Romans 2: 1 – 16

July 10, 2022

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

The Lectionary in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer lists three passages from the New Testament: Matt 10:24-39; Rom 2:1-16; Gal 3:1-9 for reading in Morning Prayer today. I chose the reading from Romans because I think it is the hardest of the three to understand. I think this because words didn’t immediately come to me to write my thoughts, as they usually do; instead, I had to get my St.Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to make sure I understood the verses myself. I tend to work from the premise that if I don’t know something, the likelihood is that some other folks don’t know either.

This, from the Study Bible, will bring context and focus to the verses above: “2:1-3:20. Paul narrows his indictment of the world to target the failures of Israel. He charges the Jews with committing the same sins as the Gentiles (3:9), even though they have the light of the Torah to order their worship and guide their behavior. Stylistically, Paul begins in this section to employ a writing technique called a ‘diatribe’, which consists of a lively debate between a writer (Paul) and a hypothetical conversation partner (a Jew 2:17). Authors in Greek antiquity used this question-and-answer format to explain their ideas and to anticipate objections. The technique is utilized throughout Romans (2:17-23; 3:1-9, 27-29; 4:1, etc)”

Did the little light bulb in your brain light up? Mine, too.

9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

We are grafted into the Family and as His children, we are all loved the same. Jesus opened the door and our baptism enabled us to walk through. And God has always called us to Him.

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