01.6.5. Judged According To Works

Chapter 6v - Judged According To Works

God’s judgment corresponds with man’s works: “Who will give to everyone according to his deeds: On one hand eternal life to the ones who because of perseverance in good work are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibility eternal life; on the other hand anger and wrath on the ones who out of selfish ambition are disobeying the truth, but who are being obedient to unrighteousness, wrath and anger. Tribulation and distress, on every soul of man desiring evil, of the Jew first and also of a Gentile; but glory and honor and peace to everyone doing good, to the Jew first and also to a Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:6-11 -translation). The two terms “according to truth” (Romans 2:2) and “according to deeds” (Romans 2:6) harmonize in the unity of their meaning. “According to truth” is the subjective reality; “according to deeds” is the objective manifestation. What a person is determines what he does, but what he does never makes him what he is in character. Since fruit reveals the nature of a tree, judgment “according to truth” and judgment “according to deeds” indicate the inward and outward reality of the same person or persons. As God’s judgment and man’s judgment are contrasted in Romans 2:1-5, good work and evil work are contrasted in Romans 2:6-10. Negatively, good work is not merely knowing what is good or promising to do what is good. Positively, “good work” (ergou agathou, singular) in Romans 2:7 is the lifelong work that begins with salvation and continues until the Lord calls the Christian home. “Being persuaded of this very thing, that the One who began a good work [ergon agathon, singular] in you shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6 -translation). A good work is according to God’s will: “For God is the One operating in you both to be willing and to be working for His good pleasure”
(Php 2:13 -translation). The good work of the Christian must have the following ingredients:
(1) The proper “motive” must be the glory of God, for the sake of Jesus Christ, and not to grieve the indwelling Holy Spirit: “...whatever you are doing, be doing for the purpose of [eis, accusative of purpose] God’s glory” (1 Corinthians 10:31 -translation). “For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves slaves for the sake of [dia, accusative of relationship] Jesus”
(2 Corinthians 4:5 -translation). “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by
[en, instrumental of agency] whom you were sealed for [eis, accusative of purpose] the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 NASB).
(2) The “manner” must be with great concern of heart: “The word is faithful, and concerning these things I am desiring you to speak confidently, in order that the ones having believed God may be concerned to be engaging themselves in good works. These things are good and profitable to men” (Titus 3:8 -translation).
(3) Its “essential element” is the love of God: “For the love of Christ is controlling [present active indicative of sunecho, which means to urge on, impel, or control] us...” (2 Corinthians 5:14 -translation). The love of God “has been poured out [perfect passive indicative of ekchunno, which means we have been permanently endowed with God’s love] in our hearts through [dia, ablative of agency] the Holy Spirit who has been given [aorist passive participle of didomi, to give] to us” (Romans 5:5 -translation). The perfect passive and the aorist passive of the verb for poured out prove that the Holy Spirit and God’s love are permanent possessions of God’s elect; therefore, our hope does not disappoint (present active indicative of kataischuno, to disappoint, put to shame, or disgrace - Romans 5:5 a).

Perseverance in good work shall be rewarded. Patience in good work is not the feverish ambition which must see itself in the news and be congratulated in public meetings. Such ambition exhausts itself before the day of God’s righteous judgment; therefore, it receives its reward on earth. Concerning the Pharisees, Christ said, “...I am telling you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:16 -translation). Spasmodic effort wins no lasting honor in either time or eternity. The Christian life is the lifework of a willing mind and loving heart. That life has the mind of Christ and a heart overflowing with the love of God which has been shed abroad within by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Such a life motivated Paul to say, “Therefore I am enduring all things on account of the chosen ones, in order that they also may obtain the deliverance in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10 -translation). The recipients of God’s grace are given a holy zeal for good works: “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself on behalf of us in order that He might set us free from all sin and cleanse for Himself a special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:13-14 -translation). Is the Christian as zealous for righteousness as he was for unrighteousness before God regenerated him? As a Pharisee, Saul was zealous for his own righteousness in his persecution of the assembly and for his ancestral traditions. (See Romans 10:2; Php 3:6; Galatians 1:14.) As a Christian, Paul did not lose any of his zeal, but his zeal had been sanctified by grace. Thus, with zeal burning on the altar of his heart, Paul knew that his zeal was kindled, sustained, and attracted by the grace of the sovereign God. Since zeal is acknowledged as good in the natural realm, is it to become less in the spiritual realm? Since zeal is right in any case, it is more justifiable in the realm of grace.

There are three classes of people who resist genuine Christian zeal:

1. THE UNGODLY-Festus said to Paul, “you are out of your mind [maine, present middle indicative of mainomai, to be out of one’s mind, insane or mad, or have no control over oneself]; your much learning is driving you [peritrepei, present active indicative of peritrepo to drive or bring around-made up of peri, around in the accusative case and trepo, to turn, alter, or change] to insanity [accusative singular of mania, meaning madness or insanity]” (Acts 26:24 -translation). Truth stirs people in one of two ways-either for or against it, exemplified in their reaction to Christ (Mark 3:21), the apostles (Acts 2:13), and Christians in general (1 Peter 4:1-5).

2. THE RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES-Hypocrites (hupokrites, an actor on the stage of life who is playing the role of what he is not in real life) are people pretending one thing while living something entirely different. Christ’s last words in the temple were condemnatory against the hypocrites (Matthew 23:13). The more moral and religious persons are without grace, the more ignorant they are of God, and the more they oppose God’s truth. Hypocrisy originates when obedience is not the outcome of the principle of grace. The further religionists are removed from the teaching of Scripture the more pharisaical they become. Furthermore, the more pharisaical people become the greater their hatred for truth and those who expose them by proclaiming it. Who crucified Jesus Christ? (See Acts 2:22-23.)

3. ASSEMBLY MEMBERS WHO ARE LIVING OUT OF FELLOWSHIP-The Corinthians deserved Paul’s rebukes and corrections in his two Epistles to them. Unless the human element in the assembly is restrained, the spiritual life of the assembly will be greatly affected. Paul vindicated himself by distinguishing his impugners by making a distinction between the deceivers and the deceived. The weapons of deceivers are carnal, even though they mix in a little Scripture with their human eloquence, clever propaganda, charming personality, and personal attention. The deceived are gullible because they are lazy, untutored, and possessed with self-interest. Although in most cases the deceivers are false teachers, the Devil knows there are a great number of weak believers who will be easy prey for deception by his representatives. Many of the Corinthians became a serious burden to the apostle Paul. He said to them, “...I seek not your’s, but you....and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Corinthians 12:14-15).
(Study 2 Corinthians 9:1-15; 2 Corinthians 10:1-18; 2 Corinthians 11:1-33; 2 Corinthians 12:1-21.) The good worker has a future crown, because good work describes a life of character, which is the fruit of grace. “On one hand eternal life to the ones who because of perseverance in good work are seeking glory and honor and incorruptibility.... but glory and honor and peace to everyone doing good, to the Jew first and also to a Gentile” (Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10 -translation). The future crown consists of glory, honor, and incorruptibility. The present active participle of dzeteo, “seeking,” of Romans 2:7 is the key to the proper understanding of the passage. The one seeking is the person who has been sought and found by the sovereign God; because in man’s natural condition, he does not seek God
(Romans 3:11). The Christian seeks glory (doxa, splendor, glory, or revealed presence of God) because it is a distinguishing characteristic of the eternal state. Although the grace of God in the believer is glorious, the sphere in which he lives in time is anything but glorious. He seeks honor (time, honor, recognition, or place of honor- Romans 2:10) which will be given by Christ rather than what is considered exaltation among men. The believer seeks incorruptibility (accusative singular of aphtharsia, imperishability- Romans 2:7), which contrasts the perseverance of the eternal with that which is terminal.

After Paul’s description of the Christian and his reward, he contrasted the evil worker and his reward: “On the other hand anger and wrath on the ones who out of selfish ambition are disobeying the truth but who are being obedient to unrighteousness, wrath and anger. Tribulation and distress on every soul of man desiring evil, of the Jew first and also of a Gentile” (Romans 2:8-9 -translation). The Greek noun eritheias (selfish ambition) in Romans 2:8 means selfishness, selfish ambition, or strife (2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20; Php 1:16; Php 2:3; James 3:14; James 3:16). The verb form is eritheuomai, which means to serve for hire, to serve a party, have a party spirit, wrangle, engage in strife, or oppose single-mindedness. But Christians are exhorted to have the mind of Christ (Php 2:5); however, religionists who are possessed with selfish ambition oppose single-mindedness. The expression, “...anger and wrath on the ones who out of selfish ambition are disobeying the truth...” (Romans 2:8 -translation) is parallel with those who are of the circumcision. Persons possessed with selfish ambition are guilty of the heinous crime of disobedience to truth.

Those who are accomplishing evil shall be punished (Romans 2:8-9). Although God’s wrath (punishment) is being revealed, there shall be an outburst of the execution of God’s wrath. Since wrath is being stored up (Romans 2:5), a sudden outburst of judgment shall come on the wicked, like a huge dam that has been allowing water to be stored until the appointed time for the dam to open and allow the stored water to descend on those below.