Rom 2:1-16 – “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.  2. But we are sure that the judgment of God is ac­cording to truth against them which commit such things.  3. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?  4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;  6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds:  7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:  8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indigna­tion and wrath,  9. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gen­tile;  10. But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gen­tile:  11. For there is no respect of persons with God.  12. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;  13. (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.  14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.  15. Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excus­ing one another;)  16. In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

Precisely to whom is the apostle referring to here?  It is true that he was dealing with the Gentiles in chapter one.  It is also true that Paul is now going to deal with the Jew.  But the great truth he is giving is also true for everyone who has ever been born. “…whosoever thou art that judgest.” It is sufficient to say that this is a man who knew right from wrong.  One who has moral discernment.

There are two divisions in these 16 verses.  The moral man is condemned by his own judg­ment and the moral man is condemned by God’s judg­ment.  The moral man is condemned by his own judgment. Vs 1 - “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”

“thou that judgest.” What does it mean?  On the negative side it does not mean what we have often thought – that is, a mere condemnation of somebody else.  But on the positive side it means the faculty of moral discrimination that every man has to a more or less degree.

Let me illustrate: I see a man steal something, and I say in evaluating that deed, “That is wrong.” – Now this means that I have judged.  This is the very heart of what is being said here.  Those in chapter one had sunk so low they had nearly lost this capacity.  But those around Paul certainly knew right from wrong.  “thou condemnest thyself.”

There are those who say, “It is wrong to judge somebody else. If a person does that, God will judge him.”

But my friend, nothing could be any more from the truth.  The faculty of moral judgment is right.  God approves it. Every man ought to have it.  Every one ought to be able to look at another and say, “That is wrong” or “That is right.”  This man was not condemned because he con­demned others.  He was condemned because while he was condemning others, he was doing the same thing. Ill. Of David giving judgment con­cerning the only lamb and in taking Bath­sheba. Never let anyone tell you that it is wrong to judge things in the lives of others. It is right to do so.  If we did not have the faculty of moral dis­crimination, think where we would be.

However, God wants us first to judge things in our own lives.  “thou . . . doest the same things.”

Now this may seem a little hard to understand.

How about the mote in our brothers eye while we overlook the beam in our own eye?  You may say, “These were moral men who were with Paul.”  But think on this.  They may not have been guilty of all these things, only some.  You will notice that they were covetous, envious, and boastful.

You can find things in that catalog of which every moral man is guilty.  Oh he may not fall down before a graven image, but he is none the less guilty.  He may not do them outwardly but then he may be guilty inwardly.

There is a reference in vs. 16 of this very thing. “God shall judge the secrets of men.”

Have you ever seen someone who out­wardly was good, but inwardly wicked, and that very man condemning other people who were outwardly bad?  Remember that the evaluation of a man’s character is what he would do if he thought no one would know or see.

Then again (and this is probably the greatest sin of all), what was the outstanding sin of the people in the first chapter?  They sinned against light. 1:21 – “Know­ing God, they glorified Him not as God.” These men were doing in their lives the very things they disapproved.  “thou art without excuse.”

This indictment is doubly true.  If these men did the same things, they are with­out excuse.  Even their guilt is worse by their own morality, by their own ability to judge.  How much worse it is to do those things which we know and pass judgment on to be wrong.