Judgment is the inevitable consequence of such a state of things, and in Romans 2:1-16, we have God’s principles of judgment in reference to the state of things described in the last chapter brought forward.
Judgment is first for acts of sin committed (see Rom. 1:32; 2:2); secondly, for despising the riches of God’s goodness, forbearance and long suffering (Rom. 4-5). Philosophers might judge and condemn their fellow-men, but whilst judging others, man condemned himself, for he that judged did the same things. Would such escape the judgment of God for these like acts of sin? Nay! And did man despise the goodness and long suffering and forbearance of God, not understanding that that goodness was calling him to repentance! Repentance was the only proper attitude for man to take in view of the judgment of God. This signifies literally “an after thought or reflection,” or a change of mind. It is always towards God as the object of the mind (see Acts 20:21) and from sins or dead works, and in a Christian sense from the rejection of Christ (see Matt. 3:2; Heb. 6:1; Acts 2:38). It is produced by believing the various testimonies of God given at various times; thus the goodness of God leads to repentance. The reader must distinguish such faith from faith in the gospel which brings salvation. The latter follows upon repentance. But would God go on forbearing forever, whilst men went on despising His goodness? Nay; but man was heaping up to himself wrath, against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. To God was committed the right of judgment, and He would render to man according to his deeds, according to the light each man had, whether it be heathen or Gentile, Jew or professing Christian; to them who by patient continuance in well doing sought for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; but to those who were contentious, and were disobedient to the truth, but obeyed unrighteousness, there was nothing but tribulation and anguish, wrath and indignation to every soul of man that worked evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; but glory, honor and peace to every soul that worked good, both to Jew first and also to Greek. Here God’s immutable principles of judgment are brought out, to Jew and also to Gentile. The Gentile without law would perish without law, the Jew who had the law would be judged by the law, that is on that principle, each being judged according to the light they had, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men according to Paul’s gospel.
When the Gentile who had not law did by nature the things contained in the law, these having not law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written on their hearts; their conscience bearing witness with them, and their thoughts accusing or excusing betwixt themselves. Conscience is here looked at as that faculty of the mind which God took care that man should have after the fall, which gives him the knowledge of good and evil. Every man has that, heathen as well as Jew or Christian. And this gives the measure of the Gentile; responsibility, besides having the light of creation shining upon him, telling him of his Creator.
The Jew besides this had the law, as God’s perfect measure as to what man ought to be for Him, when conscience became perverted through the false rules of good and evil, brought in by heathen idolatry; and this would be the measure according to which he would be judged.
The double ground on which God is going to judge the world is seen in His dispensational dealings of God with man from the beginning. Take first the Gentile world; man fills the earth with corruption and violence after the fall, and God judges him for his sins by sending the deluge, and sweeps every one off the face of the earth, save Noah and his family. But since the flood, according to the principles of Romans 2:4, He has been exercising forbearance, giving His bow in the cloud as a sign of it. When He took up the Jewish nation and gave them the law at Mount Sinai, and they broke it, the word was “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (see Ex. 32:33). But on Moses’ intercession the principle of forbearance comes in, and God goes on with them on the principle shown us in Exodus 34:5-8, not clearing the guilty, however, and under this principle the people are spared, only aggravating their judgment if they despised God’s goodness.
Under the gospel, the principle of grace comes in, and Christ is presented; but alas! men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Greatly aggravated then will be the professing Christian’s judgment; he will be judged not only for his sins, aggravated by God’s forbearance with him as with a heathen and Jew, but also for his rejection of Christ, and despising God’s grace, which is offered, and that continually in the gospel; besides, Christ is His rule, which is higher than that of conscience and the law. This however is not taken up particularly in this chapter.
Thus in Romans 2:1-16 God is presented going to judge men, first of all for their sins, and secondly for their despising His goodness. God will judge according to the light men have; in the meantime He is waiting, and that goodness should lead men to repentance. These are His unalterable principles of judgment, and it is only those who are born again, whether Gentile or Jew, or indeed Christian, that fulfill this responsibility to God, that is who patiently continue in well doing, and seek for glory and honor, and incorruptibility; and that alone is fulfilled in the new nature, or the circumcised heart, as is mentioned at the end of Romans 2; still if it were simply on the ground of responsibility all were lost! Man for himself needs the gospel both to be saved from his sins, and his Adam condition, and to get heaven as his portion. His original responsibility was only in connection with the earth of which he was created head, and by his sin lost. Of course being immortal, losing this he would be banished to hell; but blessed be God, grace offers him salvation and opens heaven to him.
From Romans 2:16-29, the state of the Jew is described, he boasted of God and of knowing His will, as measured by the law, approved of the things that were more excellent, was confident that he was a, guide of the blind, an instructor of the foolish, and teacher of babes. But, alas! Whilst teaching others did he teach himself? No, whilst boasting of the law, he so dishonored God, that the name of God was blasphemed amongst the Gentiles through him. Circumcision verily profited if he kept the law, but if he was a breaker of the law, his circumcision became uncircumcision, and contrariwise in God’s sight. The poor Gentile, if by grace he kept the righteousness of the law, his uncircumcision would he counted for circumcision, yea, it judged him who circumcised broke the law. Circumcision of the heart was what God looked for, and that was the true Jew who had such a heart; true it was that only grace could produce such a heart.