The Weight of Judgement
ROMANS 2: 1-24 (July 14)
Judgement is a cold, hard fact of life. People judge others. People get judged by others. False assumptions can be made. Truth can be revealed.
How many times have you judged someone for gossiping, then turned around and done the same things with your girlfriends?
How often have you let your critical eye judge someone by their appearance without ever getting to know them personally?
Is it possible that you have judged someone based on hearsay and assumption, instead of based on your relationship with them?
These are all hard questions. My answer to each of them, unfortunately, is "YES and OFTEN!" How about you?
In Romans 2: 1-24, Paul is writing to the Romans on the specific topic of judgement. He is giving them an explanation of the difference between law and conscience.
The law of God is revealed in the expression of moral law. While the Old Testament gives us judicial and ceremonial laws meant for the Jews for a certain time in history, moral law is forever. It is based on the permanent relations of man in regard to marriage, sex, property, and family obedience. Translation: Moral law is the choices we make about how we behave in life. We will have these choices for as long as we live this life.
Our conscience serves as a witness to the truth, but moral choice tells whether it has been obeyed. A man's conscience accuses him of sins. If you are a believer, you should repent and confess sin, giving you the opportunity to be freed from that sin. Translation: That gut feeling you get when something might not be right, that conviction you feel, that is where the rubber meets the road, and you have to choose the RIGHT thing. If you don't make the right choice, you have the opportunity to confess that sin to God and turn away from that sin, receiving God's grace.
In this portion of Paul's letter, he is talking to the morally self-righteous, both Jew and Gentile. There is no discrimination among people as to what is morally right. These people are self-righteous because they condemn the behavior of others yet commit the same sins themselves.
They consider themselves more civilized, educated, and refined (more popular, better dressers, nicer homes and cars, and the list goes on). The problem is, they are guilty of the same sins, though they might be in a more sophisticated manner. Have you ever seen someone like this? Has this been you at some time in your past?
The simple fact that we can JUDGE others for their sins is proof that we know the difference between right and wrong. Or else how could we point it out in someone else? Is it often easier to see someone else's wrongs than your own? (Or those of someone you love?)
Paul gives us some facts about the basis of God's judgement for our sins:
God's judgement is based on truth. I am talking truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
God's judgement is unescapable to those who condemn others for the same sins they commit. The only way we escape this judgement is by repentance and his forgiveness.
The judgement of God is sometimes delayed. (Ahhhh, and you thought you got away with it!) The delay is evidence of his goodness and patience.
The judgement of God is graduated according to the accumulation of guilt. Have you ever heard about how you can store up treasures in heaven? Doesn't this sound like a wonderful reward for good works? Well, guess what? You can also store up judgement for yourself, and let me tell you, it won't be silver and gold!
The judgement of God is according to one's deeds. We will not be judged by who are ancestors are, how wealthy we are, or anything else except our own conduct.
The judgement of God is without respect of persons. There is no impartiality with God, no popularity contest, or best-dressed award. He looks at all of us equally.
Isn't it nice to know that there is someone who will never judge you based on how you look, what your job is, the fact that you have no career, what your talents are, what care you drive or neighborhood you live in, or what anyone else has ever said about you? (Whew! That was a long list!)
God is a God of equality and fairness. He is just and good. And even when we mess up, and mess up big, his judgement is waved if only we confess and repent (meaning we turn away from the sin, not be a repeat offender). It is when we do this that the Weight of Judgement passes us by.