Delve Into Jesus : Questions : Romans 2:9

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Romans 2:9, "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;"

Before we begin looking at this verse, it's helpful to understand that many of Paul's letters contained two very important themes. If we explore those themes briefly, 2:9 will make more sense.

First, Paul teaches us that we can only be saved by grace, not by works or good deeds - we can never be good enough to follow the law perfectly. If we choose to try to save ourselves by obeying the lay, and if we fail to follow the law perfectly (and all of us have!) then we will be lost. Instead, Paul tells us to place our faith in Jesus and we will be saved. There is an article on this site titles, "Why Do I Need Jesus" which explores these concepts in detail.

Another of Paul's main themes is that just because you have accepted Christ does not mean you can flagrantly break the law (that is, the moral law) whenever you want to just because you're saved. When someone accepts Jesus, the Holy Spirit works in that person change them so that they no longer desire sin. In fact, that person, because of their love of Christ, should despise sin and turn away from it. We will still make mistakes after we sin and we can be forgiven, but we should never accept sin once we have been saved. The article, "Am I Still Saved" explores this in detail. So, even though we are saved by grace, not by works, we still need to obey the moral law after we are saved because that is how we show God our love and gratitude for saving us.

Now, we can turn to the first few chapters of the book of Romans. In chapter 1, Paul has made a very important claim. His claim is that the gentiles (that is, the non Jews) have no excuse for claiming that they don't know God or that they don't have any law to follow. In 1:20, Paul explain that everyone knows there is a God, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." For the rest of Chapter 1, Paul explains how the Gentiles have turned away from God and lived lives of sin, despite that fact that it was evident there is a God and His law is written in their hearts (i.e in our conscience).

In chapter 2, Paul begins to turn his attention to the Jews, who were often very smug, for many of them assumed that simply having the law and being God's people would be enough to save them (see verses 2:17-24). Many felt sorry for the "poor Gentiles", and had attitudes of superiority. Paul points out that their conduct is often just as bad as the Gentiles, but they have even less excuse because they have not only their conscience, but that have the actual written law given to them by Moses. Paul is warning these Jews that the law will not save them. Their only hope is Jesus Christ.

With all this in mind, we can now fully understand 2:9. Paul is saying that anyone who does not accept Jesus Christ will be judged by the law, yet no one can ever obey the law and therefore will perish. At the time of the judgment, those who have not placed their faith in Christ will answer for their sins, and the wages of sin in death. (Romans 6:23). No one will escape, not the Jew or the Gentile. The law will not save the Jew because they did not follow it. The Gentiles will not be saved because their own conscience told them how to behave and they did not follow it. Again, I recommend the article "Why Do I Need Jesus" for details on these concepts.

I hope this helps. It's often difficult to understand a verse if we look at it in isolation. In order to really understand Paul's message, the best thing you can do is read all of verses 1 and 2 together, or ever better, the entire book of Romans if you can. If you don't have access to a Bible, there is a free on on the Internet at http://www.biblegateway.com

If you still have questions about this, please don't hesitate to ask. It's our pleasure to try and work through these questions with you.

9/29/2007 8:24:23 AM - arsindelve, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries

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