AP

Romans 2:6-11  God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”      To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour 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.  There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favouritism.

For those of us who hold fast to the Reformed doctrines of the ‘Five Solas’ (Scripture Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone, and to the Glory of God Alone), Paul’s dogmatic assertion in these verses seems to pose a bit of a problem!

At the outset, it is good to remember that they are part of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the most significant part of Scripture that set Martin Luther on the path that culminated in the Protestant Reformation and the formulation of the Five Solas.  It is also good to remember that in this particular part of his letter the Apostle is dealing with the problem that Jesus had to deal with: Jewish exclusivism and Jewish supremacy.  Judaism, quite rightly, saw God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants as an assurance that they are his Chosen People; but, sadly, taking hold of this gracious promise of God led to a wrong attitude of Jewish supremacy and Jewish exclusivism.  They had overlooked that the ultimate purpose of the promise to Abraham and his descendants was that they would be a blessing to all nations.

Paul is leading up to to his foundational statement in 3:23 – “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – and in Chapter 2 he wants the Jewish people to understand that this applies to them as well as the Gentiles and that it leads on to the necessary sequel: “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:24-26)

Paul’s real concern is that Judaism’s basking in their ‘chosenness’ leads too readily to fateful complacency, as is evidenced by John the Baptist’s statement to the Jewish leaders: “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (Luke 3:7-8)

Sadly, those of us who have repented and are rejoicing in our ‘salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone’ can be led into the same error, and so must do much heart searching to ensure that we are ‘produc[ing] fruit in keeping with repentance’.  We are not saved by good works, but we are saved for good works! (Ephesians 2:8-10)

– Bruce Christian