Lessons #53 and 54
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inevitability of God’s judgment (Rom 2:3-6)
3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? 5 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. 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”
Recall we asserted in our last study that the second major issue the apostle developed under God’s response to unrighteousness is that God’s judgment is independent of the Law that he discoursed in Romans 2:1-16. This he did with introductory remarks in verses 1 and 2 that were the focus of our last study. This is followed by discourse on judgment for hypocrisy, stubbornness, and lack of repentance in verses 3 to 6. Next to this is the discourse on God’s reward based on a person’s work not mere possession of the Law in verses 7 to 13. He ends the second major issue with a discourse that indicates that law and conscience affect God’s judgment in verses 14 to 16. Our concern in this study is hypocrisy, stubbornness, and lack of repentance as given in verses 3 to 6.
The apostle used two rhetorical questions in the section that is before us that are intended to convey the truth, he wants believers to understand. The first rhetorical question is given in verse 3 that is intended to convey that a person who passes judgment on others for the same things the individual does would not escape God’s judgment. The second rhetorical question in verse 4 is intended to convey that God’s kindness to individuals that are not in compliance with His righteous demands is so they would repent. Then, the apostle in verses 5 and 6 conveyed that rejection of God’s goodness guarantees His wrath or punishment. Based on this summary of the section before us, we derive a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to communicate to you. This message is You can avoid God’s judgment by not being a hypocrite and by embracing His goodness through repentance. This message will be expounded by examining three points the apostle intended to convey to believers from this passage.
The first point the apostle wants to convey to believers in this passage is that God’s judgment is inescapable by a hypocrite. This point is derived from the first rhetorical question of the apostle given in Romans 2:3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? An obvious question you may raise about the point we have made is that the word “hypocrite” nowhere appears in the verse and so you may wonder how I used the word. There are several indicators that the question of verse 3 is concerned with hypocrisy.
The first indicator that verse 3 is concerned with hypocrisy is the first word So of the NIV. By the way, the phrase when you of verse 3 of the NIV is not found in the Greek but it is a way that its translators tried to make sense of the Greek rhetorical question. That aside the word “so” of the NIV is translated from a Greek particle (de) that is routinely translated “but” in our English versions, as done in our present verse in the TEV, the NJB, and a few others, to reflect a contrast between clauses but when a simple connective is desired, without contrast being clearly implied, it may be translated “and” or “now” or “so” and in certain occurrences the particle may be left untranslated as is the case with our verse in the CEV, the ESV, the NRSV, among others. In our passage, the apostle used it to continue the concept of judgment on hypocrites of preceding section, specifically, in verse 2, and so it may be translated “so” or “and” or left untranslated as done in many of our English versions. Anyway, the fact that the apostle used a particle that indicates a continuation of what he discoursed in the preceding section that he referenced judgment and hypocrisy implies that he was continuing the concept of hypocrisy in our present section. Hence, we are sure that our section is still concerned with hypocrisy.
A second indicator that the apostle was still concerned about hypocrisy is the repeat of a Greek phrase that he used in verse 1 that is translated in the NIV of Romans 2:3 a mere man/a mere human being that the Greek literally reads O man. In our consideration of this phrase in Romans 2:1, we indicated that although it could be used in a positive manner but that it is used in a negative manner to put a person in their place and to remind the person of their limitations that the person seems to forget. It is in this sense that the word is used in our passage. This interpretation is enhanced by the fact that the word “man” used in the literal translation is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that means “a human being” without regard to gender. The word may be used to describe a human being with a focus on limitations and weaknesses as Apostle Paul used it when he rebuked the Corinthians for their partisanship as he compared them to other humans in their weakness that leads to sin as we read in 1 Corinthians 3:3:
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
The translators of the NIV used the phrase mere men/humans to convey the sense of the limitations and weakness of humans as evident in sinful conduct. So, when the apostle used the same Greek phrase, he used in verse 1 in verse 3 of Romans 2, he intended to indicate there is a continuation of the concepts of judgment and hypocrisy that he referenced in the preceding section of Romans 2:1-2.
A third indicator the apostle was still concerned about hypocrisy in the section we are considering is given in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:3 pass judgment on them and yet do the same things. The verbal phrase pass judgment on them is essentially the same verbal phrase of Romans 2:1 pass judgment on someone else. The only difference is that in our present verse the object of judgment or criticism is given in the plural them that no doubt refers to the other individuals a person passes judgment on while in verse 1 the singular is used in the phrase someone else. Furthermore, the verbal phrase of Romans 2:3 do the same things is exactly the same as Romans 2:1 do the same things. As we expounded in verse 1, the classical definition of a hypocrite is one that does the same thing for which the individual criticizes another. Hence, the verbal phrase of Romans 2:3 pass judgment on them and yet do the same things clearly indicates the apostle was still concerned with a hypocrite in the section we are considering. So, the fact that the word “hypocrite” is not directly used in our passage does not mean the apostle was not concerned with such a person. Anyhow, the three indicators we have considered in Romans 2:3 demonstrate that Apostle Paul was continuing with the concepts of judgment and hypocrisy in our passage.
It is important we recognize that passing judgment is not necessarily wrong. We make this statement because there are those who if you correct them or point out to them what they are doing wrong, they immediately accuse you of judging them. In fact, such individuals are quick to quote or to remind others that the Bible says that you should not judge. I mean that such individuals quote the words of Luke 6:37:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
People who quote this passage often ignore that there is such a thing as love in action that may require you to correct another for their own good. When you correct someone by pointing to the person what is wrong that may harm the individual, you are showing love if indeed your thinking is right when you do such a thing. The psalmist recognized that correction properly done is an act of kindness as he declared in Psalm 141:5:
Let a righteous man strike me — it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;
So, pointing out a failure to someone, which is really some form of rebuke, is good. Certainly, that is not what Jesus meant in the command of Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged for if that was the case, we would have a conflict in the teachings of the NT. For example, Jesus instructed that believers should watch out for the false prophets in Matthew 7:15:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
To obey this command requires that a person should have an informed opinion based on truth so that the individual could judge a prophet to be false. Furthermore, Apostle Paul himself judged the action of a certain sinning believer in Corinth to be wrong as reported in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5:
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3 Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4 When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
Apostle Paul said that he had already passed judgment on the sinning believer. If judging others means that we should never conclude that they have done something wrong, the apostle would have been wrong. But he wrote and acted under the control of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he could not have violated the instruction of the Lord Jesus about not judging others. The only conclusion we could reach from what the apostle wrote is that judging others does not mean that you should not state that a person has done something wrong. Anyway, when the Lord Jesus issued the command of Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged He simply meant that we should not look down on others so as to express bad opinions of them based on a relative standard. It is focusing on the faults of others harshly as to attempt to tear them down that our Lord Jesus prohibited. Thus, the point in the Lord Jesus’ command is that as we come into contact with others, it is possible that we could observe some actions on their part that would lead us to look down upon them or become very critical and have a judgmental spirit towards them. But the instruction of Jesus is that we should never get involved in looking down on others based on their actions, which are not really in conflict with God’s truth but only in conflict with our prejudices. In our passage of study, judging others will become wrong if the person that passes judgment does the same thing that the individual is criticizing others as in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:3 yet do the same things. In essence, passing judgment will become wrong if a person is a hypocrite.
I will not be saying too much if I assert that the worst vice of a hypocrite is arrogance. It is this arrogance that keeps hypocrites from being objective so that they would not consider the fact they are doing exactly the same things they criticize in others. It is blind arrogance that keeps the hypocrites from recognizing that they are no different from those they criticize. It is this arrogance that keeps hypocrites from recognizing that they have the same human weaknesses that lead to sin as others. Consequently, their arrogance causes them to think they are above the law or that whatever consequence is applicable to a specific sin is not applicable to them. In other words, they become delusional about God’s judgment. Of course, arrogance is a thought process that a person has. I am saying that a person does not become arrogant without thinking of how important or how much better the person thinks to be in comparison to others or to whatever causes arrogance in a person. Therefore, the apostle focused on a hypocrite by referencing the thought process of such an individual in the rhetorical question of Romans 2:3 do you think you will escape God’s judgment?
The apostle emphasized the concept of thought in the Greek since the very first word of the verse we are considering is a verb that is concerned with thought that we will get to shortly. We assert that the apostle emphasized the concept of thought because it is not normally the case to begin a Greek sentence with a verb and when this happens it is usually because the author wants to emphasize the action associated with the verb. Most of our English versions, for the most part, followed closely the Greek word order because of their placement of the word “think” in the beginning sentence of our verse although the NIV place it closer to the end of the verse. That aside, the word “think” in the rhetorical question do you think…? is translated from a Greek word (logizomai) that may mean “to determine by mathematical process” and so may mean “to count, take into account” as the word is used to describe a blessed individual as one that God does not hold the individual’s sin against the person as per the quotation from the OT Scripture by Apostle Paul that is recorded in Romans 4:8:
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.
Under the concept of determining by mathematical process is the meaning of “to evaluate, estimate, look upon as, consider” as a result of a calculation. It is in the sense of “to consider” that Apostle Paul used it in his quotation from OT Scripture in support of his teaching that the love of God for us cannot be changed as we read in Romans 8:36:
As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
The word may mean “to hold a view about something,” that is, “to think, believe, be of the opinion” as the apostle used it to describe himself to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:5
But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”
The word may mean “to give careful thought to a matter” and so may mean “to consider, to ponder, think about, let one’s mind dwell on something” as the apostle used it to caution those who are superficial in spiritual matters, to recognize that he and his apostolic team belong to Christ as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:7:
You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.
In our passage of Romans 2:3, the word has the sense of “to suppose” or “to think,” that is, “to use or exercise the mind or one’s power of reason in order to make an inference.”
It is a good thing to think, and we cannot function properly in this life if we are mindless in that we are not thinking correctly. Correct kind of thinking requires we be mindful of sin. Job had the correct form of thinking that he would offer sacrifice to deal with the possible sins of his children after they had a party or feasting as we read in Job 1:5:
When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
A person who thinks correctly in light of God’s truth will not become arrogant and so will not be a hypocrite. It is to ensure that we think properly that the Scripture warns us severally about wrong kind of thinking since such leads to arrogance and often to hypocrisy. A hypocrite will fail to obey instructions regarding correct thinking. For example, when a person is hypocritical and judges or criticizes another individual such a person invariably will violate God’s instruction that demands we should not think badly of others as we read in Zechariah 7:10:
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’
When a person is hypocritical that individual thinks evil of others hence the judging or criticizing of others. It is certainly that God does not want us to become arrogant in that we think we are more important than others that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul cautioned us about having undue thought of self as stated in Romans 12:3:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
When people are hypocritical, their thoughts are such that they do not recognize that God is the final judge and that when a person violates His word that such an individual will be punished. Thus, a hypocrite probably does not believe that God will do what he stated. This kind of person would be similar to those God warned would think that despite their failures He would still bless and keep them safe as stated in Deuteronomy 29:19:
When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.” This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
The point is that when a person is arrogant, such an individual may become a hypocrite, thinking that God will not punish the person. There is a sense that such a person is in self-deception with the mindset of being above the law or that the person has a special hold on God so that He would not judge the individual for the person’s failure.
Be that as it may, the rhetorical question of Apostle Paul to the hypocrite again is given in the last part of Romans 2:3 do you think you will escape God’s judgment? The rhetorical question anticipates the answer “no.” Thus, we are correct in stating that the apostle’s first point is that God’s judgment is inescapable by a hypocrite. The word “escape” in the NIV is translated from a Greek word (ekpheugō) that may mean “to run away,” that is, “to seek safety in flight” as it is used to describe the flight of the seven sons of Sceva to avoid the beating they received in the hands of a man with demons in him as stated in Acts 19:16:
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
The word may mean “to escape,” that is, “to become free from danger by avoiding some peril” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his escape from those who wanted to kill him while he was in Damascus shortly after his conversion as he wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:33:
But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
In our passage of Romans 2:3, the word means “to escape” in the sense of “to successfully run away from danger.”
The thing a hypocrite will not escape is described in the phrase of Romans 2:3 God’s judgment. This phrase refers to “condemnatory sentence” since the word “judgment” is translated from a Greek word (krima) that may mean “judgment, judging.” We examined this word in Romans 2:2 where we indicated it means “divine judgment.” In our passage of Romans 2:3, the word refers to “condemnatory sentence” that will lead to punishment. Hypocrites may because of arrogance conclude that God will not consider them guilty of doing the same thing they judge others but that is not the case. God will certainly declare such individuals guilty before Him and so liable to His punishment at the right time. Our use of the phrase “right time” is to caution us that the punishment that accompanies God’s judgment may not always follow as soon as He judges a person guilty. He may delay His punishment. This may lead some to think that God probably would not execute His judgment. It is to dissuade this kind of thinking that the Holy Spirit asserted what Apostle Peter recorded in 2 Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The coming of the Lord is not only to bring blessings on believers, but it involves His punishment on unbelievers as implied in 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10:
6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Although God may delay His punishment that does not mean that He may not bring immediate punishment to an individual. Take for example, when King Uzziah of Judah arrogated to himself the function of a priest in offering incense in the temple, God’s punishment on him was immediate as recorded in 2 Chronicles 26:19–20:
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.
When Herod became so arrogant that he received the praise that belongs to God because of the speech he delivered, he was met with immediate punishment as narrated in Acts 12:21–23:
21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
We know that there is final judgment coming when unbelievers will be confined to the lake of fire, but God may delay judgment on believers on this planet until a time He chooses. I mean that when a believer sins, God may delay the associated judgment until sometime later before the person departs from this life since such an individual will never come under His eternal condemnation. This was the situation with Moses and Aaron who disobeyed God, but He delayed their punishment of not entering the land of Canaan until they had finished His assignment for them on this planet as conveyed in Numbers 20:12:
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Thus, it should be clear that God determines the time He executes His judgment and so if that is not forthcoming, an individual should not think that the person had escaped God’s judgment. In any event, again, the first point the apostle conveyed to believers in this passage of Romans 2:3-6 is that God’s judgment is inescapable by a hypocrite.
The second point the apostle conveyed to believers in this passage of Romans 2:3-6 is that God’s goodness provides a way out of His judgment through repentance. This second point is in a sense intended to add another fact to the first point to enhance the first point or to complete it in the sense of providing a way out of God’s judgment that is inescapable by a hypocrite. This declaration is in part due to the very first word of Romans 2:4 or. The word “or” is translated from a Greek particle (ē) that may mean “than” as a marker of comparison even if the object of comparison is not clearly stated as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that he would rather communicate instructions believers will understand than speak in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:19:
But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
The Greek particle may mean “or” as a marker of alternative. The alternative may express opposites that are mutually exclusive as, for example, “to do good” is opposite of “to do evil” as the particle is used in the Lord Jesus’ question to those who were watching to see if He would perform a healing miracle on a Sabbath as stated in Mark 3:4:
Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
The alternative may express related and similar terms, where one can take the place of the other or one supplements the other as Apostle Paul used the word “read” as a word that can take the place of the expression “understand” in 2 Corinthians 1:13:
For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that,
In our passage of Romans 2:4, the particle is preceded by a rhetorical question so means “or” to introduce another question which is either parallel to a preceding question or adds to the first question in a way to enhance it or to complete the point conveyed in the first rhetorical question. It is for this reason that we indicated that the second point that is derived from the second rhetorical question that is given in verse 4 is intended to enhance the first point or to complete it.
There is another reason we assert that the second point is in a sense intended to add another fact to the first point to enhance the first point or to complete it. It is because the attitude that one has is a result of a thought process. For after all, attitudes are “the ways in which people think or feel about something or someone and which affect their behavior.” You cannot hate a person without a thought process that causes such attitude, nor can you love without the thought process that leads in demonstrating love. So, we know that attitude is related to a person’s thought process. In Romans 2:3, the first point is based on thought, but the second point is based on attitude that we will get to shortly. It is the relationship of thought to attitude that leads us to assert that the second point enhances the first point or completes it.
Anyway, the second point we are considering is in part due to the second rhetorical question of the passage we are considering in Romans 2:4 that reads Or do you show contempt…? The expression “show contempt” is translated from a Greek word (kataphroneō) that may mean “to despise, scorn, treat with contempt,” that is, “to look down on someone or something. with contempt or aversion, with implication that one considers the object of little value,” as Apostle Paul used it to instruct Timothy the way he should handle himself as a pastor of a local church according to 1 Timothy 4:12:
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
The word may mean “to disregard, care nothing for,” that is, “to consider something not important enough to be an object of concern when evaluated against something else as it is used to describe the attitude of the Lord Jesus towards the suffering and disgrace or shame of the cross in view of the salvation, He was to provide for us as recorded in Hebrews 12:2:
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The translators of the NIV used the meaning “scorn” to translate our Greek word while many of our English versions used the meaning “disregard.” In our passage of Romans 2:4, the word is used with the meaning of “to despise,” that is, “to look down on with contempt.”
The Scripture has much to say about the concept of “despise” as an attitude. Thus, a person who despises another individual is considered a sinner or one who sins as stated in Proverbs 14:21:
He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
Of course, the greater emphasis on the concept of despise has to do with attitude towards God and His word. Hence, a person who sins defiantly is indeed a person who despises God’s word as we may gather from Numbers 15:30–31:
30 “‘But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the LORD, and that person must be cut off from his people. 31 Because he has despised the LORD’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.’”
The punishment for sinning defiantly or blaspheming against Yahweh is being cut off from Israel that could mean death or excommunication from the community of Israel. The reason this is to take place is given in the clause of verse 31 Because he has despised the LORD’s word and broken his commands. The implication is that anyone who sins defiantly is one that despises God’s word. This makes sense since sinning defiantly is acting in arrogance while being fully aware of the law. Sinning defiantly stands in contrast to unintentional sins. When a person sins defiantly, that individual in a sense defies God or dares God to do something to the person. That aside, we are informed that a person sins defiantly because the individual despises God’s word.
Despising God or His word draws serious punishment from Him. When David committed adultery and killed Uriah, his sins were interpreted to be actions that despised God. Consequently, God inflicted on him punishment that involved violence and death in his family as it is implied in God’s word to David through Prophet Nathan as recorded in 2 Samuel 12:10:
Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
Exile of people of Judah to Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem is explained as due to the people despising God’s word so that He handed them over to the Babylonians not only to destroy Jerusalem but to take its residents into exile as conveyed in 2 Chronicles 36:15–17:
15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.
The Holy Spirit warns that anyone that rejects instruction will pay for it as stated in Proverbs 13:13:
He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.
The sentence He who scorns instruction will pay for it is more literally He who despises a word will bring destruction on himself. The price to pay or the destruction that will come to a person who despises God’s word is death. This is made clearer in the declaration of Proverbs 19:16:
He who obeys instructions guards his life, but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die.
The sentence he who is contemptuous of his ways will die is more literally the one who despises his ways will die. The phrase his ways may refer to a person’s conduct or to God’s word. Since the acceptable conduct of a person results from God’s word, it is probably better to understand the phrase as a reference to God’s word. Hence, if a person despises God’s word that individual will die. This is to tell us that it is no small matter to despise God or His word.
In any case, the rhetorical question we are considering in Romans 2:4 is Or do you show contempt…? The target of the despise or contempt is given in the phrase of Romans 2:4 for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience. It is because of this phrase that we put the second point the way we did, that is, that God’s goodness provides a way out of His judgment through repentance as we will demonstrate shortly. Meanwhile, the word “riches” is translated from a Greek word (ploutos) that may mean “abundance of many earthly goods,” that is, “wealth” as the word is used to caution believers who are rich materially not to put their trust on their wealth that can change as Apostle Paul stated in 1 Timothy 6:17:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Our Greek word figuratively may mean “wealth” or “abundance,” that is, plentiful supply of something as the word is used in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians although the translators of the NIV used the meaning “riches” to translate it in Ephesians 1:18:
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
It is with the meaning “wealth,” that is, “abundance of something” that the word is used in our passage of Romans 2:4.
The thing that is despised or look down on with contempt by the hypocrites Apostle Paul addressed in the passage we are studying is God’s wealth as in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:4 show contempt for the riches. We have already stated that the word translated “riches” in the NIV means “wealth” in our passage. It is difficult to understand what God’s wealth means. Apostle Paul described God’s wealth or riches in relation to His grace as we read in Ephesians 1:7:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
In the context of Ephesians 1:7 the phrase in accordance with the riches of God’s grace could be taken as a reference to the forgiveness of sins that was mentioned prior to the apostle writing our phrase or the phrase could refer either to redemption or forgiveness of sins. Regardless of whether we focus on redemption or forgiveness of sins, the fact is that God’s unlimited kindness stands behind it. Thus, richness or wealth as it pertains to God is expressed in terms of His grace that may also be understood as His goodness. The apostle also described God’s riches in terms of His expression of His kindness as stated in Ephesians 2:7:
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
The Greek word translated “grace” here has several meanings but in Ephesians 2:7, it is the meaning “gracious care” that is intended. That God’s gracious care or goodness is the intended meaning of the word “grace” in our passage is further reinforced with the next verbal phrase of Ephesians 2:7 expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. This is an interpretative translation since the literal Greek reads in kindness to us in Christ Jesus. The Greek phrase may be understood to mean that it is because of kindness that God will show us how much He cares for us or that kindness is the manner of showing us how much He cares for us. It seems to me that the phrase gives reason for God showing us how much He loves us. That aside, this passage helps us to understand that the wealth or riches of God is a concept that has to be explained based on the context. Thus, when Apostle Paul wrote in our passage of Romans 2:4 show contempt for the riches he recognized that the word “riches” or “wealth” needs to be explained. In other words, the apostle meant that those addressed despised or looked down on God’s wealth, but he also realized that such a word is used not literal in the sense of abundance of material possessions but figuratively. Thus, it became necessary for him to explain what he meant. The way he explained it is to list some of what constitutes God’s wealth as He deals with us. Consequently, the first one he mentioned is God’s kindness in the phrase of Romans 2:4 his kindness. The word “kindness” is translated from a Greek word (chrēstotēs) that means “goodness, generosity, kindness.” The word carries the meaning of the quality of being helpful or beneficial and it is an attribute of God. It is this attribute of God those addressed despised or looked down with contempt. There is one or two more of God’s attributes that constitute God’s wealth or riches, but we are out of time so we will continue with these in our next study. Let end by reminding you of the message we are expounding which is You can avoid God’s judgment by not being a hypocrite and by embracing His goodness through repentance.
10/04/24