Romans 2
“Therefore, you have no excuse ….”
Frankly, that’s not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear, “Well, no wonder
you sinned! Look at your experiences growing up. How could you not stumble at
that point having experienced what you did?” I would have been happy with, “Look
at how you were treated. It’s only natural that you would do what you did.” It
would have been quite alright if it said, “Yes, you messed up. You sinned. But
it was only a little one, and we can let it slide.” However that’s not what
Romans 2 says. It says, “… you have no excuse….”
So often we seek to justify our own
behavior while condemning the actions of others. We want a pass for ourselves,
but others better toe the line, get their acts together, and get right. But God
doesn’t work that way. He condemns all sin; no excuses, no extenuating
circumstances, no mitigating factors. Indeed, when we condemn others for their
sin, we place ourselves under the same law and open ourselves to the same condemnation,
because by applying it to others we show that we believe it applies to us, too.
This is not to say that we should not
judge other people’s behaviors. We should. The questions are, “What is the
standard? How is it applied?” When the standard is God’s righteous moral law we
all stand condemned – us too – because it applies to all people in all times in
all places. It pronounces every person to be a sinner who deserves God’s wrath
and judgment.
Indeed, even the person who rejects God’s
Law tries to justify himself, but whatever law he lives by condemns him as his hypocrisy
becomes clear. What is more, his self-justifying efforts show that the person
believes there is right and there is wrong – because to condemn someone else
requires there to be a right and wrong – and so doing they show that God’s Law
is written on their hearts.
No we cannot justify ourselves. However,
there is one who does justify us, and He is Jesus. He stands before the Father
to plead guilty of our sins. Read that again: He pleads guilty of our sins. In
doing so, He receives the wrath we deserve and leaves us justified. We are not
self-justified, but Christ-justified; made right with God in Jesus’
forgiveness.
Lord Jesus, thank you for justifying me.
Help me share Your forgiveness so that others may be justified before the
Father, too. Amen.
Comments