In order to understand Paul’s connection between Romans chapter 1 and chapter 2, we must recognize the connecting word “THEREFORE” at the beginning of chapter 2. “THEREFORE” is a logic-connector word and forms a conclusion or a summation that brings the thoughts in the previous section in chapter 1 to a logical summation. Paul’s concluding thought of chapter 2 is that "no one is without excuse when God renders His judgment, because God shows no partiality" (2:6, 11). So, let’s review chapter 1 and see what took place in chapter 1 that causes Paul to come to this conclusion?
In chapter 1, Paul claims that he is IN NO WAY ashamed of the gospel of which the Christian community to whom he writes thinks he ought to be. He is IN NO WAY ashamed of the gospel for two reasons.
First, Paul is unashamed because the gospel message has been distorted in content and he wants to reclaim the true contents of the gospel. Instead of the supposed elevated state of the Jews in their own eyes and the supposed “rejected” state of Israel in the eyes of the community (11:1, 2, 15), Paul has stated that all people made righteous will receive salvation through faith. This we have called "salvific righteousness" and we have seen in previous blogs that Paul tells us in 1:16-17 that salvific righteousness is the power of the gospel and that this power has always been available both to the Jews first, and is then made available to the Gentiles.
Second, Paul is unashamed because the gospel behavior has been distorted (1:27) and he wants to reclaim the true behavior expected from the gospel. So Paul is eager to unashamedly preach it to them (1:15) because, by the shameful acts (1:27) of the Roman Christians, the gospel is being distorted (1:18-32), and God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (2:24), and Paul would like to address the matter.
It should be no surprise that Paul, up to this point in his letter, has been talking to Jewish Christians (2:17). His mention of the Messiah, prophets, holy scriptures, David, and even the idea of a descendant of David (1:1-3) is thoroughly Jewish in tone. Also Paul makes it clear in 7:1 that he is speaking to those who know the law indicating at the least Judaizers and nationalistic Jews at best.
It is also very interesting to note that the two most frequently reoccurring words in the letter are the words “Law,” used 74 times, and “Messiah,” used 65 times, both words specifically Jewish in nature which may be an indication of the Jewish background of his readers.
However, in addition, in 1:5a, when Paul says that he desires “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,” he specifically mentions the Gentiles as the target to whom his gospel is intended. And to keep in tone with the rest of his letter, he follows up that target statement with an inclusion statement in 1:5b saying, “including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
It is possible to say that 1:5a Paul is attempting to encompass the Romans into his circle of Gentiles and the “including you” phrase could be understood as “including you Roman Gentiles” as well. However, if so, how do we explain the Jewish verbiage in 1:1-3? It seems easier to ask, “To whom else, in the context of Roman culture of the day could he be referring?” Also Paul tells us clearly in 11:13 that he is speaking specifically to Gentiles.
Or here Paul using this inclusion statement here, could be making a clear distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles.
In any case, it is obvious that both Jews and Gentiles populate the Roman audience to whom Paul writes.
All this is to say that in 1:18-32, context seems to indicate that Paul could very well be speaking to Jewish Christians as those who are dishonoring God by their shameful acts. He is establishing an important fact for his readers, i.e., even Jewish Christians sin, as he is moving in the direction of proving his broader point; that by suppressing the truth, all will undergo God’s righteous judgment, both Jews and Gentiles and He starts with the Jews.
So, chapter 1 is about the power of the gospel for salvation of all, to the Jew first and then the Greek/Gentile because, by suppressing the truth, all will be undergo God’s righteous judgment, both Jews and Gentiles because God shows no partiality (2:11).
In chapter 1, Paul has already introduced the notion that the Jews are the ones who are suppressing God’s truth by their unrighteous, shameless acts, and that it is the Jews whom God gave over to their own ungodly passions. He tells us that when the gospel truth is suppressed by unrighteous deeds (1:27), then God’s glory is also suppressed. Paul is eager to preach to the Romans so he can correct their bad behavior, because instead of their lifestyle being a beacon to understanding God's glory, i.e. “the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience” (2:4), they instead practice (1:32), the dishonoring of God (1:24, 26; 2:23).
THEREFORE, in Romans 2, Paul makes the summation that it very clear that that everyone is held accountable to God (even Jews) and He “will render to each one His righteous judgment” (even Jews), some destined for eternal life (2:7), others destined for wrath.
Just as Paul clearly states in Romans 1:16 that the gospel provides salvation for everyone, he clearly states in 2:16 also that the gospel provides judgment to everyone; Jew and Gentile, those with the Law and those without the Law, those circumcised and those uncircumcised, those who keep the Law and those who do not keep the Law. Paul’s point is that “no one is without excuse” (2:1), not even the Jews and therefore, all will be under the judgment based on the gospel, the Jews first and then the Gentiles because god shows no partiality (2:11).
THEREFORE, Paul now in chapter 2 concludes that because God shows no partiality (2:11), the Jewish Christians do not have an excuse for their actions in the face of God’s judgment just as the Gentiles do not have any excuse for their actions in the face of God’s judgment. “God will render His righteous judgment to each one according to his works” (2:5-6), both Jews and Gentiles.
Again, one must understand the importance of the connecting-word used in this chapter at the beginning of verse 11, “For.” As mentioned in previous blogs, the word, “For,” is a grammatical connector indicating a result-reason relationship between two connecting sentences. So, in this case verses 1-10 and verse 11 should be read together, with verse 11 being the reason (God shows no partiality) for what Paul says in verses 1-10 (God will render His righteous judgment to each one).
So, the letter to the Romans is in a major way, a corrective to the entire Roman church, populated with both Jews and Gentiles at the time of Paul’s writing. Paul believes that the power of the gospel is salvific righteousness that should lead to believers “performing deeds in keeping with repentance” (Acts 26:18). He also believes that when believers live out the gospel truth (salvific righteousness), God’s glory abounds (3:7).
Paul’s greatest concern here is that “God’s truth abounds to His glory” (3:7). And since Paul does not believe the Jewish Christians in Rome are living out “the truth (salvific righteousness) of the gospel” and not “performing deeds in keeping with their repentance”, he is writing to re-establish the truth of the gospel; that all have sinned, even the Jews, and because He shows no partiality, He will render His righteous judgment to each one, to the Jews first, then the Gentiles; to those with the Law first, then to those without the Law; to the circumcised first, then to the uncircumcised.
But in speaking directly to the Jewish Christians in 2:5-6, Paul says, in reference to 1:18-32,
“because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one…”
and Paul is letting the Jewish Christians know that God’s righteous judgment to each one starts with them “on that day when, according to his gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” (2:16)
In my next blog we will continue with Paul pressing his point that “God Makes No Distinction" – all have sinned and fall short of His glory, even the Jews.