ROMANS 2:1-3 YOU WHO JUDGE ARE INEXCUSABLE

1. Chapter 2:1 Judgment according to Knowledge

The Therefore connects Chapter 1 with 2 and speaks to the Gentile’s sin – the problem is, however, that the Jew and other hypocrites somehow think he is exempt from God judging him in accordance with that same truth. Thus he thinks that when he commits the same sins he will somehow escape the judgment of God!

The apostle now warned them that they had indeed "practiced" the same things (v. 1). He seems to have been thinking as Jesus did when our Lord corrected His hearers' superficial view of sin (e.g., Matt. 5—7). Evil desires constitute sin as well as evil actions.

Jews who judge Gentiles hypocritically are without excuse since they practice the same sins and will also be judged by God in accordance with knowledge and the truth

The Jew who judges Gentiles has no excuse because at the same point at which he judges another he condemns himself. Why? Well, when he judges, he admits that such behavior is wrong, and worthy of just punishment from God, yet he himself knowingly commits the same sins

          Self righteousness exists because we minimize God's moral standards

• Because we underestimate our own sinfulness

2. Verses 2 & 3 Judgment according to Truth or Righteously

1Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Psalms 9:7 But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. 8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

          The first principle by which God judges is that He judges righteously (v2). He judges on the basis of what really exists, not what merely appears to be.

Paul’s point is that since God’s judgment is based on truth and not on any fudging of the grades for the sake of the “chosen” crowd, the Jew is equally held accountable to God. They cannot condemn others for their sins when they practice the same ones. The Jew of Paul’s day knew and approved of the fact that God’s judgment is in accordance with the truth, yet he failed to apply it to himself because, in his zealous criticism of obvious Gentile sin, he failed to similarly apply God’s revealed standard to his own life. Paul’s says that God’s impartial judgment extends to the covenant people as well. When it comes to God’s judgment against sin, we must all examine our lives, for we have a tendency to throw the first stone, all the while conveniently forgetting that we all live under the same rules that others do.