Judgment, God's and Ours

[HKHaugan]

Judgment, God's and Ours

Paul launches what is his most strenuous attack on the human condition of sin and its resultant behavior (Rom.1:18-32). In this long biting passage Paul has been inspired to hold nothing back. The opening of his letter to believers in Rome is a blanket statement of the truth of the Gospel of God in Jesus the Christ, its inclusiveness of all humanity and the Roman Christians’ part in it. But there is an urgency in his message. They and all others who will receive this letter must understand the plight of the world, as they know it. Rome represents the height of man's separation from God. Mankind is doomed to destruction by the deliberate sin and evil that has brought it into its present condition of being in direct opposition to God’s nature.

As Paul launches into his exposure of God’s wrath he specifies the attitude and behavior that has brought it to bear on the world. You can sense his compulsion in every word. It was absolutely necessary to expose it because of what will inevitably come as a result, God’s judgment, the finality that occurs if there is no change in mind and heart. God has concluded and stated ahead of time, for our sake, there will be a day of judgment (Matt.12:36) when He will judge men’s secrets (1Cor.2:16). Jesus makes this very clear when He uses the Parable of the Sheep and Goats to picture the event (Matt.25:31-46). Further He says, “Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you, nor can anyone cross over from you to us (Lk.16:26).” His words have to be applied and now.

Paul is only forcefully stating what Jesus has already proclaimed. There is such a vast gap between God’s Kingdom and the secular world the devil has captured and shaped. So it follows when he says, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned (Mt.12:36-37).” “He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words, hath One that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the Last Day (Jn.12:48).”

The hinge verses for this entire section, Romans 1:18-3:20, are 1:18-20 and 2:28-29:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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.”

“A man is not a Jew [believer] if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew [believer] if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.”

In between these two passages lies the laundry list of attitudes and behaviors that guarantee final separation between God and humanity, person to person. What is it that has influenced Paul so deeply?

Note the words ‘attitude’ and ‘behavior.’

One is directed vertically and the other horizontally – the Cross. Ch.1:18-32 centers on behavior to get the reader's attention and Ch.2 centers on attitude to get to their heart that generates the behavior. Paul saw in Jesus the length to which He went to show how behavior is derived from the attitude in the heart. The Cross was the revelation of the perfect vertical attitude of trust in His Father. His behavior the revelation of perfect horizontal faith in all His relationships, placing His physical body in jeopardy even if it meant death. Jesus is the spiritual definition of 'giving it your all' vertically and horizontally.

This is the Cross Jesus bore: the attitude of His heart being to yield totally to His Father's will, then to physically bear His wrath for the sin of the world. Jesus' perfect behavior followed His perfect attitude, to go to the Cross in our place and physically bear the wrath of God carried to its ultimate and irreversible judgment, death. Therein lies the key to the entire epistle, faith. He put His body where His faith was.

In Jesus Paul saw attitude and behavior perfectly delivered through faith. Faith brought him life in Jesus. It was no longer about religion. It was about relationship, a relationship with Jesus. Jesus' faith was his life. No wonder Paul writes what he does after the Jesus he had persecuted meets him on the Damascus road. This is why Paul told the Corinthians that he would know nothing among them except Christ and Him crucified (1Cor.2:2). He does the exact same in his letter to Rome. For Paul the Cross is history's greatest human achievement and the Resurrection its greatest spiritual proof. Both cast their shadow over all Paul’s writings. His deep conviction for what Jesus had given him came in these words, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel---not with words of wisdom lest the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Cor.1:17-18).”

Thus Paul’s warning that a day of reckoning, a day of judgment, a day that finally separates God and His people from the dark abyss that awaits the ones who want to have their own way.

Self-assessment is the value Paul is teaching here in Chapters 1-3:20. It is the first step in taking up the cross of faith each day. Therefore, judgment is an ability of God given to us as His images. Separated from Him our judgment can do great damage. What validates judgment is its source. Is it God and His Word or me? When do we pull back and let God judge? Are we legitimate when we speak in judgment for Him? The prophets were sent to proclaim His judgment. When are we to be prophetic?

Negative judgment is judgment based on personal human evaluation outside God's Word. Based on sin, fear and insecurity, we try to outdo others and make ourselves feel superior. That kind of judgment comes from a heart trying to survive alone.

Positive judgment is allowing God and His Word to be the judge. Attitude begins with humble self-judgment as we move in the Word. Am I guilty of the same thing I criticize in others? If I see a control issue am I guilty of the same thing in myself? The Holy Spirit will clue you in at the moment of need. Humility begins with being humble before God and then humble before God in the presence of others. This is the Cross at work.