Dr. Kevin DeYoung | No Excuse

Sunday Morning, April 19, 2026

Given by Dr. Kevin DeYoung | Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

No Excuse
Genesis 22

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Let's pray. 

Lord, we've just offered this song as our prayer. Speak, O God. May it truly be from the deepest part of our hearts. We think of the heartache that would be ours if to be estranged from a child or a parent or a spouse, and they would not speak to us – how much we would long to hear from them. And think of what far greater pain and punishment it would be if you would not speak to us, if you would be silent. So, we plead with you that you would show mercy upon us and open your mouth and give us ears to hear and you would speak. What greater privilege can we have as we make our way through this earthly travail, than that our great God and heavenly Father and king would open his mouth and give us ears that we may hear what you have to say to us, sometimes very comforting, sometimes first convicting, sometimes hard to hear, but give us ears, and speak, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

In 1940, at the beginning of World War II for Britain, C.S. Lewis wrote an article for The Guardian, a newspaper there, entitled “Dangers of National Repentance.” I think it's one of the most insightful short pieces that C.S. Lewis ever wrote. “Dangers of National Repentance.” The word “dangers” is important there. He wasn't saying there's never a place for corporate repentance for your nation. You've heard, I'm sure, from time to time, one of us pastors pray corporately, asking God to forgive the sins of our nation, but there is a danger. Lewis argued that the danger is this: national repentance can easily turn into the sin of pride, where what we actually do, in an effort to seem rather humble and repenting, is we're really confessing all the bad things that we think other people do that we don't do, without paying attention to any of the bad things that we do. He writes this: "The first and fatal charm of national repentance is therefore the encouragement it gives us to turn from the bitter task of repenting of our own sins to the congenial one of bewailing – but, first, of denouncing – the conduct of others.” It would be, perhaps, if only we ever confessed the sin of abortion or gay marriage, and never turned to the sins that we might be more prone to and more guilty of. It is a universal human temptation, is it not, that a man would exalt in a sense of moral superiority or religious superiority while on the level of practice he or she is doing the same sorts of sinful things as everyone else? In Lewis's day, this meant he found young men were confessing the sins of their fathers and not really paying attention to their own sins. He said it was cheap, empty, smug repentance. "The communal sins, which they should be told to repent of, are those of their own age and class – their contempt for the uneducated, its readiness to suspect evil, its self-righteous provocations of public obloquy, its breaches of the fifth commandment. Of these sins, I have heard nothing among them. Till I do, I must think their candor towards the national enemy a rather inexpensive virtue.” His point was there was a certain type of Briton who had been raised on a great, intense patriotism, and if they were to confess something of repentance, it cost them something. But, he said, for these young men, they were not aware of any of the sins of their own class or age, but were in a cheap, empty way confessing the sins of others. 

Now, this sermon is not about national repentance. It's not about the do’s and don'ts of corporate repentance. There's a way to do it, and there's a danger in it. It is a sermon, rather, about the heart danger that Lewis identified in that short article. It is the predilection we all have to condemn the sins of others while excusing our own. Or, to put it more specifically, this sermon and this text, which I'm about to read, is directed at a certain type of person. I want you to – this is important as you listen to sermons. Almost every sermon is going to have some application for everyone, and this sermon, I think, has some application for everyone. So, you all ought to listen. But you don't have to find yourself guilty of every single thing in every single sermon. Otherwise, you'll conclude that every week you're not a Christian. But maybe you ought to conclude you're not a Christian. That takes the Spirit. So, this text and this sermon is directed first of all – there's a broad application – but first of all at a certain type of person, a religious person. And I don't use religion as a bad word. A religious person who sees very clearly what is wrong with the world. I'm thinking of the person, and maybe this is you – very easy to look out and see what's wrong, the moral bankruptcy of our time, to look out at non-religious people, whoever the “other” is – Hollywood, the Academy, elites – very easy to look out and see everything that is wrong. And here's where it gets difficult: you may be right about all the things that you see as wrong. One of the things we'll find in this text – this is not a sermon about why it's wrong to make moral judgments. This whole chapter 1, 2, and 3 in Romans is Paul making moral judgments. You could say he's pretty judgy in these chapters. So, the sin he is going to identify is not judgment itself, but rather the tendency in the human heart and the specific person he has in mind – the person who easily sees all the ways that others are disobedient and never seeing the way that he or she carries out the same disobedience, the same moral compromise, the same spiritual bankruptcy. 

Here's our text. If you haven't turned there, turn there now, to Romans chapter 2, just three verses. Romans chapter 2. 

“Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

I want you to notice, for starters, in verse 1, those first two words – they're very important. “Therefore.” So here's Paul carrying forward the argument of chapter 1, verses 18-32 – this whole argument about God's wrath poured out on the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, that through general revelation, they have a seed of divinity. They have an awareness, and they know these things, but they suppress that truth in unrighteousness. They make a series of exchanges, three exchanges, and three times we read, God hands them over. He hands them over. He hands them over. It is an indictment upon the vast iniquity of the world and in particular the Gentile world, the pagan world. And, verses 28-32, “God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done, and they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” That's quite a list. Paul is carrying forward this argument. So, put yourself in the first hearers of this letter. What do you think might come next? The whole talk, so far, has been about them, what they do – what the Gentiles, the pagan world, they're awash in idolatry and sexual immorality of the worst kind that is contrary to nature. It's sort of as if they're all looking out here, understanding why is the world so dark? Why is the world the way that it is? And then Paul comes to “therefore.” Now, you just think, what would Paul say after outlining the Gentile suppression of the truth? This fearful and fatal exchange that's being handed over to sin. Therefore. You might think Paul would say, "Therefore, my brothers, we ought to pray for them." Or, "Therefore, my friends, would you share the gospel with them?" Or maybe – why not, Paul? – it would be very nice if you could go from there, and go right to chapter 3:21. So, all of the bad things out there – how broken and evil and dark the world is – go right to 21, chapter 3, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, the righteousness of God through faith in Christ.” Give us the gospel, Paul. Therefore. They think, alright, what do you got for us, Paul? We see it. We see it. Boy, that's an ugly picture, isn't it? It sure is, Paul. Therefore, what do you have for us? 

Second word, “you.” Wait a minute. I sort of picture it: Paul hadn't been there. He wasn't there, but you sort of picture it as if Paul's kind of he's got an arm around the Romans there, the Jewish Christians. He sort of – would you look at that? Yeah, Paul, that is true. That's really bad, isn't it? That's what the world is like, and they're sort of all huddled up, just in it together, just down on one knee, just looking at – wow, what a dark world. Man, they're broken. Man, they're so lost. Isn't that right? “Therefore, you…” Wait, wait, wait, wait. No, wait. Wait a second, Paul. No, no, we're not – we were looking out there. We were talking about them. You got some hard things to say, but truth be told, I kind of liked it, because it was about them. And now Paul pops this surprise, and he says, "Therefore you." 

Now, who's the “you”? There is a sense where this is applicable to anyone with a hypocritical sense of moral or religious superiority. So, it is applicable in all sorts of ways, but no doubt, in Paul's mind, he is thinking – first of all, his referent is the Jew. He's been talking about the world of the Gentiles. Now he is talking about the Jew. How do we know that? Well, there's several clues. Verse 4, which, Lord willing, we'll come to next week, is really about the history of the Jewish people and God showing his kindness to them. Or, look at verse 12 and following. He's going to talk about life with the law and without the law. Look at chapter 3, verse 1: “Then what advantage has the Jew?” That's the question that Paul anticipates because all of chapter 2 is about his indictment of the Jews, which naturally leads to the question he knows he has in their mind. Wait a minute. Time out, Paul. You've said a lot of hard things about us Jews, so has there been any advantage in being a Jew? And most perceptively, look at verse 17, “But if you (there's the “you”) call yourself a Jew (ah, that's who he's talking about) and rely on the law and boast in God.” So the “you,” as he turns his attention, he's thinking about the Jews among the Christians. These are Jewish Christians in Rome. In verses 1-5 in this first paragraph, we have “you” 10 times, “yourself” three times, and “your” one time. So, verses 18-32 in chapter 1, they/them. It's looking out there. That's what they're like. That's what the world is like. That's the indictment on our fallen humanity. And now he turns the attention, very specifically, to you. 

And so, the next thing he says must have been even more shocking, “Therefore, you.” Alright, what? What? What, Paul? “You have no excuse.” Wait a minute, Paul. The last time you said this was in chapter 1, verse 20: “His invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.” That's right, Paul. They are without excuse, those people out there. A lot of bad people in the world. They got no excuse. Paul gives the very same judgment, turning from the Gentiles, now, to the Jews. “Therefore, you.” Wait a minute, Paul. We were talking about Gentiles. That was good. And we were going to now move, and we're going to talk about ministry, and we're going to have outreach to them, or you're going to give the gospel. But now you turn the finger around, and you say, “That's why – here's another conclusion from everything I've said. You are without excuse.” Why? Well, look at the “because” – for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because – here's the reason. This is the reason that they are also without excuse: “because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” Now, the Jews might have been able to set themselves apart from some of the worst crimes and say, "Well, we don't worship creeping things, and we don't have statues. That's the pagan world." Fair enough. You know, we don't have the kind of homosexuality among us like they do in the Roman world. Yeah, perhaps. But by the time you get to that paragraph in 28-32 – murder, strife, deceit, malicious, gossip, slander, boastful, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless – well, now it's hard to think that you aren't doing some of the very same things. 

I want you to notice – this is very important – I said this at the beginning. Paul's point here is not to judge them for judging. Now, there are other passages – “judge not lest you be judged” – which means don't have a censorious attitude toward other people. Don't be hypercritical. But even there, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is not saying never make a moral judgment, because Jesus is going to go on and say don't throw your pearls before swine. Well, how do you know who the swine are, who the pigs are, unless you're making some kind of moral judgments? So, the Bible does not say, "Hey, you got to be moral relativists. You can't see evil. You can't ever call out evil." No, they're not condemned here for judging. Paul is taking the better part of three chapters to make a moral indictment against them. This isn't moral relativism. He's not saying, "Well, I'm judging you because you hate sin, or I'm judging you because God will judge you if you think other people are more sinful or for realizing that some people are actually morally better or spiritually in a better place.” No, that's all right. There are other passages about having a censorious spirit. This is about something very particular. This is about judging when you do the very same kinds of things that you judge other people for. That's what he is accusing the Jews. That's why can say, "You therefore have no excuse," because he knows that as they're listening and following along in chapter one, they all recognize this is a bad list. Shame on you. Bad dog. These are bad things. Those people deserve punishment. And Paul turns and says, "Well, that's why you also have no excuse." Look at verse 2: “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.” The Greek kata aletheian – “according to truth.” God always judges according to truth. So, this man here in verse 1 is judged not for judging, but for doing the same things that he has judged others for doing. That's the “because” at the end of verse 1. The judgment was not simply because he thought he was better than everyone else. That's a kind of annoying spirit to have. But it's because he thought he was better than everyone else, and he was no better than everyone else. That second part is key. He's charging them with a willful blindness. They're guilty, because they don't see things. 

Let me give you four things. Four ways this man (“O man” in verse 1) is blind. And to consider four ways you and I could be deceived, deluded. Here's deception number one. They could not see that they were doing the same sort of things that they condemned in others. That's most obvious from verses 1, 2, and 3. Or to put it more pointedly, is it possible that you cannot see that you are doing the same sorts of things you condemn in others? Again, maybe not everything. Paul doesn't mean to say that every Jew is guilty of every single thing he's just talked about. Hardly anyone is that bad. But by that final paragraph, he understands that they have quite an indictment against them. It is easy to think of the other. There's a phrase I came across in a book a couple of years ago, “the repugnant cultural other.” Repugnant cultural other. RCO. Different than ROU, rodents of unusual size. Those are different. The repugnant cultural other means we live in a time where tribalism – we almost all have an instinctive those people, and it might not even be that the things you think about those people are wrong. Again, this is not moral relativism. This is not saying everybody's the same. Every political party is the same. Every non-Christian and Christian is the same. No, no, no. 

But here's the danger. Just think of who Paul is talking to. It's hard for us to get the explosiveness of this, because we don't live, most of us, with any kind of Jew-Gentile conflict, insider-outsider conflict. It'd be like – can I just dare to put this in some arresting terms? It would be like if Paul were writing a letter to a typical Bible-believing conservative Christian church that was probably conservative theologically, and probably conservative politically as well, and took the better part of several paragraphs to own the libs. He’s talked about – you know what they're like out there. You know what the progressives are like. You know how bad the woke can be. And everyone nodded along. They said, "That's right. They're angry all the time. They're cheats. They just care about power. They're liars. Their personal lives are a disaster. They're totally biased to their side. All they want to do is crush their enemies." Just as you're nodding along, Paul says, "Careful. Careful denouncing the sins of others, that you don't come to practice the very same things.” I think there's a danger, there's certainly a danger of non-Christians who say, "Yay, we like conservative, and progressive bad." We look out there and say that's really bad. They do a lot of bad stuff, and we can go ahead and don't need to take an eye to any of our own stuff. They're all bad. We're not. Paul says, "Careful. Before you judge all the things that they're doing, are you doing any of the other?” 

Or you could flip it. You could have the person who just looks at the world and says, "You know what those people are like? They're racist. They're fascists. They're insurrectionists. They're such mean people.” Well, how are you doing in being kind and gentle to others? Or, much more prosaically, maybe you're in a place in your relationship – don't nudge anyone right now – you think of your in-laws like this, or you think of your spouse like this, and you got a list of things. Again, let me give the caveat: I'm not saying every marital conflict is 50/50. Sometimes it's 99/1. But usually there's something a little bit closer. And before you look and you say, "You know what? You know what she's like? You know what he's like? I'll tell you. Never listens, never helps, never says I'm sorry, never changes, never budges.” And you're right to say all of those things are bad. You want to consider if you're practicing any of those very same things? Again, this is not about a false moral equivalence to say everyone's in the same boat, and no one's better than anyone else, and every conflict is always 50/50, and every political issue there's just a third way. It's not saying any of that. It is to say it's hard for us to be honest about our own faults, and it's a lot easier to see what everyone else gets wrong. The righteous person, by contrast, is eager to find the good in others and quick to confess the faults in himself, while the ungodly person is quick to find faults in others and slow to see anything wrong in himself. That's what Paul's saying. You are looking out at the world. He doesn't say you're wrong with your judgments. He says you're looking out, and you're saying, you know what those people are like out there? They're heartless. They're disobedient to their parents. They're ruthless. They're liars. They're cheats. You can't trust them. And Paul says, "Yeah, they are like that, and that's wrong, and why are you doing the same thing? You think you're in a privileged position because you're a religious insider, that God is going to show partiality to you? 

And here's the added indictment. Because they are judging – when you look out, and you judge those things in other people, and you know it, and they just drive you crazy. You all got a list of people that drive you crazy. I hope you don't have your pastors on the list, but you got a list of people, certain people, and you can tell how people – what they write about, what they think about, what they podcast about – because they got a certain slice of people that just bother them. Won't do you any good to try to compare your list with others and write it down. D.A. Carson said his dad didn't put people down except on his prayer list. So, that's a good idea. You put them down on your prayer list. That's how you put them down. But we got those people, and the things that annoy us, and you know what? They may actually be bothersome things, but Paul's argument is when you judge them for that, you show that you're not ignorant of right and wrong. You know good from bad. Here's the thing. Everyone, every non-Christian, knows some measure of right from wrong. Why? Because you judge people. You don't think there's judgment out there? Look at Twitter. You got people that you think are so far wrong, and you judge them. It means that you have a sense of good from evil. We're so much, so much more attuned. I mean, we know how to find the sins of others like, you know, Perry Mason – was he a prosecuting or a defense attorney? I don't know. But a lawyer who just, with lawyerly precision, can parse out every word – you said, no you didn't do that – and we can just, when it comes to us, we fall back on big bro minds: “I'm not perfect, never said I was perfect.” 

How are you and I doing with the faults we see in others? How are we doing with the commandments? Think about if you ever study the Westminster Larger Catechism – it's the neglected part of the Westminster Standards. It goes through the Ten Commandments, and it gives a long list for some of these commandments – what you're supposed to do and what you're prohibited from doing. Just think about a commandment. Which one do you want to think we're doing? Well, let's not do any of the first four, because that's worship of God, and let's just stay away from those. Fifth commandment, parents – unless they're in heaven, let's not do that one. Murder. Well, I don't murder, but I know Jesus says about anger and hate. Okay, don't do that one. Sexual immorality – definitely don’t do that one. Lying. I'm not a liar. I don't go around lying about people. I don't bear false witness about people. 

What are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment? You can't even see here. It's like a whole page. These Puritans, they didn't mess around. Here are the sins forbidden. How are you doing? Ninth commandment, lying. That's not a hard one. The sins forbidden are all prejudicing the truth and the good name of our neighbors. You ever prejudice the good name of your neighbor? As well as our own, especially in public, judicature, giving false evidence, suborning false witnesses, appearing and pleading for an evil cause, outfacing, overbearing the truth, passing unjust sentences, calling evil good / good evil, rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righteous / the righteous according to the work of the wicked, forgery. Okay, maybe we're feeling like I don't forge anything. Oh, it's tax time, but I don't think so. Concealing the truth. How about this? Undue silence in an unjust cause? Holding our peace when iniquity calleth for either reproof from ourselves or complaint to others. Speaking the truth unseasonably. You could be speaking the truth. There's lots of people out there valiant for truth. They're great truth tellers. Says you can be actually breaking the ninth commandment when you speak the truth unseasonably or maliciously. You're saying something that's true for a wrong end or perverting it to a wrong meaning or in doubtful or equivocal expressions. You know how to tell a story where you're not exactly lying, but you're shading it in such a way that you know the person's not totally seeing everything you did. Or to the prejudice of truth or justice, speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, tale bearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, partial censuring, misconstruing intentions. No, we never would misconstrue anyone's intentions. Words, actions, flattering, vainglorious boasting. It says you're not telling the truth if you boast in things that aren't true. Thinking – this is interesting – thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. Even the Puritan says, if you just put yourself down, that's not telling the truth. You can be breaking the ninth commandment when you lie about yourself too good or too bad. When you deny the gifts and graces of God in other people, aggravate smaller faults, hiding, excusing, extenuating of sins, unnecessary discovering of infirmities. You didn't need to go find that. That was not a big deal. Raising false rumors, receiving evil reports, stopping our ears against defense. No, I'm not going to hear it. There's no way you could ever prove to me that you're innocent. Evil suspicion, envying, grieving all the deserved credit of any, desiring to impair it, rejoicing in the disgrace and infamy of others, scornful contempt, fond admiration, breach of lawful promises, neglecting things that build toward a good report, not avoiding ourselves, not hindering all the things that procure an ill name in others. 

I thought that was a commandment we might get like a B- on. And don't you hate those things in other people? You can see them in other people. The vainglorious, the hedging around the truth, the making too big a deal of things, digging out infirmities, gossiping. You all hate it when it's about you. I hate it when it's about me. You judge. And Paul says, you do the same things. 

Here's the second deception. He says, you're deceived because you don't know what seat you're in. This is a courtroom scene. Says several times, judge. This is a courtroom scene. Here's the problem. You and I live our life. We imagine this courtroom scene, and you know what seat you're in? It's very convenient. The judge. I think of that. I am sitting in the judge’s, and I have my robe, and I'm casting out decrees and sentences upon others. Of course, I'm fair and impartial. You and I think we're in the judge's chair when you are in the defendant’s box. We think we're the judge in the courtroom when we are being called upon to defend ourself, and there is no defense. You think of some of the most famous stories in the Bible. We already heard from the one in 2 Samuel 12, where Nathan the prophet comes to David after he killed Uriah the Hittite and committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he tells the story about the rich man who stole the other man's ewe lamb. See what he's doing? David has a moral compass. He's a man after God's own heart, and he hears the story, and he judges correctly. That's a wicked man. He stole the poor man's one little lamb. And then Nathan says, just like Romans 2:1, “You are the man.” You have no excuse. You see it clearly in someone else. That's you, David. Or the story in John 8. I know it's not in the earliest manuscripts – I think it probably carries a true story of Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in adultery. The point of the story is not “hey, sin's no big deal,” but you know, as they are picking up their stones, it's his way of saying to everyone, “Careful, now. You see that adulterer? That's a sin, yeah. Are you sure this is how you want to play the game?” Are you sure this is how you want to play life's game? There's some people, they think, "If only I had everything exactly fair, and you want mom and dad to be like that. You want everything 100% fair in life. That's not what you want. You don't want a life like that. Jesus says, "Okay, take up your stones." There's the adulterous woman. Now, on the count of three – 3 2 1, I'm going to count down – and we're all going to throw stones at everyone who has ever committed the sin of adultery in their heart. Oh, I don't like the game anymore, because he exposes you're ready to be a judge. You're in the wrong seat. There is a judge. That's not your seat. Turns the tables. And that's what he does here. You, O Jew – you're thinking, as you look out on the Gentiles – you're in the side of this equation with God. Yep. Me and God, looking out. That's right. And the Bible does say the final judgment to come will be together with the holy ones and the angels. But right here, Paul needs to convict them of sin. You're in the wrong seat. 

Here's the third deception. Not only do you not know what seat you're in, you don't know who you are in this picture. You don't know who you are. Notice the emphatic in verse 1 and verse 3, “O man.” On the one hand, it's just a direct form of speech. But I think there's more to that – more to this than that going on here. Three times in Romans, we have “O man” – chapter 2:1, chapter 2:3, and chapter 9. What's Romans 9? Ah, that's where he's talking about sovereignty and talking about predestination and reprobation. Chapter 9, verse 20: “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” You see the three times we have “O man” in the book of Romans, it's always a little bit of a finger point. Now who are you? Do you know who you are? And I think it says “O man” for a reason. Not just a kind of evocative address, but to remind you – who are you? You're a man. You know who the judge is? God. Verse 2: “We know the judgment of God.” So right in between verse 1, “O man,” verse 3, “O man,” verse 2, it's the judgment – not from you, from God. Some of you would be happier if you would take off your shoulders that you need to be the judge of all the earth. You don't. Praise God. We're not. We assume we are always with God, looking out on the bad guys of the earth. It's like that perennial danger in the Old Testament where the people said, “The day of the Lord! Bring the day of the Lord!” because they knew the day of the Lord was the day when he visits with judgment upon the wicked, and the prophets were always saying, “Careful, careful, because judgment starts at the house of God, and you're going to call down the day of the Lord, ready for him to go after the Canaanites and the Jebusites and the mosquito bites and all the rest, and he's coming for you.” That's C.S. Lewis's argument. You're always in judgment on others, never thinking there is a God who might judge you. So, they don't know what seat they're in. They don't know who they are. They think they're God, but they're man. 

Here's the final deception. He says, "You think you will escape judgment in a special way, different than other people.” Connect this with the previous paragraph, because there is a very deliberate and damning comparison. He means to indict everyone. Now, to make the case against the Gentiles is one thing. That's not a stretch. But then, to suggest the Jews are in the very same boat, that's shocking. That's why we're going to get the question in chapter 3:1. Well, has there been any advantage? If we're not any better off than the Gentiles, has there been anything good about being a Jew? Any value in circumcision? But look at this comparison that he makes from the end of chapter 1 to the beginning of chapter 2. Look at the sequence of events. Verse 32. Here's the Gentiles: “They know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them.” So, here's the three things that the Gentiles do. They know God's righteous decree. They do the opposite. And they give approval to those who do the same. And do you see what he says the Jews are doing? They also know, verse 2 – we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. So Gentile and Jews, they both know that these are evil things, and they deserve judgment. But the Gentile is “we know it's evil, we do the opposite, and we approve of those who do them.” The Jew, “we know these things are evil. We do – or, we know what's righteous, and we do the opposite, and we condemn those who do the same things that we do.” See, in a way, Paul's saying, you're even worse. Now, it's bad to approve it. I suppose hypocrisy is the, you know, giving honor to virtue even though you practice vice. But he's saying, in a way, on a personal level, it's worse. At least the Gentiles have the honest audacity to say, "Yep, that's right. We're going to do what's wrong, and we approve everyone who does what's wrong." He says, "You, O man, you're a judge. You know what's right. You do what's wrong, and you condemn those who do what's wrong. You just won't condemn yourself." In other words, here's the difference between you and the Gentiles, Paul says. They approve of those who do what you do, while you condemn those who do what you do. That's the difference. They were ready to sit back and say, "There's a big, huge difference between us." He says, "Well, here's the difference. They approve; you condemn." 

Notice the word “escape” at the end. Do you think you will escape the judgment of God? Verse 3, escape. It's a good word. Think of people that hurt you in life, people that sin against you in life, people that cut you off on the road in life. Do they escape your notice? Oh no. Oh no. No. No. No. No. Do they escape your evaluation? Do they escape your judgment? They do not. And yet, you and I think we will escape God's sight? God's going to see less than you and I see? Here's a great quote from Luther. “Here is a mistake which most people make,” Luther says, “when they see how other sinners are punished, they are glad and say, ‘Well and good. The punishment is just. The evildoer deserved it.’ In reality, however, they should become afraid and confess that person was punished yesterday, and tomorrow it may be my turn.” We know – verse 2 – we know. Paul says everyone knows. This is not hard. We all can see it. Everyone knows Voldemort – bad guy. Sauron – bad guy. You know that the Nazis are supposed to lose World War II. Whoever killed Inigo Montoya's father – bad guy. You know it. You know it. Nobody has to teach. You just know. Scar is the wrong lion in charge. The whole soap opera genre, which has now sort of morphed into reality/dating/housewives genre – it's all sex, backstabbing, lying, jealousy, cheating, conniving, gossip. I don't watch them. Trust me. You say this is two sermons you've given this illustration. But I just imagine – nobody watches that and thinks that's the way to live, right there. It's just sort of a pleasure and look at how messed up that all is. Nobody thinks – in fact, everyone knows that's wrong. We know, we judge, but somehow we think, “I'm in a different category.” Church people, different category, clean cut, conservative, different category. Religious people. We've been religious for generations. 

Robert Haldane, Scottish preacher who preached through Romans in Geneva, Switzerland in 1817, said this: “The object of the apostle was to undeceive the Jews in their vain hope of escape, while they knew themselves to be transgressors. And it equally applies to nominal Christians. It is the most prevalent ground of hope among false professors of Christianity that God will not be so strict with them as his general threatening declares because of their relation to him as his professed people.” That's right. Do not think you will escape when you commit the same sins that you know render the pagans deserving of judgment. Church building does not give you coverage. Your Christian parents does not give you coverage. Your general conservative disposition is not enough to save you. You, the judge, who practice the very same things, how will you escape judgment? They were deceived. They thought, “We're in a special category all by ourselves.” Doesn't work that way. There's no partiality with God. 

Now, these sermons are hard to preach. Not only because there's sin and judgment and conviction, but it doesn't let up. We're a long way from chapter 3:21. Won't that be a glorious day? It'll be after the summer, I think, but it'll be a glorious day when we turn that corner. So, we're not there. But I can't leave you after every week, “So, can we just peek ahead?” You see verse 4? You just have to peek. The riches of his kindness leading you to repentance. That means, friend, there's still time. God's patience has not run out. The sands of the hourglass have not all trickled down to the bottom. If you would but step out of the judge's chair, where you don't belong, and put yourself in the defendant’s seat, and cry out to the judge, “Mercy, mercy,” his kindness, his forbearance, his patience has not yet been exhausted. You know that old spiritual? “Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not the preacher, not the deacon, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not my father, not my mother, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer. Not the stranger, not my neighbor, but it's me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” That's a very simple, very salutary, spiritual place to be in, to put down the stones and say, "I'm the adulterer who needs mercy." To say with David in 2 Samuel 12:13, "I have sinned against the Lord." Because there is a great God. He is an all-seeing God, an all-knowing God, an impartial God, and this God has sent his Son. This God, in love, sent his Son to the earth to die for sinners. But you need to know that you are a man, a woman, not God. That you are in the defendant's chair. You are not the judge. And that you are in need of mercy. And indeed, God's mercy will meet you there. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we give thanks for this, your holy Word. Encourage us, rebuke us, comfort us, convict us. It’s not my brother, not my sister, not the people, not the preacher, not the elder, not the deacon, not our parents. It’s me, O Lord. It’s us. We are in the need of prayer and the need of your mercy, so give it to us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.