Bible Verse Lookup
Rom 2,5-6
Chapter 2
God’s Judgment
For in judging your neighbor, you condemn yourself, because you practice what you judge.
Therefore, you have no excuse, no matter who you are, if you can judge others. We know that God’s condemnation will justly come upon those who commit these acts,
and do you think that by condemning others, you will escape God’s judgment, you who are doing the same?
This would be taking advantage of God and his infinite goodness, patience, and understanding, and not recognizing that his goodness is meant to lead you to conversion.
If your heart becomes hardened and you refuse to change, then you are storing up a great punishment for yourself on the day of judgment, when God will appear as the just judge.
He will reward each person appropriately based on their deeds.
He will grant everlasting life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality, and who persevere in doing good.
But anger and revenge will be the fate of those who do not serve the truth but rather injustice.
There will be suffering and anguish for anyone who commits evil, first the Jew, then the Greek.
But God will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does good, first the Jew, then the Greek,
because everyone is equal before God.
Those who sin without knowing the law will perish without the law; and those who sin knowing the law will be judged by that law.
What makes us righteous before God is not just hearing the law, but obeying it.
When non-Jews who don’t have the law naturally follow what the law commands, they are essentially creating their own law,
showing that the commandments are written in their hearts. Their conscience also demonstrates this when they judge their actions as right or wrong.
The same will happen on the day when God, according to my gospel, will judge people’s secret actions in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jews and the Law
But suppose you call yourself a Jew: you have the law as your foundation and feel proud of your God.
You know God’s will, and the law teaches you to distinguish what is better,
and so you believe you are the guide for the blind, a light in darkness,
a corrector of the foolish, and the instructor of the ignorant because you possess the true knowledge contained in the law.
Well then, you who teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? If you say that one must not steal, why do you steal?
You say one must not commit adultery, yet you do it! You say you hate idols, but you sneak into their temples!
You feel proud of the law, but you do not obey it, and you dishonor your God.
In fact, as scripture says, the other nations despise the name of God because of you.
Circumcision benefits you only if you follow the law; but if you don’t, it is as if you weren’t circumcised.
On the other hand, if those who are uncircumcised obey the commandments of the law, don’t you think that, despite being pagans, they are making themselves like the circumcised?
The person who obeys the law without being physically circumcised will judge you—who are circumcised and live by the law—yet do not obey it.
External appearances do not define a true Jew, nor is real circumcision simply the one marked on the body.
A Jew must be so inwardly; the heart’s circumcision belongs to the spirit and not to a written law; he who lives this way will be praised not by people but by God.
Chapter 5
Consequences of the New Righteousness
By faith, we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Through him, we receive this favor in which we abide, and we even boast to expect the glory of God.
Not only that, but we also even boast of our afflictions, knowing that afflictions produce endurance,
from which comes character, and character produces hope.
Hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God.
Consider, furthermore, the time when Christ died for us: when we were still helpless and unable to do anything.
Few would agree to die for an upright person; although for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.
But see how God demonstrated his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us;
and we have been made righteous through his blood. Therefore, even more, we are justified now and will be saved from any condemnation.
Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of his Son; with even more reason, now we can be saved through his life.
Not only that, but we also boast in God because of Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom we have been reconciled.
Comparison Between Adam and Christ
Therefore, sin entered the world through one man; and through sin, death. Later on, death spread to all humankind because all sinned.
As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already present in the world.
This is why, from Adam to Moses, death ruled among them, even though their sin was not disobedience like in Adam’s case—this was not the real Adam, but a foreshadowing of the one who was to come.
This has been the fall, but God’s gift extends far beyond it. Everyone died because of one man’s fault, but how much greater is God’s grace when the gift he gave reaches everyone, through this unique man, Jesus Christ.
Again, there is no comparison between the gift and the offense of one man. One sinner committed the disobedience that brought condemnation, whereas the grace of God offers forgiveness to a world of sinners.
If death ruled because of the disobedience of one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive grace and the gift of true righteousness through Jesus Christ!
Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so too, one man’s good act has brought justification and light to all;
and, as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed all to be made just and holy.
The law, introduced later, led to an increase in sin; but where sin grew, grace abounded even more.
Just as sin caused death to rule, grace will reign in its own time. After making us just and friends of God, it will lead us to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Chapter 6
Dead to Sin, Alive with Christ
Then, what should we say? Should we continue sinning so that grace may increase?
Can we live in sin again? Of course not: we are now dead to sin.
Don’t you realize that in baptism, which unites us with Christ, we are all baptized and immersed into his death?
Through this baptism into his death, we are buried with Christ, and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we begin walking in a new life.
If we have been united with him through dying a death like his, then we will be united with him through a resurrection like his.
We know that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the part of us that was sin might be destroyed, freeing us from slavery to sin.
If we are dead, we are no longer in debt to sin.
But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will never die again, and death has no more authority over him.
For, by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now, the life he lives is a life with God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God, in Christ Jesus.
Freed from Sin, Servants of God
Do not let sin control your mortal bodies; do not submit yourselves to its evil desires,
and do not give your members over to sin as tools for evil. Instead, offer yourselves, as people who have been brought back from death to life, and let the members of your body be as holy tools in the service of God.
Sin will not dominate you again, for you are not under the law but under grace.
I ask again: are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not.
If you have surrendered yourselves to someone as his slave, you are to obey the one who commands you, aren’t you? Now, with sin, you face death, and by accepting faith, you follow the right path.
Let us thank God, for after having sin as your master, you have been given to another—the doctrine of faith to which you listen willingly.
And, free from sin, you began to serve true righteousness.
You see that I speak in a very human way, considering that you are not fully mature. There was a time when you allowed your members to be slaves to impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; now, convert them into servants of righteousness, leading them toward holiness.
When you were slaves to sin, you did not feel obligated to righteousness;
but what were the results of those actions, of which you are now ashamed? Such things lead to death.
Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit and growing in holiness, and the result will be everlasting life.
So, on one side is sin: its reward is death; on the other side is God: He grants us eternal life by grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentaries
God’s Judgment.
Paul addresses his own people. Previously, he had spoken to the pagans in the third person; now he speaks directly to them in the second person, framing it as a debate by imagining a Jewish opponent whose objections he quotes to refute. It appears this Jew had been listening, with an air of self-confidence and approval, to Paul’s earlier condemnations of paganism. As a result, Paul tries to make this person see that he has no special privilege or advantage when it comes to God’s judgment, because everyone—pagan or Jew—will be judged according to their deeds. After all, the law that the Jews boast about is written in everyone’s heart, regardless of religion. The human conscience acts as a law (cf. Prov 6:23). The ultimate goal of the Apostle is to show that both pagan and Jew stand equally before God’s judgment, which is executed through Jesus Christ. Only by recognizing our shared sinfulness can we open ourselves to God’s saving initiative.
Jews and the Law.
Paul continues his imaginary discussion with the Jew, now addressing his claims and supposed religious privileges. The tone becomes more polemical, even aggressive. Paul mentions the three core privileges that, like protective walls against other people, made the Jews a chosen, exclusive, blameless people… The first is the privilege of race: “you who are called a Jew” (17); the second is the Law, or “the sum of the knowledge of the truth” (20); the third is the mark of exclusivity: “circumcision” (25). He then proceeds to dismantle each of these bastions of self-segregation and privilege. He does so by confronting his imaginary interlocutor with his historical past of transgressions and sins, despite the Law, circumcision, and all the religious-ideological trappings with which they have surrounded themselves. He tells them that they are just as ignorant, just as thieves, just as adulterers, and just as temple looters as the uncircumcised pagans. Moreover, he adds that there are decent and honest pagans who could serve as their judges (27). Let us replace “Jews” with all those who make their religion, the color of their skin, their race or nationality, their money, their social position, their ecclesiastical or civil office, an instrument of privilege, discrimination, or oppression, and we will understand the Apostle’s intention. To all of them, symbolized in his imaginary Jewish interlocutor, he is preaching the Gospel of God’s wrath.
Consequences of the New Righteousness.
Another section of the letter begins. Legal language takes a back seat to a more ethical one. The prominence of love replaces the dominance of divine justice. There is no longer any distinction between Jews and pagans. Paul now addresses the Christian community. He explains what this “justification” consists of, which we receive as a gift from God through Jesus Christ. With peace and hope, Christians do not avoid or shy away from the hardships and suffering of the present life, whether those inherent in the human condition or those caused by following Christ. Instead, they accept them with responsibility, patience, and endurance, knowing that, in the end, the power of life will triumph over the powers of death. What seems unbelievable to our human capacity is not so for the unconditional and infinite love of God revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Comparison Between Adam and Christ.
Paul now explains the freedom from sin and death through a grand comparison between Adam and Christ. Adam is the origin of sinful humanity. This isn’t about personal sins but about our mysterious participation in the original sin of the first man, regardless of individual actions. We all inherit Adam’s sin and, as a result, death, “since all have sinned” (12). However, this idea of “original sin” can only be understood in relation to the reality of corporate solidarity, which connects humanity to Christ’s redemptive act. Paul then introduces the other central figure in human history, the one he cares about most: Christ. But these two figures are not equal. In fact, there’s no real comparison because the dominance of Adam in crime and death is entirely overshadowed by the abundance of the gift and “favor of one man, Jesus Christ” (15). When the Apostle compares them by describing Adam as a “figure” of Christ, it’s mainly to emphasize the stark contrast between the two. St. Augustine famously captured Paul’s startling message with a provocative statement: “O happy fault!” -Blessed Sin- that has brought us such a Savior.
Dead to Sin, Alive with Christ.
Paul is realistic and recognizes that sin has not yet been eliminated from the world; that is why he describes inclusion in Christ through baptism as a process that has already started. With bold metaphors, in which he vividly expresses his passion as an apostle, Paul views the baptized as part of the same redemptive act of Christ: consecrated to the Messiah and buried with him in his death (4), grafted into his resurrection (5), with their old human nature crucified and their status as slaves abolished (6), ending with the final exhortation: “consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (11).
Freed from Sin, Servants of God.
Because they live in mortal bodies, Christians remain vulnerable to sin, which must dominate and subdue them. Unlike Greek thought, which viewed the body and material world as evil, Paul affirms the unity of the person and that the body can and should be used by God as a force for good (13). The Christian life involves an ongoing tension between sin and God. There is no middle ground, no room for neutrality, or as the proverb says, “you cannot serve two masters.” “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Mt 12:30). Paul illustrates this tension with the most potent image he has—one that he knows will resonate with his readers: the image of slavery. Many Christians in Rome were likely actual slaves. Two types of slavery are presented to Christians as choices in life: slavery to sin or slavery to Christ. Sin leads its servants to death. In contrast, “obedience” to Christ—where he no longer refers to slavery—results in salvation and, through it, life.