Gearing Up for Romans 2

Romans 1 and 2 are parallel descriptions outlining the two primary ways to be a sinner and resist God. The last half of Romans 1 describes what we usually term “open” sinners who make no profession of obedience to God. Within this description both the causes and the results are explained though they are often confused or switched around by those who read it. Romans 2 then declares that typical “religious” people are actually just another version of the previous sinners though they vehemently deny such charges. This is because they still participate in the root causes indulged in by the chapter 1 sinners but just have very different apparent symptoms.

This parallel is flushed out more clearly in 2:12 where they are described as those who sin without the Law and those who sin under the Law. Then these two modes of being sinners are also contrasted with apparently two ways of obedience inferred in 14-16. These are people who are not under the law, or what we would term overtly religious people, but pay attention to a conscience tuned to the voice of God in their own soul. These kind of people, their very existence and definition, create a great dilemma for most Christian as they do not fit neatly into a box of our defining. We generally agree that they must exist but we do not know very well how to understand them or relate to them. Maybe these are people who have a better intuitive relationship to the cause and effects listed in these two chapters than most overt religious professing “believers”.

I believe that it would be well for me to further explore and condense into more clarity the many causes and effects laid out in these passages. Since it seems to be quite important for living in right relationship to God, I would like to know what are the real causes to avoid that trap me into the rut of hypocrisy that I see described in chapter 2. I know that much of the description throughout this chapter is uncomfortably close to describing my experience for much of my life. I want to learn what God has to say to me and receive the counsel that I need to get out of this mode of thinking and into a more vital and vibrant connection with Him.

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