Dr. Kevin DeYoung | To Each One According to His Works

Sunday Morning, May 3, 2026

Given by Dr. Kevin DeYoung | Senior Pastor, Christ Covenant Church

To Each One According to His Works
Romans 2:6-10

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Let's pray once more. 

Gracious heavenly Father, help us now as we come to your Word. Most of us have heard sermons before. Some of us have heard a lot of sermons before, but we pray that by your Spirit, you would come and preach this message, whether familiar theme or new insights, would come and preach it to us with fresh vigor and energy and conviction. May I decrease, may Christ increase, and may you work so mightily in our midst, in our hearts, that, seeing our sin, we would come to Jesus, that great friend of sinners. We ask in his name. Amen. 

Our text this morning is from Romans as we work our way slowly but steadily through this greatest letter ever written, and this morning, look at verses 6 through 10 of Romans chapter 2. We'll save little verse 11 for next week. Romans chapter 2, beginning at verse 6. 

“He will render to each one according to his works. To those who, by patience in welldoing, 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.” 

The imagery here in this paragraph, and it began in chapter 2, is obviously the imagery of the courtroom. We actually have a fairly good picture of what a typical Roman judicial proceeding might look like, because there are lots of them with both the Jews and before the Romans in the New Testament. One of the things that we can fail to realize is though they had Roman soldiers, they didn't have a police force, per se. They didn't have the police come and knock on your door or be able to stop you in your chariot and then arrest you and bring you before the judge. It was the responsibility – and I'm glad it's not this way any longer – it was the responsibility of the plaintiff, the one who wanted to press charges, to apprehend the defendant and bring him before the tribunal. This makes sense of why they had to come to Jesus, and there was a sign from Judas, and at night or early in the morning when he was betrayed, he came with a band of soldiers, and they arrested him, and they brought him before the Sanhedrin. Or you think of in Acts 6 and 7, Stephen is seized and brought before the council. Or in Acts 21, Paul is in the temple, and he's arrested, and he's brought before the council. Then he goes up the ladder of various Roman officials. 

It was a rather simple procedure. You would come before whatever the magistrate was. For the Jews, there was the Sanhedrin, the council, and for the Romans, it might start with a local official or a governor, and you could appeal, if you were a citizen like Paul, all the way up to Caesar himself. So, there wasn't a judge per se, someone with a black robe and sitting behind a bench, but there was the governor, and he was there to give a verdict. And as the defendant was brought in – very simple proceedings – there would be those who would lay their case against the man or the woman, the people. So, in Acts chapter 24, for example, while Paul is giving his case before Felix, the governor, and he's there at one of the royal palaces in Caesaria, there are these men who have come all the way from Jerusalem to press their case against Paul, and there's one, a spokesman – we can think of him as the lawyer; Tertullus is his name given in Acts – who is laying the case against Paul, and then Paul is able to give his defense. That was likely the only way you had. The Romans tried to have a fair trial, but you were there to give your defense, which is why it was so striking when Jesus is brought before his accusers and his trial, and he dares not open his mouth. He was a dead man. 

So, this is a scene that would have been familiar to Paul's readers, whether they had been in a courtroom or not. So, we have the imagery of a courtroom. Now this is important because it's so dominant for much of Romans, and because sometimes you have Christians of other kinds of traditions who say, “Well you're doing too much to have this courtroom imagery,” or “Your idea of salvation is too forensic (that is, legal) in nature, and this is just something that the reformers imposed upon it.” Or maybe this is the result of being too western or too influenced by Roman laws. No, this is Paul's fault. This is why it's here. Paul describes, as he brings forward his case against Jews and Gentiles, he depicts a scene that is legal in nature, a courtroom. And beginning in chapter 2, we see the first problem is that this man who is there in the courtroom thinks he's the judge. That's the first problem. When he has accusations against him, but he thinks he's the judge. The second problem is that he condemns other people for doing the very same things that he does. So, there's no excuse for him, this imaginary conversation partner, this individual Jew that Paul has in mind as he is presenting his case, his indictment against all humanity. 

So, God, we see, is the judge. This man who fancied himself the judge is going to face God's judgment. Why? Paul is marshalling this case against him. One, because he knows what is wrong. Two, he does what is wrong. Three, he refuses to repent. And four, his heart is hardened. So, the scene that Paul is laying out before us, and it will be the dominant image here, heading through this chapter and into the next chapters, is of a judge and a guilty defendant and a judgment to come. So, having laid out this scene now, in this paragraph, Paul wants to zero in on the nature of this judgment, and he gives a one-sentence summary. Look at it there in verse 6: “God will render to each one according to his works.” We find the exact same language in Psalm 62:12. You could translate the verb here, which the ESV has as “render” – it's a good translation – you could also translate it as “repay.” How does God, the righteous judge, as each one – notice this is an individual judgment. We'll say more about that next week. You do not get to come in with your whole church. You do not get to come in with your family and your grandma to make a case for you. Each one will stand before God's judgment. And how does God, the righteous judge, make his judgment? Verse 6 tells us he repays everyone according to his works. Now, immediately you ought to have a lot of questions in your mind. Well, didn't we already see in chapter 1:17, this righteousness of God is Christ's righteousness that will be credited to us? And aren't we coming, in chapter 3 and 4, to all of this glorious justification celebration? Yes, we are. 

So, what does Paul mean here? Surely Paul is not contradicting what he's going to say in the rest of the book. You don't need to go to seminary to have this very foundational, interpretive principle. The authors of the Bible were not dumb. Just start there. They weren't dumb. They didn't say one thing here, and then a few paragraphs later, they say the opposite. So, what does Paul mean when he says God will repay each one according to his works? This puts us at a major interpretive fork in the road. Yogi Berra said, "When you see a fork in the road, take it.” Well, which way do we go? There are two very different ways to understand this paragraph, verses 6-10. Now, here's the good news. The difference in these interpretations – there's two good interpretations I'm going to lay out – the difference will not alter your overall theology. So, this is not where you end up for the rest of your life in all of your theology. This is not that kind of watershed moment for your whole systematic theology, but it is a very key difference in how to understand this particular paragraph, and it does have, to a lesser extent, some bearing on how we make sense of the rest of what Paul is doing in chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20. So, this is the first time – we are 11 sermons into Romans, and certainly there's lots of disagreements all along the way – but this is the first time where the commentaries (and I mean the good commentaries – I don't have time to read a bunch of bad commentaries. I check those once in a while to just see if I need an illustration of something to say) – but normally when I preach through a series, you know, I find that the commentaries all start saying a lot of the same things, and you find the four to five that are the best ones, and those are your conversation partners each week. But here, with Romans, trying to be more comprehensive and since going somewhat slowly, I've been looking at about 15 to 20 commentaries each week, and the interpretive division is just about 50/50. And these are good, evangelical, mostly Reformed commentaries. And the position that I'm going to argue for – just spoiler alert, it's going to be the second one; that usually happens when the pastor lays out the arguments, although once in a while, you got to pay attention, I might put it first or in the middle, but it's going to be number two – is the slight minority opinion. However, it's more represented among the older commentaries, which does count for something in my book. 

So, what are these two views, this fork in the road in how to understand this paragraph? Here's view number one. Judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace. So, one way to understand verses 6-10 is to see that Paul is talking about a judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace. Now, what does that mean? What it means, by the many good people who adhere to this interpretation, is that our works, on the day of judgment, will be a confirmation – listen carefully to these words – a confirmation of God's grace. They will be spiritual fruit, not the gospel root, but the spiritual fruit, that our works on the day of judgment will be the public evidence of a private faith. Justified by faith alone, but this is a public acquittal, and so, what evidence will there be for the private faith, for the belief that you have in your heart? There must be something publicly to display, that grace has flown in you, because we can see grace flowing out of you. It is a judgment according to works. Now, look at that language there in verse 6, because this is very important. This interpretation, which I'm saying is – there's good reasons for this interpretation; many fine exegetes who conclude it – but I want you to pay attention to the language “according to his works,” because there are some – and I'm saying this is a bad interpretation, sort of a variation on view one. That's bad. So, if you want to say view three or something, but just so you understand, “according to” language is important. Let me just say, as an aside, I hope that we, of all people – I don't care if the rest of the world doesn't care about prepositions, we care about prepositions. We care about words. You can't be a good theologian. You can't be a well-taught Christian if you don't care about some precision, some categories, some prepositions, and some words. So, there's a difference between saying there is a final judgment according to works, and there is a final judgment based on works. “According to” means in line with, in conformity with, attested by. There's a judgment according to works, where your works attest the faith that you profess. That's different language than to say there is a judgment on the basis of works. “On the basis” would mean founded upon, established by, rooted in, some way determined by your works. 

There is a well-known New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright (his initials aren't New Testament, but that's convenient) – N.T. Wright, who is well known, at least as you go to seminary or perhaps read some of these things, for being part of the forefront of something that came to be called the new perspective on Paul. It was really at its high point about 20 years ago when I was in seminary, so now it's the not quite as new perspective on Paul, and I would say it's still not as good as the old perspective on Paul. But N.T. Wright uses that language interchangeably at times – “in accordance with” and “on the basis of” – and it's a problem. For example, N.T. Wright says in one book, “Paul has spoken in Romans 2 about the final justification of God's people on the basis” – hear the language? – “on the basis of their whole life.” He says in another book that there is a present justification and a future justification, and he says about Romans 2:1-16 that this is about the future justification, which “will be on the basis of the entire life a person has led in the power of the Spirit” – that is, it occurs on the basis of works in Paul's redefined sense. Now, this is a very smart man – you say, “How can he say that it's on the basis of works, because Paul's going to say that works don't save?” Well, that's why he says “in a redefined sense,” because N.T. Wright and that school of thought say, “Well, it's not the Jewish kind of works. It's a different kind of works.” But notice the language he says there – on the basis of the whole life lived. So, when our seminary students go before the presbytery to get examined – they take this very seriously; they study long – they usually get some sort of question about what do you think about the new perspective on Paul? There's a related theology that came through called “federal vision,” and we train them really well. The first thing you say is, “I don't like it.” Once you say that, then you can explain why (presuming you don't – you got to be honest, of course). But whether you've heard of any of this or not is quite immaterial. Simply to say that there is a different way of viewing this judgment according to works, which is a judgment on the basis of works, that you would stand before – it would be your whole life. Now, it's not quite, you know, meriting and earning, so they want to put some finer points on it, but that's not what I mean by this first view. 

This first view is a judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace – that Paul, in this view, is talking about what the repentant life looks like. He talks about repentance in verse 4. He's not saying that your works are going to be the basis of some future justification, but rather evidence making clear to the world that you were, in fact, given new life in Christ. So, important words to have in your head with this view are things like evidence, corroboration, confirmation, and the best reason to think Paul might be saying this here is because this is a doctrine taught several places in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul says, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." It's the principle from Galatians 6: we will reap what we sow. Romans 14, in this very same letter, he will say, "We will all stand before the judgment seat of God so that each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Our works will be exposed. There will be a day when we will see whether we have built on a firm foundation or, if saved only by the fire, our works appear to be hay, wood and stubble. Jesus often talks about two trees or two ways or two houses, that on the final day your fruit, your path, your foundation will be revealed. Revelation 20: “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And the books were opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” So that passage there is a helpful way to think of it. There's a book of life, chosen by God from the foundation of the world. Your name is written in that book of life, and you who are chosen profess faith in life in a moment in time and embrace Christ. So, there's a book of life. You can't be erased from that. And then on the day of judgment, Revelation 20 says there's books. Okay, your name is in the book of life. Now what evidence do we have to corroborate that this wasn't a mistake? Let's get down the books. 

So, this idea of some judgment according to works, that our deeds will be open for all to see as a confirming piece of evidence, is taught in the Bible, and it's taught in our confessions. Westminster Confession of Faith 33:1 says, “God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world,” and it says, “all persons will appear before Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds and to receive according” – hear that word, according – “to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.” You can think of it like this. If somebody said, "Are good works necessary for salvation?" This is where you need to have careful language. Good works are necessary, but they are not necessary unto justification. They are necessary as a consequence of justification. Not unto justification – “show me your works, that you'll be justified” – but rather, show me your works that you are justified. Or to give you just some more categories, you can think of a justification that is declarative and then a judgment according to works that is demonstrative. It demonstrates this declaration has taken place. So, to summarize this first view, which many fine preachers and scholars hold, Paul, then, would be teaching in this paragraph what he teaches in other places, that if you, transformed by the gospel, seek for glory and honor and immortality, you will be given eternal life, but if you show on the day of judgment that you have not really been transformed by the gospel, you do not obey the truth, you do not live a life marked by righteousness, you will then receive from God wrath and fury. This judgment according to works, as I've tried to carefully circumscribe it, is a biblical idea. The question is whether it is taught in this paragraph, and I want to argue that it is not taught in this paragraph. So, view number one, judgment according to works for the Christian saved by grace. 

Here's view number two: that this paragraph, verses 6-10, is about a judgment according to works that no one can pass. You can helpfully think of this as the Gandalf interpretation. You shall not pass. There is a standard that Paul lays out, and he means to lay it out to bring his readers to the conclusion that this test none can pass (later, chapter 5, we’ll talk about a man who did, a God-man, in his obedience). But insofar as he's thinking of the totality of the human race, fallen and under sin, none can pass. So, what Paul means to do in this paragraph is articulate the standard by which God judges every human being, so that he might convict his hearers that they will not meet the standards. In other words, on this second view – and I'll give you my reasons for it in just a moment – on this view, this paragraph is an indictment, not an exhortation. It is about judgment, not salvation. It is a paragraph about law, not gospel. So, what are the reasons for it? Let me quickly give you three reasons. 

First, look at what comes right before this paragraph. I've already summarized it for you. It's this man who has no excuse, who is presuming upon the patience and forbearance of God, and verse 5, he has a hard and impenitent heart. He is storing up wrath for himself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. So, what comes right before this is a picture of someone who is hard and impenitent and has wrath coming. And so, it stands to reason that Paul is continuing with that argument to say, "And you want to know why wrath is coming upon this person? It's because God, his standard of judgment is to repay everyone according to their deeds." So that's the first reason. What comes right before it? Here's the second reason. What comes right after it? Look at verse 13: “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Now, that we know there's a sense in James that uses similar language – they're being doers of the word, not hearers only. But I don't think verse 13 is about the life of the regenerate Christian who's now obeying God. This is the first time in the epistle that we have the language of justification. Now, we've had the related terms translated “righteous” or “righteousness,” but 2:13 is the first time we have this all-important term “justified.” So it would be strange and confusing for Paul, here in verse 13, to be making the argument knowing what's to come that doers of the law are justified and then having to qualify that in some sense of what he means, about “well, this kind of works and this kind of law and this kind of justification” as merely the demonstration of the declaration at the end. It would be a complete change of course for Paul to suddenly argue here in verse 13 that anyone can be justified by anything that they do. That's coming in verse 13, the first use of “justified.” I think he means there the same thing he means in this paragraph, that 6-10 (especially 7-10) is explaining verse 13. What does it mean to be a doer of the law? It looks like 7-10. And now you tell me how you are going to succeed in being a doer of the law. 

And then the third reason for this interpretation, to see this as an indictment, is because of the larger context. So, what comes right before it, what comes right after it and then the larger context. If you turn back to chapter 1, verses 16-17 are the big theme for the entire book. The gospel, the power of God, the righteousness of God, righteous shall live by faith. There is the answer. And now in verses 18 all the way through chapter 3:20, Paul is laying out the problem for which verses 16 and 17 are the solution. So, the context here – think about where we've been and where we're going. What have we been talking about? We've been talking about the revelation of God's wrath. There's been a repetition of the phrase “without excuse.” He convicted the Gentiles in chapter 1. Now he turns to convict the Jews in chapter 2, leading to the conclusion in chapter 3:10 that no one is righteous, no one understands, no one seeks after God, to bring us to verse 20, that the whole world – or verse 19 – that the whole world will be held accountable, and their mouths will be shut for (3:21) by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. That's the mighty conclusion of this section 1:18 through 3:20. So, in my mind it makes the most sense to think that this paragraph is another plank here in this foundational case he's making about the total sinfulness of the entire human race. 

Here's how one commentator puts it. This is from Robert Haldane. May not have heard of him before. He's a Scottish theologian. He preached in Geneva 1816 to 1819, and he saw many conversions there as he simply lectured through the book of Romans, and then later it was published as a commentary. He says this, “Four: In whatever way these expressions” – he's talking about this paragraph – “in whatever way these expressions may, with certain explanations and qualifications, be interpreted in an evangelical sense” (that is, the first view I laid out, which is an appropriate way of understanding in theology we affirm). He says, “In whatever way you can put the qualifications and caveats to interpret it in an evangelical sense, yet unquestionably, as taken by themselves, and especially in the connection in which they stand in this place, they present the same meaning as is announced in the 13th verse, where the apostle declares that the doers of the law will be justified.” I think verses 7-10 is another way of saying the doers of the law will be justified. God will repay you according to your deeds. Now, here's what you're supposed to think to yourself, as they were supposed to think: “Oh, how is that going to work out?” This is an indictment, because the inclination of the uninstructed human heart is to think about the day of judgment and conclude, “I'm not perfect, but I'll probably be okay.” That's the inclination of the uninstructed, fallen human heart. There's a day of judgment, especially in our modern world, which treats God as such a light and trivial being. 

In his recent autobiography, the Catholic writer – maybe some of you have read him; he's a very prolific Catholic writer – Peter Kreeft acknowledges that when he asked Catholic students at Boston College, where he taught for decades, he would ask them why God should admit them into heaven. He said over 90% began with statements like “I did my best” or “I am a kind person.” Now to be fair, he's saying that those are not good answers. He says that fewer than 10% in his informal survey even mentioned Jesus Christ. Now lest you think, well that's a Catholic problem, it is a human problem. I was talking to a pastor friend of mine this week who was mentioning how he was sharing the gospel with someone. He was using the basic Evangelism Explosion questions, which many of you have used. If you died tonight, why would God let you into his heaven? Or would you – are you confident you – would be in heaven? And what would you say when God says, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” My friend was relaying that the person he was talking to said, “Because I go to church on most Sundays, and I'm basically a good person.” We are kidding ourselves if we think that that is not a very common response in people's hearts, and let's not pat ourselves on the back and break our arm. That's likely what's in some of your hearts. Now, you may be here and know well enough that that's not the answer I should give, but in your hearts when you think about death, and you think about standing before God, and you think about the day of judgment, you think to yourself, “Well, I went to church. I mean, ish. I mean, it got a little worse, but it was okay. Better than a lot of people. And I streamed it when I wasn’t here. I went to church, and I was a pretty good person. Not perfect, of course, not claiming that, but I know a lot of bad people, and I've been pretty good.” Is that what you think? I'm afraid that's how millions of people think. I hope it breaks your heart that that's what our president thinks. I don't even think he thinks the going to church part. Pray for him. Millions of people think, “I'm basically a good person.” These verses are meant to detonate that self-deception, to see yourself in verses 7-10. Notice there is a division. God divides the whole human race, and notice in verse 6, he will render to each one – no group photos. Can't get somebody else, and there are the really super on-fire Christians, and you just photobombed it. Woo! See, I got in. Like when you're on the roller coaster, and the person behind you is doing something crazy, and you got it in the picture. There's no group photos. Each one, each person. 

There's a pattern here: verse 7, the righteous; verse 8, the unrighteous. And then the reverse pattern: verse 9, the unrighteous; and verse 10, the righteous. So, A, B, B-prime, A-prime – that basic order to describe these two outcomes. And notice: two. A whole lot of people who are counting on three or more. There's no talk here of post-mortem second chances, some opportunity to be further purified, or to get the gospel preached to you again, and maybe you can repent then. No, two outcomes. No third way, no other options. No sort of, well I don't know that I can be in that category, but you know, there's probably a dozen different places, and, you know, on a scale I can fit somewhere in there. Two outcomes, and notice how these two outcomes are described. On the one side we have the righteous, and we have a very quick outline of what they do, what they seek, and what they get. What they do: they're patient and welldoing, verse 7, and they do good, verse 10. What they seek: verse 7, they seek glory and honor and immortality, probably meaning they seek the things that are eternal. And then what they get: verse 10, they get glory and honor and peace, and verse 7, they get eternal life. What they do, what they seek, what they get. 

And then we have, on the other side, the wicked. And we also see what they do, what they seek, and what they get. What they do: they do not obey the truth, verse 8; they obey unrighteousness, verse 8; and they do what is evil, verse 9. What they seek (see the pattern?): they seek self. They're self-seekers. That is, instead of seeking the glory that is above, seeking the things of God, they seek their own glory. They are vain. They are selfish. They are self-centered. They live their life, and instead of having God as the center of that story, they are always the leading actor or actress, the very center of their own story, and God can play a supporting role. They’re self-seeking, and what did they get? Verse 8, wrath and fury; tribulation and distress, verse 9. And Paul says, then, salvation began with the Jews and then to the Greeks, the Gentiles, and now he says judgment also will begin with the Jews and then to the Gentiles. It is the same standard. This is the argument I think Paul is making. He wants us to despair. He wants you to reach the conclusion, “I do not want to face a judgment according to my works” (perhaps better said “on the basis of my works”). You're going to have someone even more fastidious than Tertullus, who accused Paul in Acts chapter 24. And as you are brought before God and his holy judgment seat, and you stand there by yourself, and there is someone, perhaps the devil himself, and many people from your life, perhaps, to add to his account, and runs through the checklist. Let's see. Patient. Patient and welldoing. Have you sought, above all else, day after day, to live a life of glory and honor and immortality? And the accuser will say, “This one has surely – she has not done what is good. I have a long record of the many, many days – in fact, every day – where she did not do what is good. Now I don't think she's measuring up here to the righteous side.” What about the unrighteous? Well, has he been selfish? Has he ever sought, has he lived his life thinking with the thoughts that most naturally come into his brain? Have they been about him? About his needs, his wants, his hurts, his desires, how everything relates to him? Has he pursued in a hundred different ways, week after week, his own glory? “Oh yes, this person, this man, has disobeyed the truth. He has obeyed unrighteousness. Your honor, he has not treated you as you deserve. And your honor, you know what the multitude cannot see. You know even what's in his heart. You know where his browser has been. You know what sort of machinations and desires have been in his heart ever since he was young and have continued, even into old age. You know that this one has done evil.” 

Doug Moo, in his commentary – one of the best – says about this standard of judgment, “It is a continual seeking after eternal rewards accompanied by a persistent doing of what is good that is the condition for a positive verdict at the judgment.” That's the standard. This is beyond a statement of merely confirming works, to reap what you sow. This is a deliberate, detailed explanation of what God will be looking for on the day of judgment. And Paul means for it to be an indictment. This is not yet about sanctification, because he's not yet gotten to justification, because he's still laying his case against the whole human race. He's describing those who are doers of the law, because verse 13 says, "You want to be justified? Be a doer of the law." And how's that going for you? Is that it? Is that our only hope? That's what you're meant to be saying at this point in Paul's argument, that I must be a doer of the law? Because I look at verse 7 and 10, and I don't feel like I'm doing very well. We are meant to conclude from this paragraph and from verse 13 that the number of persons in this first category who meet the positive condition for a positive verdict – the number of persons in this category is exactly zero. None of us. The whole theme is wrath and judgment. It's not yet about salvation. 

Now, notice we're just at the beginning of chapter 2. Paul's got the rest of chapter 2. He's got the dramatic rhetorical flourish into chapter 3, and already we ought to be feeling – I hope you're feeling – oh Lord, if I have to be a doer of the law, there is coming for me such wrath and fury and tribulation and distress. You ought to be thinking, “How? How could I stand before this judge by myself? How can I do it?” Until you think that – and I can't make you think that. I can make you understand this. The Spirit has to make you really think it and feel it and embrace it, because until you embrace that reality, Christianity won't make any sense to you. It won't. You’ll leave here Sunday after Sunday, you’ll learn it, and maybe you'll deconstruct later, because you never really got it. This is what you need to get. Here's the starting point: that there's a holy God, and you cannot stand before him. As long as you think in just some little, tiny bit in your soul that well, I’m not Hitler, not Stalin, better than a lot of people. That's not the measurement. That's not what this paragraph says. “And he will render to each one according to his deeds, for those who are better than the worst people who have ever lived, eternal life.” It's not the standard. Patient, welldoing, seeking honor, glory, immortality, obeying the truth, obeying righteousness. The Bible will not make sense to you until you understand that the number of persons who will be justified by doing the law is zero. 

Now, the answer you need – it’s coming in August, but it's also, thankfully, appeared already in verses 16 and 17. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. See, you need good news, because this is, for sinners, a lot of bad news. You need good news, and you need God's power, because left to your own power, it's only bad news. You need a gospel that is the power of God for salvation to what? Not to everyone who does the law, but to everyone who believes. And just as the judgment will be to the Jew first and then to the Greek, so the salvation is to the Jew first and then to the Greek. God has to be a righteous judge. That's his very nature and character. And that is what he is looking for, a complete righteousness, and yours and mine shall not pass. You need an alien righteousness. Ask yourself really, do I believe that this God, the God revealed to us in a chapter and a half of Romans – and there's a lot more to come – do I believe this God exists? Do I believe this scene in chapter 2 will take place? A judgment scene. And if you answer yes to the first question – this God exists, and yes to the second question – this scene exists, then the third question for you – do I believe in my ability to pass the test? You need a standing that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Here's what we need. You and I need a friend. Yes, we're going to have a lot of other language – a mediator and a justifier and a propitiation and a sacrifice. You need, as you stand there alone, you need a friend, and not just any friend – you need a friend of sinners. You need someone who's not ashamed, because if all of my thoughts and deeds were exposed, you wouldn't want me for your pastor. I wouldn't want you in this church probably. We'd all have plenty to be ashamed of. You need one who is a friend of sinners and not ashamed to be called your brother, your savior. We read in the hymn, “Jesus, what a friend for sinners. Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail me. He, my savior, makes me whole.” And then we come to this second verse. If we can put it on the screen, let's sing this: 

“Jesus, what a strength in weakness. Let me hide myself in him. Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing, he my strength, my victory, wins. Hallelujah, what a savior; hallelujah, what a friend. Saving, helping, keeping, loving. He is with me to the end.”

Brothers and sisters, that's what we need. We need a friend of sinners who will keep us and help us and save us to the very end, because your church attendance won't do it. Your nice church clothes won't make a difference. Your supposed obedience will never, ever be enough. You will not pass. But Jesus, and only Jesus. He's enough. Let's pray. 

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your holy Word and for the feast that you're about to give us for poor sick sinners. We ask that you would feed us, as we are empty; you would clothe us, as we are naked; and you would equip us, as we are so often tempted, tried, and failing. And forgive us for Jesus' sake, in whose name we pray. Amen.