The Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans


Chapter 2

After obviously focusing on the Gentile world in the previous section, Paul now turned his attention towards those within the synagogue community. The synagogue community is in view here because they were the only community in the world that had access to the Scriptures. The religious Jewish person of Paul's day would have whole-heartedly agreed with Paul's explanation that that the pagan world is under God's condemnation, he would not have been so quick to place the same condemnation upon the people of Israel, especially those who at least appeared to be keeping Torah. As we've discussed in other studies, there was a common, yet false, notion among the Jewish communities of Paul's day; some within the Jewish community believed that because God had sovereignly chose the nation of Israel to be His covenant people, that despite their own individual actions, they would have a place in the World to Come on the basis that they were born an Israelite (that is, a member of the covenant people of God). As long as one was either born Jewish or legally converted to being Jewish and stayed within the parameters of Torah observance, one could be assured that he would have eternal life in the World to Come. Unlike the epistle to the Galatians, Paul took a more methodical approach in this epistle to the Romans to prove that such a notion is false.

1Therefore 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. 2And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 

Paul, leading up to his statement in verses 11-12 of this chapter, sought to prove that despite the fact the those within the synagogue community have God's direct revelation, they have no special favour from God. In fact, Paul inverts their own logic upon them and showed that the presence of the Torah among them actually causes their condemnation. He did this by using a common rabbinic argument method called k'chol v'homer, which means "from the light to the heavy." Essentially, if the pagans are condemned simply by God's passive revelation, then how much more will those with God's direct revelation be condemned if they do the same things that the pagans do? In this way, those who know the Scriptures have absolutely no excuse, especially those who pass judgment upon those do not have as much revelation. The very ability to judge someone proves that you know God's righteous standard, therefore if you also practice such sin, then you are under that same judgment. The phrase "we know," in verse 2, indicates something that Paul was certain that no would have disagreed with. In this case, everyone knew full well that God's judgment rightly falls on those who practice the sin referred to in chapter 1, verses 29-31. The phrase "rightly falls" refers to the fact that God is absolutely righteous in His judgment and therefore is not biased towards anyone. Before such a holy and righteous God, sin is sin and judgement will fall on anyone who commits it. Paul then reiterated these truths by posing a question, in verse 3, asking if the one who passes judgment on another man's sin and then commits the same sin, whether or not that person will expect to escape God's judgment. The phrase "do you suppose" should be understood to refer to the fact that such people were presuming upon God's grace. In other words, Paul intended to show the folly of their mentality, namely, thinking that because of their association with the covenant people (Israel) and their possession of God's revelation (Torah) that they would somehow escape God's judgment, despite the fact that they themselves were sinners as well.

4Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 

Paul then sought to show that they had misunderstood God's mercy towards them. As those with God's direct revelation, we should understand that God's kindness, that is, His immense tolerance and patience with us, has a purpose to it: it should lead us to repentance. In other words, if you presume upon God's kindness and continue to wantonly sin, presuming that God will forgive you, you have misunderstood why God shows us mercy. Though God would be completely just in immediately punishing us for our sin, He instead graciously and mercifully allows us to repent. If one does not repent, then they are obviously taking the riches of God's kindness, tolerance and patience lightly. How great are the depths of God's kindness, tolerance and patience! To know that He strives with us, even though we are not always obedient, is evident of how incredibly gracious God is. He is the God who is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth..." (Exodus 34:6). We should never complain or become arrogant, especially in regards to the circumstances in our lives, for if God really gave us what we deserve, we'd be dead. This is why the life of the believer, that is, the one who has had a revelation of his own sinfulness and the graciousness of God, should be a life of consistent gratitude.

The evidence that one is not a genuine believer, that is, a person with a regenerated heart, is the presence of stubbornness and an unrepentant heart. The word here translated as stubbornness is the Greek word "sklerotes" and literally refers to a hardness, as in a hardened heart. To have a hardened or unrepentant heart refers to an unwillingness to see one's own error and humbly make the changes that are in accordance with the truth. If one cannot recognize that God's kindness leads to repentance and instead stays in their sin, they are simply storing up for themselves wrath from God. The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God refers to the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation chapter 20. This judgment is an unveiling of God's righteousness and therefore the unredeemed person will have nothing but wrath to expect. In fact, all those are present for this judgment will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (cf. Revelation 20:11-15).

6who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: 7to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 

Paul quoted Psalm 62:12 and intended to convey that this statement that God will render to each person according to his deeds was an axiom that is true regardless of one's position, status or association. Though Paul has not explained why certain men display unrighteous deeds while others display righteous deeds, his point was that God bases His judgment on our actions and our actions give evidence of our spiritual state before Him. While those within the religious community of Israel may have placed the line of distinction between one's legal ethnic status (that is, whether you were Jewish or not), Paul placed the line of distinction between the type of life one lived (that is, whether you lived a life of obedience or not). He characterized the righteous as those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory, honour and immortality. Notice that the righteous do good (lit. good work) by perseverance. It is not that that we are perfect or will never sin but it's that our hearts consistently desire to live out repentance. In this life, when a righteous person sins, his heart is grieved, and is determined to turn away from his sin, towards obedience. Those who persevere seek glory, honour and immortality, that is, they desire the resurrection of the dead, for in the resurrection we will finally be free from our sin. These people can expect eternal life, the fulfillment of what they are seeking. To be clear, at this point in the epistle, Paul had not yet explained how man can go from being a sinner who rejects God to one who does righteous deeds but we know from our previous studies of Paul's letters that such a transformation is a gracious and sovereign act of God, accomplished through the regenerative work of the Spirit, all of which was made possible through the Messiah's sacrifice. In contrast, the sinner is identified by their selfish ambitions and their lack of obedience to the truth. By this statement, Paul alluded to those within the synagogue community who were factious and who were not actually interested in the things of God but instead had their own agenda. Instead of obeying the truth, these people obey unrighteousness, which is really just another way of saying that they were disobedient to the Torah. Unlike the righteous, who will receive eternal life, these people can expect wrath and indignation. The word "indignation" literally refers to breathing heavily, which, coupled with the word wrath, obviously refers to the eternal punishment that we referenced earlier (cf. Revelation 20:11-15).

9There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 

These verses (9-10) parallel the previous verses (7-8) but with the order reversed because the unrighteous are mentioned first. Again, while the common religious person within the Jewish community would have placed the line of distinction between Jews and Gentiles regarding who is righteous and who is unrighteous or who will have life in the World to Come and who will not, Paul categorically showed that both Jews and Gentiles can be in each category! For those who do evil, first to the Jew and also the Gentile, they can expect tribulation and distress. What exactly makes up this tribulation and distress is not really in view here but simply that this is what those who do evil can expect. Likewise, those who do good, both Jews and Gentiles, can expect glory, honour and peace. Again, what exactly is referred to by the words "glory," "honour" and "peace is not necessarily in view, though these can be general terms to describe life in the World to Come. Instead, Paul showed that one's actions evidences their spiritual state not their ethnic or social status. Each, that is, either the payment for doing good or bad, is reserved for the Jew first because God's direct revelation was given to him, but also for the Gentile, since he is also has a revelation of God.

11For there is no partiality with God. 12For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

The reason why Paul confidently categorized these groups not according to legal ethnic status but instead upon one's lifestyle was because God shows no partiality. The word partiality, in the Greek ("prosopolepsia"), literally means "to lift up the face" and is similar to the phrase used in the Priestly Blessing (cf. "the LORD make His face shine on you..." Numbers 6:25). The phrase itself can be used in both a positive or a negative sense and here is used negatively, referring to the fact that God does not "lift His face" towards neither Jew nor Gentile. Paul's point was that, on our own, God does not show special favour to anyone, for both Jews and Gentiles are condemned. Firstly, those who have sinned without the Torah (lit. "without law"), will also perish without the Torah. This group obviously refers to pagans who have never heard the Scriptures. Here we get a chilling confirmation that all those who have never known the Scriptures are condemned because they have never come to a true knowledge of sin and therefore can never come to know the Saviour. The ones who do have the Torah, will be judged by the Torah and if they are not united with the Saviour, Messiah Yeshua, they will also experience the same fate as those without the Torah. The phrase "under the Law" is actually a mistranslation by the NASB as the Greek of this phrase more literally reads as "in the Law," referring to those who possess the Torah (that is, those within the synagogue community). Paul's point here is to again reiterate the fact that all of mankind, regardless of one's association or position, is under condemnation and have no hope within themselves.

13for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

Speaking directly to those within the synagogue community, Paul declared that it will not be the hearers of the Torah, that is, those who are simply associated with God's people, who will be justified but those who actually do what the Torah says. The doers of the Torah will be declared legally righteous (that is, will be justified) because their obedience is evidence of the regenerative work of the Spirit in their lives. It's not that their obedience secures their salvation, it's that their obedience signifies that God has indeed transformed their heart and are on the path to eternal life. If this verse was taken seriously by the modern believing community, it would prove to be a watershed verse as it completely dispels the notion that true believers shouldn't be keeping the Torah. It would also end the hundreds of years debate that Paul's teaching is opposed to the rest of the Bible, specifically James. In reality, Paul upheld the teaching of the Tanakh and completely agreed with James. In fact, James essentially says the same thing in James 1:25:

But one who looks intently at the perfect Torah, the Torah of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

One must then ask the question of whether one must be a certain ethnicity or of some special legal status in order to keep the commandments of the Torah and therefore be among those who will be justified. Paul's clear answer in 1 Corinthians 7:19 is as follows, with the terms "circumcision" and "uncircumcision" referring to being Jewish and Gentile, respectively:

 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Messiah Yeshua.

With Paul's words from 1 Corinthians 7:19 in mind, did he refer to pagan or believing Gentiles here? The key to interpreting this passage is whether or not the word "instinctively" (the Greek word "phusis") should be translated as "naturally" and whether it should be connected with the phrase "who do not have the Torah" or "do the things of the Torah." I take the opinion of Hegg, which states that this word should be translated as "naturally" and should be connected with the phrase "who do not have the Torah." In this way, Paul referred to believing Gentiles. This better suits Pauline theology, for Paul explicitly states in later in the epistle that "the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Torah of God, for it is not even able to do so..." (cf. Romans 8:7).

So, it is not the unredeemed Gentile that does the things of the Torah but the believing Gentile. What does it mean, then, that Gentiles do not have the Torah naturally? It means that Gentiles were not raised within communities and families that revered and observed the Torah. When a Gentile does the things of the Torah, though not having the Torah as a part of his upbringing, he shows that he has accepted the Torah upon himself. Therefore, the acceptance and doing of the Torah by the Gentile proves that the Torah has been written on their heart, for that is what it means to have the Torah written on the heart. In Deuteronomy 6:6, God commands that the words of the Torah be on our hearts, which, in context, refers to putting the Torah into practice. Likewise, the promised New Covenant with Israel is characterized by the Torah being written on the hearts of the entire nation, to the end that they will keep His commandments (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). Furthermore, the believing Gentile's conscience bears witness as to whether what they are doing is wrong ("accusing [them]") or right ("defending them"). The unbelieving Gentile's conscience does not bear witness to what is right or wrong because only the regenerative work of the Spirit produces such a reality. Since the Spirit has written the Torah on the heart of the believing Gentile and, at the same time, has activated his conscience, the believing Gentile, like the believing Jew, lives with a view to the coming judgement. The judgment that the Messiah do will expose the secrets of men, not in the sense that everyone will be privy to our sinful past, but will reveal whether or not our hearts have been regenerated or not. The judgment of God is, therefore, the climax of Paul's presentation of the gospel message.

17But if you bear the name "Jew" and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 

Paul now zeroed in on those within the synagogue community who specifically identified themselves as Jews. This, of course, would refer to people who were born Jewish but also those Gentiles who had previously converted to become legally Jewish. The word "Jew" is an English that has gone through several transliterations but original stemmed from the Greek word "ioudaios," which is itself and transliteration of the Hebrew word "yehudi" (from the Hebrew word "yehudah" or, in English, Judah). The term originally referred to only those from the tribe of Judah but was later used to refer to Israelites from other tribes who remained a part of the kingdom of Judah, such as those from the tribe of Benjamin. To be labelled as a Jew, especially in our day but obviously in Paul's day as well, did not necessarily mean that you obeyed Torah and seriously practiced Judaism; it is to this point that Paul specifically addressed in this passage. The descriptive phrases that Paul used in this passage are all positive but there is an ironic undertone that Paul sought to convey. In other words, he knew that the people he addressed claimed to be these things but they did not backup their words with their actions. Firstly, those who bore the name "Jew" relied on the Torah. Regardless of how the historic Christian Church would understand this verse, it is not simply reliance of the Torah that Paul is casting in a negative light, for Proverbs 3:18 states that the Torah "is a tree of life to who take hold of [it]." Instead of taking hold of the Torah through faith and living out it's righteous precepts, some within the synagogue community were relying on the fact that because of their association with the Torah, as an Israelite, that they would merit life in the World to Come. In this way, this person would boast in God, not in humility but with arrogance, trusting that because of their legal Jewish position, God would favour them. Religious Jews, of course, claim to know God's will and approve the things that are essential since they are instructed out of the Torah. The phrase "approve the things that are essential," should more accurately be translated as "distinguish between things that differ" since the Greek conveys the idea that the things that are "essential" are things that essentially differ. In other words, Paul meant that because of their knowledge of Torah they knew how to make proper distinctions. This is, of course, actually a great characteristic! Likewise, being confident that you are a guide to the blind and a light to those in darkness can also, in and of itself, be a good thing as well. In fact, these are the very things that the people of Israel are called to be. Furthermore, they considered themselves to be correctors of the foolish and teachers of the immature. The Greek word "paideutes," here translated as "corrector" has the sense of "educator." Here lies the locus of Paul's subtle rebuke, for it was indeed true that they had, in the Torah, the embodiment of knowledge and truth, but their actions, especially in front of and towards Gentiles did not match the words they used to describe themselves. As an aside, it's a complete wonder how the Christian commentators can read and study this passage and still come away with the idea that the Torah is not something that is needed for believers, since Paul here affirmed that it is the embodiment of knowledge and truth.

21you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 

The folly that the insincere religious Jew was guilty of was that they were not practicing what they preached. Paul then exposed three specific sins that some within the synagogue community were guilty of. Despite their proclamation that one should not steal, some apparently were guilty of theft. Some confidently proclaimed that one should not commit adultery but these same men committed adultery themselves, either through illegitimate divorce or through the blatant act. Also, while idol worship had been a problem in Israel’s past, by the first century was all but extinct. Paul, though, didn’t want to leave any room for boasting and pointed out that though they abhorred the actual worship of idols, in some situations, still benefited from the pagan worship system. Paul gave no specific examples for any of these accusations but this is because his point is simple: while the synagogue community possesses God’s righteous Torah, one cannot be considered righteous by association. If one breaks the Torah, he is a sinner, a point he will make emphatically clear in chapter 3. We should also note that Paul’s rebuke of hypocritical religious Jews is an in-house issue. All too often, Yeshua’s and Paul’s rebukes of the Pharisees are seen as the leaders of a new religion, Christianity, condemning those still in the old religion, Judaism. This is completely anachronistic and the later split between “church” and synagogue should not be read back into the Apostolic Scriptures. Instead these are faithful Jews correcting their brothers among the people of Israel. The Master and Paul were not against the Torah or even the practice of Jewish tradition but against hypocrisy when one claims to be a teacher of truth. This is best exemplified in Matthew 23:23, where the Master states: "the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.” Yeshua was not opposed to their authority; he was opposed to their hypocrisy. 

23You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? 24For "THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU," just as it is written. 

Interestingly, many scholars contend that verse 23 should be translated as a statement, not a question. In that way, Paul explicitly parallels disobedience to the Torah with showing dishonour to God. The nation of Israel is to be the light of God’s revelation to the nations, so when the bearers of light break the commandments of God, God’s reputation is spoken against. As we mentioned earlier, some within the synagogue community were boasting in the fact that they were God’s chosen people. Here, Paul continued to show the error of their thinking and emphasized once again that obedience to the Torah is necessary; otherwise one is shown as a hypocrite. These verses indicate that Israel is supposed to be keeping the commandments of the Torah; otherwise God’s name will be blasphemed among unbelievers. The word “name” is obviously referring to reputation and not simply the letters and sounds used to identify someone. When the people of God do not keep the commandments of Torah, God’s reputation is at stake. The unbeliever could say “this is what a Believer is like? Obviously, their God is nothing special.” How backwards is it when believing communities discourage Torah observance!

25For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 

As we've discussed numerous times throughout our study of the epistle to the Galatians, the term "circumcision" does not simply refer to the state of being circumcised. In a first century Jewish context, "circumcision" referred to being legally Jewish (a status that was obtained either through birth or formal conversion). Therefore, here, Paul stated that there is value in being legally Jewish, provided that the individual actually practices the Torah. The phrase "practice the Torah" refers to a heartfelt endeavour to obey the commandments of God found in the Torah. A Jewish person who obeys the Torah in faith can know that they are living out their purpose as a Jew and that their circumcision is of value. In contrast, a person with legal Jewish status who consistently breaks the Torah (because of a stubborn and unrepentant heart), his legal status, though seen as legitimate in the eyes of men, counts for nothing before God. Unfortunately, these verses have been misinterpreted to say that the Jewish people as a whole have forfeited their status as God's chosen people but this is not what Paul is saying. As we'll see in chapters 9-11, Israel remains God's chosen nation but not all who are physically or legally Jewish are counted among the faithful and chosen remnant within Israel.

26So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? 

If the term "circumcision" refers to legal Jewish status, then "uncirumcision" must refer to those who are not considered to be Jewish (at least in the eyes of the greater Jewish community). Once again, the common thought of the day, among the Jewish communities, was that one must be Jewish in order to be counted among God's people and participate in the covenants God made with His people. Here, Paul argued that the "uncircumcised man," that is, the one who was considered outside of the scope of God's people and covenants, if he keeps the Torah's requirements, he should be regarded as "circumcision," that is, he should be considered within the scope of God's people and covenants. Paul is simply reiterating his point in verse 13 that the doers of the Torah are the ones who will be justified and that the evidence that one is a part of God's chosen people is not simply ethnicity or legal status but the evidence of the regenerative work of the Spirit, which is expressed through the keeping of the commandments of God. Not only that, the physically circumcised person, that is, someone who is considered completely outside of the scope of God's people and covenants by the established Jewish community, if he keeps the Torah, his obedience will stand as a witness against the Jewish person who breaks the Torah. The Gentile believer who keeps the Torah stands as a witness and passively condemns the Jewish person who breaks the Torah because the Gentile believer's obedience is evidence that God does not show partiality and that He produces the fruit of obedience in anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or legal association. The Jewish person, in this situation, has the letter of the Torah, that is, he has the Torah itself (which consists of letters, obviously) and circumcision, that is, a legal status of being Jewish, but both do not "count" when they are coupled with breaking the Torah. In other words, the letter of the Torah must be applied by the Spirit to the heart and circumcision must not only be of the flesh but also of the heart.

28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Paul's conclusion, therefore, was that a Jewish person is not considered truly Jewish if he is only one outwardly. In other words, lineage or legal association cannot be enough to be considered a true member of God's faithful remnant and thus receive the covenant blessings outlined in the Torah. In order for a Jewish person to be confident that they are indeed everything a Jewish person should be, in addition to being physically circumcised, they must also be circumcised of the heart. Circumcision of the heart is not a Pauline concept and is actually found in the Torah itself. In Deuteronomy 10:16, Moses instructs the Israelites to "circumcise [their hearts], and stiffen [their necks] no longer" and to instead obey God by keeping His commandments. So, we see that a circumcised heart refers to a willingness to obey God and submit to His ways. A willingness to obey God is an ability that only the Spirit of God can generate within an individual. This is why Paul says circumcision of the heart is by the Spirit and by the letter. In other words, mere association with the Torah cannot generate the type of faith and obedience that God counts as praiseworthy among His people. Instead, by the Spirit's work, the Jewish person can obey God in faith, just as God had always intended. An outward association with God's people and His Torah might garner praise from men but it does not garner any special praise from God. A Jewish person who truly desires to please God will obey Him in faith; their outward obedience will be an expression of their inward, spiritual reality.
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