Self- Righteousness and The Wrath of God - Part One. (Romans 2: 1-16)

Welcome'

Welcome back to our ongoing series exploring the Book of Romans. In this episode, we turn our attention to Romans 2:1-16, where Paul shifts his focus from the obvious sins of the Gentile world to a more insidious problem—self-righteousness. Paul directly challenges those who consider themselves morally superior, warning that no one escapes God’s judgment by comparing themselves to others. Instead, divine judgment is based on truth, works, and knowledge, leaving no room for excuses.

Key Themes Discussed

1. The Universal Nature of Sin
   • In Romans 1, Paul established that all people are unrighteous before God.
   • Romans 2 confronts those who assume they are exempt from judgment because of their religious or moral standing.
   • The self-righteous individual, who looks down on others, is still without excuse.
2. God’s Judgment is Based on Truth (Romans 2:2-5)
   • God does not judge based on appearances or reputation but on reality.
   • Many people assume they are safe because of their perceived moral superiority.
   • Paul warns against taking God’s patience as a sign of His approval.
3. God’s Judgment is According to Works (Romans 2:6-11)
   • Paul affirms that God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”
   • Those who persist in good will receive eternal life, while those who reject truth will face wrath.
   • This judgment is impartial—both Jews and Gentiles are accountable.
4. God’s Judgment is According to Knowledge (Romans 2:12-16)
   • Those who sin without the Law will perish apart from it; those who sin under the Law will be judged by it.
   • Paul highlights that even those without direct revelation have an internal moral compass, evidenced by their conscience.
   • Ultimately, God will judge all people through Jesus Christ.

The Wrath of God

Paul’s teaching on divine wrath emphasizes that judgment is not arbitrary but the inevitable outcome of a life lived in rebellion against God. Throughout Scripture, God’s wrath is seen as a necessary consequence of rejecting His holiness and righteousness.

• Old Testament Context: God’s wrath was often tied to covenant violations and the oppression of Israel.
• Prophetic Warnings: The Day of the Lord was seen as a climactic moment of divine judgment.
• New Testament Perspective: Paul speaks of God’s wrath as both a present reality and a future certainty.

Conclusion

Self-righteousness blinds people to their need for God’s grace. Paul dismantles the false security of those who judge others while ignoring their own sin. The message of Romans 2 is clear: no one is exempt from judgment, and all must seek repentance.

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Transcript

Self Righteousness and the Wrath of God - Part One. (Romans 2: 1-16)

Transcript: 

Romans chapter 1 makes a foundational point in that it tells us that: God’s judgment applies to all people. Not only does the opening chapter confirm that the judgment of God rests upon everyone, but it also establishes that God has revealed Himself clearly through the creation as well scripture. 

Yet, despite this revelation, human being don’t tend to just ignored that but actively suppress that truth in themselves.

Because of this, Paul concludes in verse 20 that everyone is “without excuse.”

But there’s a common response when people hear this: That doesn’t apply to me. I’m not like the rest. I’m better than other people.

For nearly 50 years, I’ve had conversations with people across both England and Ireland and to a lesser extent in different parts of the world about their relationship with Jesus Christ. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned over those years, it’s that nearly everyone believes they have some degree of righteousness.

They assume that something they do will count in their favor when they stand before God.

I’ve spoken to countless people, and I’ve seen this pattern emerge. Most people convince themselves they have a sort of claim on heaven because they measure their righteousness by their own standard. 

I have on more than one occasion people say to me, “Well I’ve never committed murder or committed adultery,” as if all sin just boiled down to those two key things.

I suspected they chose these things because they were the only two they hadn’t themselves personally committed. I wonder how they would score when it comes to lying or even envy.

Anyway, that appears to me is how we, as human beings think. We create a system in which we can convince ourselves that we are OK.

The most common method is by comparison. We look at others, find someone whose sins appear worse than ours, and reassure ourselves that we’re not as bad as they are.

But what does Paul say to those who claim to be righteous? Well I would like to suggest he thinks about these things very differently.

Was we too quick to conclude yesterday in the close out of chapter one that, Paul really believes that  “Everyone is without excuse?”….

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. 12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

(Romans 2: 1-16)

To summarize where we are up to so far in Pauls’ letter:

Romans 1 establishes that all men are unrighteous.

Romans 2 now shifts the focus to a specific group, those who consider themselves righteous by comparison to others. And Paul addresses them directly in verse 2:1:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, but at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."

(Romans 2: 1)

In chapter 1, Paul confronted those who were clearly and openly sinful. But here in chapter 2, he turns to a different kind of sinner—those who sets themselves above others by assuming that because of their religion that they are better than other people. 

This person considers himself morally superior, even qualified to judge others. But Paul declares that such a person is also, “without excuse.”

Paul explains that the very act of judging others condemns us.

The self-righteous person—who looks down his nose at those he considers sinners, ends up standing guilty of the very same sin.

As an additional psychological point, I would also suggest that many people are often harshest about the very sins they themselves secretly struggle with.

And that’s Paul’s point: No one can escape judgment by claiming  the y are better than other people.

Paul then shifts to explain how God judges. 

And lays out for us three standards of judgment according to God in the passage we have just read today.

1.     Judgment is according to truth (verses 2-5)

2.     Judgment is according to works (verses 6-11)

3.     Judgment is according to knowledge (verses 12-16)

We’ll examine each of these in turn, but let’s start with the first.

God’s judgment is according to truth.

Paul states in verse 2:

"Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

This word truth here does not refer to the revealed truth about God mentioned in Romans 1:18. Instead, it speaks of truth as reality of every individual true nature. In other words, God’s judgment is not based on appearances, reputation, or even what we think about ourselves, it is based on things as they actually are.

Think of a test designed to assess the quality of a precious metal. The test does not care where the metal came from, who owns it, or what it looks like, it only measures what the metal is made of. Is it real gold or silver etc..

In the same way, when we stand before God, our background, status, and self-assumptions won’t matter. Judgment will be based solely on the truth of who we really are.

That’s why Paul follows up in verse 3 with a question:

So, when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

This is the heart of self-righteousness.

Those who judge others assume they will escape judgment themselves. They believe they are the exception. And after decades of conversations with people about their faith, or lack of faith, I’ve seen this mindset over and over again. People really believe they have a “special case”—some reason why God will judge others, but not them.

Paul dismantles this false assurance and he goes on to say in verse 4.

"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

The fact that a self-righteous person is still alive, and breathing is not a sign of God’s approval—it is a sign of His patience. Every day of life is an opportunity to make thing right with God. But instead of recognizing God’s kindness, self-righteous people take His patience as evidence that they are in the clear.

But Paul warns that God’s judgment is coming, and it will be based on reality, not self-perception.

The Next Section, tells us that by doing such things we are: Storing Up Wrath. 

Paul continues his argument in Romans 2:5:

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

(Romans 2:5)

This is a difficult concept and must give us cause to pause and seriously to think about what is said, for here we meet the conception of the wrath of God, an alarming and a terrifying phrase.

 What is its meaning? What was in Paul's mind when he used it?

Paul’s phrase “storing up for yourself wrath” (Romans 2:5) is crucial to understanding the biblical concept of divine judgment. It suggests that the unrepentant are not merely awaiting punishment—they are actively accumulating it.

The image here of storing something up is striking: just as one might deposit money into a savings account, sinners are said to be steadily storing up God’s wrath, not wealth. 

This slow accumulation suggests the final judgment will not bet arbitrary, but the inevitable result of a life lived in rebellion against God.

In the early books of the Old Testament, God's wrath is closely linked to His covenant relationship with Israel. He had chosen them as His people, binding them to Himself through the law (Exodus 24:3-8). This covenantal bond had two major implications:

A.     Wrath against Israel’s Disobedience – Any breach of the covenant provoked God’s wrath, as it broke the sacred relationship. When Korah, Dathan, and the like led a rebellion, Moses warned that "wrath has gone forth from the Lord" (Numbers 16:46). When Israel turned to Baal worship, "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel" (Numbers 25:3).

B.     Wrath against Nations that Oppressed Israel – Because Israel had a unique relationship with God, any nation that mistreated them would face His wrath. God’s justice extended beyond His own people to the world at large.

With the coming of the prophets, the emphasis on God's wrath shifted. Jewish thought began to focus on the division of history into two ages:

·          The present age, characterized by sin and suffering.

·          The age to come, marked by the full reign of God’s righteousness.

The transition between these two ages was understood as the Day of the Lord, a time of cataclysmic judgment. And on that day, God’s wrath would be fully unleashed:

“Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation”

(Isaiah 13:9).

“The day of the wrath of the Lord”

(Ezekiel 7:19).

“He will pour out his indignation and all the heat of his anger”

(Zephaniah 3:8).

Yet the prophets did not see God's wrath as only reserved for the final judgment. It was an active force in history—seen in Israel’s defeats, exiles, and disasters. The wrath of God was constantly at work, reaching its climax in the Day of the Lord.

Because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin. His wrath is His “destructive reaction” against evil ad sin, it must be brought to an end and removed completely, and that is building up and playing out in the world all the time.

Many struggle with the idea of God’s wrath, associating it more with the Old Testament than with the New. Even Martin Luther found it difficult, calling God's love “His proper work”, and His wrath “His strange work.”

Paul, intriguingly, while he refers to “the wrath of God”, Paul himself never actually describes God as being angry. He speaks of God’s love, grace, and faithfulness in deeply personal terms— “God loves,” “God gives graciously,” “God is faithful”. 

But his use of the term “wrath of God” here suggests that, while love is essential to God's nature, wrath is a necessary consequence of rejecting Him, rather than being a defining characteristic of His nature.

Paul explicitly refers to “the wrath of God” only three other times:

1.     Romans 1:18 – “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness.”

2.     Ephesians 5:6 – “The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

3.     Colossians 3:6 – “Because of these things the wrath of God is coming.”

However, Paul often speaks simply of “the wrath” as though it were an impersonal force at work in the world:

·          “God who brings on men the wrath” (Romans 3:5).

·          “We shall be saved from the wrath” (Romans 5:9).

·          “Avoiding the wrath to come is a reason for obedience” (Romans 13:5).

·          “The law produces wrath” (Romans 4:15).

·          “Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

This presents a paradox: the wrath is real, yet Jesus saves from it.

So this tells me that wrath is in fact an extension of God’s Moral Order

The prophets taught that violating God’s will leads to inevitable consequences. 

We see this played out before us all the time: The world is built on a moral order, and breaking that order brings suffering.

J.A. Froude, the historian, put it this way:

“One lesson, and one lesson only, history may be said to repeat with distinctness—is that the world is built somehow on moral foundations; that, in the long run, it is well with the good, and, in the long run, it will be ill with the wicked.”

This moral order is the wrath of God at work in the world. The world is structured in such a way that violating God's laws ultimately leads to destruction. However that means that if we were left to this moral order alone to play out in the world  there would be no hope—only death and judgment.

But into this dilemma comes the love of God. By an act of unimaginable grace, God lifts people out of the consequences of sin and saves them from the wrath they deserve, as is inevitably coming.

Paul insists that no one can claim ignorance of God. His existence and nature are evident from the world He created. 

The Old Testament affirms this many time (Job 38-41), and Paul makes the same argument when addressing the pagans in Lystra (Acts 14:17). 

The early church father Tertullian agreed:

“The vast majority of mankind, though they had never heard the name of Moses, know the God of Moses none the less. “Nature is the teacher; the soul is the pupil. One flower of the hedgerow, one shell of any sea, one feather of a bird—will they speak to you of a mean Creator?”

Creation itself reveals God’s reality. But sinners refuse to look outward to God; instead, they turn inward, relying on their own reasoning and speculations. Thinking themselves wise, they become fools.

The result is idolatry—exchanging the glory of God for images of human and animal forms.

 At its core, idolatry is selfish. People create gods in their own image, offering sacrifices and prayers not to serve God, but to serve themselves. Their worship is self-centered rather than God-centered.

Paul’s warning is clear: ignoring God leads to folly, idolatry, and ultimately, destruction. But the good news remains—through Christ, we are rescued from the wrath to come.

In this passage we are face to face with the fact that the essence of sin is to put self in the place of God.

This passage closely parallels Romans 1, but with a crucial distinction. In chapter 1, Paul speaks of God's wrath being revealed in the present, manifested through His giving people over to their sins. 

But here in chapter 2, the wrath described is the future, it is the day of wrath….