Romans 02 Round Two: The Kindness of God

What if the patience you’re experiencing isn’t silence from God, but mercy with a mission? Romans 2 takes us straight into that paradox where justice and kindness meet, and we explore why God’s delay isn’t indifference—it’s an open door for real repentance and a changed life. We unpack Paul’s challenge to the moral crowd and the rebellious alike: knowledge of the law won’t save you, heritage won’t shield you, and hypocrisy only harms the witness. What God seeks is a heart transformed by the Spirit, not a resume of religious moments.

We walk through the chapter’s core movements: God’s impartial judgment, the purpose of divine patience, and the difference between external signs and internal renewal. Along the way, we address a hard question—what about those who haven’t heard?—by tracing Paul’s claim that conscience and creation point to God’s reality, even as we still need the gospel that reveals Jesus clearly. The theme that anchors everything is simple and searching: God’s kindness leads to repentance. That line reshapes how we answer evil, how we view our neighbors, and how we examine ourselves.

Expect a frank look at hypocrisy, a pastoral call to humility, and a hopeful vision of growth. We share stories, clarify end-times confusion without getting lost in debate, and center the big takeaway: everyone needs a Savior, and the Creator has come for us in Christ. If you’ve ever felt smug about your goodness or crushed by your failures, this conversation invites you to step off both ledges and onto grace. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity and hope, and leave a review to help more people find this study. How is God’s kindness inviting you to change today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Today’s Big Idea
• 0:38 Community, Reviews, And Daily Bible Rhythm
• 1:35 Setting Romans In Context
• 3:10 You Judge But Do The Same Things
• 4:15 Kindness That Leads To Repentance
• 5:25 God’s Impartial Judgment Explained
• 6:20 What About Those Who Haven’t Heard
• 8:07 Law, Hypocrisy, And True Circumcision
• 10:45 Everyone Needs A Savior
• 12:20 Prayer And Closing Encouragement

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon, today, Romans chapter two. And if I could give this one a title, it would simply be The Kindness of God. Now it's going to almost seem like a backhanded compliment at some point because it's the kindness of God because in chapter one, we learned about how we have failed from God's grace. Now God's going to do something about it. And we're going to get to that in just a moment. But if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to this on the YouTubes. Make sure on the podcast, my favorites, you are going over there and leaving us a five-star review. You are liking all of this. You're doing all of this. And all of them, I want you to make sure that you're hitting subscribe and hitting follow. Just slap it like a Pentecostal preacher at a revival night. You know what I'm saying? I mean, just just just boom in Jesus' name. Because man, we've got to get this algorithm going to let more people about know about this community that we are building where we are just diving into God's word one chapter at a time. And man, the more we dig, the more we find, which is why you need to make sure you check out the Facebook group. And we are just diving into it every day. And man, there are some great people over there that are doing some wonderful work with some different devotions. And I love it. I love reading it every day. It's awesome. And I can't wait to see what they do with the book of Romans because I mean, literally, the more you dig, the more you find. This one has 29 verses, and all 29 verses could be their own thing. I mean, it is so good. It is so good. Because, as we were saying, the theme of this is that the greatest thing in all creation is that the creator came for us. And that is the good news is that in all of creation, we needed salvation. And the creator came for us. He stepped out of timelessness, he stepped into time and space, and he became one of us, and he saved us from our sin. And that's what chapter one was all about is remember, you had a bad news before you have good news. And what the apostle Paul is doing is he is writing the gospel out ahead of him. Normally, when he would go to a town, he would likely, this is what he would say is he would talk to him about what was going on and what was happening and what the goodness of God was and all the great things. But this particular time, he hasn't had a chance to make it to Rome. So he is sending the gospel message on ahead of him. And this is what he is saying. And so what we're seeing is he is slowly building the gospel one chapter at a time. And you got to start with the bottom and work your way up from there. And so if you didn't feel like we were at the bottom in chapter one, go back and read it again. He's just saying where we as people completely turned away from God and just went crazy town, I mean, crazy, crazy, crazy town and doing all kinds of ridiculousness. And then God shows us his kindness. But it's like kind of, right? Definitely his kindness. But well, let's look and see what it is. So if you have your Bibles with me, you want to open up to Romans chapter two, you got your coffee cup with me, we're gonna dive into Romans 2 and see what God's word would say to us. So if you're ready, here we go. You may think that you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad and you have no excuse. Pause. Who's he talking about? Well, remember when we finished yesterday, he was saying, all the people who practice in homosexuality, which is leaving God's standard of holy sexuality, everyone who are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, boastful, cat lovers. He didn't say cat lovers. He should have, but he didn't say cat lovers. But all those people, those people turned away from God. And it was like shame on them, right? Like they need the gospel. So that's when he starts off here and he's saying, All you people who think, well, I'm not those, okay. Verse one again, you may think you can condemn such other people, you know, just that are bad, but you have no excuse because you're just as bad. When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you're condemning yourself. For you who judge others do the very same things. We know that God in his justice will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the exact same things? He just point all the fingers, right? Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? One of the things that people ask me about all the time is I say, Pastor, why does God let bad things happen? Why, why, why does if there is a good God, then why does he let evil persist? To which my first response is usually, you're right. God should get rid of all evil. Should he start with me or start with you? Because all of us have done bad things. All of us deserve the due just penalty for all of our sins. But all of a sudden, we see a moment where God is saying to us, Do you not see that my patience is my kindness, and my kindness is intended to turn you away from your sin? And that doesn't that doesn't help anybody who's currently suffering because of something bad someone else has done, but it does help us get clarity that first of all, God is always just. But second of all, one of the reasons why God is so patient is the patience is intended to turn people back to Him. Verse 5. But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what he they have done, and he will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after his glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth, and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good, for first the Jew and also the Gentile, for God does not show favoritism. So once again, he is talking about the idea that all throughout God's word, even Jesus said, He said, I'm going away, one day I'm going to return. Depending on your eschatology, some people believe that that is a rapture of the church, and then followed by seven years of tribulation. Other people think that the rapture and the second coming are the same thing, and that that is the moment when the world will be judged. And so no matter what your eschatology, which is uh the study of the end times, no matter what your eschatology is, there will be a time when God will return and everyone will be judged. The book of Hebrews said Hebrews says, it is appointed unto man once to die, after that's the judgment, where you are judged, justly judged, according to whether or not you received Christ and followed his ways, or if you didn't. And so what Paul is saying is, is don't worry, there is going to be a righteous judgment for everyone. Those who are righteous will be judged righteous, those who are unjust will be judged unjust, and it doesn't matter. Everyone gets judged the same. Verse 12. When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God's written law. The Jews who do have God's written law will be judged by the law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God. It's obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles who do not have God's written law show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts are either they accuse them or tell them that they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone, everyone's secret life. Now, this is one of those big questions of what about those who've never heard the gospel? Well, Paul is saying that in God's sovereignty, he makes himself known to everyone. And then when he makes himself known to everyone, they have a choice to choose him or to not choose him. And I've heard this happen in so many different ways. I read a book when I was in seminary of a lady who lived deep in Islamic, uh deep in his an Islamic nation, and she had only heard of Jesus through the Quran, but never as the Savior and as the Lord. Well, one day she started having dreams about a guy named John. And as she got to have this dream over and over again about this guy named John, and she would talk with this guy named John in her dream, she found out that John had a name he was known by, and that was John the Baptist. And this John the Baptist said, You should meet my Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ. And it was amazing how she got a hold of a Bible because she knew of one missionary, and she read the story, and she said, These are the things that John was telling me. This is the Savior and the Christ. And so God showed himself to her in that way. I've heard of uh Native American tribes, First Nation tribes in the United States, that when some of these missionaries would come through, they would talk about the great spirit, and that the great spirit sounded an awful lot like this. Now, is that how God shows himself? I don't know. But what Paul is saying is that in some kind of way, in everyone's life, we don't have to worry about what about those who haven't heard the full gospel account and all of this, but in some kind of way, God makes himself known to them, and they have a choice to choose him or reject him. Let's move on. Verse 17. You who call yourself Jews are relying on God's law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants, you know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for the people who are lost in darkness. You think that you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. You are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don't you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? And he ain't messing around. You commit idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. Now, no wonder the scriptures say that the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you. The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God's law. If you do not obey God's law, then you are no better than the uncircumcised Gentile. And if God's law, if you obey God's law, won't God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's law will condemn you, Jews, for you are circumcised and possess God's law, but don't obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents, or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. The true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law, rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. And this is an indictment against all the religious people who say, Well, because we have the law of God that automatically makes us better than everybody else. And what Paul is saying is, oh, no, no, no, no. Because you can know God and be horrible. What though about Him. What is important is that you obey God's law. I had this uh relative in my life that I didn't know very well, but I was told that this relative knew the Bible frontward and backward, knew everything about God. But it was like one of the worst sinners you can imagine because they knew about God's law and then purposely went another direction. And at the end of the day, this person was absolutely miserable. And so what Paul is saying is, okay, yes, on one side, you have people who don't have access to the law. They're going to be given a choice whether to follow him or not. But for those who do have the law, you're even under a greater situation where you have to know God's word and you have to obey it. So at the end of the day, no one's innocent. Everyone, whether the people who don't have God's law or the people that do but don't follow it, everybody needs a savior because all of us fall short, no matter where we are in life. And so let's bring this to an end. What that means is for us, is two things. Number one is that everybody in our life grows at a different rate. Whether they are a complete, total, don't know God, or the sweetest, like old saint of God you've ever met. Everyone is growing toward God. Everyone is seeking out after God. Everyone has a God-shaped hole inside of them that only God can fulfill. And they're reaching out for Him in their own way. And here's the number two, and that is this then, that if everyone is on their own journey, we should give everyone in our life the grace that we hope to receive. Just like we are trying to get closer to God in our own way, we should honor and dignify that person's pursuit of God as well. Therefore, realize that no matter if it's the complete, total God-hating atheist in your life or the sweet old saint of God in your life, everyone is reaching out and seeking after God. And so in that case, everyone you're going to meet today is on a journey toward God. They're in just a different place. And when we see that, we have a little bit more grace for people because we have no idea what's going on in their life and that they need salvation just like us. And it's the kindness of God that gives us mercy so we can slowly walk toward Him. Let's pray together. Father, thank you so much. That Lord, you see us and you know us, and you're not ashamed of us. God, I pray that today as we go throughout our day, Lord, and we see our kids, we see our spouse, Lord, if we're single, we see people in the classroom, or we see people in our workplace, or or wherever we see people out in the store, help us to see that these are not people to be hated, but they're brothers and sisters to be loved. I don't know where they are, we're not going to know where they are, but we know that you love them. And it's out of your kindness that you're patient with us and with them. And help us to see that we have this one common thread, and that is we all need you, Jesus. We're all under the judgment of sin, and we all need to find that savior. But the greatest news is that the creator of all things came for us. And because of that, we have the good news. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Don't forget, God's word says this in Romans 1:16. I am not ashamed of the good news about Christ. Why? Say it with me. It is the power of God at work in us, saving everyone who believes. Hope you have a good time reflecting about this, and I will see you tomorrow for Romans chapter 3.