JUDGMENT (1)
JUDGMENT (1)
Romans 1:16-23; Romans 1:28-32; Romans 2: 1 - 16; Romans 3: 1 - 20
JTJr It is thought that we should consider the subject of judgment. The thought of judgment is expressed in a very full way in the gospel of which Paul speaks in the epistle to the Romans. It says, in chapter 2: 16, “... in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ”. The gospel brings in God’s righteous judgment as to everything; and Paul is the apostle thus used.
We shall consider also, the ministry of the other apostles who speak of judgment, but Paul gives us the fullest idea of it, I would say, referring to his gospel as the means, or measure, by which God will judge the secrets of men. So that this epistle, up to chapter 3: 20, shows how the gospel is demonstrating what God thinks of the conditions that were found in the world. We get the expression: “The righteous judgment of God”. That stands! There may be other judgments or no judgment at all with some, but chapter 1: 32 shows that there were certain persons who knew. It says, “... who knowing the righteous judgment of God ...” That is, they knew it and still they went on with the evil, knowing that they who do such things are worthy of death. So that they not only practise them, but have fellow delight in those who do them. Therefore, we see how the gospel brings us to a right judgment of ourselves and of things in this world. We are to have a right basis laid in our souls so that we know how to judge aright. If there are differences of judgment amongst us we have to acknowledge this and see how [p. 250] unity of judgment is reached, which, of course, must be a righteous judgment. God’s judgment of vile conditions in the world is stated here and there is nothing that can be rightly said against it. What God has decreed as regards the conditions in the world stands; His mind is made known. So it says, “For there is revealed wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety, and unrighteousness of men”, verse 18. That is, though God’s present disposition is forgiveness, there will nevertheless be a day of reckoning of the evil conduct of persons who do not obey the gospel.
RWS That which, through grace, has been presented for man’s blessing will become the basis of his condemnation; “according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ”.
AR There is a footnote to the expression “righteous judgment” in verse 32, which reads, ‘What the righteous will of God requires; even an ordinance of his will, or act meeting his requirement’.
JTJr Yes; there is that which God required and men knew that. There can be no change in what He requires. The note helps us to understand that the will of God required that those guilty of such evil conduct be punished by death.
RHS Have you present judgment in mind or judgment in a future day in which God is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed?
JTJr In the passage you refer to, Paul speaks of the Lord judging in righteousness, and the day is appointed, which would refer to the millennium. It refers to the character of Christ’s reign. Now, “wrath of God” is revealed from heaven upon all impiety, and unrighteousness of men holding the truth in unrighteousness. This is not against persons; it is upon things. The judgment of persons is future. We are therefore to have a proper judgment of evil. These [p. 251] chapters deal with the gross evil that is in the world and help us to judge it and get clear of it.
AR The Lord said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out”, John 12: 31.
JTJr When He said, ‘Now’, He was alluding to what came out as a result of their rejection of Him and His ministry. The cross was the immediate testimony to the judgment. Paul in saying, “God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ”, is bringing out the full thought of judgment to come, and it agrees with the Lord’s own ministry which they rejected. In these chapters the apostle gives us God’s own estimate of the evil in the world.
ABP Would you say that verse 28 suggests that men reached a certain judgment? “According as they did not think good to have God in their knowledge”. They reached a mental conclusion, that they did not judge it well to keep God in their thoughts.
JTJr Yes; and they “fell into folly in their thoughts”, verse 21. That refers to the working of the mind, and then the reprobate mind is referred to in verse 28.
ANW The gospel is glad tidings: “righteousness of God is revealed therein”. It is really for man; it is not against him.
JTJr That is right.
ANW God reserves His rights in mercy. It does not say that wrath is revealed in the gospel. It is revealed from heaven. Righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, on the principle of faith to faith.
JTJr We read, in verse 18, “For there is revealed wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety”, etc. It is revealed from heaven and it is against things, not persons, as already remarked. The teaching of the gospel is in mind in this book. Paul says, “ye ... have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were instructed”, chapter 6: 17.
WAT While judgment is God’s strange work, yet the background of the gospel is God’s judgment.
JTJr God’s judgment of evil is set out in the gospel. The revelation of wrath is not from the earth, as the footnote says, but from heaven. Paul says, as we have already alluded to it, “God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ”. The glad tidings will be the measure by which God will judge those who refuse it. While we do not preach judgment, yet it is contained in what is set forth in the glad tidings. The Lord says, “If ye repent not, ye shall all perish in like manner”, Luke 13: 5.
RWS What is the distinctive meaning of “my glad tidings”?
JTJr Paul is alluding to his own part in the divine ordering of the testimony. He was taken up for this purpose. He says “my glad tidings” because he is alluding to his own special office, I would say, his peculiar part in bringing out the fulness of the gospel.
TEH Abraham, having been called out by the God of glory and getting, typically, the truth of sonship, became intimate with God and saw the panorama of judgment, because God would not hide what He was about to do.
JTJr That shows what God was taking account of in Sodom and Gomorrah, and that it is to be taken into account by us in regard to the world, for God is on His way to the judgment of it. So, as we have often noted, the two angels move on to execute the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. God talks with Abraham, so that Abraham is in full knowledge of what God is going to do. Lot is in Sodom, and is a type of a christian; yet one that has to be difficultly saved, being snatched out of the fire. The judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah was from heaven. These two cities are mentioned many times in Scripture as proof of the inevitable judgment [p. 253] of God.
CN Does the statement that “righteousness of God is revealed therein” convey the idea that whilst God exercises His rights in mercy, He will not tolerate sin?
JTJr Quite so; so that the righteousness of God comes out and brings to light God’s love to men. He exerts His rights in mercy instead of in judgment. That is the position today as regards the whole situation in the world. God’s attitude is mercy towards the whole position.
AR Abraham inquires of God, “Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked?” Genesis 18: 23.
JTJr He further says, “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” That is what we need to keep in mind in our first reading; how judgment is seen from God’s side and how the full idea of righteous judgment comes out from God. We see things, therefore, from the top.
VCL While sin progresses and becomes grosser, is the glad tidings a perfect standard, from the very outset, of both mercy and judgment?
JTJr I think that the way the truth opens up in this book is the way we should be instructed in regard to it. The verses we have read allude to the terrible condition of things among men that required God to act in the way He does. So that what comes out in the presence of the great evil in the world is God’s righteousness. That is, as in the midst of all these conditions. God is setting out His great thoughts, what He has in mind for men; and at the same time. He is showing what will happen to persons who remain untouched by the gospel in such conditions.
JHH Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, speaks about “our glad tidings”. Then he says, “So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our letter”, 2 Thessalonians [p. 254] 2: 15.
JTJr The gospel, therefore, contains the full scope of what is in God’s mind for man.
Ques Why is there a penalty attached to disobeying the gospel, according to 2 Thessalonians 1: 8, which says, “... in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God, and those who do not obey the glad tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
JTJr I think that corresponds with what we have been saying. If persons do not obey, the only thing left is the penalty. The penalty is brought before us in these chapters. In chapter 2: 2 it says, “But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those who do such things”. And then in verses 5, 8, “... in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who shall render to each according to his works: to them who, in patient continuance of good works, seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility, life eternal. But to those that are contentious, and are disobedient to the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there shall be wrath and indignation”. God is showing what is in His mind as to those who continue on certain courses. So that it says, also, in verse 3, “And thinkest thou this, O man, who judgest those that do such things, and practisest them thyself, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” He is alluding to the persons who are practising these things; that is, they are going on in them. They will not escape. So that God is revealing His mind as to persons who are practising evil.
ETM In John 9: 39, the Lord says, “For judgment am I come into this world, that they which see not may see, and they which see may become blind”. Would that fit in with what is in mind?
JTJr That refers to what the Lord did to the blind man. It was not a question of sin, but that the works of God should be manifested in him. He was made to see, but the Pharisees said that they saw, and the Lord said, “your sin remains”. They became blind. This corresponds to what we are saying, that if persons definitely refuse to believe, the wrath of God abides upon them: see John 3: 36.
CN There is a verse in connection with the commission that the Lord gave His disciples in Mark 16: 16: “He that believes and is baptised shall be saved, and he that disbelieves shall be condemned”. That was the position; both results are implied.
JTJr That confirms what has been remarked, and we are to keep these things in mind. These chapters bring out the terrible evil that existed in the world, and what was in men’s hearts. So that it says, in verse 21, “... but fell into folly in their thoughts”. Then in verse 28 it says, “God gave them up to a reprobate mind”. That means a mind void of all moral discernment. So that what is happening to the minds of men is because of their constant and progressive evil.
CAM I suppose it is instructive to realise that the epistle is written by one who has all the grandeur of the glad tidings before him as set out in the first seven verses of the epistle. A right view of all the terrible nature of men’s hearts and the conditions into which the gospel is brought is only known by those who are in the blessedness and glory of the glad tidings.
JTJr The verses that we have read are to bring out, first of all, the disposition of God in the gospel, and then, along with that, His righteous judgment of evil. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. The greatness of God’s Son, and His holiness, were filling his soul. He was not ashamed of the gospel, for Christ is the subject of the glad tidings; it is the gospel of God concerning His Son. The Lord’s own testimony was that he had not come into the world to judge it, but that He might save it. But then He adds: “He that rejects me and does not receive my words, has him who judges him: the word which I have spoken, that [p. 256] shall judge him in the last day”, John 12: 48. The gospel is to deliver us out of the world. It is to bring about a mind in us that is in accord with God’s righteous judgment of conditions in the world, and in man as away from God. This comes out later in the book, in chapters 7 and 8, but here it is God’s judgment pronounced, and there is no variation in His judgment.
AR It is “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be under judgment to God”, chapter 3: 19.
ABP According to chapter 1: 28, unrepentant man came to the conclusion that he did not want to keep God in his thoughts, and so God deprived him of the ability to have a right judgment. The whole battleground is in the mind, is it not?
JTJr Yes; that is one thing that we should get hold of. It says that they “fell into folly in their thoughts, and their heart without understanding was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”. And then, in your reference, “According as they did not think good to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind”.
ABP Their deeds were the result of an attitude of mind.
AR There is a footnote to the word ‘reprobate mind’ in verse 28 which says, ‘A mind void of moral discernment’. As of the assembly, we should be able to discern between what is right and what is wrong.
JTJr Exactly. Later in the book the saints are viewed as having the Spirit, and thus identify themselves with the mind of the Spirit. If we thought more of the mind of the Spirit, there would be less diversity of judgment.
AR David said to Abigail: “Blessed be thy discernment”. She had a clear view of things. Why is it that we are not clear as to issues that arise?
JTJr These chapters in Romans, that we have been considering, would help as to causes of cloudiness or [p. 257] darkness in our minds. The mind of the Spirit is something to be arrived at and is over against the reprobate mind of chapter 1, and what we might call the Jewish, or religious mind of chapter 2. As we move on with the Spirit in the truth set out in this book, we will be the more able to judge rightly.
WAT The Lord said of the Spirit, that when He should come, He would bring demonstration of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
JTJr That came out in Peter’s preaching at Pentecost; there was a demonstration of sin. It was a demonstration of their guilt to the Jews. Some were convicted, and repented, and that is what God is looking for. He is looking for repentance among men at the present time.
WWM We are told that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Men professed themselves to be wise, but there was no fear of God. The fear of God in our hearts will help us to get right quickly.
ANW In spite of the reprobate mind of verse 28, those wicked people know that it is the righteous judgment of God; not merely judgment, but righteous judgment; “who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that they who do such things are worthy of death, not only practise them, but have fellow delight in those who do them”. Whatever reprobate minds they have, they are regarded as knowing the righteous judgment of God.
RWS Is that through the conscience that God has given to every man?
JTJr It says, “their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing themselves”. It works that way. The conscience according to the measure of its enlightenment witnesses to a man, whether his conduct is evil or good; it will thus accuse you, or even excuse you, if you do good.
RWS Certain things are apprehended by the [p. 258] mind through things that are made, but in what we are considering it is conscience, as if God is being infinitely fair with men, affecting their consciences and surrounding them with His righteousness, but they turn against God.
JTJr Quite so; so that there are a number of things alluded to in that section from verse 28 down to the end of the chapter — twenty-one things that are practised: “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil dispositions; whisperers, back-biters, hateful to God, insolent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, void of understanding, faithless, without natural affection, unmerciful”. There you get an enumeration of all the workings of the human heart. If these things are not understood and judged in ourselves they will come up in our lives.
AI Peter links on with Paul in this matter of the judgment of God, saying, “... who shall render account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For to this end were the glad tidings preached to the dead also”, 1 Peter 4: 5, 6.
JTJr That is right. We shall see later, if we go on to Peter’s ministry, how he fully supports Paul, and yet, at the same time, he has his own presentation of the idea of judgment.
CFE What would the apostle have in mind when he said that the gospel is hid to them that are lost?
JTJr The god of this world has blinded their hearts. It is in contrast to: “the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts”, 2 Corinthians 4: 6. The light shining out of darkness is an allusion to Genesis 1; and now the light is in the gospel. There is governmental blindness on the Jew now, the veil is on their heart, 2 Corinthians 3: 15. Then, further, “But if also our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those that are lost”, 2 Corinthians 4: 3. It is in those [p. 259] who are lost, and the god of this world has done it in them.
ETM Do we not see, in spite of all this, that grace is reigning through righteousness unto eternal life?
JTJr That fits in with the righteousness of God; that grace is on the throne. That shows how God is operating in the present economy.
JAP Do we not have to begin with Romans in this subject to see “what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God”, Hebrews 5: 12.
JTJr Paul is our apostle and he speaks of the refusal of his glad tidings as the basis of the judgment. If we look at his ministry we get the thing in its fulness; how the judgment of God stands related to the present position.
ABP Would you say that the further we get on, the more able we are to identify what we are by nature with what is set out in these chapters? The apostle Paul uses the word ‘insolent’ in the list you quoted from chapter 1. He says later, in regard to himself, “an insolent, overbearing man”. Our experience with God helps us to see what we are and helps us to put ourselves by nature into this chapter.
JTJr Quite so. That brings up our beginnings; how we were converted, and what entered into our souls when we were converted. Therefore, our histories bring out just where we have been and how much there has been in us that is contrary to the gospel.
FNW Is it in your mind, in viewing the righteous judgment of God in this objective way, that we will value it and see what it results in in a positive way, enabling us to arrive at a righteous judgment in all our matters?
JTJr That is exactly what one has in mind, because one feels that there is much in the way of divided judgment, but I am sure that all of us want to be together in divine things. That is the desire of every [p. 260] heart; but then how do we arrive at a right judgment? There is a way to arrive at it. We must begin at the top. What is God’s judgment? The judgment of God must give character to every judgment in the assembly.
AR “For the time of having the judgment begin from the house of God is come”, 1 Peter 4: 17.
JTJr Judgment begins there in the sense in which God is operating in the present economy. That would be a reference to Ezekiel 9: 6, where the man with the ink-horn begins with the sanctuary and then extends the judgment to the whole city.
AR What we arrive at in our care meetings should be in keeping with the righteous judgment of God.
JTJr We must look at things from the top.
CN The conscience renders every man inexcusable in chapter 2.
JTJr God is showing that there is a way to arrive at a positive end. If man has a conscience, that is in his favour, it is a link with God. God has a direct link with him through his conscience.
FSC Do the twenty-one evil things mentioned in chapter 1 become a judgment in themselves? God gave them over to a reprobate mind to practise these things.
JTJr God gave them up to a reprobate mind. According to verse 21 they fell into folly, and then it says that they became fools.
ANW That folly is seen in the verse referred to: “Knowing the righteous judgment of God, that they who do such things are worthy of death, not only practise them, but have fellow delight in those who do them”.
JTJr Quite so; so that usually, when persons sin they know it.
ETM In Revelation 16: 5, 7 it says, “Thou art righteous ... that thou hast judged so; ... And I heard the altar saying, Yea, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments”.
JTJr What is in mind in these chapters, is to get the view of things from the divine side and see how God looks at them. Let us also look at them in that way. The verses you quote from Revelation show that subjectively the righteous judgment of God was understood. There is a terrible condition of evil current, and we should have a judgment now of these conditions. Every mouth is stopped; and, if that is so, it means that God is going to speak, which He has done.
AI If we understand the judgment of God rightly, it will be a relief to us as moving through this world.
JTJr There is a great need to be impressed with what we have in chapter 2: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, every one who judgest”. That comes home to each one of us. We may judge another and do the same things ourselves. The apostle is speaking about persons who are going on in evil themselves and yet they are judging somebody else.
WWM The fear of God would deliver us from that. We might be judging others and allowing the same thing in ourselves, which would prove that we are not in the fear of God in the matter. We have to bring God into these things.
JTJr Things may be covered up for years, and then God brings them to light. He will judge the secrets of men. That is going on now in the assembly. God brings things out if there is sin underneath.
AR And God’s judgment is “according to truth”; the truth is the basis of the judgment.
JTJr That is really John’s line, the truth. When we come to his ministry we will see that he speaks much about the truth. That corresponds with Paul’s glad tidings.
ATD It says in 2 Corinthians: “By manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every conscience of men before God”, chapter 4: 2.
JTJr That would fit in with what is in mind [p. 262] in this epistle. Romans lays a foundation in our souls so that we become practical witnesses to the gospel in what is wrought out in us.
JAP It says in Hebrews 5: 14, “who on account of habit ...” We are to acquire this habit of right judgment in ourselves.
JTJr The first thing, therefore, is to acquire this habit oneself. These passages allude to the working of things in man’s heart. God wants us to judge ourselves. When we know our own hearts we do not trust them. We see what we are capable of and learn to judge these evil things that proceed out of the heart of man.
CAM One great thing for us to realise is how much the gospel has put an end to. What we have been considering could only be set out by one who was in the glory of the glad tidings. We might think we could arrive at this truth by looking around in this world, but we could not arrive at it in that way. This is all set forth by the apostle Paul.
AAT Is it not future when judgment will be carried out at the great white throne?
JTJr In chapter 2: 5 it says, “... in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”. That is, I suppose, the crisis in regard to everything. “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my glad tidings, by Jesus Christ”. The great white throne will bring out how fair God is, for judgment will be from the books. There will be no mistakes.
CN Men are treasuring up judgment today: “According to thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up to thyself wrath, in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”. While the execution of it is future it is being treasured up now.
JTJr If persons go on in sin that is so. The judgment, as a penalty, [p. 263] is future.
TEH The man who had been possessed of the demons in Mark 5 may illustrate one set free from the twenty-one things mentioned in Romans 1: 29, 30. He had said “We are many”. The Man before him would bear the judgment due to him so that he could sit at His feet clothed and in his right mind. The right mind would enable him to have a right judgment of the twenty-one things which were possibly employed in him in a full way before he was healed.
JTJr Very good; so that the man is sitting, clothed and sensible. These three things are what the gospel would bring about in us, a complete change. The man is no longer dominated by the legion, but he is quiet and restful, he is clothed and sensible. That is not a reprobate mind; he is sensible. That chapter suggests material for a local meeting. The man, the woman, and the child are secured for the testimony.
AR Peter must have had some sense of this when he said: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man”, Luke 5: 8.
JTJr Quite. He had come to what is in mind. Later on in this book we see how we arrive at what the vessel is inwardly; we begin to see what we are and how we are constituted and what we are capable of, but this chapter brings into relief what man as such is as before God and how the gospel relieves us of the whole thing.
JAP In Acts 13. Paul said to the false prophet, “O full of all deceit and all craft: son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness; wilt thou not cease perverting the right paths of the Lord? ... Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord”, verses 10 - 12.
JTJr That would refer to God’s governmental action, and it pointed to what would happen to the nation, which came about, and as already noted the veil lies on their heart. The proconsul, seeing what happened,
[p. 264] believed. That was the immediate result of the governmental dealings of God. Elymas was full of all deceit and all craft.
RWS The apostle Paul seems to balance things in chapter 2: 4 when he inquires, “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance?” While he speaks of these dreadful conditions of evil and those who despise, he then speaks of God’s riches, and these are for all to enjoy.
JTJr Yes; alluding to the attitude of the person in despising the goodness of God which leads men to repentance. God’s grace is seen in that He would lead us to repentance. We are not to despise His activities toward us. It is His goodness leading us to repentance.
CHM In the coming dispensation evil will be judged immediately; it will not be allowed to go on; but in the present dispensation evil may be covered up for quite a while before it comes to light. Does that bring to light the long-suffering of God, or is there more in it than that?
JTJr That is an important question, because it often happens. Things run on for years before they come out and, of course, we must leave that because God brings things out in His own time, but then we are responsible. Man’s responsibility enters into it as to why he has covered up the sin.
CHM I wondered if there might be in it the thought of education for the assembly.
JTJr No doubt; God is going on with His own thoughts. He may allow a thing to go on in order to bring it up in His own time, but then that does not relieve the persons involved of the responsibility. What we are looking for is confessions so that matters should be rightly settled and not covered up or ignored.
CHM Confession, in that way, would glorify God!
AAT To whom do we confess — to God?
JTJr Yes, and we are told, “Confess your sins one to another”; and “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. The book of Leviticus instructs us how confession is made and what is due to God and to the assembly. There is that which governs these things, and therefore the need of being near to God and getting light so that we know how to deal with matters when they happen.
ABP Would the reference to God giving them up show that there had been a period when He was exercising patience in view of their recovery? God desires to retain us and often goes on with us for a period, like He did with David when he sinned.
JTJr Quite so. And then in chapter 2 we have what people go on in, and then, like David, pronounce judgment on others: “And thinkest thou this. O man, who judgest those that do such things, and practisest them thyself, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” The man is going on in the thing and knows it, because he is judging somebody else, and yet going on in the same thing. That is what is brought out here in the most definite way. Persons may go on in a thing secretly and at the same time judge somebody else in the same matter.
ETM Self-judgment is very important.
JTJr We must judge ourselves continually, and if we do not the enemy will get an advantage with us.
JHE Would not the apostle Paul help us in this? He says, “I was not disobedient”.
JTJr Yes; he was a religious man, a Jew. His mouth was stopped and then it is recorded that he was praying. What a change! He was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, but now he is at the feet of Jesus. He had been breathing out threatenings and slaughter, and armed with authority from the high priest. It is the [p. 266] religious man, and that man is taken up and his mouth is stopped too.
WAT The world now stands in reconciliation and God is not imputing trespasses, but the time will come when He will have to deal with men. In His mercy and grace God would give us time to come to a judgment about matters ourselves before publicly exposing us.
JTJr We need to consider what we were before conversion and what we are after conversion. Before conversion there was the working of sin in ourselves, but conversion involves that there is a complete change. So that if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, there is to be a life consistent with our confession. What has been referred to in David’s history took place after he was converted. So that the allusion, in chapter 3, to David’s psalm refers to when he had been reached in his conscience after he had sinned. It is a most solemn thing that we may sin after we are in relation with God, as David was. But he vindicated God fully in Psalm 51, and that is brought in here: “Let God be true, and every man false; according as it is written, So that thou shouldest be justified in thy words, and shouldest overcome when thou art in judgment”. That quotation of David is brought forward here to bring out how true God is; His judgments are true and He overcomes in judgment. His words are words of truth and justice.
FNW Paul, in Galatians, warns the spiritual to consider himself lest he also be tempted. Should that encourage us to walk softly at all times, for even a spiritual man may be subject to failure?
JTJr Exactly; especially the religious man needs to consider himself, because he might be very severe in his dealings with others, as David would have been. He wanted the offender in Nathan’s parable to be dealt with [p. 267] at once.
JAP What do you understand by the word overcome in Romans 3: 4 which you have quoted?
JTJr If we look at the psalm it will help. “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, be clear when thou judgest”. David is speaking to God. He is saying that what has happened is against God. We need to take account of that in matters, that what happens is against God. David is taking up God’s own thoughts; how God would look at his sin. But God would overcome, and He would gain David by awaking his judgment of evil. He overcomes us too, and brings us to see how He feels what we do. He helps us in this way as we confess to Him. He sets us on our feet again.
EEH So that Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus: “Arise and get baptised, and have thy sins washed away”, Acts 22: 16.
JTJr Yes; he asked Saul why he lingered. Why do we linger from getting free from these things and from getting the application of the water and being set up in a right state again?
WWM David took sides with God against himself.
JTJr That is a good way to put it.
CAM I suppose your suggestion about the Jewish element is to sober us with respect to finding fault with others. The apostle was so entirely delivered from it that he spoke in far stronger language against himself than he did against any other.
JTJr Quite so; he was free; he was a son. It is the religious man that makes us cloudy about things. He does not know where he stands. The religious man will be governed largely by tradition. The Lord said as to the Pharisees that their sin remained. They said that they saw, but they were blind.
DP The apostle is showing that God has established [p. 268] a basis on which He will judge the heathen world and the apostate religious world.
JTJr I think that is right. I suppose that the section down to verse 16 of chapter 2 would be the gentile world, and from verse 17 onward it is the Jew. So that it would be the world with the terrible conditions of sin in unregenerate man, and then the religious side of things as set out in the Jew. Both are reviewed by God for judgment.
SW Would you say that Enoch’s prophecy, in Jude, has a present application? It says, “Behold, the Lord has come amidst his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all”, verse 14.
JTJr Well, we have the understanding as to God’s thoughts already in the assembly. Therefore, if we have His mind as to these things, why are we cloudy and uncertain as to what to do and what to say? Some were saying wrong things about Paul, according to our scripture. They were slandering him, saying things that he never said. So he says, “As we are injuriously charged, and according as some affirm that we say, Let us practise evil things, that good ones may come? whose judgment is just”, chapter 3: 8. They were slandering the apostle.
CN Does chapter 2: 8 state the position clearly? “To those that are contentious, and are disobedient to the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and distress, on every soul of man that works evil, both of Jew first, and of Greek; but glory and honour and peace to every one that works good, both to Jew first and to Greek: for there is no acceptance of persons with God”. Paul’s gospel would put things plainly.
JTJr God is no respecter of persons.
RTM What is the power in self-judgment that will save us from the influence of these natural evils to which we are subject as in the flesh?
JTJr It is God’s view of things. We should take an abstract view. That is how God sees things; and when I do that I can judge rightly. God is no respecter of persons. It is not a question of how long a person may have been in fellowship. It is a question of the issue between God and the person. God is thinking of righteousness, and of how the truth is to be worked out in us.
ANW The case of the malefactor brings that out. “Dost thou too not fear God, thou that art under the same judgment? and we indeed justly, for we receive the just recompense of what we have done; but this man has done nothing amiss”, Luke 23: 41. Basically and simply, that man seems to set the whole thing out against himself and his fellow, and justifies God.
JTJr Just so: “This man has done nothing amiss”. It is a question of whether or not the truth is governing. I suppose that the apostle is laying the basis in these chapters for getting the moral line right. Are we right, morally, as to what is going on in the world and what is going on in our flesh?
SW The apostle Paul speaks of dying daily. Is it a daily matter?
JTJr Yes.
ETM Daniel’s name involves judgment. In spite of all the evil conditions that existed in his day he was told to go his way.
JTJr He was ready to suffer, for he was bowing to the truth. He was not afraid, for he trusted God and feared Him.
WWM The fear of God would help in bringing to light the flesh in everyone of us.
JTJr I am sure it would. God is having the last word about things in this section of the epistle. It is a question of what God is saying and how He is judging things, so that every mouth is to be stopped. The throat, tongue, lips and mouth are referred to here as [p. 270] in the exercise of evil. This power through man’s mouth is against God, but God says that the mouth must be stopped; and I think it is intended to bring about a stoppage of wrong speaking in the believer, also, so that we learn how to speak rightly.
AI The passage speaks about poison being under the lips. What was under the lips of the prodigal son in the far country was, “I have sinned”.
JTJr That is a very good change, because here it is asps’ poison. If one changes and says, ‘I have sinned’, he is on the road to self-judgment.
AR It seemed to take Job a long time to come to Romans 3: 19, but he eventually put his hand on his mouth.
JTJr Yes; he talked a long time, but he put his hand on his mouth. It says here that every mouth is to be stopped and all the world is to be under judgment to God. Man’s mouth is stopped and God alone is the Speaker.
PE Is it important that we be able to name things? God names things very plainly in these chapters.
JTJr Quite so. So that in our conversations we need to exercise care lest there be any trace of speaking which has to be stopped. God is to be the Speaker and He brings right things into our hearts and minds.
ABP Considerable damage is done by loosely guarded reports; and such reports usually gain in volume and often lose in accuracy. The apostle spoke of being slanderously spoken of, and then he uses a very strong word with respect to the slanderers: “... whose judgment is just”. How severely he deals with the malice behind the false report!
JTJr That should be noticed. The apostle took account of the working of man’s mouth and what is possible from it.
AR We are prone to base so much on mere hearsay instead of getting all the facts.
JTJr [p. 271] Therefore, how important is the idea of righteous judgment! The word righteous is brought in in connection with judgment here, that there may be that idea with us, “righteous judgment”.