God's Perfect Judgment 

Scripture Reading: Romans 2:1-16.

Memory Verse: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment . . . " (Hebrews 9:27).

Introduction: "Most people do not take God's word about sin and judgment seriously, but rather reject it and replace it with their own ad hominem reasoning. By way of illustration, when our school-age children want to justify participation in an activity of which we do not approve, their most common reasoning is, 'But everybody's doing it.' (That is the answer we parents used to use too--and still do.) 'Nobody's perfect!'  'To err is human, to forgive is divine . . ." Such thinking suggests that since we are human we are under moral obligation to sin, and that God is under moral obligation to forgive us.
  "Inherent in the common thinking that because everybody is doing it, it is not so bad--as long as we do not commit the 'biggies' we will be okay--is the assumption that God does not mean what he says or say what he means.
  "This problem is twofold: first, man does not understand God's holiness, and second, he does not understand his own sinfulness. As to God's holiness, sinful man's idolatrous mind fails to see God as the transcendent . . . perfect God who is infinitely above him, but rather imagines that he is like himself. As to sin, man forgets that he is made in the image of God and that every sin communicates a distortion of the image of God to the rest of creation. It is through such ignorance that the world suggests that if God does judge as he says, he insults his own intergrity, holiness, and justice."--Donald Grey Barnhouse, Man's Ruin, (Romans 1:1-32), pp. 292, 293.
  "There are four chances of escape for the man who transgresses a human law, but . . . none of these are available for the man who transgresses the law of God. First, if a man commits a crime, it is possible that the offense shall remain undiscovered. Second, it is possible that the criminal, even though his crime is made known, may escape beyond the bounds of the jurisdiction which could punish him. Third, it is possible that, even though detected and captured and brought to trial, there may be some breakdown in the legal procedure, and that he may thus go free. And last, it is possible that a convicted criminal may escape from prison. But . . . all of these possibilities of escape from human law can never be possibilities in connection with the law of God."--R. Kent Hughes, Romans, Righteousness From Heaven, pp. 51-52.

Lesson Questions:

1. Examine the inconsistency of those who judge self-righteously. Romans 2:1; Matthew 7:1-3; James 4:12; John 7:23; Titus 1:16; Job 9:20; 2 Samuel 12:5-7; Proverbs 20:9.
"On what basis do men judge other men? There may be more than these, but I set down seven principal grounds that men have occupied as vantage points for criticism, and we shall see that all of them are condemned by the Word of God. They are race, civilization, wealth, education, culture, ethics, and religion."--Donald Grey Barnhouse, God's Wrath, (Romans 2-3:1-20), pp. 18,19.

2. What is the standard of God's judgment, and will there be any who escape it? Romans 2:2,3; Isaiah 45:19; 53:6; Amos 5:18,19; 9:2.

3. What is the real purpose of God's goodness, and how do most men respond to Him? Romans 2:4,5; Hosea 11:1-4,7; Acts 17:30.

4. How will man be judged? Romans 2:6; Matthew 16:27; John 5:28,29; Jeremiah 17:10; 1 Corinthians 3:8; Ephesians 2:10.

5. Compare the rich rewards of the redeemed with the terrible penalties of the unredeemed. Romans 2:7-10.

6. Examine God's impartiality. Will there be any special benefits to them who have God's Law, or to them who are devoid of the Law? Romans 2:11,12; 10:11-13; James 1:1,8,9; Acts 10:34,35.

7. Is there any plausible excuse for not walking in holiness? Romans 2:13-15; James 1:21-25.
"There are three proofs set forth to demonstrate that a fine moral man can never be accepted by God. The first proof of his condemnation is that the fine moral [conduct] which he practices, demonstrates that on his heart is written the general knowledge of divine law . . . The second proof of the moralist's condemnation is that his conscience joins in bearing witness to his conduct . . . The memory of the honest man is what is described in our text [Romans 2] as 'their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.' This is the third proof of the condemnation of the moral man without God."--Donald Grey Barnhouse, God's Wrath, (Romans 2-3:1-20), p. 6.

8. What will be openly revealed and judged in the Day of Judgment? Romans 2:16; Numbers 32:23; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Luke 12:2-5.
"If Romans 2:6-16 teaches anything, it teaches that a redeemed life will produce holy living, and that a life that reflects no holy living has no claim on eternal life."--Donald Grey Barnhouse, God's Wrath, (Romans 2-3:1-20), pp. 96-98.