Skip to content

The River ChurchSermons

The NEED

Judgment

Josh Combs · Sunday, 11 May 2025 · Romans 2:1-16 · 33:09 · 4,303 words

Romans S3 · 2:1-16 Goodrich

Listen to this message

Romans 2 explains that God is the true judge, and people wrongly set themselves up as judges, excusing or condemning others while ignoring their own sin. God’s patience is not permission to keep sinning, but an invitation to confess and forsake wrongdoing. True repentance requires both honest admission and a change of behavior. The message teaches that because God is holy He must judge sin, yet offers salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection, urging listeners to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in His resurrection to escape divine judgment.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

judgment 35 judge 33 mosaic 5 wrong 15 sexually 4 god 88 immoral 4 escape 5 grew 7 david 8 lamb 5 repent 9

Topics

Judgment 10 Sin 6 Righteousness 3 Salvation 3 The Law 3 The Holy Spirit 1 Obedience 1 Faith 1 The Wrath of God 1 Prayer 1 Justification 1 The Gospel 1 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Death & Resurrection 1 Grace 1 Baptism 1

Scripture referenced 40

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 2 1:33 Romans 1 1:46 Romans 1 2:12 Romans 1:21 2:12 Romans 1:25 2:24 Romans 1:28 2:25 Romans 1:32 2:48 Romans 1:30 2:48 Romans 2:1 3:23 Romans 1:32 3:59 Romans 1 5:42 Romans 2 6:21 Romans 2:1-5 6:21 Romans 2:1 6:45 Romans 2:2 8:55 Romans 1 9:30 Romans 1:29-31 9:32 Romans 1:3 9:47 Romans 1:3 10:09 Romans 1:4 11:56 Proverbs 28:13 13:21 Psalms 32 14:09 Romans 1:5 14:46 Romans 1:6 15:59 Ephesians 2:9 16:25 Romans 1:7 17:05 Romans 1:7 17:09 Romans 2 18:15 1 Corinthians 6 18:34 Titus 3:3 21:00 Revelation 20 21:05 Romans 2 21:33 Romans 2:11 21:40 Romans 2:11 22:53 Romans 2:12 23:23 Romans 2:14 23:54 Romans 2:15 24:10 Romans 2:16 25:11 John 3:16 26:34 Romans 2:17 26:53

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:44. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey, everyone. My name is Debbie, and thanks for checking out this message today.

We are so glad that you're here and want to connect with you and your family.

The easiest way to do that is to text RIVERCONNECT to 97000.

There we can answer your questions and even help pray for you.

You can also visit our website at theriverchurch.cc to learn more about us and what we have going on as a church.

Finally, if you want to support the work that we're doing here at the River Church financially,

please head over to our website and click the Give tab at the top of the page,

or you can text the amount you want to give to 84321.

Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

I do want to wish you a happy Mother's Day.

Moms, on the way out the door today, we have a cupcake for each of you, okay?

So you can stop by. They are fat-free, sugar-free, calorie-free, and I am lying right now, okay?

But you can stop by at the tables at each exit.

If you have a Bible, let's open those together to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number 2.

If you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you to share with someone sitting next to you,

or you can take out your phone, you can download a Bible app or the River Church app.

There's a Bible feature there.

I want to encourage you as much as I possibly can to be following along with the Bible.

Romans chapter 2, if you're a guest, I want to welcome you.

Thank you for being here today.

Romans chapter number 2, beginning in verse number...

The Bible says,

Romans 1 details kind of the spiral of our relationship with God.

In verse 21 of chapter 1, it says,

We know God, but in our sinful state, we begin to dishonor God.

Verse 25, it says,

It says we ignore God and His standards, and then we attempt to, in verse 28, replace God.

This is humanity's attempt to just erase God, saying things like,

God doesn't exist.

It's the goal of avoiding the responsibility that we're all going to answer to God.

Then in verse 32, we disobey God, and then ultimately in verse 30, we hate God.

So the Bible says here,

We have no...

No excuse, no defense before God.

There's no one to shift the blame to.

So here we are standing before God.

We're in the holy courtroom of God, and we're the defendant, and we don't like that.

So humanity makes a very interesting move.

Romans chapter 2, verse 1,

Therefore, you have no excuse, no defense, no one to blame, O man, every one of you who judges.

So rather than being the defendant, we appoint ourselves to be the judge.

Rather than receiving judgment, we decide that we're going to give judgment.

And that judgment kind of cuts two different ways.

First of all, that judgment can be approval, excusing.

Romans chapter 1, verse 32, the last phrase there,

says they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them.

So as the judge, we look at someone's behavior, and we say,

You know what?

You know what?

You're okay.

We give people the thumbs up.

We let them off the hook.

Or that judgment cuts the other way, and we condemn.

We make ourselves judge who decides what's right, what's wrong,

and where things sit on the scale of right and wrong.

As humans, we all have this little scale in our head.

This is a big sin.

This is a small sin.

That's a big lie.

That's a white lie.

That's a big problem.

That's not too bad.

So we appoint ourselves the judge.

And in doing so, this produces, especially in the church with religious people,

the what we'll call, quote unquote, those people mentality.

So the church gathers together, sings some songs, and then yells about those people.

Not the people here.

My goodness, why would we dare do that?

But did you see the news this week?

Did you hear about so-and-so on social?

Those people.

In often Romans 1, particularly the verses that list sin there,

we begin to think about those people.

You mean the idol worshipers or the sexually immoral.

My goodness, those people.

Jesus says it this way.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye,

but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

When we establish ourselves as the judge, we are so quick and so skilled,

at seeing the speck in other people's eyes,

that we miss the glaring problem in our own life.

Throughout verses 1 through 5 in chapter 2,

you'll notice the word you and the word yourself repeated.

Here's why.

The scripture is not talking to those people.

God is talking to you.

He's talking to me.

He's talking to us.

Let's continue in verse 1.

Paul says,

For in passing judgment,

on understanding,

another you condemn yourself,

because you, the judge,

practice the very same things.

When you were a kid,

you may have heard this from a teacher or a parent,

make sure you don't point fingers at someone else,

because when you do,

you have three pointing back at yourself.

That was a way of saying,

you're accusing someone,

you're condemning your own self.

In the Old Testament,

there was a great king named David.

David saw a woman one day,

and he committed,

had adultery with her,

and she became pregnant.

So to hide the affair,

to hide the pregnancy,

he murdered her husband,

and then married the lady.

So people applauded David.

Oh, David, you're a hero.

That poor lady,

her husband died on the battlefield.

David had him killed,

but David's the one being applauded as a hero.

No one knew about the sin.

To the prophet Nathan comes to David,

and he says,

David, there's two guys in a certain town,

one that was rich and had all kinds of flocks,

and herds, and everything.

And one guy that was poor,

he only had one little lamb.

The rich guy had a guest show up,

and it was unexpected.

He didn't want to kill or slaughter

any of his herd to feed his guest.

So he went to the poor man,

stole his little lamb,

murdered the lamb,

cooked up the lamb,

and that's how he fed his guest.

As the story was going,

David's blood began to boil.

Man, his face became red,

you can imagine.

And he looks at Nathan,

he says,

who did this?

That man deserves to die.

And Nathan looks him square in the face

and says,

you are the man.

His judgment condemned his own self.

So what does the Bible make it clear?

We are not the judge.

God is the judge.

we know that the judgment of God rightly falls

on those who practice such things.

The phrase we know there

is talking to religious people,

those in the Roman church

who knew the Old Testament,

who knew the Mosaic law.

This would be the same as church people

who are sitting here today

or watching online.

People that grew up in church,

grew up going to Sunday school

or catechism or VBS.

These are people who know God's rules,

God's standards.

They're gonna read Romans chapter one,

verse 29 to 31

and know that that's sinful.

It's wrong to murder someone.

It's wrong to envy.

It's wrong to lie.

It's wrong to gossip.

It's wrong to slander.

It's wrong to boast and be prideful.

All of those things are wrong.

Yeah, that's wrong to do those things.

So look at verse three.

Paul says, you know that that's wrong.

Do you suppose, oh man.

So here's the second time he uses that phrase

in the NIV it's translated.

So when you a mere man,

the Bible's contrasting God's judgment

with our judgment.

So Paul says in verse three,

do you suppose, oh man,

you who judge those who practice such things

and yet do them yourself

that you will escape the judgment

of God?

So because you put yourself in the seat of judge,

do you think you're exempt from God's holy standards?

Do you think you're exempt from God's judgment?

And there's a few lies that we tell ourselves

to convince ourselves that we're okay,

that we're gonna escape,

that God's judgment is not on us.

So we sin against God

and the hammer of God just doesn't fall on us right away.

Doesn't drop or circumstances are okay

or our wife doesn't find out,

the boss doesn't find out.

So we wrongly,

we think we make a judgment call

because again, we're the judge.

We think, okay, God didn't notice my sin

because he's busy dealing with the real sinners.

God didn't notice my sin

because it's a small one.

He's got some pretty big things to deal with.

Or we say to ourself,

God treats me differently.

I've got a special pass from God.

Or we think I've done some good things.

So, you know, this is bad,

but I've also done a lot of good.

So it probably balances out with God in the end.

Or we start to think about,

God doesn't really take sin seriously.

And here's what I've heard very often from people.

Yes, God is holy.

Yes, it's wrong.

But God really, really, really wants me to be happy.

We deceive ourselves into believing we are excused,

that we will escape the judgment of God.

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.

So God not crushing you or me right away

when we sin is his grace and mercy.

And it's not meant as God going,

you know what?

No biggie, you'll be all right.

It's, you know, it's not one of those major sins.

What happens is, is when we think that way,

we think God not responding immediately

is God licensing us to continue in sin

when rather God not crushing us

right away is God's mercy and grace.

And the scripture says here that mercy and grace,

that patience from God for you and I

is not his ignoring our sin.

It's his love for us.

And that little gap there,

that little patience,

that little hesitation from God

is meant to lead us to repentance.

Second Peter three, nine says,

God is patient towards you,

not wishing that any should perish,

but that all should reach repentance.

What?

What is repentance?

Proverbs chapter 28, verse 13 defines repentance.

It says, he who confesses and forsakes them

will obtain mercy.

Two parts to repentance.

There is the confession and there's the forsaking.

Meaning there's the acknowledgement

that this is what I did.

And there's the stopping of it.

We often like one or the other.

Well, I confessed it to God.

I don't really want to stop.

Then you didn't repent.

Or, well, I'm going to stop it,

but I'm not going to tell my wife

that that's what I was doing.

That's not repentance either.

David, in his repentance

over his sin against Bathsheba

and against God,

says this in Psalm 32.

He says, I acknowledge my sin to you.

I did not cover my iniquity.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

So God's kindness, forbearance, patience is wonderful,

but it doesn't change the fact that God is the judge

and his deliverance.

The way in dropping the gavel is his mercy.

So God's the judge and his judgment is coming.

But because of your hard and impenitent heart,

you are storing up wrath for yourselves

on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment

will be revealed.

Impenitent could be translated unrepentant,

unwilling to confess, unwilling to forsake.

The Bible says you are,

storing up wrath for yourself.

Twice the word wrath is used in that verse

and then we see the word judgment.

So God is judge and God's judgment is coming

and his judgment is righteous,

meaning he's right to judge sinners.

He's holy and we,

like this terrible twisted bank account,

are socking away judgment that we're gonna have to pay.

So God's righteous judgment is coming.

Question is, how will God judge?

By what standard or measure?

Let's look at verse six.

He will render to each one according to his works.

Each one according to his works.

Now let's not mistake what the Bible is saying here.

The Bible is not saying you can earn your way to heaven.

You can be good enough to get to heaven.

Ephesians 2, 9 says that it's all by grace

through Christ's work, not of works,

so no one gets to boast.

No one's gonna get to heaven and be like,

hey, I earned my way here, but you made it on scholarship.

It's all by grace.

So why would we be?

Why would we be judged by works?

Here's why.

Because our works show who we really are.

We often think we can define ourselves by what we say,

but it's our works that really define us.

Verse seven, you'll see two groups.

The first is in verse seven,

to those who by patience in well-doing seek.

So their life's mission is to seek.

This is the path that they're on.

This is the mission that they're on.

This is the purpose,

to seek for glory and honor and immortality.

He will give you.

So this is a group that is seeking.

This is the group that is practicing

for the glory, honor, and immortality

that God and God alone can give.

But for those who are self-seeking,

so there's that idea of seeking again,

mission, purpose.

Those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth,

but obey unrighteousness,

there will be wrath and fury.

There will be tribulation and distress

for every human being who does evil.

The Jew first and also the Greek,

but glory and honor.

There will be peace for everyone who does good.

So here is the judgment of God according to our works.

What we do is who we really are.

Hold your spot in Romans chapter two

and go to the right to the next book

to 1 Corinthians chapter number six.

We'll see this idea there,

how we live and really who we are.

1 Corinthians chapter six and verse number nine.

The Bible says,

do you not know that the unrighteous

will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived.

Neither the sexually immoral

nor the idolaters nor adulterers

nor men who practice homosexuality

nor the thieves nor the greedy

nor drunkards nor revilers

nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Now here's the hope in verse number 11,

but you'll see the idea of identity.

Paul says, and such were some of you.

You didn't just do these things.

This is who you were.

Comes a point where we have to be honest

about who we are and our character.

Sometimes I see this with parents.

It's very difficult.

I'll talk to parents.

I'll talk to a parent.

They'll say, you know, he's just my son.

He's just struggling to find his way.

He'll get there.

And I'm like, how old is he?

And they'll say, he's 45 years old.

I go, that's who he is.

Ah, he's just struggled to hold down a job,

but he'll figure it out.

I go, no, that's who he is.

This is his character.

And sometimes it's really hard for us

to be honest with ourselves about who we are.

That's what the scripture is saying here.

This judgment by works, the sexually immoral.

Well, I'm not sexually immoral,

but you know, eventually I'll figure out

this pornography thing.

No, that's, that's,

that's who you are.

Maybe 15 years old, you work hard,

you love money, but by 25,

you're just spending so much time at the office

and 35 and 45, that's who you've become.

You've become greedy.

Well, you know, I, I, I'm not an alcoholic,

but I really like to get drunk.

And every time I drink, I'm getting hammered.

I'm not, I'm not an alcoholic.

The Bible would call you a drunkard.

That's who you are.

And being honest about who we are

is really difficult because we like to put ourselves

in the seat of the judge and not receive

Titus 3.3 would say,

we pass our days in those things.

Revelation 20 speaks of a judgment

and twice it says,

according to what they have done.

So you can't be good enough to get to heaven,

but how you live really conveys who you are.

So God's the judge.

His judgment is coming.

He will judge every person according to their works.

Back to Romans 2.

Now the question is, who will God judge?

For God shows no partiality.

Every person will be judged by God.

In the Roman church who this letter is written to,

you would have religious Jews who came to know Jesus.

They grew up in the synagogue.

They grew up knowing the Old Testament.

They grew up knowing the Mosaic law.

You also had the Greeks or the Gentiles

who came to know Jesus,

but they grew up in polytheism.

They grew up with all the pagan idols

and altars and temples.

And all those things.

And these two groups who come from very different backgrounds

have come to know Jesus.

The Jews, many of them believed because they were Jewish

that they would not be judged.

Because Abraham was their ancestor,

they were good with God.

There's a lot of people who feel this way today.

Well, I'm a church member.

I'll be okay.

I gave money to the church.

I'll be okay.

I served in church.

I'll be okay.

My parents christened me when I was a kid.

There's all of these different things

and we just have to stop.

Stop and read what verse 11 says so clearly.

God shows no partiality.

Every single person will stand before almighty God.

And you won't get to stand in a group.

I won't get to stand there with you.

Your grandma who was a devout believer

won't get to stand there with you.

You'll stand alone before the judgment seat of God.

For all who have sinned without the law

will also perish without the law.

Paul's talking about the Greeks, the Gentiles.

And all who have sinned under the law

will be judged.

They will be judged by the law.

These would be the Hebrews who knew the Mosaic law,

the Old Testament.

For it is not the hearers of the law

who are righteous before God,

but the doers of the law who will be justified.

So you've got to keep the law perfectly.

That's the only way you can be justified.

They couldn't do that.

For when Gentiles who do not have the law

by nature do what the law requires,

they are a law to themselves,

even though they do not have the law.

So these Greeks who didn't grow up knowing the Mosaic law,

they had some understanding.

Well, here's why.

They show that the work of the law

is written on their hearts

while their conscience also bears witness

and their conflicting thoughts

accuse or even excuse them.

So people who have the Ten Commandments

and then the Mosaic law

can look and go,

okay, I'm supposed to do this,

I'm supposed to do this,

I'm supposed to do this.

Man, we fall short of that.

Paul's saying the law condemns you,

but what about these Greeks

who have never had the law?

The Bible says God has imprinted it on their heart.

That's why across all cultures and time

and places and languages,

you see people know that it's wrong to murder someone.

You see that it's wrong to steal.

You see that it's wrong to lie.

Those are the imprinted work of the law of God

on their hearts.

They know those things.

So who will God judge?

Both the Jews, the Gentiles,

every person, every man, woman, and child

ever born on planet Earth

will be judged by Almighty God by your works.

His judgment is coming.

On that day,

there'll be a day where you are judged before God.

Paul says,

according to my gospel,

God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

You know, God knows everything you've ever thought,

every word you've ever spoken,

everything you've ever done.

Bible says here,

the secrets of men at all be laid bare before God.

Two phrases I want you to see that are incredible.

Paul says,

according to my gospel.

Gospel means good news.

And he ends the phrase by saying,

by Christ Jesus.

So yes, God is the righteous,

He will judge the living and the dead.

He will judge us by our works.

But Jesus came.

The most famous verse in the Bible,

John 3, 16,

says,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

It's a wonderful verse.

It's a summary of the gospel

that Jesus died for sin,

that Jesus rose from the dead,

that there's a way to be saved.

Verse 17 is beautiful

because the scripture says,

for God did not,

send his son into the world

to condemn the world,

but that the world through him

might be saved.

So there is a way for you and I

to escape judgment.

Please hear me.

And only one way.

And it is through what Jesus has done.

See, because God is holy

and God is righteous

and God is never going to ignore

God doesn't look and go,

man, that's a big one.

That's a small one.

Let's just cut out the bottom ones

and we'll deal with the top ones.

is what the angels say.

And so he has to deal with sin.

Sin cannot go unpunished.

So this is the good news of the gospel,

that God sends Jesus

and Jesus goes to the cross

and it's on the cross

that yes,

his hands are pierced with nails

and his feet are pierced with nails

and a crown of thorns

is crushed upon his head.

But then the sky goes dark

and in the blackness of that moment,

his righteous judgment on Jesus.

The fury of God,

the righteous indignation for sin.

Jesus, the righteous,

pure, holy, spotless,

sinless lamb of God

takes the punishment for our sin.

Jesus dies and Jesus is buried

and Jesus rises from the dead.

And because of what Jesus did,

you can escape the real wrath of God,

the judgment of God.

It's the only way.

The Bible says,

if you'll confess with your mouth,

And if you'll believe in your heart,

God raised him from the dead,

you'll be saved.

So there's the gospel,

the death of Jesus for our sin,

the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

How must we respond to that?

We must confess with our mouth,

Jesus, you're the boss of my life.

You're the king of my life.

You're the owner of my life.

And you must believe

that Jesus rose from the dead.

And then Paul uses the word saved.

Saved from what?

You are saved from the righteous judgment

of God on you.

You're not saved from the righteous judgment

or saved for prosperity

or saved for a better life

or saved for riches and health

and all that nonsense.

You are saved because you are an object.

We are objects of God's righteous anger

because we've rebelled against God.

We've committed high treason

against the king of glory.

And the only way to be saved

is to come to Jesus

and confess him as Lord

and believe in our heart

that God raised him from the dead.

That's the only way to be saved.

Question I ask you today

is will you be saved?

I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads

and close your eyes.

Across the room in this moment,

my hope is that you will do business with God.

With every head bowed and every eye closed,

yes, that was a crying baby.

I still think you can focus.

My hope is that each one of you in here,

you will ponder for a moment

the wrath of God,

the judgment of God.

You would pray,

search me, oh God, and know me.

In this moment,

you'll pray that very bold prayer before God.

Maybe the Holy Spirit of God

will speak into your heart and say,

yeah, you're religious,

but you're not saved.

You're a church person.

But you're not born again.

You're moral,

but you've not been made new.

And in this moment,

you will respond to the gospel

by confessing Jesus as Lord

and believing in your heart

that Jesus was raised from the dead.

In this moment, you'll be saved.

That's the promise of God.

Bible, person who was born again,

a person who confessed Jesus as Lord

and believed in their heart

that Jesus was raised from the dead.

After that, they were baptized.

Baptism wasn't to be saved.

Baptism was because they had been saved.

It was a way of showing,

on the outside,

the miracle that God had done on the inside.

Maybe you're here

and you gave your life to Christ today

or in the last few weeks,

maybe in the last few years,

and you've just been delaying on baptism.

You've just not been bold

or courageous enough to go public

with your faith in Christ

and you need to do that today.

In just a moment, I'm going to pray.

The band's going to sing.

You can walk through these curtains on my right,

your left,

excuse me, my left, your right.

There'll be some folks back there

with some t-shirts and towels, shorts,

and they'd love to help you get baptized today.

Listen to this message