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Home , Romans 1, Romans 2

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Introduction

Romans 1:18-3:20 constitutes the second major section of the book of Romans and deals with the universal need of the of God. This passage is divided into three major sections: (1) The unrighteousness of the Gentiles (1:18-32). (2) The unrighteousness of the Jews (2:1-3:8). (3) The universal unrighteousness of men (3:9-20). So we have completed a study of the first section and now we will began a study of the second section contained in Romans 2:1-3:8, which addresses the unrighteousness of the Jews. First of all, before we approach our study of Romans 2, we must discuss to whom Paul is addressing in Romans 2:1-16 since there has been some debate among students of the as to whom Paul is addressing in these verses. In Romans 2:1-16, Paul is addressing his Jewish readers in this section as indicated in that his discussion of the Law in Romans 2:12-16 would have been more meaningful to a Jew than to a Gentile since the Law was given to the Jew. Also, in Romans 2:17, Paul addresses the reader as “ a Jew ,” which would be strange way to address his readers if in the first half of the chapter he were addressing Gentiles. Where the Gentiles had a problem with immoral degeneracy, the Jews on the other hand had a problem with self-righteousness and so it would be difficult for them to admit that they are guilty before a holy God just as the Gentiles were. Disobedience was not a sin the Jews like to confess since the prophets were persecuted for pointing out to Israel her sins, and was crucified for the same reason. Also, indicating that Paul is addressing the Jews in Romans chapter two is Paul’s use of “diatribe.” In :18-32, Paul referred to the Gentiles in the third person meaning “they” or “ them ” but in Romans 2, he does not use the third person. If he were addressing directly the Roman Christians, he would have used the second person plural meaning “ all of you ” but in Romans 2, he does not. Rather, Paul employs a literary style called “diatribe” in which the writer attempts to get his point across by engaging in an imaginary debate with a student or opponent. This style involves posing frequent questions to his conversation partner or by the conversation partner as well as emphatic rejections of possible objections to a line of argument using me genoito , “ may it never be !” and the direct address of one’s conversation partner or opponent. Therefore, if Paul is not speaking to the Gentiles or the Roman Christians, then he must be addressing the Jews.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 Also, in Romans 2, Paul is using the figure of “apostrophe,” which is a rhetorical figure in which a speaker or writer suddenly stops in his discourse and turns to address pointedly some person or thing, either present or absent. In Romans 2, Paul suddenly stops in his discourse from addressing the conduct of the heathen Gentiles to addressing pointedly the self-righteous Jew. So while the Jews are not identified in Romans 2:1-16, it is clear from Romans 2:17 and on the principles of divine judgment in Romans 2:1-16 are also applicable to the Jew (Romans 2:17-24) and his covenant status (Romans 2:25-29). In Romans 2:1-3:8, the apostle Paul will address the sin of the Jews and will do so in three stages: (1) Without naming his opponent, but establishes the principles of divine judgment by which the Jew is clearly condemned, thus the Jews are as guilty as the pagan Gentiles and will likewise receive the wrath of God (Romans 2:1-16). (2) Paul explains how the Law condemns (2:17-29). (3) Paul adds a parenthetical response to possible misconceptions of what he has said (3:1-8). In :9-10, Paul summarizes his statements made in Romans 2:1-3:8 that he has made clear that God has declared not only the Gentile guilty but also He has declared the Jew guilty before Him and thus is in need of salvation like the Gentile. In Romans 2, Paul presents twelve principles regarding God’s judgment of men: (1) Man is judged by his own standards (Romans 2:1). (2) Man is judged according truth (Romans 2:2). (3) God’s judgment is inescapable (Romans 2:3) (4) God’s judgment is delayed because of His kindness, tolerance and patience (Romans 2:4). (5) God’s judgment is measured out according to the accumulation of guilt (Romans 2:5). (6) God judges man according to works (Romans 2:6). (7) God judges man according to obedience or performance in that God rewards obedience and punishes disobedience (Romans 2:7-10). (8) God judges without respect to persons since He is impartial (Romans 2:11). (9) God judges according to obedience and not knowledge (Romans 2:12-13). (10) God judges according to the divine revelation man has been exposed to (Romans 2:14-15). (11) God will take into account the secret motives of men according to the Gospel (Romans 2:16). (12) God judges according to reality and without regard of racial background or religious profession (Romans 2:17-29). In Romans 2:1, Paul addresses the self-righteous attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles and in the process teaches that they will be judged according to the standards which they set for the Gentiles since they also commit the sins that the Gentiles commit.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2

Romans 2:1-The Self-Righteousness of the Jews

Romans 2:1, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” Corrected translation of Romans 2:1: “ For this very reason, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth, without excuse O man, each and everyone of you without exception who as a lifestyle judge as guilty for by means of that which you as a lifestyle judge as guilty the other person, you, as an eternal spiritual truth condemn yourself for you, who as a lifestyle judge as guilty, make it a habit to practice the same things.” “Therefore ” is the inferential conjunction dio ( diov) (dee-o), which is used to pass from one statement considered as true to another whose truth is believed to follow the former, denoting that the inference is self-evident. In Romans 2:1, the inferential conjunction dio enables Paul to transition from the truth presented in Romans 1:29-32 that the Gentiles are worthy of eternal condemnation for the sins they commit to the truth in Romans 2:1 that the Jew condemns himself by judging the Gentile for the sins they commit since they too commit these same sins! The inference that is self-evident from a comparison of these passages is that the same sins that the Gentiles committed, which are listed by Paul in Romans 1:18-31 were committed by the self-righteous Jew also. Therefore, in Romans 2:1, Paul is saying that since it has been established and we agree that the immoral practices of the Gentiles listed in Romans 1:18-32 are an abomination to God, therefore, the self-righteous Jew is also without excuse since he practices these same sins, which he condemns the Gentiles for committing. In the very act of condemning the Gentiles, the self-righteous Jew automatically condemns himself because he is guilty of committing the very same sins that the Gentiles commit. “You have ” is the 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi ( ei)miv) (i-mee), which functions as a substantive referring to the self-righteous Jew and is connecting the subject, the self-righteous Jew to the predicate, which is adjective anapologetos , “ no excuse .” The present tense is “gnomic” used for a general timeless fact or spiritual axiom, thus indicating that it is “an eternal spiritual truth” or “spiritual axiom” that those who judge the Gentiles for the sins they commit and yet practice these very same sins are without excuse and under eternal condemnation as well. The active voice is “stative” indicating that self-righteous Jew exists in the state of being without excuse and under eternal condemnation and condemns himself for judging others for the very sins he himself commits as well.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. “No excuse ” is the compound adjective anapologetos ( a)napolovghto$ ) (an-ap- ol-og-ay-tos), which is composed of the negative prefix a and the noun apologia , “defense,” thus the word literally means, “without defense.” This compound adjective was frequently used in Greek literature to describe the hopelessness of trying to defend a case in court without an adequate defense. The adjective anapologetos functions as the predicate nominative meaning it is making an assertion regarding the subject eimi , “ you have .” The assertion is that the self-righteous Jew who judges the Gentiles for the very sins that they themselves commit as well are “ without excuse ” just as the Gentiles whom they condemn. The adjective anapologetos is used only in one other place in the Greek , namely Romans 1:20. Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” In Romans 1:18-32 all the “unrighteous” are without excuse and in Romans 2 Paul begins to demonstrate that all the “self-righteous” are also without excuse. The “unrighteous” Gentiles are without excuse because of the universal facts of the external creation and the internal voice of conscience. Beginning, in Romans 2:1, Paul teaches that what was true of the “heathen” in Romans 1:18-32 is also true of this new group, the Jews, who he identifies with the 2nd person singular pronoun “you ” in contrast to the 3 rd person plural pronoun “they,” which was used in reference to the Gentiles in Romans 1:18-32 and thus both are guilty before a holy God. Next, in the Greek text of Romans 2:1, we have the interjection O ( w)!), “O” and the vocative masculine singular form of the noun anthropos ( a*nqrwpo$ ) (anth-ro- pos), which is used in a generic sense for the self-righteous Jews. The interjection indicates that the anthropos is a “vocative of emphatic, emotional address” and expresses Paul’s deep emotion and concern for the self-righteous, self-destructive attitude of his fellow countrymen, the Jews, which he again expresses in :1-3. Romans 2:1, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” “Everyone ” is the anarthrous (without definite article) vocative (of simple address) masculine singular form of the adjective pas ( pa~$ ), which functions as a substantive and is used in a distributive sense referring to each member of the Jewish race that is self-righteous without exception and without distinction.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 “Who passes judgment ” is the articular 2 nd person masculine singular vocative present active participle form of the verb krino ( krivnw ) (kree-no), which means, “to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong,” and by implication, condemning. The participle functions as a “substantive” since the definite article preceding it functions as a substantiver meaning it converts the participle into substantive and should be translated with the English pronoun, “ who .” This is a “customary” present tense indicating that the “ongoing state” or “lifestyle” of the self-righteous Jew in condemning to eternal condemnation the Gentiles for the sins they commit, which they themselves commit as well. The active voice indicates that these Jews are volitionally responsible for their self-righteous attitude and their own condemnation for judging the Gentiles for their immorality, which they themselves are involved in as well. Next, we have the causal use of the post-positive conjunction gar ( gavr ), which is translated “ for ” and introduces a statement that explains why the self-righteous Jew is without excuse just as the Gentile for condemning the Gentiles for the sins they commit. Then, we have the preposition en ( e)n ), “in ” and the dative neuter singular form of the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ) (hos), “ that which .” The preposition en is a marker of means and the relative pronoun refers to the sins committed by the pagan Gentiles for which the self-righteous Jew condemns them for. Therefore, the standard by which the Jew judges the Gentiles as guilty is the “means by which” he brings condemnation on himself since he commits these very same sins that the Gentile commits. Once again, we have the verb krino ( krivnw ) (kree-no), which means, “to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong,” and by implication, condemning but this time it is in the 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the verb. This is also once again a “customary” present tense indicating that the “ongoing state” or “lifestyle” of the self-righteous Jew in condemning to eternal condemnation the Gentiles for the sins they commit, which they themselves commit as well. The active voice indicates that these Jews are volitionally responsible for their self-righteous attitude and their own condemnation for judging the Gentiles for their immorality, which they themselves are involved in as well. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement of Bible doctrine. “Another ” is the articular accusative (direct object) masculine singular form of the adjective heteros ( e^tero$ ) (het-er-os), which is used as a substantive as

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5 indicated by the articular construction and refers to the Gentiles in contrast to the Jews and should be translated “ the other person .” “You condemn ” is 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the compound verb katakrino ( katakrivnw ) (kata-kree-no), which is composed of the preposition kata , “against,” and the verb krino , “to pass judgment upon someone or something as evil or wrong after weighing the evidence and without reservation,” hence, “to condemn.” “Yourself ” is the accusative (direct object) 2 nd person masculine singular form of the reflexive pronoun seautou ( seautou~) (she-ow-too), which indicates that the subject is also the object of the action of the verb and is used to highlight the participation of the subject in the verbal action, as direct object, indirect object, intensifier, etc. Therefore, in Romans 2:1, the reflexive pronoun seautou indicates that the subject, the self-righteous Jew is also the object of the action of the verb katakrino , “to condemn” and highlights the participation of the self-righteous Jew in condemnation. Once again, we have the causal use of the post-positive conjunction gar ( gavr ), which introduces a statement that explains why the self-righteous Jew condemns himself when he condemns the Gentiles for the sins they commit. “You who judge ” is the articular 2 nd person masculine singular nominative present active participle form of the verb krino ( krivnw ) (kree-no), which as we noted earlier in our study of the word, means, “to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong,” and by implication, condemning. The participle functions as a “substantive” since the definite article preceding it functions as a substantiver meaning it converts the participle into substantive and should be translated with the English pronoun, “ who .” This is a “customary” present tense indicating that the “ongoing state” or “lifestyle” of the self-righteous Jew in condemning to eternal condemnation the Gentiles for the sins they commit, which they themselves commit as well. The active voice indicates that these Jews are volitionally responsible for their self-righteous attitude and their own condemnation for judging the Gentiles for their immorality, which they themselves are involved in as well. “Practice ” is the 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the verb prasso ( pravssw ), which means, “to make it a habit of practicing” and denotes a process leading to an accomplishment. “The same ” is the articular accusative (direct object) neuter plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ), which refers to the catalogue of sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6 The present tense of the verb is “customary” signifies that these self-righteous Jews have a “lifestyle” of practicing sin like the Gentiles whom they condemn. The active voice indicates that self-righteous Jew “chooses” to habitually or continually practice sin and is thus volitionally responsible for their actions. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. The Lord Jesus Christ prohibited His disciples in judging others. Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge lest you be judged yourselves. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it shall be measured to you.” Matthew 7:3, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” Matthew 7:4, “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?” Matthew 7:5, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” The kind of judging that the Lord warned against and that Paul warns against was not justified, discerning appraisal of someone’s character based on conduct but rather a hypocritical and self-righteous condemnation of another person. The Lord in Matthew 7:1-2 and Paul in Romans 2:1 are a warning against passing a sentence upon another in condemnation. Christian love is to have discernment (Philippians 1:9) and is to properly “evaluate” the character of others whereas Matthew 7:1-2 and Romans 2:1 are not referring to “evaluation” but rather “condemnation.” Fallen humanity tends to criticize in others those negative traits of which they themselves are guilty, which is called by psychologists as “projection.” The self- righteousness of the Jew is based upon their false assumption that they would be accepted by God on the basis of their national identity or racial background meaning that they thought that they were saved based upon their father or progenitor, and the promises God made to Abraham. The Jews believed that this promise guaranteed salvation for all who retained their connection with Abraham through the observance of the law and the rite of circumcision. Therefore they expected to be regarded and treated not so much as individuals, each dealt with according to his personal character, but as a community to whom salvation was assured by the promise made to Abraham. Warren Wiersbe commenting on the self-righteous attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles, writes, “Certainly the Jews would applaud Paul’s condemnation of the Gentiles in Romans 1:18-32. In fact, Jewish national and religious pride encouraged them to despise the ‘Gentile dogs’ and have nothing to do with them. Paul uses this mental attitude to prove the guilt of the Jews; for the very things they

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7 condemned in the Gentiles, they themselves were practicing! They thought that they were free from judgment because they were God’s chosen people. But Paul affirmed that God’s election of the Jews made their responsibility and accountability even greater.” (The Bible Exposition Commentary, pages 519-520; Victor Books) John the Baptist addressed the self-righteous attitude of the Jew who thought their racial background and relationship to Abraham would guarantee their entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 3:5-6, “Then was going out to him, and all and all the district around the Jordan and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” Matthew 3:7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” Matthew 3:8-9, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ;We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” The Lord Jesus Christ also addressed this self-righteous attitude of the Jews. John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.’” John 8:35, “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.” John 8:36, “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:37, “I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.” John 8:38, “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” John 8:39, “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.’” John 8:40, “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.” John 8:41, “You are doing the deeds of your father. They said to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.’” John 8:42, “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.’” John 8:43, “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8 John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:45, “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.” The Lord Jesus Christ’s teaching on the Pharisee and the Publican addresses the Jews’ self-righteous, judgmental attitude towards the Gentiles and demonstrates to the Pharisee his need for salvation and God’s righteousness. Luke 18:10, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Luke 18:11-12, “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’” Luke 18:13, “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” Luke 18:14, “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The prophet Nathan was sent by the Lord to confront regarding his sin of killing Uriah in order to cover up his affair with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and in the process he encountered David’s self-righteousness. 2 Samuel 12:1-4, “Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, ‘There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb which he bought and nourished and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.’” 2 Samuel 12:5, “Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, ‘As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.’” 2 Samuel 12:6, “He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” 2 Samuel 12:7, “Nathan then said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.’”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9 2 Samuel 12:8, “I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!” 2 Samuel 12:9, “Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.” 2 Samuel 12:10, “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” 2 Samuel 12:11, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.’” 2 Samuel 12:12, “Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.” 2 Samuel 12:13, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.’” 2 Samuel 12:14, “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” 2 Samuel 12:15, “So Nathan went to his house.” Although a self-righteous person may argue that he has not committed every sin in the book, he should remember the following facts taught in the Bible: (1) He is capable of committing them all the sins listed in Romans 1:29-31 since everyone has an old sin nature (:12-19; 7). Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned when Adam sinned.” (2) By breaking one commandment, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (3) He has committed sins of thought which he may never have committed in actual deed, and these are forbidden by the Word since the Lord Jesus taught that a lustful look is tantamount to adultery (Matthew 5:28). Matthew 5:28, “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10

Romans 2:2-God Judges Men According to Truth

In Romans 2:2, Paul presents a second principle of divine judgment, namely, that God judges men according to truth. Romans 2:2, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.” As we noted in our introduction to this chapter, the New American Standard translation is incorrect since they translate the prepositional phrase kata aletheian , “rightly ” instead of “ according to truth ” or “ based on truth ” as the NIV does. Romans 2:2, “Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” NIV Romans 2:2, “But we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things.” Amplified Bible “And ” is the post-positive “transitional” use of the conjunction de ( deV), which introduces a new topic of discussion, transitioning from Paul’s discussion pertaining to the guilt of the Gentiles and the self-righteous Jew in Romans 1:18- 2:1 to a discussion regarding principles related to the judgment of God. Therefore, the word should be translated “ now ,” which the New American Standard fails to do and yet the New International Version does. “We know ” is the 1 st person plural perfect active indicative form of the verb oida ( oi‚da ), which denotes the possession of knowledge rather than the acquiring of knowledge, which the verb ginosko denotes, thus it means, “to know for certain, to know without a doubt.” The word denotes the full possession of the facts concerning the judgment of God and is usually followed by the conjunction hoti ( o^ti ) (hot-ee), which introduces a statement that is accepted as a dogmatic statement of fact in the Old Testament, as is the case here in Romans 2:2. Perfect tense of oida is an “intensive” perfect emphasizing the results or present state produced by a past action. In Romans 2:2, the “intensive perfect” tense of the verb oida emphasizes the results or present state of the self-righteous Jew knowing for certain that the judgment of God falls on those who practice the sins listed in Romans 1:29-31 and which state was produced by the past action of learning this from the teaching of the Old Testament in their synagogues and in the temple in Jerusalem. The active voice is “stative” indicating that self-righteous Jew exists in the state of knowing full well that God judges those who commit the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11 The indicative mood is used with the conjunction hoti to form a direct object clause. “That ” is the conjunction hoti ( o^ti ) (hot-ee), which introduces a direct object clause that presents the content of what the self-righteous Jew knows for certain in the Old Testament as a dogmatic statement of Bible doctrine. “The judgment ” is the articular nominative neuter singular form of the noun krima ( krivma ) (kree-mah), which is from the verb krino , “to judge” and the suffix –ma , “the result of,” thus the word denotes the result of judging. In Romans 2:2, the noun krima refers to the guilty verdict of eternal condemnation that God renders to those who commit the sins listed in Romans 1:29-31. The definite article preceding the noun indicates that this judicial verdict of eternal condemnation is “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was instructed concerning it through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple. “Of God ” is articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$ ), which refers to the Trinity, namely, who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit functioning in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. The definite article is “anaphoric” indicating previous reference meaning the noun theos was used in Romans 1:32. It also identifies the noun theos , “ God ” as “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was learned about God through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple in Jerusalem. The noun theos is a “subjective genitive” functioning semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun krima , “ judgment .” Thus, thus, the judgment in view is that which is executed by the Trinity in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. “Is ” is the 3 rd person singular present active indicative form of the verb eimi (ei(miv), which denotes that the judgment of God possesses certain inherent characteristic that is identified by the prepositional phrase kata aletheian , “according to truth .” The verb eimi functions as a copula uniting the subject ho krinon , “ the judgment ” and those being judged who are identified with the phrase ta toiauta prassontes , “ those who as a lifestyle make it a habit to practice such things .” The present tense is “gnomic” used for a general timeless fact or spiritual axiom, thus indicating that it is “an eternal spiritual truth” or “spiritual axiom” God will judge according to truth those who as a lifestyle practice the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31. The active voice is “stative” indicating that those who as a lifestyle practice the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31 are in a state of being under eternal condemnation.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12 The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. Romans 2:2, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.” “Rightly ” is composed of the preposition kata ( katav) and the accusative feminine singular form of the noun aletheia ( a)lhvqeia ) (al-ay-thi-a), “ truth .” God has the monopoly on truth since it is an attribute that helps to compose His divine essence. Psalm 31:5, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.” Those who live according to truth are living in reality whereas those who reject truth are living in unreality and under the lie of Satan. The Lord Jesus Christ is the truth of God since He is the Word of God incarnate. John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” After salvation, the will of God is that the believer acquire an experiential knowledge of the truth in the sense of personally encountering truth through the process of fellowship as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit through prayerful study of the Scriptures. It also means being affected by this encounter with truth resulting in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ. 1 Timothy 2:4, “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (Bible Doctrine, the mind of Christ).” The new nature that the believer receives at the moment of salvation has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:24, “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” The believer’s sanctification is accomplished by means of truth. John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Therefore, the believer is commanded to let the Word of Christ richly dwell in his soul. Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” He does this by diligently studying the Word of truth to enrich his fellowship with the Lord and his worship of Him.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” He is also commanded to speak the truth to his fellow believer by means of God’s love. Ephesians 4:15, “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.” Truth will set the believer free from sin. John 8:31, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’” Believers are commanded to love each other according to the Word of truth. 1 John 3:18, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth .” The believer is to worship the Father by means of truth. John 4:23-24, “But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers, will worship the Father spiritually, yes, by means of truth. In fact, the Father intensely desires such worshippers of Himself. God, as to His nature, is spirit and those worshipping Him must worship spiritually, yes, by means of truth.” In Romans 2:2, the noun aletheia means, “truth” in the sense that God’s judgment is based totally on reality, it is based on the facts and is totally and absolutely impartial in that He does not have one standard for the Jew and another for the Gentiles. Therefore, for a Jew to pass judgment on the sins of the Gentiles or anyone else for that matter, while at the same time practicing those very same sins, was to pass judgment on themselves and so Paul’s readers would have to agree that they could not escape God’s judgment. Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” The definite article preceding the noun aletheia , “ truth ” is “monadic” emphasizing that truth is “unique” since it originates in the essence of God. The preposition kata with the accusative noun aletheia , “ truth ” specifies that the “standard” by which God’s judgment is executed is truth and should be translated “ according to .” Romans 2:2, “And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14 “Upon ” is the preposition epi ( e)piv), which is used with the accusative case as a marker of opposition in a judicial sense meaning, “against.” “Those who practice ” is the articular accusative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb prasso ( pravssw ), which means, “to make it a habit of practicing” and denotes a habit and a process leading to an accomplishment. The participle functions as a “substantive” since the definite article functions as a substantiver meaning it converts the participle into substantive and should be translated with the phrase “ those who .” The present tense of the verb is “customary” signifying a “lifestyle” of practicing sin and the active voice indicates that sinning is a “choice” and thus the person who sins is volitionally responsible for their actions before a holy God. Therefore, we will translate the articular participle “ those who as a lifestyle practice .” “Such things ” is the articular accusative (direct object) neuter plural form of the demonstrative pronoun toioutos ( toiou~to$ ) (toy-oo-tos), which refers to the various acts of sin that are listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31. Corrected translation of Romans 2:2: “Now, we know for certain that God’s judgment is, as an eternal spiritual truth according to truth, against those who as a lifestyle practice such things.” Psalm 98:8-9, “Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy, let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Deuteronomy 32:4, “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just, a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” Psalm 19:9, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 15

Romans 2:3-God’s Judgment is Inescapable

In Romans 2:3, Paul states to the self-righteous Jew that God’s judgment is inescapable. Romans 2:3, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” “But ” is the “adversative” use of the post-positive conjunction de ( deV), which introduces a rhetorical question that demands a negative response that refutes the attitude of the self-righteous Jew who thinks he is not under eternal condemnation because of his racial background. The conjunction de contrasts the attitude of the self-righteous Jew, who believes that he avoids eternal condemnation because of his racial background with that of God’s holiness, which demands that the Jew be judged just like the Gentile for committing sin. “Do you suppose ” is the 2 nd person singular present (deponent) middle indicative form of the verb logizomai ( logivzomai ) (lo-gidz-o-my), which is derived from the verb lego ( levgw ), “count, collect, reckon.” The word’s root log -, “put together, collect, harvest” suggests a regulated perception and an acceptance of given facts. Hence, logizomai means, “reckon, credit, rank with, calculate, consider, deliberate, grasp, draw a logical conclusion,” and “decide.” In one sense logizomai is a commercial technical term meaning “to charge to the account of, to credit.” Along with this are other business and numerical senses: “to calculate, compute, figure.” A second distinct definition of logizomai in classical and Hellenistic Greek does not concern business dealings. In this sense, it still means “to calculate, evaluate, consider” and adds the ideas of “to expect, to conclude (by reasoning), to infer.” In Romans 2:4, the verb logizomai means, “to presume,” which is to take for granted, to assume as true in the absence of proof, to act or proceed with unwarrantable or impertinent (presumptuous) boldness. Therefore, the unregenerate Jew took for granted and assumed as true in the absence of Scriptural proof and acted with unwarrantable and presumptuous boldness that he would escape eternal condemnation because of his racial background as a member of the covenant people of God, Israel. Psalm 19:13, “Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.” The present tense of the verb logizomai is a “retroactive progressive” present tense used to describe this presumptuous attitude of the Jews as having taken place

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16 in the past and continuing up to the time that Paul penned Romans. It is also a deponent middle indicating that it has a middle voice form and an active voice meaning, thus the self-righteous Jew is responsible for his erroneous, arrogant and presumptuous attitude. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. We will translate the verb logizomai , “ do you continue to presume .” John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees for this presumptuous attitude and national pride. Matthew 3:5-6, “Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” Matthew 3:7, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” Matthew 3:8-9, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ;We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” Romans 2:3, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” “This ” is the immediate demonstrative pronoun houtos ( ou!!to$ ), which is touto (tou~to ), which refers to the statement to follow that expresses the self-righteous attitude of the Jew. “O man ” is composed of the interjection O ( w)!), and the vocative masculine singular form of the noun anthropos ( a*nqrwpo$ ) (anth-ro-pos), which is used in a generic sense for the self-righteous Jew. The interjection indicates that the anthropos is a “vocative of emphatic, emotional address” and expresses Paul’s deep emotion and concern for the self- righteous and self-destructive attitude of his fellow countrymen, the Jews. “When you pass judgment on ” is the articular 2 nd person masculine singular vocative present active participle form of the verb krino ( krivnw ) (kree-no), which means, “to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong,” and by implication means, “to condemn.” The articular noun krino is a “vocative of simple apposition” meaning it stands next to the vocative of emphatic address o anthrope , “ O man .”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 17 The presence of the appositional vocative indicates an emphatic emotional address and thus expresses Paul’s deep emotion and concern for his fellow countrymen, the Jews. The definite article preceding the participle functions as a relative pronoun and should be translated with the English pronoun, “ who .” The participle is “temporal” and answers the question as to “when” these self- righteous Jews presumptuously thought that they would escape eternal condemnation because of their racial background, namely, when they judge as guilty the Gentiles for the sins they commit. This is a “customary” present tense indicating that the “ongoing state” or “lifestyle” of the self-righteous, presumptuous Jew in condemning to eternal condemnation the Gentiles for the sins they commit, which they themselves commit as well. The active voice indicates that these Jews are volitionally responsible for their self-righteous and presumptuous attitude and thus their own condemnation for judging the Gentiles for their immorality, which they themselves were involved in as well. Therefore, we will translate the articular participle krino , “ when you who as a lifestyle judge as guilty .” Romans 2:3, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” “Those who practice ” is the articular accusative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb prasso ( pravssw ), which means, “to make it a habit of practicing” and denotes a habit and a process leading to an accomplishment. The participle functions as a “substantive” since the definite article functions as a substantiver meaning it converts the participle into substantive and should be translated with the phrase “ those who .” The present tense of the verb is “customary” signifying a “lifestyle” of practicing sin and the active voice indicates that sinning is a “choice” and thus the person who sins is volitionally responsible for their actions before a holy God. The articular participle prasso functions as an accusative direct object of the verb logizomai . Therefore, we will translate the articular participle “ those who as a lifestyle practice .” “Such things ” is the articular accusative (direct object) neuter plural form of the demonstrative pronoun toioutos ( toiou~to$ ) (toy-oo-tos), which refers to the various acts of sin that are listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18 Corrected translation thus far: Romans 2:3, “But, do you continue to presume this, O man, when you who as a lifestyle judge as guilty those who as a lifestyle practice such things…” “And ” is the “connective” use of the conjunction kai ( kaiV), which connects two concepts expressed by the verbs prasso and poieo , the former denotes “an action complete in itself,” emphasizing accomplishment while the latter denotes “a habit” and a process leading to the accomplishment. Therefore, poieo denotes committing the “act” of sin whereas prasso denotes the “lifestyle” of committing sin and so kai connects these two concepts. In Romans 2:3, the verb prasso is used in relation to the Gentiles emphasizing their lifestyle of being involved with the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31 whereas poieo is used in relation to the Jews emphasizing that they have committed these same individual acts of sin. “Do ” is the vocative 2 nd person masculine singular present active participle form of the verb poieo ( poievw ), which as we noted is used with reference to the Jews emphasizing that they have committed the individual acts of sin listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31. The participle form of the verb poieo is a “vocative of simple apposition” meaning it stands next to the appositional vocative ho krinon , “ when you who as a lifestyle judge as guilty .” As we noted earlier, the presence of the appositional vocative indicates an emphatic emotional address, thus the vocative here expresses Paul’s deep emotion and concern for his fellow countrymen, the Jews. The present tense of poieo is a “customary” present tense denoting that the Jew “as a lifestyle” commits these individual acts of sin that Paul lists in Romans 1:29- 31 that he attributes to the Gentiles. The active voice signifies that the presumptuous and self-righteous Jew performs the action of sinning. The verb poieo is a “substantive” participle. We will translate poieo , “ you do, as a lifestyle .” “The same ” is the accusative (direct object) 3 rd person neuter plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ), which refers to the catalogue of sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31 and should translated “ the very same things .” Corrected translation thus far: Romans 2:3, “But, do you continue to presume this, O man, when you who as a lifestyle judge as guilty those who as a lifestyle practice such things and you do, as a lifestyle the very same things…” Romans 2:3, “But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 19 “That ” is the conjunction hoti ( o^ti ) (hot-ee), which introduces a statement that functions as the direct object of the verb logizomai . “You ” is the nominative (subject) 2 nd person singular personal pronoun su ( suv), which is emphatic because it placed at the beginning of the statement emphasizing to the self-righteous Jew that he will by no means escape eternal condemnation because he is a Jew when he is guilty himself of sin like the Gentile. “Will escape ” is the 2 nd person singular future (deponent) middle indicative form of the compound verb ekpheugo ( e)kfeuvgw ) (ek-fyoo-go), which is composed of the preposition ek , “out from” and the verb pheugo , “to flee, escape,” thus the word literally means, “to escape from.” The future tense is a “predictive” future indicating that the self-righteous Jew will not escape eternal condemnation for presuming that he could escape because of his racial background and being born into the covenant people of God, Israel. The deponent middle means that the verb ekpheugo has a middle voice form but an active meaning, thus it indicates performs the action of the verb and will not escape eternal condemnation since they commit the very same sins that the Gentiles practice. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. “The judgment ” is the articular accusative (direct object) neuter singular form of the noun krima ( krivma ) (kree-mah), which is from the verb krino , “to judge” and the suffix –ma , “the result of,” thus the word denotes the result of judging. In Romans 2:2, the noun krima refers to the guilty verdict of eternal condemnation that God renders to those who commit the sins listed in Romans 1:29-31 since Paul is speaking in the context of unbelievers, both Jew and Gentile, who are in need of the righteousness of God, which is received through faith in Jesus Christ. The definite article preceding the noun indicates that this judicial verdict of eternal condemnation is “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was instructed concerning it through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple. “ Of God ” is articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$ ), which refers to the Trinity, namely, who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit functioning in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. The definite article is “anaphoric” indicating previous reference meaning the noun theos was used in Romans 2:2. It also identifies the noun theos , “ God ” as “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was learned about God through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple in Jerusalem.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20 The noun theos is a “subjective genitive” functioning semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun krima , “ judgment .” Thus, thus, the judgment in view is that which is executed by the Trinity in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. Completed corrected translation of Romans 2:3, “But, do you continue to presume this, O man, when you, who as a lifestyle, judge as guilty those, who as a lifestyle, practice such things and you do, as a lifestyle, the very same things, that you will escape God’s judgment?” So we can see in Romans 2:3 that the apostle Paul poses a rhetorical question to the self-righteous Jew that demands a negative response and confronting him with the fact that he will not escape eternal condemnation since he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentiles for. Paul taught in Romans 2:2 that God judges according to truth and this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the Jew who condemns the Gentiles for committing the sins listed by Paul in Romans 1:29-31, must also receive the same penalty. Thus, we can see that Paul is presenting to the reader another principle concerning the judgment of God, namely, that it is inescapable for both Jew and Gentile who have not trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The capacity of the Jews to judge the Gentiles does not absolve them from guilt but in fact, increases their own condemnation. Proverbs 11:21, “Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.” Proverbs 16:5, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” Matthew 23:33, “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” The judgment of God is inescapable unless one trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:17, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and Gentile and for every sin that they have committed-past, present and future.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21 The unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15). The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire forever and ever at the conclusion of human history. Every unbeliever in history will have to stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15). Revelation 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15, “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” A comparison of Scripture with Scripture reveals that there are several judgments that take place at different periods of history. The first judgment to take place in history is called by theologians the “Bema Seat Evaluation” since the expression is taken from the Greek noun bema . This judgment takes place immediately after the Rapture of the Church and is actually an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24). 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:12-13, “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 22 1 Corinthians 3:14, “If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:15, “If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” The church age believer’s sin are never brought up since Christ died for their sins (1 John 2:12). 1 John 2:12, “I am providing information in writing at this particular time for the benefit of all of you, little children in view of the fact that for the benefit of all of you, your sins have been forgiven-past, present and future on the basis of His merit.” The next judgment that follows the Bema Seat Judgment will be the judgment of “Israel,” which will take place immediately after the Second Advent and prior to the millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the Millennial reign of Christ (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30). This will be followed immediately by the judgment of the Gentiles and also takes place immediately after the Second Advent of Christ and prior to His millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth (Matthew 25:31-46). The sins of the unregenerate Jew and Gentile will not be brought up at their respective judgments since like the church age believer, all their sins were judged at the Cross. The next judgment will be that of Satan and his fallen angels and will take place at the end of the appeal trial of Satan, which runs co-terminus with human history and is execution of Satan and the fallen angels sentence for their pre-historic rebellion against God (Compare Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 20:10). The last judgment is the “Great White Throne” judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Revelation 20:11-15). Once again the sins of the unbeliever are never brought up since Christ died for all their sins and instead their self-righteous works that do not measure up to Christ perfection will be used to condemn them to the eternal lake of fire.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23

Romans 2:4-God’s Judgment is Delayed Because of His Kindness, Tolerance and Patience

Next, we will study Romans 2:4 in which Paul teaches the self-righteous Jew that God’s judgment is delayed because of His kindness, tolerance and patience towards them in desiring that he might be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “Or ” is the “disjunctive” conjunction, that is also called a “particle of separation” e ( h&) (ay), which introduces two rhetorical questions that present a “related alternative” to Paul’s statement in Romans 2:3. In Romans 2:3, Paul rebukes the hypocritical, self-righteous Jew for presumptuously reasoning that he will not escape the judgment of God even though he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentile for, thus, he will be judged according to the very same standards he set for the Gentiles. Then, in Romans 2:4, Paul employs the disjunctive conjunction e, which introduces two rhetorical questions that demand a positive response and comprise a related alternative to eternal condemnation for the self-righteous Jew. Namely, that God has delayed His judgment of both Jew and Gentile because of His kindness, tolerance and patience of God towards the sinner in desiring that they repent by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior. The disjunction conjunction e introduces two rhetorical questions that parallel each other with each demanding yes as an answer: (1) “Are you not being self- righteous and presumptuous, by your hypocritical involvement in the very same sins you condemn the Gentiles for, holding in contempt the kindness, tolerance and patience of God?” (2) Don’t you realize that God is delaying executing the sentence of eternal condemnation upon you because He is trying to lead you to repentance by believing in His Son Jesus Christ?” Paul is saying to the Jew, “do you have such a poor estimate of God’s goodness that you think it gives you license to sin? So not only was the Jew self-righteous and hypocritical for presumptuously thinking that he will escape eternal condemnation because of his racial background while at the same time committing the very same sins that he condemns the Gentile for but also, he is thumbing his nose at God’s kindness, tolerance and patience, which He extends to both Jew and Gentile in order to lead them to faith in Christ. “Do you think lightly ” is the 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the compound verb kataphroneo ( katafronevw ) (kat-af-ron-eh'-o), which is

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 composed of the preposition kata , “down” and the verb phroneo , “to think,” thus the word literally means, “to think down upon,” thus “to hold in contempt.” The verb expresses the concept of looking down on someone or something with contempt, with the implication that one considers the object of little value or as unworthy of one’s notice or consideration. Therefore, the use of this word in Romans 2:4 means that the self-righteous Jew’s presumptuous idea that he would escape eternal condemnation even though he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentile for was tantamount to holding in contempt God’s kindness, tolerance and patience. J. B. Lightfoot wrote, “The blackest of sin is not righteousness violated, but mercy despised.” The 2 nd person singular form of the verb emphasizes that Paul is speaking to the Jew directly since in Romans 1:18-32, Paul referred to the Gentiles in the third person and if he were addressing directly the Roman Christians, he would have used the second person plural. The present tense of the verb kataphroneo is a “retroactive progressive present” indicating that the Jew held the kindness, tolerance and patience of God in contempt “in the past” and still “continues up to the time” when Paul penned Romans. The active voice indicates that the Jew produces the action of holding in contempt the kindness, tolerance and patience of God by presumptuously thinking he could escape eternal condemnation when he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentiles for. Therefore, the active expresses the fact that the self- righteous Jew is responsible for his actions and is accountable to God. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement that the Jew holds in contempt the kindness, tolerance and patience of God. We will translate kataphroneo , “ Do you continue to hold in contempt .” Solomon addresses the contempt that the wicked have towards God’s kindness, tolerance and patience in Ecclesiastes 8:11. Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.” Psalm 10 addresses this issue of the wicked holding in contempt the patience, tolerance and kindness of God. Psalm 10:1, “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?” Psalm 10:2, “In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 25 Psalm 10:3, “For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.” Psalm 10:4, “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’” Psalm 10:5, “His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are on high, out of his sight; As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.” Psalm 10:6, “He says to himself, ‘I will not be moved; Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.’” Psalm 10:7, “His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.” Psalm 10:8, “He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the hiding places he kills the innocent; His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.” Psalm 10:9, “He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the afflicted; He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.” Psalm 10:10, “He crouches, he bows down, and the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.” Psalm 10:11, “He says to himself, ‘God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.’” Psalm 10:12, “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand. Do not forget the afflicted.” Psalm 10:13, “Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, ‘You will not require it.’” Psalm 10:14, “You have seen it, for You have beheld mischief and vexation to take it into Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan.” Psalm 10:15, “Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, seek out his wickedness until You find none.” The apostle Peter teaches that in the last days men will hold in contempt God’s kindness, tolerance and patience disregarding the fact that God desires for them to trust in His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior. 2 Peter 3:3-4, “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’” 2 Peter 3:5-6, “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 26 2 Peter 3:7, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:8, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “The riches ” is the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun ploutos ( plou~to$ ) (ploo-tos), which is used in a figurative sense for God’s “infinite” kindness, tolerance and patience that are inherent in His character and nature and are exercised towards mankind. The noun ploutos is used in Ephesians 1:7 for God the Father’s “infinite” grace, which is directed to the church age believer through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:7, “In whom (the Beloved) we have the redemption through His blood (Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death), the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.” The word appears in Ephesians 1:18 where it appears for “infinite wealth” of God that is inherent in His character and nature. Ephesians 1:18, “I make it a habit to pray that the eyes of our heart would receive enlightenment for the purpose of knowing for certain what is the confidence of His calling and what are the glorious riches , which is His inheritance distributed among the saints.” The noun ploutos is used again in Ephesians 2:7 for God the Father’s “infinite” grace, which is directed to the church age believer through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:4-7, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians 3:8 the noun ploutos is used “infinite” qualities and characteristics of Christ. Ephesians 3:8, “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 27 In Ephesians 3:16, the word is used of God the Father’s “infinite” spiritual unmerited blessings and benefits that are inherent in the character and nature of God and that are directed towards the believer through their union and identification with Christ. Ephesians 3:14-16, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” Paul employs ploutos in Philippians 4:19 where he informs the Philippians that God the Father will fully and completely provide for their every need just as He fully and completely provided for him according to the Father’s “infinite wealth.” Philippians 4:19-20, “Now, my God, the Father will as a dogmatic statement of fact, fully and completely provide for your every need according to His infinite wealth by means of the glorious power residing in the unique Person of Christ Jesus and thus the glory (adoring praise and worshipful thanksgiving) will be directed to God, yes-even our Father forever and ever. Amen!” In Colossians 1:27, ploutos is used of God the Father’s “infinite” spiritual unmerited blessings and benefits that are inherent in the character and nature of God and that are directed towards the believer through their union and identification with Christ. Colossians 1:24-27, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In :2 the apostle Paul employs ploutos where he prays that the believers in Colosse will have a full assurance from an intimate, personal experiential knowledge of Christ, which is “spiritual wealth” and is the mark of a believer who is rich toward God. Colossians 2:1-3, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery,

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 28 that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” In Romans 2:4, the noun ploutos presents an image of material wealth, which captures the infinite kindness, tolerance and patience of God. We will translate ploutos with the English adjective “infinite” since the latter refers to something that is “immeasurably great, indefinitely or exceedingly great, unbounded, unlimited, endless or immeasurable, inexhaustible.” Therefore, in Romans 2:4, the noun ploutos defines God’s kindness, tolerance and patience as “immeasurably great, indefinitely or exceedingly great, unbounded, unlimited, endless or immeasurable and inexhaustible.” Infinity is an absolute attribute of God meaning it is beyond the human frame of reference. “Infinite” means, “without boundaries or limitations,” thus God is not limited to time and space as His creatures. “Infinity” characterizes not only what God is but also all that God does: (1) His holiness (2) His love (3) His veracity (4) His Word of truth. Infinity has three basic characteristics: (1) Self-existence: God exists eternally unsustained by Himself or by any other source. (2) Immutability: God is unchangeable. (3) Unity: God is consistent meaning that each member of the Trinity is consistent with Himself and with the other Two. There are many passages that make reference to this absolute attribute of God. 1 Kings 8:27, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” 66:1, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?’” Psalm 145:3, “Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.” Job 5:9, “Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.” Job 9:10, “Who does great things, unfathomable, and wondrous works without number.” In Romans 2:4, the noun ploutos functions as an “attributive genitive” or “genitive of quality” meaning that the word specifies an attribute or innate quality of the nouns chrestotes , “ kindness ,” anoche , “ tolerance ,” and makrothumia , “patience .” An “attributive genitive” is similar to a simple adjective in its semantic force, though more emphatic since it expresses quality like an adjective indeed, but with more sharpness and distinctness. Therefore, we will translate the noun ploutos with

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 29 the English adjective “infinite” since it not only reflects the meaning of the Greek noun but also since it functions as an “attributive genitive.” The definite article preceding the abstract noun ploutos , “ infinite ” defines and emphasizes more closely the infinite “quality” of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “Kindness ” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun chrestotes ( xrhstovth$ ) (kray-sto-tace), which is from chestos , “useful, profitable,” and the verb chraomai , “to furnish what is needed” and refers to providing that which one needs and describes a gracious attitude. In Romans 2:4, the word describes God as having a tender, compassionate concern for the entire human race, which is reflected in a desire to treat them with compassion. This word is related to “common grace,” which refers to grace that God extends to the entire human race in order to draw them to the Savior, to make understandable the Gospel of Jesus Christ for eternal salvation and refers also to the benefits God bestows on all men (cf. Mt 5:45; :15-17). Since God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), God delays His judgment in order that men might trust in His Son as their Savior, thus every moment that the unbeliever lives is a sign of God’s kindness. Chrestotes refers to God’s gracious provision that meets the need of unregenerate man in order to bring them to the Savior Jesus Christ. Trench commenting on chrestotes , writes, “beautiful word, as it is the expression of a beautiful grace...one pervading and penetrating the whole nature, mellowing there all which would have been harsh and austere (Ed note: this latter applicable only to men but not to God for He is never harsh or austere)...a goodness which has no edge, no sharpness in it..." (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers 2000). God’s kindness does not excuse men of their sin but convicts them of sin and leads them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Titus 3:1-2, “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.” Titus 3:3, “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” Titus 3:4-7, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 30 and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” The Tyndale Bible Dictionary makes the following commenting on God’s kindness, “a state of being that includes the attributes of loving affection, sympathy, friendliness, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and goodness. Kindness is a quality shown in the way a person speaks and acts. It is more volitional than emotional.” In Romans 2:4, the noun chrestotes emphasizes the “function” of the attribute of God’s kindness towards the entire human race whereas the adjective chrestos that is used later on in the verse emphasizes the “attribute” of kindness of itself. The noun chrestotes functions grammatically as a “genitive direct object” meaning it is receiving the action of the verb kataphroneo , “ do you continue to hold in contempt .” It is not in the accusative but rather the genitive case since the latter “limits as to kind,” while the former “limits as to extent.” Another way to put this is that the genitive limits as to “quality” while the accusative limits as to “quantity.” Therefore, we can understand why the apostle Paul puts the nouns chrestotes , “ kindness ,” anoche , “ tolerance ,” and makrothumia , “ patience ” in the genitive case where each of them function as a “direct object” of the verb kataphroneo since he wishes to emphasize the infinite kindness, tolerance and patience of God. The definite article before the noun chrestotes is used with the possessive use of the intensive pronoun autos , “ his ” to denote possession, thus emphasizing that God’s kindness is an inherent attribute of His. The definite article preceding the abstract noun chrestotes , “ kindness ” defines and emphasizes more closely the “quality” of God’s kindness in that it is infinite. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “And ” is the “connective” use of the conjunction kai ( kaiV), which presents an additional attribute of God that the self-righteous Jew holds in contempt when he presumes that he will escape eternal condemnation when he commits the very same sins that he condemns the Gentiles for. “Tolerance ” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun anoche (a)noxhv) (an-okh-ay), which is from the verb anechomai , “to tolerate, to be patient with regard to errors or weaknesses, to put up with someone” and describes “self- restraint, a holding back, a temporary cessation of hostilities, a refraining from the enforcement of something.” In classical Greek, the word denoted a “truce” or “armistice” and according to the Jewish historian and contemporary of the apostles Josephus, the term was

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 31 associated with military actions such as a “temporary cessation of hostilities,” a “truce.” The noun anoche appears only once in the LXX in a non-canonical passage (1 Macc.) where it was used in relation to the “letting up of military pressure.” The word appears only twice in the Greek New Testament (Romans 2:4; 3:25) where in both instances it refers to a “temporary truce” imposed by God with the human race before He executes judgment upon the sinner. In the New Testament, the term referred to a “truce, a temporary arrangement until a peace agreement can take place” describing God’s “toleration” with the sinful humanity in order that they might turn to Jesus Christ and be saved. In Romans 3:25, the New American Standard translates the word “forbearance ” and is used by Paul to describe the “temporary arrangement” that God imposed on the human race “until” the Cross, at which time, God “established a peace agreement” with Himself and sinful humanity. Romans 3:21-26, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” In Romans 2:4, the noun anoche means, “ tolerance ” and describes God imposing a temporary cessation or delay in executing the sentence of eternal condemnation upon sinful mankind in order that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be delivered from the eternal lake of fire. God does not toss members of the human race into the eternal lake of fire immediately when they sin but rather He graciously but temporarily delays executing the sentence of eternal condemnation in order that they might come to Him and receive salvation through faith in Christ. Therefore, in Romans 2:4, Paul is saying to the self-righteous Jew, “do you continue to hold in contempt not only the kindness of God but also His tolerance by presuming that you can escape eternal condemnation when you commit the very same sins that you condemn the Gentiles for?” The definite article preceding the abstract noun anoche , “ tolerance ” defines and emphasizes more closely the “quality” of God’s tolerance in that it is infinite.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 32 Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience , not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “And” is the “connective” use of the conjunction kai ( kaiV), which presents an additional attribute of God that the self-righteous Jew holds in contempt, namely God’s patience. “Patience ” is the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun makrothumia ( makroqumiva ) (mak-roth-oom-eeah), which is formed from the adjective makros , “long” and the noun thumos , “temper,” or the verb thumoomai , “to be furious or burn with intense anger,” thus the word literally means, “long- tempered” as opposed to “short tempered.” The noun makrothumia means, “ patience ” in the sense of enduring provocation, annoyance, misfortune, pain without complaint, loss of temper, and will possess the ability and willingness to suppress restlessness and annoyance. A person who has a short temper, speaks and acts impulsively and lacks self- control however, makrothumia describes a person who is just the opposite and has a “long-fuse” having patience with people and has the ability to bear long in the face of disappointment and opposition. The noun makrothumia describes a state of self-control and emotional calm in the face of provocation, misfortune or unfavorable circumstances and is a word that expresses patience with people. Chrysostom defined the word as the characteristic of the man who has it in his power to avenge himself and deliberately does not use it. Therefore, Paul is, in effect, saying to the self-righteous Jew, “Do not think that because God has not yet sent you to the eternal lake of fire, that this is a sign that He cannot do so? The fact that you are not sent to the lake of fire forever immediately after you sin does not mean that God is powerlessness but rather it demonstrates that He is patient. You would be in the lake of fire now, if God was not patient with you. Makrothumia is the capacity to be wronged and refuse to retaliate when provoked and is the ability to restrain or control one’s emotions when provoked or wronged and persecuted by others without retaliating and is not easily offended. It is an attitude that never quits since it endures to the end even in times of adversity, demonstrating self-restraint such that it does not retaliate impetuously when wronged. Christian patience is an attitude, which never admits defeat, which will not be broken by any misfortune or suffering, by any disappointment or discouragement, but which persists to the end. Makrothumia is an attitude, which bears insult and injury without bitterness and without complaint and can tolerate obnoxious people and adversity with graciousness and without getting irritable.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 33 Makrothumia , “ patience ” is produced by the Holy Spirit in the obedient believer. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience , kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Church age believers are commanded to demonstrate makrothumia , “ patience ” towards each other. Ephesian 4:1-2, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience , showing tolerance for one another in love.” Colossians 3:12-13, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience , bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” In Romans 2:4, the noun makrothumia is used to describe God’s attitude towards sinful mankind (See also Romans 9:22; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 3:20). Romans 9:22-24, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” 1 Timothy 1:16, “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 1 Peter 3:18-20, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” Therefore, in Romans 2:4, Paul poses the self-righteous Jew the rhetorical question, “Do you continue to still hold in contempt the patience of God, which puts up with all of your sinning?” If God had been a human being, then He would have sent the entire human race to the lake of fire immediately when they sin but He has that patience which puts up with all our sinning and will not quit on us.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 34 While anoche , “ tolerance ” denotes God delaying the execution of eternal condemnation upon sinful humanity, makrothumia , “ patience ” denotes the particular attitude, which delays it. The definite article preceding the abstract noun makrothumia , “ patience ” defines and emphasizes more closely the “quality” of God’s patience in that it is infinite. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “Not knowing ” is nominative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb agnoeo ( a)gnoevw ) (ag-no-eh-o), which is composed of the alpha prefix, “not” and the verb noeo , “to perceive, understand,” thus the word literally means, “to not understand.” In Romans 2:4, the word does “not” mean, “to be ignorant of something” as it does in when Paul used it in Romans 1:13. Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware , brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.” In Romans 2:4, the verb agnoeo means, “to refuse to think about or pay attention to, to ignore” since the explanatory clause that follows states that the ignorance of the self-righteous Jew is culpable. The self-righteous Jew “ignored” God’s kindness since they continued sinning even though God had not immediately condemned them to the eternal lake of fire the moment they sinned but rather delayed in doing so, which manifested His kindness, tolerance and patience towards them. They ought to have known that God’s delay in executing judgment against them when they sinned expressed His intention not to punish them but to lead them to repentance through faith in Jesus Christ. The present tense is “customary” indicating that this ignoring the fact that the kindness of God is designed to lead the sinner to repentance through faith alone in Christ alone is “habitual” or a “lifestyle” among the unregenerate Jews. The active voice indicates further that this ignorance on the part of the self- righteous Jew is ignorant, thus further confirming that the meaning of agnoeo is “to ignore” rather than to “be ignorant of.” The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 35 “That ” is the conjunction hoti ( o^ti ) (hot-ee), which is used with the indicative mood of the verb ago , “ leads ” in order to introduce an epexegetical clause that explains what the self-righteous Jew ignores. “The kindness ” is the articular nominative neuter singular form of the adjective chrestos ( xrhstov$ ) (khrace-tos), which is related to the verb chraomai , “to need, to use” and the noun chrestotes , “kindness” and means, “serviceable, useful.” The word describes the qualities of being “kind, merciful, generous” and denotes a sweet, pleasant and generous disposition towards others. In Romans 2:4, the adjective chrestos emphasizes that kindness is an attribute of God. The adjective chrestos functions as a substantive and a nominative subject and the definite article preceding it indicates that the word functions as the subject of the explanatory clause contained in Romans 2:4. “Of God ” is articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$ ), which refers to the Trinity, namely, who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit functioning in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. The definite article is “anaphoric” indicating previous reference meaning the noun theos was used in Romans 2:3. It also identifies the noun theos , “ God ” as “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was learned about God through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple in Jerusalem. The noun theos is a “genitive of source” indicating that this kindness “originates” in the essence of God. Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” “Leads ” is the 3 rd person singular present active indicative form of the verb ago (a&gw ) (ag-o), which means, “to so influence others as to cause them to follow a recommended course of action, thus to guide, direct, to lead.” Therefore, in Romans 2:4, the verb ago refers to God’s kindness as influencing the self-righteous Jew and Gentile to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, which Paul calls, “repentance.” God’s kindness leads the unbeliever to repentance through the every day circumstances of life in providing air to breathe, food to eat, shelter, clothing, soul life and an ability to enjoy life. The present tense is “gnomic” used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact, thus indicating that God’s kindness “as an eternal spiritual truth” influences the human race so as to lead them to their need for a Savior, who is Jesus Christ. The active voice means that God as the subject produces the action of the verb in leading people to the Savior Jesus Christ and thus rules out members of the human race seeking God.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 36 The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. The apostle Paul describes the kindness of God in the midst of the Areopagus in Athens. :22, “So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.’” Acts 17:23, “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” Acts 17:24-28, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’” Acts 17:29, “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.” Acts 17:30-31, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:32, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, ‘We shall hear you again concerning this.’” Acts 17:33, “So Paul went out of their midst.” Acts 17:34, “But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.” In His Sermon on the Mount Discourse, the Lord Jesus also describes to the kindness of God. Matthew 5:44-45, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 37 Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance ?” “You ” is the accusative 2 nd person singular personal pronoun su ( suv), which emphasizes the self-righteous Jew since in Romans 1:1-17, Paul uses the 2 nd person plural to address the Roman believers and when referring to the Gentiles he uses the third person, thus through the process of elimination we know that Paul’s is speaking to the Jew. “To ” is the preposition eis ( ei)$ ), which is a marker of purpose indicating that “repentance” is the goal of God leading the human race with His kindness. “Repentance ” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun metanoia (metavnoia ) (met-an-oy-ah), which is composed of the preposition meta , “change” and the noun nous , “mind,” thus the word literally means, “a change of mind.” The word refers to going in one direction and to change your mind and go in the exact opposite direction. For the unbeliever, the only issue in repentance is Christ and not a person’s sin since Christ died for all sin. The Scriptures never teach repentance of sins but of a change of attitude regarding Christ as one’s personal Savior. An individual’s personal sins are not an issue because they were all paid for at the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. The noun metanoia has absolutely nothing to do with feeling sorry for your sins and has nothing to do with your emotions. Its cognate verb is metanoeo ( metanoevw ), which means, “to change one’s mind.” There is another word in the Greek New Testament which has an emotional connotation and that is the verb metamelomai (metamevlomai ), which means, “to feel sorry, to regret, to feel sorrow” and involves one’s emotions. Metamelomai is found 6 times in the Greek New Testament. The distinction between the two verbs metanoeo and metamelomai is obvious in the Greek New Testament. Metamelomai expresses a merely emotional change while metanoeo expresses a change of choice. Metamelomai signifies nothing but regret resulting in feeling sorry while metanoeo deals with a change of mental attitude. Metanoeo concerns your volition and not your emotions. There are two New Testament Greek words which are translated repentance in the modern English translations: metanoia (and its verbal counterpart metanoeo ) and metamelomai . The former term is so translated fifty-eight times in the New Testament; the latter only six times. Metamelomai means, “to regret, change the mind” and may connote the idea of sorrow, but not necessarily. It is translated by “regret, change the mind, and feel remorse” in the NASB and NIV, and in all but one of the

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 38 passages where it is used, the primary idea is a change of mind (cf. Matt. 21:29, 32; 27:3; 2 Cor. 7:8; Heb. 7:21). Metanoia , the primary word, without question, means “a change of mind.” It refers to the thinking of people who thought one thing or made one decision and then, based on further evidence or input, changed their minds. So, the basic sense is “a change of mind.” This is its meaning and use outside the New Testament and in the New Testament. It is a change of mind that leads to a different course of action, but that course of action must be determined by the context. In a context that deals with forgiveness of sin or receiving eternal life as a gift from God, the course of action is a change of trust because one now sees Jesus as the only means of salvation from sin. Let me illustrate this for you in the Scriptures and I’ll point out when each word is used. John the Baptist used the verb metanoeo in Matthew 3:2. Matthew 3:2, “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent ( metanoeo , “ change your mind ”), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” What were John’s listeners suppose to change their minds about? Mark 1:14-15, “And after John had been taken into custody (put into prison), Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand (Jesus Christ the Savior is right in front of them.); Repent ( metanoeo , “change your mind ”) and believe in the gospel .” They were unbelievers and they were to change their minds about Christ and believe in Him for salvation. They were to change their minds concerning the gospel, which is the “ power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Our Lord makes an interesting comment concerning the person who changes their mind about Christ and accepts Him as Savior. Luke 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents ( metanoeo , “changes their mind about Christ and accepts Him as Savior ”), than over ninety-nine righteous persons (people who have accepted Christ as Savior ) who need no repentance ( metanoia , “change of mind about Christ” ).” Luke 15:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents ( metanoeo , “changes their mind about Christ and believes in Him for salvation”).” So you can see that repentance has nothing to do with emotion but is a change of mind about Christ.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 39 Now, the first occurrence of metamelomai is in Matthew 21:29-32 in the parable of the two sons. In the parable, one son said to his father that he would go in the vineyard while the second son said he would not but then he metamelomai , felt “badly, regretted” not going and then went. The first son, who said he would go, but didn’t. Metamelomai occurs twice in this passage. It is found in verse 29 which the New American Standard translates as “ regretted ,” and it is found in verse 32 where it is translated “ remorse .” In Matthew 27:3, metamelomai is used in connection with Judas Iscariot, an unbeliever who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 27:1-3, “Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death; and they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate the governor. Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him (Jesus), saw that He (Jesus) had been condemned, he felt remorse ( metamelomai , “ he felt sorry ”) and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘what is that to us? See that yourself.’ And he (Judas) threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself .” Judas felt sorry for his sin and yet he went to the Lake of Fire. We know that he went to hell because the Lord Jesus Christ said so Himself in John 17:12. John 17:12. The apostle John records our Lord’s words, “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name ( God the Father’s ) which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished ( the apostles and His disciples ) but the son of perdition ( Judas Iscariot ), that the Scripture might be fulfilled .” Now, what is important to note is that Judas felt sorry for his sin for betraying the Son of God and yet he was “not” saved because of his emotions. The apostle Peter denied Christ three times and he felt sorry and wept. Matthew 26:75, “And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a cock crows Peter, you will deny Me three times.” And he (Peter) went out and wept bitterly .” Both men felt sorry for their sins, and yet one was saved and the other was not. Each committed a terrible sin, one was saved and the other was not. Emotion could not save Judas. Peter wept bitterly and yet his tears did not save him but rather his faith in Christ saved him. There is only one-way of salvation which excludes human works and emotion and that is to “ believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved ” (:31; John 3:16, 36). Judas could have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ but did not. Peter did believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:13-16).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 40 The word metamelomai also occurs in 2 Corinthians 7:8 where the apostle Paul is talking about his first letter to the Corinthians in which he sharply rebuked the believers in Corinth. 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, “ For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it ( metamelomai ); though I did regret it ( metamelomai )-for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while-I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance ( metanoia , “a change of mind ”). For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything though us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance ( metanoia ) WITHOUT REGRET ( metamelomai ), leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death .” This passage deals with confession of sin (See 1 John 1:9) since Paul was talking to people who were already believers. In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, the repentance that Paul is talking about is restoration to fellowship through the confession of sin, which is maintained by obedience to the Word of God. Sin is never an issue in repentance according to the Scriptures. Psalm 103:10, “He (God) has NOT dealt with us (you and I) according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” :17, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 1 John 2:2, “He is the propitiation ( satisfaction ) for our sins, and not for ours only but for those of the whole world.” 1 John 3:5, “He (the Lord Jesus Christ) appeared in order to take away sins ( plural; personal sins of the entire human race )” The only issue in repentance that the Scriptures teach is regarding the Person and Work of Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:13-20). The sins of the entire world-past, present and future were paid for by the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union at the cross. He paid for these sins with His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death. Therefore, repentance has nothing to do with a person’s sins but rather his attitude toward Jesus Christ. The issue in repentance is stated by the Lord to His disciples in Matthew 16:15. Matthew 16:13, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” Matthew 16:14, “And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, ; but still others, , or one of the prophets.’” Matthew 16:15, “He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am ?’” Matthew 16:16, “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 41 Matthew 16:17, “And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” Salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone and not more and nothing less (John 3:16-17, 36; Acts 16:31). Corrected translation of Romans 2:4: Or do you continue to hold in contempt His infinite kindness and tolerance and patience, habitually ignoring the fact that the kindness originating from God’s character and nature is, as an eternal spiritual truth, leading you to repentance?” In Romans 2:4, Paul’s saying to the self-righteous Jew, “Why do you judge the Gentiles for the sins they commit when you commit the very same sins that they do and yet you never condemn yourself?” If you recognize that God judges according to truth, then you are aware that you can’t escape eternal condemnation like the Gentile? Therefore, if you do not think you will escape God’s judgment, then it must be that you hold in contempt the grace that God has given you to change your attitude and your conduct? Why do you think God hasn’t killed you yet and executed the sentence of eternal condemnation? God’s kindness, tolerance and patience are manifested every day to you in that He gives you another chance to repent by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 42

Romans 2:5-God’s Judgment is Measured Out according to the Accumulation of Guilt

Next, we will study Romans 2:5, in which Paul’s presents the fifth principle regarding God’s judgment, namely, that it is measured out according to the accumulation of guilt. Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “But ” is the “adversative” use of the post-positive conjunction de ( deV), which introduces a statement that presents a contrast with Paul’s rhetorical question in Romans 2:4 that demands a positive response. Therefore, the conjunction de presents a contrast between the following: (1) Grace of God and the unregenerate human heart. (2) Ignoring infinite divine kindness and storing up wrath. (3) Repentance and impenitence. In Romans 2:4, Paul teaches the self-righteous Jew that God’s judgment is delayed because of His kindness, tolerance and patience towards them in desiring that he might be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. “But” instead, they ignore God’s kindness, tolerance and patience because of their stubbornness and unrepentant heart, thus accumulating guilt for themselves at the Great White Throne Judgment. “Because ” is the conjunction kata ( katav), which is used with the accusative form of the noun sklerotes ( sklhrovth$ ), “ hardness ,” the adjective ametanoetos (a)metanovhto$ ), “ unrepentant ,” and the noun kardia ( kardiva ), “ heart ” as a marker of criterion or standard. The preposition kata with the accusative form of these words specifies that the “standard” by which God will judge the self-righteous Jew is the hardness of their unrepentant heart and should be translated “ according to .” Therefore, the preposition kata with the accusative form of these words indicates that the self-righteous Jew will receive eternal condemnation because of their own bad decision to not respond to God’s kindness, tolerance and patience by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior. “Your ” is the genitive 2 nd person singular personal pronoun su ( suv), which emphasizes the self-righteous Jew since in Romans 1:1-17, Paul uses the 2 nd person plural to address the Roman believers and when referring to the Gentiles he uses the third person, thus through the process of elimination we know that Paul is speaking to the Jew.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 43 The word functions as a “genitive of possession” indicating that the self- righteous Jew is responsible for his own negative volition towards God’s grace. “Stubbornness ” is the accusative feminine singular form of the noun sklerotes (sklhrovth$ ), which refers to “a stubborn or obstinate attitude with regard to any change in conduct or behavior.” The word “stubborn” means, “unreasonably obstinate” while to be “obstinate” means to firmly or perversely adhere to one’s purpose, opinion, not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty and is characterized by inflexible persistence or an unyielding attitude and implies resistance to advice. Ulrich Becker commenting on the noun sklerotes , writes, “Hardening, according to the Old Testament understanding, results from the fact that men persist in shutting themselves to God’s call and command. A state then arises in which a man is no longer able to hear and in which he is irretrievably enslaved. Alternatively, God makes the hardening final, so that the people affected by it cannot escape from it... Hardening is the continually mounting refusal on the part of man to listen to God’s command. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology; pages 153-155; volume 2; 1986. Zondervan) The verb skleruno was originally a medical term and was used to describe Pharaoh who first obstinately hardened ( skleruno ) his heart which eventually resulted in retributive hardening by God, after being very patient with Pharaoh (see Romans 9:17-18). Sklerotes is the root of our English medical term “sclerosis” as used in arteriosclerosis which describes the condition of “hardening” of the arteries. This physical hardening is a perfect picture of the spiritual condition of a heart that has become unresponsive and insensitive to God. However, the spiritual disease is infinitely worse than the physical one since if one fails to receive a spiritual “heart transplant” through regeneration, then they will go to the eternal lake of fire. Hardening of the arteries will send a man to the grave but hardening of one’s spiritual heart sends a man to the eternal lake of fire. We will translate the noun sklerotes with the English noun “obstinacy,” which refers to the “state of being obstinate.” The accusative noun sklerotes functions as the object of the preposition kata , “according to .” The definite article preceding the noun sklerotes is used with the personal pronoun su , “ your ” to denote possession. Pharaoh had this spiritual obstinacy of heart in the sense that he was unresponsive and insensitive to the commands of God. Exodus 8:15, “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 44 Exodus 8:32, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.” Exodus 9:34, “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.” Exodus 11:10, “ and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” Proverbs 29:1 teaches that this spiritual obstinacy can get to the point as in the case of Pharaoh in which it cannot be healed. Proverbs 29:1, “A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” Also, the Exodus generation in Israel suffered from spiritual obstinacy. Psalm 95:8-11, “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me, they tried Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, truly they shall not enter into My rest.” The writer of Hebrews warns the Jewish Christians to not follow the example of the Exodus generation in their unbelief and obstinacy of heart. Hebrews 3:12, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:13, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:14-15, “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, ‘TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.’” Hebrews 3:16, “For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?” Hebrews 3:17, “And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?” Hebrews 3:18, “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?” Hebrews 3:19, “So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 45 Hebrews 4:2, “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” Hebrews 4:3, “For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,’ although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:4-5, “For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: ‘AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS’ and again in this passage, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’” Hebrews 4:6-7, “Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, ‘TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.’” Hebrews 4:8, “For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.” Hebrews 4:9, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” Hebrews 4:10, “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:11, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Paul teaches that God has temporarily set aside the nation of Israel during the church age and times of the Gentiles because of the hardness of the nation’s heart in rejecting her Messiah, Jesus Christ. :25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “And ” is the “connective” use of the conjunction kai ( kaiV), which presents an additional standard by which the unregenerate self-righteous Jew will be judged by God. Therefore, in addition to being judged according to their obstinacy, the self- righteous Jew will be judged according to his unrepentant heart. “Unrepentant ” is the accusative feminine singular form of the adjective ametanoetos ( a)metanovhto$ ), which is composed of the alpha privative a,

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 46 “without” and the preposition meta , “change” and the noun nous , “mind,” thus the word literally means, “without a change of mind or attitude.” In Romans 2:5, the adjective ametanoetos is used in contrast with the noun metanoia , “ repentance ” that appears in Romans 2:4 and describes the unregenerate heart of the self-righteous Jew as being “without a change in attitude” towards the Savior Jesus Christ. “Heart ” is the noun kardia ( kardiva ) (kar-dee-ah), which refers to the dominant right lobe of the soul, where the mental activity or function of the soul takes place. Among the Greeks, the noun kardia was primarily used literally in a physiological sense as the central organ of the body of man or beast (Homer Iliad, 10, 94). It also appears in the figurative sense, especially in the poets, infrequently in prose, for the heart as the seat of moral and intellectual life. The word was used to denote the seat of emotions and passions like anger (Homer, Iliad, 9, 646). Kardia was used as the seat of power of thought (Homer, Iliad, 21, 441). Homer, in particular, brought together the heart and reason without clearly separating thought and feeling (Iliad, 21, 441). In philosophical terminology we find in Plato a weak trend toward ascribing to the kardia functions of the soul (Symp. 218a). But the basic physiological concept is maintained (cf. Tim. 65c). In Stoicism the heart is in some sense the central organ of intellectual life, the seat of reason, from which feeling, willing and thinking proceed (cf. Chrysippus). Behm suggests that kardia came to be ascribed as the “functions of the soul” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, volume 3, pages 608-609). In the LXX, the noun kardia is used primarily to translate the Hebrew noun lev . The Old Testament uses the heart in both a literal and metaphorical sense and rarely is kardia used for the physiological heart since it is used primarily for the mental activities of a human being. The emotions of a person were expressed from the kardia, such as joy (Deut. 28:47), or pain (Jer. 4:19) of tranquility (Pr. 14:30) or excitement (Deut. 19:6). The heart in the Old Testament was used as the seat of the understanding and of knowledge, of rational thought and was the place of intellectual activity. Evil thoughts took place in the heart (Hebrews 3:17) and the heart can reject Bible teaching (Prov. 5:12, 13), and is the source of discord and troublemaking (Prov. 6:14, 18). Hatred emanates from the heart (2 Sam. 6:16) and the heart suffers disappointment from promises not kept (Prov. 13:12). The heart promotes mental attitude sins: (1) Bitterness (Prov. 14:10). (2) Sorrow and disappointment (Prov. 14:13). (3) Pride (Prov. 21:4; Obad. 3). (4) Worry (Eccl. 2:23). The frantic search for happiness is related to the heart (Eccl. 1:13) and reversionism is described in terms of the heart (Jer. 17:5, 9; Zech. 7:12).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 47 Revolution and insubordination are described as being in the heart (2 Sm. 15:6; Jer. 5:23; Ezek. 6:9) as well as hypocrisy is related to the heart (Job. 36:13; Ps. 55:21). The heart is related to psychosis (Is. 13:7, 8) and mental attitude sins relate the old sin nature to the heart (Ps. 66:18; 101:5; Prov. 6:18; Mt. 12:35; 15:18, 19; Lu. 6:45; 24:25). The noun kardia appears 163 times in the Greek New Testament and refers to the inner person, the seat of understanding, knowledge, and will, and takes on as well the meaning of conscience. Kardia is the center of the person, that which determines one’s life and from which one must determine one’s life. The kardia is a part of the essence of the soul. The perceptive apparatus in the unregenerate is different from the regenerate. A regenerate person possesses a body, soul and human spirit thus making them trichotomous whereas the unregenerate person possesses only a body and a soul making them dichotomous (See 1 Corinthians 15:45). The body is called soma , the soul is called psuche and the spirit is called pneuma in the original language of the Greek New Testament. The mentality of the soul is divided into 2 parts: (1) Nous ( nou~$ ), “left lobe of the soul” (2) Kardia ( kardiva ), “right lobe of the soul.” Essence of the soul: (1) Self-consciousness (2) Conscience (3) Mentality (4) Emotion (5) Volition. The Essence of the Heart: (1) Frame of reference (Proverbs 4:4) (2) Memory center (Philippians 1:13) (3) Vocabulary storage (4) Categorical storage, i.e. classification of thoughts (5) Conscience, i.e. norms and standards (Rm. 2:15; 9:1; 13:5; 1 Co. 8:7; 2 Co. 4:2; 5:11; Tit. 1:15; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:19). (6) Mentality (7) Subconscience. The kardia in the Bible is the mental activity or function of the psuche , “soul.” In the psuche , it “circulates” thought, mental activity just as the physiological heart does the same with blood. It is the thinking part, analytical, reasoning part of the soul and dominant thinking part of the soul and is the target of Bible teaching, the Word of God. The kardia is that aspect of the soul, which circulates thought or mental activity and is where one’s frame of reference and memory center resides. It is also the place where one’s vocabulary and the classification of thoughts reside as well as the conscience where the norms and standards reside. A person’s entire mental attitude circulates in the kardia as well as the subconscience where various categories of things that shock or impress from adversity, sin, failure or disappointment are located.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 48 The unregenerate heart is deceitful and desperately sick and only God can understand it. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples that verbal and overt acts of sin originate from within and out of the unregenerate heart. Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Corrected translation thus far of Romans 2:5: “ But according to your obstinacy and unrepentant heart.” Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “You are storing up ” is the 2 nd person singular present active indicative form of the verb thesaurizo ( qhsaurivzw ) (thay-sow-rid-zo), which refers to “the action of bringing something to a storehouse or of gathering a treasure.” The verb is related to the noun thesauros ( qhsaurov$ ), “that which is deposited, treasury, storehouse, a place where something valuable was secured or hidden.” We get our English word “thesaurus” from this Greek noun, which refers to a “treasury of words.” In Romans 2:5, the verb thesaurizo is used in a figurative sense and pictures a person storing away wrath or eternal condemnation as in a treasure or as if they were building up a fortune of gold. The present tense is “gnomic” indicating that it is “an eternal spiritual truth” or “spiritual axiom” that the unregenerate self-righteous Jew is storing up eternal condemnation for himself as if he were building a fortune of gold. The active voice is “causative” as indicated in the –izo suffix of the verb and denotes that these individuals are responsible for their own condemnation. They are “causing” themselves to accumulate condemnation at the Great White Throne Judgment or in other words, they are the source behind their own condemnation (Romans 20:11-15). The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. “For yourself ” is the dative 2 nd person masculine singular form of the reflexive pronoun seautou ( seautou~) (she-ow-too), which indicates that the subject is also the object of the action of the verb and is used to highlight the participation of the subject in the verbal action, as direct object, indirect object, intensifier, etc. Therefore, in Romans 2:5, the reflexive pronoun seautou indicates that the subject,

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 49 the self-righteous Jew is also the object of the action of the verb thesaurizo , “to store up, accumulate” and highlights the participation of the self-righteous Jew in his own condemnation. In Romans 2:5, this reflexive pronoun is a “dative of disadvantage” meaning that the action produced by the subject is to the disadvantage of the subject, thus self-righteous Jew’s failure to respond to God’s kindness, tolerance and patience is to his disadvantage. “The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ” refers to the Great White Throne Judgment, in which every unbeliever in history will have to stand before Christ and will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15). In Romans 1:18, Paul teaches that the wrath of God is being revealed “at the present time” in human history but in Romans 2:5, he declares that the wrath of God is “eschatological” meaning that it is “yet future.” Revelation 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15, “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and Gentile and for every sin that they have committed-past, present and future. The unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15). The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4 and John 3:16-17 clearly indicates that God desires all men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire forever and ever at the conclusion of human history.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 50 Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “Wrath ” is the accusative (direct object) feminine singular form of the noun orge ( o)rghv) (or-gay), which refers to God’s attitude of “righteous indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty. The difference between righteous indignation and anger is that the former is based upon concern for the holiness of God whereas the latter is emotional, selfish, self-centered, vindictive and intent on harming another and lacking in self-control. Nahum 1:2, “A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” Revelation 19:15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” Normally, anger expressed by human beings is emotional, selfish and lacking in self-control but sometimes human beings manifest righteous indignation as in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ who displayed righteous indignation towards the moneychangers in the Temple whose actions stood in opposition to the holiness of God (Jn. 2:13-17). In fact, in Ephesians 4:26-27, the apostle Paul commands believers to display righteous indignation towards injustice, sin and evil and to reject the emotional, selfish, self-centered, vindictive and revengeful form of human wrath and anger. Ephesians 4:26-27, “BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature. The holiness of God pertains to the absolute perfection of His character or expressing the purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have nothing to do with sin or sinners. He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. The presence of evil, sin and injustice is totally absent in the character of God, thus God does not tolerate evil or sin because it is contrary to His character, i.e. His inherent moral qualities, ethical standards and principles.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 51 Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “holiness” as “the quality or state of being holy; sanctity” and they define “sanctity” as, “sacred or hallowed character.” One of the definitions that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary gives for the adjective “holy” is, “entitled to worship or profound religious reverence because of divine character or origin or connection with God or divinity.” One of the definitions for the noun “character” that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary provides that applies to the context of our passage is the following: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual nature of some person or thing.” If we paraphrase these definitions, we would say that the God’s holiness refers to “the aggregate (i.e. sum total) of perfect features and traits that form the divine nature of God.” Therefore, God’s holiness refers to the absolute perfection of His character, expressing His purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and intolerance and opposition and rejection of sin and evil, thus God is totally separate from sin and sinners. Thus, God’s holiness is related to all of His divine attributes or in other words, it is simply the harmony of all His perfections or attributes. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." The only way to avoid God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Proverbs 11:4, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” The noun orge is used of God’s settled opposition to and displeasure against sin meaning that God’s holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form whatsoever. It is not the momentary, emotional, and often uncontrolled anger to which human beings are prone and does not refer to an explosive outburst but rather it refers to an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders, often unnoticed by others as in the case of God’s wrath. Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “In the day of wrath ” is composed of the following: (1) Preposition en ( e)n ), “in ” (2) Dative feminine singular form of the noun hemera ( h(mevra ) (hay-mer-ah),

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 52 “day ” (3) Genitive feminine singular form of the noun orge (( o)rghv) (or-gay), “wrath .” The preposition en functions as a marker of a specific point of time in the future when God’s righteous indignation will released upon unregenerate mankind for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. The noun hemera , “ day ” functions as a “dative of time” indicating the point of time “when” the action of the verb is accomplished. Therefore, the dative of time indicates that the righteous indignation of God will be exercised against unregenerate mankind for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior “at the time of” the Great White Throne Judgment. The noun orge , “ wrath ” functions as a “genitive of description” meaning that the day when the unbeliever stands at the Great White Throne Judgment for their rejection of Jesus Christ as their Savior is “characterized by” God’s righteous indignation. Corrected translation thus far of Romans 2:5: “But according to your obstinacy and unrepentant heart, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth, storing up for yourselves righteous indignation on a day characterized by righteous indignation.” Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “Revelation ” is the genitive feminine singular form of the noun apokalupsis (a)polkavluyi$ ) (apo-ka-loop-sis), which is composed of the preposition apo , “from” and the verb kalupto , “to cover, hide,” thus the word literally means, “unveiling, revelation” and denotes the unveiling of something previously hidden. Therefore, the noun refers to the “revelation” of God’s righteous judgment at the Great White Throne Judgment. The genitive substantive apokalupsis is a “subjective genitive” meaning it functions semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun, which is dikaiokrisia , “ righteous judgment .” In these instances, the verbal noun apokalupsis , “ revelation ” can be converted into the verbal form “will reveal” and the genitive noun dikaiokrisia , “ righteous judgment ” can be turned into its subject. “Righteous judgment ” is the genitive feminine singular form of the noun dikaiokrisia ( dikaiokrisiva ) (dik-ah-yok-ris-ee-ah), which is a compound word composed of the adjective dikaios , “righteous” and the noun krisis , “judgment,” the word literally means, “righteous judgment.” The noun dikaiokrisia , “ righteous judgment ” is the judgment which renders justice and produces right and stresses the equity of the decision rendered.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 53 The noun dikaiokrisia functions as a “genitive of time” indicating the kind of time within which the noun orge , “ righteous indignation ” to which it stands takes place, thus indicating that God’s righteous indignation takes place “during which time” the righteous judgment by God is revealed. “Of God ” is articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$ ), which refers to the Trinity, namely, who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit functioning in their role as the Supreme Court of Heaven. The definite article is “anaphoric” indicating previous reference meaning the noun theos was used in Romans 2:4. It also identifies the noun theos , “ God ” as “well-known” to the self-righteous Jew who was learned about God through the teaching of the Old Testament in his synagogue and in the temple in Jerusalem. The noun theos is a “genitive of agency” indicates that this righteous judgment is executed “by” God who is the personal agent. Therefore, we will translate the articular noun theos , “executed by God .” The prepositional phrase en hemera orges kai apokalupseos dikaiokrisia tou theou , “ in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ” contains a figure of speech called “hendiatris,” which refers to three words being used by the writer but only one concept is meant. This figure is similar to the figure of “hendiadys,” which takes place when two nouns are used to express one idea or concept and it literally means “one by means of two.” The figure of “hendiadys” takes place when the author uses two words but only one idea is intended. But in Romans 2:5 we have the figure of “hendiatris,” which is nearly the same as “hendiadys” except that instead of finding two nouns we have three. In Romans 2:5, the nouns orge , “ righteous indignation ,” apokalupsis , “ is revealed ” and dikaiokrisia , “ righteous judgment ” appears together with all referring to the same event, namely, the Great White Throne Judgment of all unbelievers throughout history. The last two nouns are more emphatic intensifying the first noun orge . Therefore, we could translate the prepositional phrase en hemera orges kai apokalupseos dikaiokrisia tou theou with the following: “ on a day characterized by wrath, yes, when the righteous judgment executed by God is revealed .” Completed corrected translation of Romans 2:5: “But according to your obstinacy and unrepentant heart, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth, storing up for yourselves righteous indignation on a day characterized by righteous indignation, yes, when the righteous judgment executed by God is revealed.” The fact that unregenerate man will receive eternal condemnation in the lake of fire forever and ever is a righteous judgment since as sinners they can never be justified before a holy God and have rejected God’s only provision for sin, which

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 54 is the Person and Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. God who is holy and cannot tolerate sin is justified in throwing His creatures into the lake of fire for rebelling against Him but also God, who as to His nature, is love, did everything He could to prevent any of His creatures from going to the lake of fire forever and ever for their rebellion against Him. The fact that God did not immediately deposit all mankind in the lake of fire for their disobedience is incontrovertible evidence that God loves His creatures and desires none of them to go to the lake of fire. The fact that God the Father sent His Son into the world to become a human being to satisfy His righteous demands that the sin of men be judged is also incontrovertible evidence that God loves His creatures. The Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment as He will all judgments since God the Father has promoted Him to sovereign ruler of creation as a result of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross (See Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3). Philippians 2:5-6, “Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, Who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset.” Philippians 2:7, “On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes by having assumed the essence of a slave when He was born in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:8, “In fact, although He was discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross.” Philippians 2:9, “For this very reason in fact God the Father has promoted Him to the highest-ranking position and has awarded to Him the rank, which is superior to every rank.” Philippians 2:10, “In order that in the sphere of this rank possessed by Jesus every person must bow, celestials and terrestrials and sub-terrestrials.” Philippians 2:11, “Also, every person must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.” The humanity of Christ in hypostatic union has been awarded the sovereign rulership over the entire cosmos for His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the cross and as a result has been awarded by God the Father the power and authority to preside over and conduct the following judgments: (1) “Bema Seat Evaluation”: The name “Bema” is taken from the Greek noun bema and this judgment takes place immediately after the Rapture of the Church and is actually an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24). (2) The judgment of “Israel” will take place immediately after

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 55 the Second Advent and prior to the millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate Israel from the earth leaving only regenerate Israel to enter into the Millennial reign of Christ (Ezekiel 20:37-38; Zechariah 13:8-9; Malachi 3:2-3, 5; Matthew 25:1-30). (3) The judgment of the “Gentiles” and also takes place immediately after the Second Advent of Christ and prior to His millennial reign and involves the removal unregenerate, anti-Semitic Gentiles from the earth (Matthew 25:31-46). (4) The judgment of Satan and his fallen angels and will take place at the end of the appeal trial of Satan, which runs co-terminus with human history and is execution of Satan and the fallen angels sentence for their pre- historic rebellion against God (Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 20:10). (5) The “Great White Throne” judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Revelation 20:11-15). The sins of the unbeliever are never brought up since Christ died for all their sins and instead their self-righteous works that do not measure up to Christ perfection will be used to condemn them to the eternal lake of fire. Psalm 9:8, “And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.” Psalm 50:6, “And the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Selah.” Psalm 98:9, “Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Psalm 110:4-7, “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at Your right hand. He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside. Therefore He will lift up His head.” Psalm 119:137, “Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.” :17, “I said to myself, ‘God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.’” Ecclesiastes 8:11-12, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.” Ecclesiastes 11:9, “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 56 impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.” :16, “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.” Ezekiel 18:30-32, “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord GOD. ‘Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Therefore, repent and live.’” Acts 17:22, “So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.’” Acts 17:23, “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” Acts 17:24-28, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’” Acts 17:29, “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.” Acts 17:30-31, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:32, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, ‘We shall hear you again concerning this.’” Acts 17:33, “So Paul went out of their midst.” Acts 17:34, “But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 57 Romans: Romans 2:6-God Judges Men According to Their Works

We will continue with our study of Romans chapter two by noting verse six. But before we do by way of review: In Romans 2:1, Paul addresses the self- righteous attitude of the Jews towards the Gentiles and in the process presents the first of twelve principles regarding the judgment of God, namely, that they will be judged according to the standards which they set for the Gentiles. Then, in Romans 2:2, Paul presents a second principle of divine judgment, namely, that God judges men according to truth. The third principle of divine judgment appears in Romans 2:3, which contends that God’s judgment is inescapable. Next, in Romans 2:4, we have the fourth principle that God’s judgment is delayed because of His kindness, tolerance and patience towards them in desiring that he might be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. The fifth principle appears in Romans 2:5 and states that God’s judgment it is measured out according to the accumulation of guilt. The sixth principle of divine judgment appears in Romans 2:6, which is that God judges men according to their works. Romans 2:5-11, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek for there is no partiality with God.” Now, let’s study in detail Romans 2:6. Romans 2:6, “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.” In Romans 2:6, the apostle Paul is quoting Psalm 62:12, which is why the New American Standard capitalizes the letters. Psalm 62:12, “and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.” “Who ” is the nominative masculine singular form of the relative pronoun hos (o^$ ) (hos), which agrees in gender and number with its antecedent, theos , “ God ” that appears in Romans 2:5 and refers to the presiding Judge of all unbelievers and the Judgments of all believers, namely, the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 58 The relative pronoun hos clarifies or identifies what the “ righteous judgment ” is that is mentioned by Paul in Romans 2:5. The word identifies what the Lord Jesus Christ will do at the Great White Throne Judgment of all unbelievers throughout history, namely, He will render to each person according to the self- righteous works that do not measure up to the perfect finished work of the impeccable Jesus Christ on the Cross. “Will render ” is the 3 rd person singular future active indicative form of the verb apodidomi ( a)podivdwmi ) (ap-od-eed-o-mee), which means, “to recompense someone whether positively in the sense of reward or negatively in the sense of retribution depending upon what the individual deserves.” Therefore, in Romans 2:6, Paul is teaching his readers that the Lord Jesus Christ will reward believers who produce works that are in obedience to Him while unbelievers will receive retribution for the works they produced out of disobedience to Him and which works do not measure up to His perfect work on the Cross out of obedience to the Father. The future tense is “predictive” indicating this is certain to take place for the believer at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church following the rapture, the judgment of both regenerate Jew and Gentiles following the Second Advent and the Great White Throne Judgment for the unbeliever. The active voice indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ as the subject of the verb will produce the action of this verb at these judgments. The indicative mood is “declarative” presenting this assertion as a non- contingent or unqualified statement. Therefore, we will translate the verb apodidomi , “ will recompense .” “To each person ” is the dative masculine singular form of the adjective hekastos ( e%kasto$ ) (hek-as-tos), which functions as a substantive and has a distributive sense meaning, “each and every one,” referring to both, Jew or Gentile, saved or unsaved. The word denotes “no exceptions,” which would make clear to the self- righteous Jew that God will deal with him just as he does with the Gentile, thus, the Jew cannot escape the Great White Throne Judgment simply because he is a Jew. This is a “dative of advantage” when used in relation to the believer who produces works in obedience to God and a dative of “disadvantage” for the unbeliever since the former will be rewarded by Jesus Christ and the latter will receive eternal condemnation at the Great White Throne Judgment. We will translate the adjective hekastos , “ each and every one without exception (to their advantage if they are obedient believers or disadvantage if they are unbelievers).”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 59 Romans 2:6, “who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.” “According to ” is the preposition kata ( kataV) (kat-ah), which is used with the accusative form of the noun ergon ( e&rgon ) (er-gon), “works” specifying that the “standard” by which God will judge men is according to their works. “His deeds ” is composed of the articular accusative neuter plural form of the noun ergon ( e&rgon ) (er-gon), “ deeds ” and the genitive masculine 3 rd person singular form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (au)tov$ ), “ his .” The noun ergon appears 169 times in the Greet New Testament (68 times in Paul, including 20 times in the Pastoral Epistles) and is used to denote the actions of the following individuals: (1) Trinity (2) Christ (3) Satan (4) Believers (5) Unbelievers. The word is employed in both a positive and negative sense in the Greek New Testament. The following list denotes actions performed by individuals under the positive category: (1) The Father’s plan from eternity past on behalf of the humanity of Christ (Jn. 9:3-4; 10:37; 14:10). (2) Salvation work of the Father planned from eternity on behalf of the entire cosmos (:18). (3) The creative work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:10; 2:7; 4:3-4, 10; Rev. 15:3). (4) Miracles of our Lord in His 1st Advent (Matt. 11:2; Lk. 24:19; John 5:20, 36, 7:3, 21; 10:25; 32, 33, 38; 14:11, 12; 15:24; 17:4; :22). (5) Finished work (redemption, propitiation and reconciliation) of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the cross (John 4:34; 17:4). (6) The seven salvation ministries of God the Holy Spirit (Rm. 14:20; Phlp. 1:6). (7) Actions produced by the Holy Spirit through the obedient believer (Mt. 5:16; :20; Rm. 2:6-7, 15; 15:18; 1 Cor. 3:13-14; 10:11; 3:17; 2 Cor. 9:8; Eph. 2:10; Col. 1:10; 1 Th. 1:3; 2 Th. 1:11; 2:17; 2 Th. 2:17; 1 Tm. 2:10; 5:10, 25; 1 Tm. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:21; 3:17; Tit. 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14; Heb. 6:10; 10:24; 13:21; Jam. 1:4, 25; 2:14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26; 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:12; 1 Jn. 3:18; Rev. 2:2, 5, 9, 13, 19, 26; 3:1-2, 8; 14:13; 22:12). (8) Function of the believer’s spiritual gift and service to the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12; 1 Tim. 3:1). (9) Kindness shown toward Christ by the woman with the alabaster of cologne (Mt. 26:10; Mk. 14:6). (10) Believing in Christ for salvation (Jn. 6:28-29; 8:39). (11) Function of ’ spiritual gift (:36). (12) Proclamation of Christ as Savior (:41). (13) Adherence to civil laws (Rm. 13:3). (14) Communication of the Word of God (Acts 13:2; 14:26; 15:38; 1 Cor. 9:11; 15:58; Phlp. 1:22; 2:30; Th. 5:13). (15) Believers out of fellowship and in fellowship with the Lord (Gal. 6:4). (16) Function of the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher (1 Tm. 3:1). (17) Function of the spiritual gift of evangelist (2 Tm. 4:5). (18) Humanity’s sovereignty over all creation (Heb. 2:7). (19) Pre-incarnate Christ’s miracles in the midst of the Exodus generation (Heb. 3:9).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 60 The following list denotes actions performed by individuals under the negative category: (1) Spiritual death resulting in physical death (1 John 3:8). (2) Production of human good and evil (Jn. 3:19-20; Rm. 4:2; 4:2, 6; 9:11; 11:6; 13:12; Heb. 6:1; 9:14; 2 Pt. 3:10; Rev. 9:20; 18:6; 20:12-13). (3) Adherence to the Mosaic Law (Rm. 3:20, 27-28; 9:32; Gal. 2:16; 3:2, 5; 3:10; Eph. 2:9; Titus 3:5). (4) Function of the old sin nature (:38; 1 Cor. 3:15; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:11; Col. 1:21; 2 Tm. 1:9; 4:14, 18; Tit. 1:16; 2 Pt. 2:8; 1 Jn. 3:12; 2 Jn. 1:11; 3 Jn. 10; Jude 15; Rev. 2:22-23; 3:15; 16:11) (5) Self-righteous acts of the Pharisees (Mt. 23:3). (6) Rejection of Christ as Savior (Jn. 7:7; 8:39, 41; Rm. 2:6). (7) Construction of the golden calf by the Exodus generation (Acts 7:41). (8) Immorality of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:2). (9) False doctrine taught by counterfeit teachers (2 Cor. 11:15). In Romans 2:6, the noun ergon refers to actions, labor, or tasks and is used in context with reference to believers and unbelievers. In relation to the believer, the noun ergon refers to an action, task or labor, which is produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer who is obedient to the Word of God, and which obedience is motivated by love for the Lord Jesus Christ and is reflected in one’s conduct towards one’s fellow believer or human being. In relation to the unbeliever, ergon refers to an action, task or labor, which is not produced by the Holy Spirit but rather from the old sin nature through disobedience and which disobedience is selfishly motivated from appropriation or to justify oneself before God and is reflected one’s conduct towards one fellow human being. The definite article before the noun ergon is used with the intensive pronoun autos to denote possession. The following is the completed corrected translation of Romans 2:6: “who will recompense each and every one without exception according to their works.” Romans 2:6-11 does “not” teach that salvation is by works since that would contradict other passages of Scripture, which teach that salvation is by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 61 Acts 16:27-31, “When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here! And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” :1-6, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.” Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Galatians 2:16, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” :24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Titus 3:5-7, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to {the} hope of eternal life.” In Romans 2:6-11, Paul is “not” teaching that salvation is by works but rather he is explaining another basic principle regarding divine judgment since this is what he has been teaching about in Romans 2:1-5.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 62 Romans 2:5-11, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” In Romans 2:6-11, Paul is discussing the “basis for judgment” and “not” the basis for salvation and in doing so, he describes the “manifestations” of those who are saved or those who are not. Romans 2:6-11 is in the context of Paul addressing the universal need for the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:21-5:21, Paul addresses how to acquire the righteousness of God, which is through imputation after exercising faith alone in Christ alone. He points out to his readers in Romans 3:21-26 that the righteousness of God is imputed through faith in Christ and that is available to both Jew and Gentile as he states in Romans 3:27-31. Therefore, Romans 2:6-11 is dealing with the “basis for judgment” and “not” the basis for salvation. In Romans 2:6-11 is contrasting the lifestyle of those who are regenerate (i.e. born again) with the lifestyle of those who are unregenerate. A “regenerate” person received the imputation of eternal life and divine righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ whereas an “unregenerate” person does not possess either since they have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior. A regenerate person has the capacity to have a lifestyle of obedience to God since he possesses divine righteousness and eternal life whereas those who are unregenerate do not have the capacity to manifest a lifestyle of obedience to God since they do not possess either divine righteousness or eternal life. When I say “capacity” I’m implying that it is possible for a regenerate person to not have a lifestyle of obedience to God, which would manifest that he possesses divine righteousness and eternal life since he still has the capacity to sin because he still has an old sin nature and a volition. An unregenerate person does not have the capacity to have a lifestyle of obedience to God since they do not possess either divine righteousness or eternal life. Therefore, in Romans 2:6-11, Paul is contrasting God’s dealing with each person according to his works in the sense that God rewards those who are

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 63 righteous through faith in Jesus Christ for their actions that are the result of habitual obedience and He punishes the unrighteous for their actions that are the result of habitual disobedience. It is possible for a regenerate person to not manifest that he is saved since in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 Paul warns believers that their works can be burned up and yet they are still saved. Also, the Lord in His Vine and the Branches metaphor in John 15:1-11 warns believers that it is possible for them to not bear fruit meaning that they can perform works that are not motivated by obedience to God. He also warns in His parable of the Seed and Soils in Luke 8:1-15 that it is possible for believers to not bear fruit meaning works produced by obedience to God. Romans 2:6-11 echoes previous statements made by the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah 3:10-11, “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.” Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Romans 2:6 echoes the Lord’ statement in Matthew 16:27 and John 5:28-29. Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.” John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” The Lord Jesus Christ will recompense the unbeliever according to their works at the “Great White Throne” judgment, which will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for the rejection of Christ as Savior (Revelation 20:11-15). The sins of the unbeliever are never brought up since Christ died for all their sins and instead their self-righteous works that do not measure up to Christ perfection will be used to condemn them to the eternal lake of fire. Revelation 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 64 were written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:13, “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:14, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15, “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Unbelievers will “not” be judged according to their sins at the Great White Throne Judgment since Jesus Christ died for all men, Jew and Gentile and for every sin that they have committed-past, present and future. The unbeliever will be judged according to their self-righteous human good works, which do not measure up to the perfect work of the impeccable Christ on the Cross (Rev. 20:11-15). The unbeliever goes to the lake of fire because of his rejection of Christ as his Savior since 1 Timothy 2:4, John 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 3:9 clearly indicate that God desires all men to be saved, thus, He has made provision for all men to be saved through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire forever and ever at the conclusion of human history. The Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the Great White Throne Judgment as He will all judgments since God the Father has promoted Him to sovereign ruler of creation as a result of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross (See Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3). Philippians 2:5-6, “Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, Who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset.” Philippians 2:7, “On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes by having assumed the essence of a slave when He was born in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:8, “In fact, although He was discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross.” Philippians 2:9, “For this very reason in fact God the Father has promoted Him to the highest-ranking position and has awarded to Him the rank, which is superior to every rank.” Philippians 2:10, “In order that in the sphere of this rank possessed by Jesus every person must bow, celestials and terrestrials and sub-terrestrials.” Philippians 2:11, “Also, every person must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 65 God the Father rewarded the resurrected impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ for His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the cross by bestowing upon Him the sovereign rulership over all creation and every creature and the power and authority to conduct the Great White Throne Judgment of all unbelievers. Acts 17:30-31, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared to the Jews that the Father had given Him authority to judge the living and the dead. John 5:22-23, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:25, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” John 5:26-27, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” The Lord Jesus Christ will recompense the believer at the “Bema Seat Evaluation,” which is taken from the Greek noun bema . This judgment takes place immediately after the Rapture of the Church and is actually an “evaluation” of the church age believer’s life after salvation to determine if they merit rewards or not (Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 John 2:24). 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:12-13, “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 66 1 Corinthians 3:14, “If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:15, “If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” “Judgment Seat ” is the noun bema , which was taken from Isthmian games where the contestants would compete for the prize under the careful scrutiny of judges who would make sure that every rule of the contest was obeyed. Just as the victorious Grecian athlete appeared before the Bema to receive his perishable award, so the Christian will appear before Christ’s Bema to receive his imperishable award. The Bema Seat is not a place and time when the Lord will mete out punishment for sins committed by the child of God but rather, it is a place where rewards will be given or lost depending on how a believer has lived his life for the Lord. There are two words in the Greek New Testament that are used to describe rewards for believers: (1) Stephanos ( stevvfano$ ), “wreath, garland, crown.” (2) Brebeion ( brabei~on ), “prize.” In the ancient world, the stephanos was the wreath or garland, the actual crown for winning an event whereas the brabeion was the prize given to the victor in the athletic games of the ancient world. Believers who execute the Father’s plan for their life are called in Revelation 2 and 3 “ overcomers ,” meaning that they overcame their old sin nature, the devil and his cosmic system by obeying the Word of God, which is motivated by love for God. These believers will receive the following rewards from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation: The “ crown of righteousness ,” is a reward given to believers for their faithfulness in executing their own spiritual life and functioning in their spiritual gift. 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” “The Incorruptible Crown ” describes all the crowns and is also a special crown given for faithfulness in running the race and exercising self-control in order to serve the Lord and finish the race. 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 67 1 Corinthians 9:25, “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self- control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” 1 Corinthians 9:26, “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air.” 1 Corinthians 9:27, “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” The “ crown of life ” is given to the believer for enduring testings (trials) and temptation. James 1:12, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” Revelation 2:10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The “ unfading crown of glory ” is a reward promised to pastor-teachers for their faithfulness in the discharge of their responsibilities in shepherding their flocks. 1 Peter 5:4, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” “White garment ” is a reward for faithfulness in the form of a translucent uniform of glory over the resurrection body. Revelation 3:4, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.” The overcome or winner believer will receive a “ white stone ” and “ hidden manna ” and a “ new name ” written on the stone, which refers to intimate access to the Lord Jesus Christ and great responsibility in Christ’s millennial government and in the eternal state (Rev. 2:17). Revelation 2:17, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.” The “ hidden manna ” in Revelation 2:17 refers to the special intimate access to the Person of Christ during His millennial reign and throughout all of eternity and will be given only to the overcomer or winner believer. The new title on the white stone in Revelation 2:17 refers to the privilege of having intimate access to the Person of Christ during His millennial reign and throughout all of eternity which will be exclusively to the overcomer. He will also

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 68 receive a New Title in the Lamb’s book of life and will have a membership to the Paradise Club and access to the Gazebo in the Garden (Rev. 2:7). Revelation 2:7, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.” The winner believer will have his name recorded in the historical record section of heaven (Rev. 3:12). Revelation 3:12, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” The overcomer will have a special audience with God the Father. Revelation 3:5, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” The noun brabeion , “prize,” refers to the believer’s inheritance or escrow blessings, which are released to the believer upon executing the Father’s plan for their lives (Eph. 1:14, 18; Phlp. 3:14; Col. 1:12; 3:23-24; 1 Pet. 1:4; He. 9:15). Philippians 3:14, “I am sprinting towards the finish line for the prize, which is God the Father’s invitation to privilege residing in the Person of Christ Jesus.” Every church age believer has the opportunity to receive his eternal inheritance if he fulfills the condition of being faithful till death or the rapture whichever comes first and thus executes the Father’s will for his life. If we are not faithful and don’t stay habitually in fellowship with the Lord we will be disqualified from receiving rewards. Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” Colossians 3:24, “knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:25, “For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.” The prize is given to the overcomer and refers to the privilege of ruling with Christ during His millennial reign and throughout the eternal state, and only the overcomer will receive it (Ro. 8:16-18; 2 Tim. 2:12a; Rev. 2:26; 3:21). Revelation 2:26, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS.” Revelation 3:21, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 69 The prize is also intimate access to the Person of Christ during His millennial reign and the eternal state and thus it involves having the privilege of being a companion to the Lord during His millennial reign and throughout the eternal state. The church age believer’s sin are never brought up since Christ died for their sins (1 John 2:12). 1 John 2:12, “I am providing information in writing at this particular time for the benefit of all of you, little children in view of the fact that for the benefit of all of you, your sins have been forgiven-past, present and future on the basis of His merit.” However, the believer who does not execute the Father’s plan by habitually remaining out of fellowship through disobedience and will experience loss of rewards and temporary shame and embarrassment when he stands before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation. 1 John 2:28, “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.”

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