, who finds breathing difficult.
Romans 2:12.—Sin brings retribution both to those without law and to those under the law; but sentence will vary according to divine justice and mercy.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Romans 2:5-12
Good and evil workers.—Many distinctions obtain in human societies. It is sometimes amazing to see how men and women separate themselves from one another. The man with a banking account, though it be only small, does not feel himself called upon to associate with one who has to live on his daily wages. The professional man stands aloof from the tradesman. Poets in their rhymes smile at the claims of long descent, and sing, “Kind hearts are more than coronets.” But let a kind heart, enshrined in a physical form, covered with shabby clothes, present itself at the poet’s door, and will it receive a hearty welcome? Kind hearts are nice when they beat in breasts covered with pearls. Still, as of old, Lazarus lies at the gate desiring the crumbs, while the coroneted sit inside the palace at the banquet. We ask, Is the man respectable? Does the woman move in good society? There is no respect of persons with God. Can the same be said of those who profess to be His children? God looks at the internal, and not the external. Character, not reputation, is what God estimates. All classes of society, all races of men, Jews and Gentiles, are reduced to the two general classes—the workers of good and the workers of evil. To which do we belong?
I. Good workers.—Draw a contrast between the good workers and the evil workers.
1. The former have a noble aim. Here reference is made, not to the act of aiming, but rather to the object aimed at. And what is that? It is immortal glory and honour. I paint for eternity, says the painter. His eternity is a few years of time. What is the good of his glory and honour when death has stripped his supple fingers of their power to handle the brush, and has robbed the brain of its ability to conceive beautiful combinations? The Christian’s glory and honour are not bounded by the eclipsing darkness of death, for they are immortal—not subject either to oblivion or disappointment. We get our earthly glories and honours; and we find how true are the words, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” There are crowns in all walks of life, and heavy, aching heads are the lots of the prize-winners. Disappointments strew the pathway of earth’s glories as thickly as the leaves in Valombrosa. A few years hence oblivion will sit serenely smiling, ironically musing over the scene where our triumphs were gained. Truly “he aims too low who aims beneath the sky.” The noble aim for all is immortal glory and honour.
2. High endeavour. They place before themselves a great object, and strive with a great spirit—they endeavour. They do not say man is the creature of circumstances, and sink down in despair. In spite of opposing circumstances, through calm and storm they seek immortal honour and glory; the flag waves on the summit; and though the ground shakes with the thunder of the cannon, they pursue their upward course of high endeavour.
3. Patient continuance. Endurance is the crowning quality, and patience is all the passion, of great hearts. The patience of human workers is sometimes wonderful; but the patience of God’s true saints is ever marvellous. Here is sublime heroism. What do I see in my vision? A long crowd of witnesses pressing through the highways of life, whose patience is crowned by the inheritance of the promises.
4. Obtain satisfactory results. Glory, honour, and peace will be awarded in the final day. Who obtains these results? Who follows in the train of characters with such lofty motives and wondrous endeavours? Can earthborn spirits contend? Are their souls equal to the mighty emprise? The answer is, “Ye must be born again.” Only spirits ennobled and renewed by the Holy Spirit can keep company with this sublime army.
II. Evil workers are:
1. Without settled aim, for they are contentious. They may have a material aim—riches, fame, power, pleasure—but they have no true moral aim. They set before themselves no high standard of duty.
2. Have no high endeavour. They obey unrighteousness. They never seek to rise above the leadings of a lower nature. Instead of leading, they are led.
3. Have impenitent continuance. This is their great crime. With hard and impenitent hearts they are storing up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath. There is no heroism about such continuance. The hard and impenitent heart goes on petrifying itself with great ease. The impenitent heart obeys unrighteousness and ignores the truth.
4. Come to a sad ending. The structure they have been building falls upon their own heads with crushing force. They have been storing up in themselves wrath against God. Thus they have been storing up against themselves wrath from God. All God’s worlds have moving through them the same divine laws and methods of operation. We sow wheat, we reap wheat—tares, tares. We sow wrath, we reap wrath; and fearful will the harvest be. In these days we ignore both the wrath and the righteousness of God. We say, God is merciful, and will be compassionate, and all will come right. Certainly all will come right, according to the will of the divine righteousness. “The gods be good unto us,” cried Sicinius, when misfortune, born of folly, was hard at hand. “No,” replied Menenius; “in such a case the gods will not be good unto us.” Shall we cry, God be good unto us, when wrath, generated by the hard and impenitent heart, is at hand? Ah! let us learn from the old heathen. Let us fly the wrath to come. Whatever the day of God’s wrath may mean, let us not venture to approach that day without due preparation. Let us feel that only he can abide the great day of His wrath in whom Christ dwells, the hope of glory. Turn to Christ; seek for His grace, power, and presence.
The fairness of the divine administration.—“For there is no respect of persons with God.” This cannot mean that God makes no difference between man and man. He does make a difference; and not one, but many. Our world is a world of differences. Heights, depths, colours—mountain, valley, rock—sea, forest, stream—sun, moon, and stars,—these are some of the material or physical differences that make our world what it is. Then in man there is race, nation, colour; gifts of body and mind; riches and poverty. Nor can this mean that He treats men at random, without reason or plan, irrespective of character. Nor does it mean that He has no fixed plan, but takes every man as he comes, allowing each to do as he pleases. These are the things on which the unbelief of the present day lays great stress, resolving every difficulty as to truth and righteousness and judgment to come by the reiteration of the text, “God is love.”
But let us consider what the apostle means by saying that God is no respecter of persons. It means two things:—
I. That God has no respect to the outward appearance or circumstances of a man in dealing with him.—God takes him for what he is, not for what he seems.
II. That in regard to justice and grace God does not follow man’s estimates at all, either outward or inward.—God has His own standard, His own way, of procedure in treating the sinner, whether for condemnation or acceptance. The usual elements which decide man’s judgment have no place in God’s.
1. God’s estimate or rule in regard to justice is that the doers of the law, the whole law, the unmodified law, shall live by it.
2. God’s estimate or rule in regard to grace is that any man, whoever he be, who will consent to be indebted to the Son of God and His work for acceptance shall be accepted. This is the way in which grace shows itself to be no respecter of persons.
The apostle’s object is to declare these three things:
1. God’s purpose of dealing with the sons of men. He is not going to let them alone, nor to allow them to have their own way.
2. God’s plan of dealing with them. He does so as God, sovereign and righteous, yet gracious.
3. His willingness to receive any.—H. Bonar.
Patient continuance.
I. A seeker.—All men are seekers more or less, for the reason that no good thing is to be obtained without seeking. Wealth must be obtained by the exercise of patience and labour. Little by little must one penny be added to another. Patience must be the reward of content, honour the end of probity. And so eternal things must be the result of toil, of search, of self-denial, a constant journey to the end. We have—
II. The method of seeking.—“Who by patient continuance.” The Christian life is not an isolated or a spasmodic effort, not an individual act. A life alternating between fervour and languor will lead nowhere. Steady, unremitted work pays best both in worldly and spiritual matters.
III. The reward to be attained.—“Eternal life.” At first sight these words seem disappointing. They represent something less than was sought. Men have sought eternal “honour” and eternal “glory.” But we are not told here that this search will be realised. The honour and glory are left out, and “eternal life” alone is mentioned as the gift of God.
The fact teaches—
1. That we are not to limit our desires in spiritual things. Aim high, hope for the most glorious idealities of life; they will all fall short of what is in store for them that love God. But it teaches—
2. That after all eternal life includes all things. The glorious gift of the Son of God shall itself possess all that is worth having. Eternal life! Shall not the most ambitious be satisfied with his immortality—with the eternal absence of all harm, and all sin, and all evil? Surely we should in our wildest dreams desire nothing more than eternal life at the footstool of God’s throne—“And it doth not yet appear.” We do not know what that eternal life shall include. And if God has given us the pledge of that, we may surely rest content.—Homilist.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Romans 2:5-12
What is law?—The little word “law” must not be understood here after a human fashion—that it teaches which works are to be done and which are to be left undone, as is the case with the laws of men, which can be obeyed by works without the feeling of the heart. God judges according to the intent of the heart, and will not be satisfied by words, but all the more punishes as hypocrisy and lying those works which are done without the feeling of the heart. Therefore Paul says that nobody is a doer of the law by the works of the law.—Luther.
Meritorious and gratuitous.—Paul distinguishes between meritorious and gratuitous justification, the former being that which is unattainable by works of the law, the latter that which is attainable, as James says, not by faith only, but by works also (Romans 2:15). That there is a natural revelation made to the heathen is proved by Paul by three arguments:
1. By many virtuous acts performed by the heathen;
2. By the natural operation of their consciences;
3. By their reasonings with one another, by which they excused or accused one another.—Macknight.
The best for him who does the best.—These suppositions agree both with Scripture and reason:
1. All men can do all that God requires of them;
2. All who do the best they can derive help from God as far as is needful;
3. They all have Christ as their Redeemer, though He was never revealed to them. Who knows whether the lot of the savage be not better than that of the philosopher, and the lot of the slave than that of the king? But this much we know, that every one ought to be contented with that state in which his wise and good Creator has placed him, and to conclude that it will be the best for him if he makes the best use of it. Upon this supposition the divine impartiality stands fully justified.—Jortin.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Romans 2:5. Burke and Pitt.—“I have no fear for England,” said Pitt; “she will stand till the day of judgment.” “What I fear,” replied Burke, “is the day of no judgment.” So it is with us. It is the lack of judgment which makes the day of judgment so great a terror. The forgetting of the great life beyond the grave, and the consequent living as if this life were all, is due to lack of insight and shallow thinking. Eternity is disregarded because time is wasted, and so the judgment day, when all is to be accounted for, is a terrible day to think about.
Romans 2:12. The judgment day.—A clergyman once heard an infidel jestingly say, “I always spend Sunday settling my accounts.” The minister turned round and said, in accents of solemnity never to be forgotten, “You may find, sir, that the day of judgment will be spent in exactly the same manner.”
Romans 2:12. Afraid of the Bible.—A celebrated infidel once said, “There is one thing which mars all the pleasure of my life.” “Indeed,” replied his friend, “what is that?” “I am afraid the Bible is true,” was the answer. “If I could know for certain that death is an eternal sleep, I should be happy—my joy would be complete. But here is the thorn that stings me—this is the sword that pierces my very soul: if the Bible is true, I am lost for ever.” This is the Bible upon the truths of which many have lived, and in the belief of which many have died. Oh, how terribly afraid would they have been if any one had been able to show that it was untrue! For upon its truths all their hopes are built. An untrue Bible would mean an untrue Christ; and a Christless death would be a death of doom to them.
Romans 2:12. The great hereafter.—During the enlistment of soldiers for the army, a young man, though strongly urged to join the volunteers, hesitated, and finally declined. He was able-bodied and patriotic. He had always been regarded as brave. The suggestion that personal cowardice might be the reason called forth from him this frank confession: “No; it is not dying that troubles me; I could stand up and be shot for my country,—it is the hereafter.”