#50. Romans 2:11 – The Final Stretch (Judgment Series, Part XI)

Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

For there is no partiality with God…

God is not partial to the individual creed, sex, class, or color, of an individual. His judgment is not concerned with national distinction. He is not concerned with your “Canadian” perspective, your “European” roots, your “historical” plights. When dealing with you, He measures your heart, or, as we considered back in The Three Charges study, the seat of your moral and emotional intelligence. It is these that need correction, first and foremost – not your relative situation on the earth.

When Adam ate of the fruit in the garden of Eden, he was filled with the knowledge of good and evil. Adam then gave birth to Cain and Abel, who demonstrate a not-so-subtle examination of the two concepts. Both the Jew and the Greek fundamentally understand “good” and “evil,” prior to the “Mosaic law,” and there are demonstrations of this prior to the law’s unveiling (Gen. 6:8, 20:1-6, 50:20.) Man does apprehend good and evil.

When He judges, Yahweh will be extremely thorough. Not only will He remain impartial, He will judge against those who judged in regards to the creed, sex, class, color, nationality, and more. Those who acted for themselves in a more favorable light because of their culture, or acted toward others in a less favorable light because of their race, will face great correction.

In 2025, the greatest example of this is the feigned victimhood culture – that is, the pre-supposed idea that the poor are automatically more favorable or modest, or that the rich are automatically spoiled and insensitive, or that each race’s turbulent history earns them special privilege, or that one’s proclaimed “gender role” makes them “targeted.” God is not judging the flesh favorably; any action taken with its dominance or superiority in mind will be humbled.

I especially look forward to this, existing in America at this time. Every other week, there’s some new cause to fight for, because this people are suppressed, or that people are suppressed. The violence and stubbornness are very real, and the motive typically feigned and unimportant. The general public of which I am a part does not have all of the information to make a proper assessment of any situation. We are in no position to make dominant claims about “how” something should be done, for we are only given half-truths (whole lies.) The media does not tell us facts, but interpretations. The government does not explain to us what is happening, but leaves many, many documents classified, unavailable for the public to apprehend what its tax dollars are being used for.

This is corrupt enough, but it gets worse. Instead of balanced discussions about critical issues, we receive “race” wars. Motivations are demeaned to the appearance of an individual instead of their thoughts, in special disregard of any facts – of which, again, we hardly ever receive.

While it is certainly understandable for one to try to keep track of current affairs, the harsh reality is that we can’t. It’s impossible, in our present place. God is not looking at any nation on the planet right now with any “favor,” and instead proclaims that righteous judgment is necessary, at present. God will judge these things, correcting them accordingly. All prejudiced acts of man will face their comeuppance. God is above all of this. Man’s personal views will be refuted at Judgment Day. The lawlessness that is being established right now is procured with judgment in mind (2 Thess. 2:11-12.)

It is, truly, not the saint’s place to get engaged in any of this (1 Cor. 4:5.) I’m not saying this to remove someone’s general enjoyment of the topic (for many view politics as a sport, or as an interesting pastime or hobby.) I am, however, saying that, for the good of the saint, it should always be kept in mind that no resolve from the government or any social movement is comparable to the true government which will be unveiled at the end of the seven year tribulation brought about in Revelation. All governmental powers should be recognized as temporary, necessary evils which will be contrasted by the millennial kingdom. If we allow ourselves to be swept away in these poor arguments, we will find our peace sapped away instantly.

Anyway, Hello

So we’ve entered the final six verses of this portion of the “Judgment Series.” Verses 11-16 are complementary to God’s judgment itself, which was justified and unfolded in the first ten verses. These six verses take the action of God’s judgment from 2:1-10 and compares it both with human depravity and human nature. This is where the oscillating “a” and “b” portions of the letter come into play. Portion “a” defers to Rom. 2:1-10, while “b” dwells on man’s condition, even to this day.

It may be briefly asked: why does this portion of Romans 2 exist, and how does it relate to the argument which began in Romans 1:18? The answer is that, since we are still in the “judgment” portion, we are seeing how God encompasses the entire scope of human action. Though it is true that God is impartial to the flesh’s grandstanding and self-aggrandizing, it is also true that different people have not received the same opportunity as others. There are many poor, helpless individuals who live in third world countries. They have no opportunity to read. They have no ability to learn, and immediate issues such as hunger and water are so oppressive that it is impossible for such an ability to take place.

For any who wish for an immediate and pressing answer from God on a specific matter like this, I point you to Psalm 82. You may read it for yourself, but in short, God answers to this problem and practically guarantees the homeless, the slow, the lame, and others who never had the opportunity to learn a place on the new earth set about in Revelation 21 and 22. Again, God is being fair here, and in righteous fairness, one who never had the ability to rise out of their environment and become acquainted with God would, indeed, be corrected with a new body on a new earth where such amenities are lavishly imposed upon them. These people did not choose their poor environment; so also they will not choose their Edenic environment. Both will be given, and the contrast is ineffable.

This passage of Romans 2 is not primarily concerned with this aspect of the issue, though if you carefully consider it, the problem is resolved here as well, in so many words. By reaffirming that judgment is “to the Jew first,” Paul is reaffirming a fact that was (and, among Judaism, still is) often ignored by the pious Jew. There is a prevailing idea that the Jew is exempt from God’s judgment on the grounds of their being the chosen nation of God. Yet even a rudimentary examination of their history reveals that this is the furthest from the truth. It is, in fact, because they have the law that their judgment is first.

“But,” you may ask, “Does this not prove that God is partial to the flesh? If He elects a nation, or even a group of believers in Paul’s evangel, doesn’t He concede that He is partial to a select few in some way?” This is another good question, but it is founded on the supposition that the object in view is the same in both cases. Election does not deny or exempt one from judgment. It shifts the timing of the judgment, sure (for the believer in Paul’s evangel, for example, the judgment of the flesh is present, and serves only as a teacher in faith – 1 Cor. 11:28-32.) But all are still corrected and matured by God. This means, indeed, that God remains impartial. His standard of righteousness is not lowered at any point. It is man who needs to be refined to reach said standard – not God Who will ever become partial to something beneath it.

Thus we see the matter in a fuller sense – when God chose Israel, sure, this is favor, but it does not exempt Israel from an impartial judgment. They are chosen to suit His purpose, not because they personally achieved some divine feat. God makes it so clear that their judgment remains impartial, that even though they are promised a kingdom ruled by their Messiah, misconduct on their part and ignorance to the divine precepts they have been given will invoke a dismissal of an individual’s promise (Matt. 24:48-51.) It is because they are His people that they were given careful discipline first (Amos 3:2.)

Yet this creates another problem – what of the gentile? If the Jew receives these laws and is given all this discipline (throughout the duration of the Old Testament period, say,) then what of the gentile during the same era? How are they supposed to be judged with the same impartial means? The Jew can be judged through law, sure, but what of the Greek? If the law is an apt imposition of righteousness, yet the Greek was never placed under it, does that give the Greek a free pass to the glory and honor and incorruption?

With these questions in mind, we can now see the final stretch of the introduction to the “judgment” series.

- GerudoKing