There is no partiality with God.

Romans 2:1-24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Impartiality of God

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. ³ But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who will render to each person according to his deeds: ⁷ to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God.

¹² For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; ¹³ for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. ¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

¹⁷ But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, ¹⁸ and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, ¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰ a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, ²¹ you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? ²² You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³ You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? ²⁴ For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.

It is important for us who are believers, who are followers of Christ to remember that Paul’s letters were written to the churches. They are instructions and exhortations to believers not to unbelievers. We should not expect that the world, unbelievers will abide by and follow what they do not believe. In today’s text it says: You have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?    Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1-3)   Here’s the thing that we need to remember when it comes to judging others. We sometimes do tend to judge others by our own standard of measure. We look at and judge the things that they do which are worse than what we do. The judgment of God, which we will not escape, is a much higher standard even than our own standard of judgment. Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said to those of old,‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’But I say to you thatwhoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother,‘Raca!’shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.“…“You have heard that it was said to those of old,‘You shall not commit adultery.’But I say to you that whoeverlooks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“ (Matthew 5:21-22;27-28)   It is important that we have the heart of the psalmist, who says: Examine me, O LORD, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. (Psalm 26:2)     Our hearts must be right with God, before our mouths can speak any judgment toward others.

In the text it says:  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?     Here too we must understand Godly kindness, tolerance and patience. There are some who believe that we are to tolerate sin. God’s kindness, tolerance and patience, leads to repentance not to the acceptance of sin. So we too then should be kind to, patient with and tolerant of people, not to accept or condone their sin, but rather that they would come to know the kindness of God and repent. In Matthew 5:17-19, before Jesus speaks of God’s higher standard, He says:   “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”     We need to recognize that what we do often speaks more than what we say. Our actions should be what we allow to speak to others. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   If our lives will display the light, the love, the kindness of God, we will not relax the commandments of God, neither will we teach, by tolerating sin, others to relax His commandments. Rather, by our good works, our righteousness, our kindness and patience they may glorify God and repent.

It is ironic that those who do not believe, will often try to judge believers by the word. They will try to hold Christians accountable to the Bible and its teachings, though they say they don’t believe it. What Jesus says, “in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you,”  is not just a rule for believers. It is a principle which affects and applies to everyone. When the world or unbelievers try to judge those who believe by God’s word, they bring the standard of the judgment of the word of God upon themselves. The text says:  Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.    The way to escape the judgment of God is not by the law, nor is it by our actions. The way to escape the judgment of God is to be judged by the greatest standard of righteousness, the cross of Christ. On the cross, Jesus did not judge or condemn sinners, but rather He said: “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)    There is no partiality with God. He forgives sinners, all who repent. He does not tolerate sin, either of those who believe or of those who do not.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; that I am judged by the righteousness of the cross of Christ. May my heart always be focused of Him. May my good works teach others to follow You, to repent and receive Your forgiveness.   Amen.