For Thou That Judgest Doest the Same Things
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. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 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? (Romans 2:1-3)
We just saw in the previous chapter how humanity has degenerated into a nauseatingly hopeless brood that was given over by God to serve their own evil hearts. The traits we observed were depraved and malicious. We also saw that these folks are not “out there” somewhere; these people would include us. Sin, death, and hell are the chief end of man.
Here, we begin to see that when we judge others, we condemn ourselves. We can point out sins of other people, but we too have either committed those sins, thought about doing them, or have the potential to do those sins. We are in the position of guilt and condemnation and are in no place to condemn others. The judgment of God rests on us and them.
“But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth” against all of us for the things we have done. We assent that God only is righteous, and that He will not remain silent regarding the sins of the world forever. Do we think we will “escape the judgment of God?” We know that the sin of experience as well as the propensity to sin is there, and we are left silent before God. In our flesh, we know the answer to this rhetorical question: no, we will not escape the judgment of God.
Keep reading, we first must expose sin that much more before we can see the grace of God!