Are You Reading Your Bible Like A Biblicist? - Romans 2 Explained | Theocast

So, let's just read a few of these verses and talk about what Biblicists do with it, and then talk about how we should understand it, even in the context of Romans. Romans 2 .6, this is true about God.

He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for 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 and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.".

Okay.

So what you hear people say, again, otherwise pretty orthodox like sound teachers, Protestants say, they come to Romans 2 .6 -13 and they'll go, okay, we know that we are justified by faith, but somehow, somehow, you can see it right here, it's in the text, they just start quoting chapter and verse, somehow our works will factor into our final salvation because it says so right here, that God will render to each one according to his works.

Those who do good, he's going to reward with eternal life. Those who do evil, he's going to punish with wrath and fury. And we would say, okay, no, I mean, that's not the way to interpret that passage.

Somehow, mysteriously, our works factor into our final salvation because the question has to be asked in the broader context of Romans, what is Paul doing? He is arguing, there's a flow of his thought that's going to culminate in Romans 3 and verse 21.

He's arguing that everybody has judged themselves and judged others. We don't meet our own standard, let alone God's. God is an impartial righteous judge who rewards those who do good and punishes those who do.

Evil.

The problem though is that nobody's good, right? Because he's going to go there in Romans 3, 9 and following, nobody is good. There's not one righteous, no, not one, right? So we should be thinking like, oh, dear Lord, we are all damned.

How can anyone be saved? Which is why he says in verse 21 and following, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

He's concluded that whole section of his argument in verses 19 and 20, where he says that the law condemns everyone, Romans 3, 19, and verse 20, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight because the law only crushes people.

But yet we go in a biblicism kind of way. We go to Romans 2, 6 and we go to Romans 2, 13 and we quote it and say, ah, but guys, we've got to work for this. We got to do something. Even though we're saved by faith, somehow our works factor in.

And that's just an irresponsible presentation. And what does it do, John? It confuses the nature of the gospel itself and robs the saints of assurance.