The Judgement of Works
Rom 2:6-8 God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
The quote Paul is using is found in a number of places, both in the Old and New Testaments.
Jer 32:19b You reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
Proverbs 24:11,12 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?"
Mt 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Re 20:12b The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Now there are those who ignore the rest of Romans and simply take these verses out of context preaching a different gospel. They claim that apart from faith in Christ, just seeking God, seeking eternal life, that itself is sufficient to qualify a person for eternal life. Though in the gospel there is grace is of which Paul will speak of later, here Paul is just speaking of Law, namely that God is judicially obligated to give eternal life to those who do good, and wrath to those who do evil. He's not talking about salvation by faith yet. He's not talking about grace yet.
Likewise on one occasion when a man who considered himself good (Mr 10:17), and on another occasion when a lawyer ask, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?", Jesus didn't answer with the gospel of grace, but rather with the Law. He said, "What is written in the Law?" Luke 10:26 Such is the response to those who think they are good enough to be saved. Such people don't seek grace in view of their guilt. And so the gospel of grace is irrelevant and inapplicable to them, until they come to conviction of sin, which is Paul and Jesus' purpose in speaking to the self-righteous in such a manner. To them Jesus says, "There is no one good but God alone." Mk 10:18
But if a person persistently only does good, never committing sin, that person will have earned eternal life. That's the Law. They earn eternal life simply because there is no basis upon which God could judicially condemn them. And those who do evil, will of course suffer God's wrath in accordance with God's judicial nature. What Paul is about to show is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and as such are not qualified to earn eternal life by good behavior.
This is not to say that those who have been justified by grace through faith can then live a lifestyle of sin. But again - in reality, due to the nature of regeneration, there exists no such person (1John 3:9), just as "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Ecc 7:20
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
Rom 2:6-8 God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
The quote Paul is using is found in a number of places, both in the Old and New Testaments.
Jer 32:19b You reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.
Proverbs 24:11,12 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?"
Mt 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Re 20:12b The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Now there are those who ignore the rest of Romans and simply take these verses out of context preaching a different gospel. They claim that apart from faith in Christ, just seeking God, seeking eternal life, that itself is sufficient to qualify a person for eternal life. Though in the gospel there is grace is of which Paul will speak of later, here Paul is just speaking of Law, namely that God is judicially obligated to give eternal life to those who do good, and wrath to those who do evil. He's not talking about salvation by faith yet. He's not talking about grace yet.
Likewise on one occasion when a man who considered himself good (Mr 10:17), and on another occasion when a lawyer ask, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?", Jesus didn't answer with the gospel of grace, but rather with the Law. He said, "What is written in the Law?" Luke 10:26 Such is the response to those who think they are good enough to be saved. Such people don't seek grace in view of their guilt. And so the gospel of grace is irrelevant and inapplicable to them, until they come to conviction of sin, which is Paul and Jesus' purpose in speaking to the self-righteous in such a manner. To them Jesus says, "There is no one good but God alone." Mk 10:18
But if a person persistently only does good, never committing sin, that person will have earned eternal life. That's the Law. They earn eternal life simply because there is no basis upon which God could judicially condemn them. And those who do evil, will of course suffer God's wrath in accordance with God's judicial nature. What Paul is about to show is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and as such are not qualified to earn eternal life by good behavior.
This is not to say that those who have been justified by grace through faith can then live a lifestyle of sin. But again - in reality, due to the nature of regeneration, there exists no such person (1John 3:9), just as "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Ecc 7:20
The Berean Christian Bible Study Resources
