TEXT TO REFLECT ON
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
ROMANS 2:6-11
REFLECT
In the verses before this paragraph, Paul described how debased humanity had become: whether they were Jews or Gentiles. Man(kind) had suppressed the truth (v18), they had become futile in their thinking and their foolish minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they had become fools (v21 & 22). By suppressing the truth and having their minds darkened, they had turned values upside down: good was now bad and bad good, and folly was wisdom and wisdom folly. This was an indictment on all humanity, that even the best among us was living in an upside-down world.
Paul maintained that God is just: He shows no partiality. To those who persevered in seeking glory and honour and immortality, He will give eternal life. But to those who are self-seeking and obey unrighteousness, there would be wrath and fury. God’s standards had not shifted. The good would be rewarded and the bad punished.
There is only one catch – but a fatal one. According to Paul, there is none righteous (3:10). And Paul was not the first to observe this. King David, centuries ago lamented thus:
“God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.”
Psalm 53:2,3
David noted that God had scoured the earth to find one person who would seek after God, one who had not been corrupted by the world. And He found none.
Hence, based on God’s justice, no one would have eternal life.
RELATE
The presence of sin in our lives may be illustrated by an iceberg. Let us imagine an iceberg divided into three parts. The uppermost part is the visible part – the part above the water. Below that is the middle segment that is under the surface of the water, but still visible in daylight. But the vast mass of the iceberg is deeper in the sea and cannot be observed with the naked eye. Such is sin. On the surface are my sins that everyone can see. Most of the time, I strategically allow others to know these sins, so that they are lulled into thinking that I am humble and transparent about my sinfulness. It may be a laidback or lazy or irreverent nature. I am not ashamed to let others see these sins, because they distract prying eyes from seeing deeper sins. But I am actually hiding from others the much larger portion of my sinfulness that I am aware of, but am determined to hide at all cost, because exposing these would lead to condemnation. That’s the middle portion. But there is an even larger segment, in fact the largest segment of sin, that even I do not know of. Or rather, I have suppressed any signs of it even from myself. These sins are even more insidious, such as pride, vanity, discontent, jealousy etc. I am not even aware that this sinfulness abounds in me. An example of this self-delusion is Simon Peter. He genuinely thought that he loved Jesus with his life. In fact, he believed that he loved Jesus more than any of the other disciples. He had claimed (and I believed honestly) that “even if all others leave you I will not. I will even die for you”. Peter was convinced that his love for Jesus was perfect. But Jesus had to show him through three onlookers that his love was weak, that he was too cowardly to stand by Jesus. Peter had hidden that sin even from himself.
We judge others quickly and harshly because we are unable to see the cesspool of sinfulness that we hide beneath the surface of our consciousness. It is a grace of God when we finally catch a glimpse of our true sinful state. I had been a pastor for over five years when I began feeling that I was serving among hypocrites. People around me seemed harsh, mean, dishonest and ungodly and often picking on me or giving me the shorter end of the stick. Things got so bad that I decided to leave the ministry and the Church. One night, I went downstairs to the void deck with my Bible. I had not opened the Bible for some time except to do necessary sermon preparation. I went downstairs with my Bible because I wanted to question God as to what stupidity had led me to be a pastor. Randomly and aimlessly, I opened the Bible and my eyes fell on Romans 1:18 onwards. As I read, the Holy Spirit showed me instance after instance of how I was guilty of the sins in that chapter. Most of the sin was not in the action, but in the thoughts and desires. After what seemed like a very long time, I cried to God, asking if He could ever forgive me. And then it was as if God spoke to me as He convinced me that because of Christ, I was desirable in His eyes. I could not believe that that was so, so vile was my sinfulness. But when I finally believed that I was indeed beautiful in God’s sight despite my filth, I felt God’s love sweep over me.
These days I listen patiently when someone tells me their sin. I know that what has been shared is only the tip of the iceberg; but I am fine with it. Because like me, they are sinners waiting and hoping that we will be transformed one day at a time, from glory to glory. In the meantime, I learn to accept another filthy sinner disguised as a saint, just as God continues to accept me and declares me a saint.
REST
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Chiu Ming Li
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