#DailyDevotion God Shows No Partiality
January 9th
Read Rom. 2:1-16
Rom 2:4-11 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (5) But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (6) He will render to each one according to his works: (7) to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; (8) but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (9) There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, (10) but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. (11) For God shows no partiality.
So we start off with gospel in verse four. God hasn’t wiped us out or struck us down in our sins. We shouldn’t therefore sin presuming upon the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience. These things instead are meant by God to lead us to repentance. The law will never give us the repentance that is really effective, it just lets us know we need to repent. But to complete repentance we need the good news of salvation in Christ Jesus where God is kind, forebearing and patient.
Yet if we spurn such kindness what all do we have left is God’s wrath which we are storing up by our impenitence. A day of judgment is coming. God will judge you and what will be the verdict?
God will reward each person according to his works on that day. WAIT! I thought you said salvation is a free gift of God in Christ Jesus? It is. Never-the-less God will reward those who do good and punish those who do evil. “That doesn’t make any sense,” you say. Ah but you have the whole of scripture to deal with. Later in Romans Paul will remind us that everything done without faith in Christ is sin and in the book of Hebrews it is written, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” And so those who are without faith in Christ, no matter how their works look to the world are sinful and for those who are in Christ, everything this a good work no matter how it looks to the world.
It is only those who have faith in Christ who “by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality.” Faith in Christ calls for patience. However, self-seeking is the very heart of the unbeliever. Whatever he does, even good (before the world) is for himself. They do not obey the truth (which is faith in Christ Jesus). They obey unrighteousness (which is trust in everything by Jesus).
God does not show impartiality. All that matters is trust in Christ or lack of trust in Christ. Those who trust in Christ do good. Those who don’t trust in Christ do evil. To the Jew first and then the non-Jew. This is because Jews had the Word first and then the Gentile.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant us the gift of repentance that we may turn away from unbelief and wicked works to faith in you and serving our neighbor that we may be found worthy on the day your wrath. Amen.