Lessons #61 and 62
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+ 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 +
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Results of God’s judgment (Rom 2:7-10)
7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Recall that in this passage of Romans 2:7-10 we are concerned with the results of God’s judgment or decision that could be categorized as either positive or negative. Consequently, we stated the message of this passage which is Be concerned about doing good because the results of God’s judgment on a person’s deeds could be blessing or punishment. In our last study, we focused on the first positive result of God’s judgment or decision to give eternal life to the elect who in turn, because of steadfast endurance/perseverance God gives them, strive for eternal recognition by God through their good work. There is a second positive result, and it is with this we begin our study this morning.
The second positive result of God’s judgment or decision is the actual realization of glory, honor, and peace as given in verse 10 that we will get to shortly. Verse 10 begins with the conjunction but because the preceding verses 8 and 9 are concerned with negative results of God’s judgment or decision. However, in the introduction of this section, we indicated that we would consider the positive results together, that is the reason we skipped for the moment these two verses to focus on verse 10 that is concerned with positive result of God’s judgment or decision. Even as we consider the positive results, we should bear in mind that there are negative results that we will consider at the appropriate time. So, the conjunction but that begins verse 10 that we are about to consider is a reminder of the existence of negative results of God’s judgment or decision.
The second positive result of God’s judgment or decision that we are about to consider confirms the promise the Lord Jesus made during His Sermon on the Mount when He declared what is recorded in Matthew 7:7–8:
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
We say that the second result that we are about to consider is the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise because the first result we considered in Romans 2:7 indicated that those who receive eternal life as the elect of God are devoted to seeking the things that are mentioned in Romans 2:7 but here in Romans 2:10 there is no longer the implication of seeking but of obtaining what was sought. Hence, it is appropriate to assert that the second positive result that we are about to consider confirms the promise of the Lord Jesus since those who are devoted in seeking the things listed in Romans 2:7 obtain them as indicated in verse 10 that we are considering. The point we want to stress is that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul wants us to recognize that God’s promise will never go unfulfilled as Joshua reminded Israel during his farewell address to them as recorded in Joshua 21:45:
Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
That God keeps His promise is described differently by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul by simply reminding us that God is faithful to His word as implied in 1 Corinthians 1:9:
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Since God’s promises will never fail to be fulfilled, the things Apostle Paul listed in Romans 2:10 are also intended to encourage believers who are devoted to seeking the three things listed in Romans 2:7, two of which are given in verse 10, to continue to do so with the assurance that in the end they will receive the things they strive after.
The first thing that believers who are serious about their spiritual life, are after that they would receive is described with the word glory of Romans 2:10. The word “glory” is translated from a Greek word (doxa) that we indicated in Romans 2:7 meant “glory” in the sense of “recognition by God.” Glory that God gives to humans on this planet is usually equivalent to honor or reputation or respect. Thus, Yahweh granted the psalmist glory as stated in Psalm 3:3:
But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
Glory here refers to honor and reputation granted to the psalmist who is King David. God granted glory to Nebuchadnezzar as stated in Daniel 2:37:
You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory.
The Lord Jesus in His priestly prayer indicates that He had given “glory” to His disciples as recorded in John 17:22:
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
The glory the Lord Jesus gave is variously interpreted. Some take it to be the authority and power the Father gave to Jesus that He exhibited in His mission to the world that He now passed on to the disciples with the promise to be with them. Others take the glory to refer to the fact that believers are in Christ and Christ is in them. It is probably the case that the glory Jesus gave to His disciples would encompass both interpretations and more. That aside, glory God gives should be recognized as progressive in that there is a glory that God gives on this planet but eventually believers will receive a higher degree of glory or recognition. This idea of degrees of glory is in fact stated by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18:
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The phrase with ever-increasing glory is more literally from glory into glory. This idiom indicates that believers are being transformed into higher degrees of glory. Believers have received glory in the sense of divine presence in their lives at the present but there is a future glory that they will receive. Apostle Paul referenced this future glory in 1 Corinthians 2:7:
No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
Glory here refers to the blessing of eternal salvation that was in the mind of God. This ultimate glory will be received when Christ returns as implied in 1 Peter 1:7:
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Anyway, the glory believers will receive in the future as we have indicated involves the ultimate blessings of salvation. There is also the fact that believers will receive recognition by God since it is at that time that believers will fully share or participate in the glory of Christ that the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:14:
He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The point is that believers who are devoted to seeking recognition with God on this planet will certainly receive it when Jesus Christ returns.
The second thing that believers who are serious about their spiritual life strive after that they would receive is described with the word honor of Romans 2:10. Like glory, God also bestows honor on people on this planet. God bestowed honor on David as stated in 1 Chronicles 17:18:
“What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant,
God bestowed honor to Solomon as stated in 2 Chronicles 1:12:
therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
As a general principle, genuine honor on this planet is from God to those who strive to live in obedience to His word as stated in Psalm 84:11:
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
To walk blameless means to obey God’s commands in everything. Anyone that does this will receive honor from God on this planet. However, the ultimate honor that will be the possession of believers the apostle described as the second thing believers who seek it will receive, will occur at the second coming of Christ as indicated in the passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Peter 1:7:
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
The point is that honor as a heavenly possession is the second thing believers who are serious about their spiritual life and strived after would receive in the eternal state.
The third thing that believers who are serious about their spiritual life strive after, would receive is described with the word peace of Romans 2:10. This third thing is different from what the apostle listed in Romans 2:7. The third thing the apostle listed in verse 7 is immortality that is translated from a Greek word (aphtharsia) we indicated that in Romans 2:7 has the sense of “incorruptibility,” that is, the incapability of decay. The apostle probably did not mention this word in verse 10 because he was now concerned with things that are realized in eternity where corruption is no longer an issue. Anyway, the word “peace” is translated from a Greek word (eirēnē) that may mean “harmony in personal relationships, tranquility”, as that was what the Holy Spirit intended for believers as per His instruction through Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:3:
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
The word may mean “freedom from worry” as it is used in describing one of the various facets of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.
The Greek word translated “peace” may also mean a state of well-being and so means “welfare, health.” In our passage of Romans 2:10, it means “peace” in the sense of “the blessed state of believers after death.” But before death, we should understand that peace in the sense of state of well-being that escapes those who live in disobedience to the word of God as Prophet Isaiah declared in Isaiah 48:22:
“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
Peace for the believer on this planet is used to describe comprehensively the benefits and blessings of salvation as the Lord Jesus declared He gives as stated in John 14:27:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
The peace Jesus leaves with His disciples or should I say the peace He gives to believers is that associated with salvation that the world cannot give. For example, there is joy that God gives that is associated with salvation that is different from feeling of happiness people have because something good has happened to them on this planet. David was aware of this joy that in his prayer, after confessing his sins of adultery and murder, in a sense prayed for restoration of joy associated with salvation as recorded in Psalm 51:12:
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
David’s experience with joy associated with salvation is that which belongs to all believers. Consequently, when the Philippian jailer was saved, we read of his joy because of his salvation described in terms of believing in God as narrated in Acts 16:34:
The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.
Peace that is part of the blessing of salvation, is that which provides protection against anxiety when believers make known their concerns to God in prayer as stated in Philippians 4:6–7:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
It is this peace that is part of salvation that God grants to believers on this planet that serves to help them reach a decision when they face choices regarding things that are not sinful but there is nothing in the Scripture that guides the choice of one alternative over another as implied in Colossians 3:15:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Peace associated with salvation is that which believers enjoy on this planet, but the peace Apostle Paul was concerned with in Romans 2:10 that is part of the second result of God’s judgment or decision is that peace that is associated with eternal stated. Again, it is that “blessed state of believers after death.”
The second result of God’s judgment or decision is for those the apostle described in the clause of Romans 2:10 for everyone who does good. Literally, the Greek reads to everyone doing the good. The word “does” is translated from a Greek verb (ergazomai) that may mean “to work,” that is, “to engage in activity that involves effort,” as the apostle used the word to describe his and his team’s manual labor to provide for their physical needs, as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 2:9:
Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
The word may mean to do or accomplish something through work and so it may mean “to do, accomplish, carry out.” It is in the sense of “to do” that our word is used to encourage good works by believers in Galatians 6:10:
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
It is in the sense of “to officiate at, to perform” that the word is used to describe those who work in the temple that should live by things associated with it in 1 Corinthians 9:13:
Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
The clause those who work in the temple is more literally those performing the holy services. In our passage of Romans 2:10, the word has the meaning “to do or to carry out.” The Greek suggests that the apostle is concerned with describing a kind of person who has formed the habit of carrying out or doing what is described as “good” in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:10 does good or literally the good.
The Greek phrase that literally reads the good is used by the apostle along with the Greek verb that we indicated means “to do or to carry out” to describe what is acceptable to God and beneficial to humans. Thus, the apostle used the phrase with the Greek verb to encourage that which is beneficial to all people, especially believers, as we read in the passage we cited previously, that is, Galatians 6:10:
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Likewise, he used the combination of the Greek phrase and the Greek verb to encourage believers to carry out acceptable work that is useful as in Ephesians 4:28:
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Anyway, it is not merely that a person does what is good, but the apostle is concerned with the kind of person who because of the inner condition of the individual that implies regeneration, and the control of the Holy Spirit, carries out what is acceptable before God and certainly beneficial to others. In effect, the Holy Spirit through the apostle described the kind of person the Lord Jesus described as recorded in Matthew 12:35:
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
The Lord was being figurative as he described where one stores that which is valuable from which the person does what is good. His point is really that it is the inner being of a person that determines what a person produces. Those who are believers with the Holy Spirit residing in them, when controlled by Him, produce what is good in keeping with the character of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the apostle is not merely describing the second result that we are considering as that which will go to any kind of person who does what people consider beneficial but the person who does so because of the individual’s spiritual life. There is a sense that the second result we are considering apply more to those believers who are controlled by the Holy Spirit when they do what is good than when a believer does something that is considered good but not controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Be that as it may, Apostle Paul continued to assert the privileged position of the Jews in God’s outworking of His plan because he communicated that they are the first recipients of the second result of God’s judgment or decision as he wrote in the last phrase of Romans 2:10 first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. We have considered this phrase when the apostle first used it in the sixteenth verse of the first chapter of this epistle to the Romans. We had indicated that the phrase first for the Jew is the apostle’s way of recognizing the privileged position of Israel that Yahweh communicated to them through Moses and through the prophets as conveyed, for example, through Prophet Amos that Israel’s privileged position means that they would be severely punished because of their sin as stated in Amos 3:2:
“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
We have, of course, considered in detail previously of how to understand the word Jew. Since we have given a detail treatment of the word “Jew” that includes how Orthodox Judaism views the term in that to them a person is a Jew if the person has been born to a Jewish mother and who has not apostatized in the sense of being a Christian or converted to any religion but our concern at this point is the way the apostle used the word. The term “Jew” may refer to a Hebrew person that practices Mosaic tradition. We say this because when Apostle Paul identified himself as a Jew, he meant one who was born a Hebrew that practiced the Mosaic tradition. He referred himself as a Jew in Acts 22:3:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
Here he associated being a Jew to the law, but he also associated being a Jew as that which one is born, as in Galatians 2:15:
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’
To him, it is probably inconceivable that one would be a Jew without being a Hebrew, as we can gather from his description of himself as a Hebrew in Philippians 3:5:
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
The point is while the term “Jew” may be used to include those who are not born as Jews but have converted to Judaism, that is not what the apostle would have had in mind in the phrase of Romans 2:10 first for the Jew. He would mean naturally born Hebrews who are considered different from Gentiles as implied in the phrase of Romans 2:10 then for the Gentile. The word “Gentile” is translated from a Greek word (Hellēn) that refers to a non-Jewish person. Thus, the blessings of salvation are first applied to the Jews before Gentiles. Of course, the Jews were the first to receive God’s word and so also the gospel message. In any event, the second positive result of God’s judgment or decision is the actual realization of glory, honor, and peace as given in Romans 2:10 as we have expounded and so we proceed to consider the negative results of God’s judgment or decision.
The apostle indicated that he was concerned also with the negative result of God’s judgment or decision because he began Romans 2:8, according to the NIV, with the word but. This is because we have a Greek particle (de) that is routinely translated “but” in our English versions 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 untranslated. Other times, the particle is used to provide explanation so may be translated “that is.” In the verse we are considering, the apostle used it to contrast the positive result of God’s judgment or decision he stated in verse 7 with the negative results he was about to state beginning in verse 8. However, because of the Greek particle (men) used in verse 7, it is possible to begin verse 8 with the phrase “on the other hand.” This interpretation seems to be reflected in the CEB that begins verse 8 with the phrase But on the other hand.
Anyway, the first negative result of God’s judgment or decision is punishment. This is given in the last sentence of Romans 2:8 there will be wrath and anger although literally we have simply wrath and anger. The two words “wrath” and “anger” are translated from Greek words that have overlapping meanings. For example, the word “wrath” is translated from a Greek word (orgē) that may mean “anger” as what should not be present when believers pray as stated in 1 Timothy 2:8:
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
Likewise, the word “anger” in Romans 2:8 is translated from a Greek word (thymos) that also may mean “wrath” to describe God’s judgment recorded in Revelation 16:1:
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
The second Greek word (thymos) translated “anger” in the NIV of Romans 2:8 is taken by some to be a more passionate and more temporary form of display of displeasure so that it is considered more of the turbulent commotion, the boiling agitation of the feelings that quickly flares up but also quickly extinguished. While the first Greek word (orgē) translated “wrath” is considered more abiding and settled habit of the mind that is concerned with displeasure and also with the purpose of revenge. This may well be the case, but it is difficult to draw a sharp distinction between the two words. The most we can say regarding the two Greek words that may mean “wrath” is that the first Greek word (orgē) translated “wrath” is a favored word among the writers of the NT for expressing God’s anger or wrath since it is used more times for God than the Greek word (thymos) translated “anger.” That aside, the apostle probably used the two Greek words together to convey the intensity of God’s punishment to those described in the verse we are considering.
Be that as it may, the apostle began verse 8 with descriptions of those who are recipients of the first negative result of God’s judgment or decision. They are those who disobey the truth. This description is given in the clause of Romans 2:8 and who reject the truth. A literal translation is even disobeying the truth.
The word “reject” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (apeitheō) that means “not to allow oneself to be persuaded and so it means “to disobey” as it is used to describe the Israelites of Exodus generation that God swore would not enter His rest as we read in Hebrews 3:18:
And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?
In our passage of Romans 2:8, the word means “to disobey,” that is, “to refuse to go along” with something.
The thing those described disobey or refused to go along with is described with the phrase the truth. The word “truth” is translated from a Greek word (alētheia) with a range of meanings that we have previously considered. For example, we indicated that in Romans 1:18 and Romans 1:25 the Greek word means “truth” in the sense of the “content of what is true, especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth.” In Romans 2:2, we indicated that the Greek word is used by the apostle in the sense of “conformity to reality” that belongs to God. In a sense, the word means “right” or “just” in Romans 2:2. In our passage of Romans 2:8, it means “truth” in the sense of the “content of what is true, especially of the content of Christianity as the ultimate truth.” Truth here includes the gospel message that is concerned with how to be righteous with God, but it also involves God’s righteous demands as revealed in the teaching of the Christian faith. Thus, those described in our passage are in the state they are because they did not believe the gospel message. The apostle had already communicated that the gospel is what brings people to salvation as he wrote in Romans 1:16:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
The apostle later indicated that God’s judgment is revealed through the gospel message as he wrote in Romans 2:16:
This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
Furthermore, the apostle indicated that those God would punish are those who do not obey the gospel in the sense of believing its message as stated in 2 Thessalonians 1:8:
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Hence, “truth” as we have indicated includes the gospel message and God’s righteous demands as part of the ultimate truth found in the Christian faith or doctrines.
Acceptance of the gospel message should result in living according to the righteous demands of God detailed in our Scripture. Therefore, a person who disobeys the gospel message by refusing to be persuaded of its truthfulness would manifest a lifestyle that is contrary to the word of God. It is this fact the apostle stated regarding those who are the recipients of the first negative result of God’s judgment or decision in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:8 and follow evil. Literally, the Greek reads and/but obeying unrighteousness. The conjunction and is translated from the Greek particle (de) we mentioned previously that may be used to contrast clauses and so may be translated “but.” It can be used for continuation with the meaning “and” or even to explain a preceding clause. In the verbal phrase we are considering, it seems that the apostle used the particle to explain further what he means by disobeying or rejecting truth.
The explanation the apostle provided of what it means to disobey the truth or the gospel, is also a result of such a response to the gospel. Those who disobey God’s truth live unrighteously as that is what is implied in the verbal phrase of Romans 2:8 and follow evil. Literally, the Greek reads and/but obeying unrighteousness. The word “follow” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (peithō) that may mean to be won over as a result of persuasion. Thus, the word may mean “to persuade” as Apostle Paul used it to persuade people regarding the fear of the Lord as we have in 2 Corinthians 5:11:
Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
The word may mean “to follow” advice as it is used to narrate the refusal of the centurion in the ship taking Paul to Rome to accept his advice in Acts 27:11:
But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.
The word may mean “to obey” as it is used in the question of Apostle Paul to the Galatians regarding their not obeying the truth as stated in Galatians 5:7:
You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?
In our passage of Romans 2:8, the word has the sense of “to obey,” that is, “to comply with.” So, those the apostle described obey or comply with what the apostle described as unrighteousness or evil in the word of the NIV.
The word “evil” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (adikia) that may mean “an act that violates standards of right conduct,” that is, “wrong, wrongdoing” as the apostle used it sarcastically with the Corinthians for them not supporting him as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:13:
How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
The word may mean “harm” as it is used by Apostle Peter to, in effect, apply the spiritual law of sowing and reaping to false teachers as we read in 2 Peter 2:13:
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
The word may mean “unrighteousness” as that which the believer is cleansed from upon confession of sin as we read in 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
In our passage of Romans 2:8, the word refers to “the quality of injustice” and so means “unrighteousness,” that is, characteristic of life of the unbeliever. Hence, those the apostle described are those who obey the dictates of their sinful nature and do whatever they want that are certainly contrary to the truth. The point of the apostle in using this word is to indicate that those who disobey truth that involves first the gospel message and then the teachings of the Christian faith are those who are spiritually dead so that they obey the dictates or desires of the mind of the fallen human nature.
In any case, the apostle indicates that those he described as the recipients of the first negative result of God’s judgment or decision function from selfish ambition. It is this fact that is given in the NIV of Romans 2:8 those who are self-seeking. A literal translation is to the (ones who) out of selfish ambition.
The expression “self-seeking” is translated from a Greek word (eritheia) that authorities tell us the term meant “paid work” and so originally had a positive sense but later it came to mean that which is done solely for self-interest. Thus, it was used to denote seeking political office by unfair means not because a person wants to serve the state but simply to gain honor and wealth. This being the case, the word was used with two meanings: “dispute or intrigue to gain advantages; or personal ambition, the exclusive pursuit of one’s own interests.” Although authorities are undecided about the meaning of the word, in our passage of Romans 2:8, it has the sense of “selfish ambition,” that is, “a strong drive for personal success without moral inhibitions.” Of course, because the meaning of the word is not quite certain, it could also mean in this verse “contending against God” as suggested in Greek English lexicon of Thayer. Anyway, the point is that those described by our word are despicable in their character that they are not interested in God’s truth but seek only what serves their interest without any concern for what is true. Their disobeying of God’s truth originates from their desire to please themselves only. In any event, the first negative result of God’s judgment or decision is punishment.
The second negative result of God’s judgment or decision is intense suffering described in the first sentence of Romans 2:9 There will be trouble and distress. The expression there will be is not in the Greek but added for clarity to English reader. The intense suffering is conveyed in the phrase trouble and distress.
The word “trouble” is translated from a Greek word (thlipsis) that no doubt means “trouble,” but it has other nuances. The word may mean “hardship” as Apostle Paul used it to reference his and his team’s experience in Asia as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:8:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
The 2011 NIV used the word “troubles” instead of “hardships” in 2 Corinthians 1:8. The word may mean “distress” as in 2 Corinthians 2:4:
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
In our passage of Romans 2:9, the word is used in the sense of trouble that inflicts distress and so means “affliction.”
The word “distress” in the sentence of Romans 2:9 There will be trouble and distress is translated from a Greek word (stenochōria) that literally means "narrow space” but in the NT, it is used figuratively to refer to a set of stressful circumstances. Thus, it may mean “difficulties” as Apostle Paul used it to describe his experiences during which the Lord sustained him as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:10:
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In our passage of Romans 2:9, the word has the sense of “distress” to refer to an oppressive state one experiences due to physical, mental, social, and economic adversity.
The two Greek words translated “trouble” and “distress” are synonymous. The Greek word (thlipsis) translated “trouble” in Romans 2:9 as we noted previously could mean “hardship” so also the Greek word (stenochōria) translated “distress” as that is the meaning of the Greek word used in Romans 8:35:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
The fact is that the two Greek words used are synonymous but according to Trench in his Synonyms of the NT, the second Greek word (stenochōria) translated “distress” in Romans 2:9 seems to be the stronger word of the two. Thus, it is proper to indicate that the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision is intense suffering.
The intense suffering that as the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision is applicable to all humans who are unbelievers, as that is implied in the phrase of Romans 2:9 for every human being. Literally, the Greek reads for every soul of man. This is because the word “human” is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that literally means “male person”, but it also means “a human being” without regard to gender. It is in this sense that the word is used in our verse of study.
The word “being” in the phrase of Romans 2:9 for every human being of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (psychē) that may mean “soul” as “seat and center of the inner human life in its many and varied aspects” as the word is used when the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples as He awaited the cross in the narrative given in Matthew 26:38:
Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
The word may mean “life, earthly life” as that which animates the body making bodily functions possible as the word is used to describe what Epaphroditus risked in the work of Christ on behalf of the Philippians as Apostle Paul stated in Philippians 2:30:
because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
In our passage of Romans 2:9, the word is used in the sense of that which possesses life hence “a being.” Thus, the intense suffering that is the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision is applicable to all unbelievers without exception.
Unbeliever, that is the recipient of the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision, is described in the clause of Romans 2:9 who does evil. Literally the Greek reads the (one) doing the evil. The word “does” is translated from a Greek word (katergazomai) that here has the meaning of “to accomplish.” The Greek indicates that the apostle described the kind of person that habitually accomplishes what is described as “evil.” The word “evil” is translated from a Greek word (kakos) that may pertain to being harmful or injurious but in our verse of study, the word means “wrong” or “evil” in the sense of morally objectionable behavior. The point is that those who are recipients of the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision which is intense sufferings are those involved in morally objectionable behavior as what characterizes them.
In any event, the apostle ends the verse by indicating that the negative results are applicable first to the Jews and then to Gentiles as in the last phrase of Romans 2:9 first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. We have considered this phrase previously so we will not make further comment on it at this time other than reminding us that the phrase first for the Jew is the apostle’s way of recognizing the privileged position of Israel that Yahweh communicated to them through Moses and through the prophets. With this, we have finished our exposition of the second negative result of God’s judgment or decision and the results of God’s judgment present in Romans 2:7-10. So, we end with a reminder of the message we have expounded which is Be concerned about doing good because the results of God’s judgment on a person’s deeds could be blessing or punishment.
11/01/24