Spiritual Warfare: Romans 1 & 2: Part IV

Ah yes, now for the uncomfortable part.  As a religious person--a first century Jewish person or a modern evangelical, Chapter 1 of Romans would allow me to tick off the boxes of "I don't do that" and "Wow, this is disgusting," "Yes, I am a spiritual giant."

Wrong response.  While certainly the pagan practices of the first century that Paul lists were very off-putting to the Jewish community, Paul could have stopped there and said, "Class dismissed."

But he didn't.  I think we sometimes substitute true righteousness in Christ with an outward show of outrage for unrighteousness.  We condemn those who egregiously sin and this makes us look more "spiritual."  In other words, how we respond to sin in others makes us look good.

But while Paul doesn't ignore the sin of the pagan community, he certainly isn't going to let us off the hook.  Why?  Because: 

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.” (Romans 3:11-12, quoting Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3; Eccles. 7:20)

So, he launches into Romans 2, targeting the rest of us:  we, who consider ourselves "good people."

Here is more of what he said: 

"But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God 'will repay each person according to what they have done.'  To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." (Romans 2:5-11) 

Uh-oh.  We saw in the first verses of Chapter 2 that we who pass judgment on others are really condemning ourselves, because we do the same things.  And because of that, we deserve God's wrath just as much as "those people" do, for we are ignoring the mercy and grace He extended to us and how His kindness brought us to Him.

In other words, kindness leads people to repentance, not harsh judgment. Has anyone come to Christ after they were excoriated and judged without mercy?  They may have come to Christ in spite of having been so treated, but the harsh words and scornful looks didn't drive them to repent.  It hurt them, or caused them to seek solace somewhere else.  Why do people seek and create communities?  Because everyone wants to belong.  If the Christian community is Pharisee-like in its approach, people will swerve away from us and seek another group where they feel welcomed. 

I believe this is another way Satan deceives us.  First, we the "righteous" are deceived because we think we are good because of our efforts, not because of the grace and mercy given to us by Christ.  We gather with like-minded people who parade their scorn for sin as a sign of how spiritual they are and we go along with them.  

"Those people," who may have looked at Christianity for an answer to their longing and searching, were met at our door with scorn.  They then found another community for answers.  They are drawn even deeper into deception that this group will fulfill them.   

Paul doesn't mince words:  We will be repaid for what we have done, and anyone doing evil will face God and be answerable for it. Paul goes on: 

"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:13-16)

Isn't that interesting?  It isn't just the "righteous" that have God's law written on their hearts--"those people" do too!  I have met non-believers who are kind, thoughtful, gracious and considerate.  I am sure Paul had met people like this as well.  He then met with some of his Jewish brethren and received an entirely different reception--one of criticism and scorn for bringing the Gospel in the first place and then offering it to all. 

God works in people even when they don't confess Him.  Think about yourself:  Didn't you feel His gentle pull long before you made a decision to follow Him?  It's called "prevenient grace."  It's God's drawing us before we even knew Him.  Jesus gives us a lovely definition:  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:44) 

So by judging "those people," we are acting as if they are beyond God's loving, drawing reach, and are condemned right here, right now. 

Dusted and done. 

But isn't that, once again, Satan saying, "Did God really say..."?

We love to quote John 3:16, but let's go a little wider: 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." (John 3:16-21)

People want to stay in the darkness for there they can sin and not be seen.  Adam and Eve hid in the darkness, but God went looking for them.

God see us and shines the light of His Son into our lives, for Jesus Christ is the Light.  God reveals the truth of Himself by His creation as we saw in Romans 1. Those who hate God suppress the truth and that leads to all sorts of darkness.  But just as the above verses say, Christ came to save the world--not a select few nor the ones who see themselves as good.  Everyone.  The Light reaches all, for He wants all to come to know Him.  

We can choose to believe in Christ or ignore Him.  But until we are dead, God's offer stands, even if we are in the darkness until the very last moment.  

Think of the thief on the cross.

I will give you a personal example: my dad.  He was one angry man.  His father had served in World War I.  He undoubtedly came home with mental health issues.  He may not have been the most demonstrative father--on his deathbed, my dad tried to hug him, and he pushed my dad away.  

My dad had a real problem with authority figures--he wanted the approval of those he respected and scorned those who had offended him in some way.  He would blow up at a moment's notice and rage on for awhile.

He was a salesman, and worked hard and yet thought so little of himself that he wouldn't demand to be better paid, probably fearing disapproval from his superiors.

After years of trying to find personal fulfillment in work, status, relationships and money, he was diagnosed with melanoma. That didn't bring him to God.  It just made him angry at his wife, the doctors and the life he now had to live as a cancer patient undergoing constant treatment.

One day, when he was in a skilled care facility, we were talking and he said, "I am afraid, Rhonda."  It was a moment when he showed humility in the face of death.  I told him he didn't need to be afraid and I wanted to pray with him.  He agreed.

My dad was my thief on the cross--humbled by what the near future held, he reached out to Jesus.

He's in heaven now, but if you had asked me if I thought my dad's life would end with him coming to the Lord, I don't know if I would have believed it, frankly.  

One last thought:  Satan wants us to believe that the way someone is now is the way they will be in the future.  Wrong.  Consider ducks in the water:  They glide smoothly, seemingly unaffected by anything around them. But look below the surface:  They are paddling like mad.

People may be swimming smoothly on the pond of life, uninterested in spiritual things, but underneath, God is working to gently bring them to Himself.

I am grateful to a brother in the Lord who just preached this as a message.  He exhorted us to keep praying for those who are lost, even if they seem unaffected by your prayers.  We must trust that God is working below the surface. 

He did with us; why not them?