Text: Romans 2:1-11 (Key: vs 1) (NIV for all scriptures unless otherwise noted)

¹You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? ⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”^[^a^]⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. ⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹For God does not show favoritism.

Purpose: Don’t judge the sin of others. Those living in glass houses should not throw stones.

I.Intro
1. We are continuing in our series entitled, “Guide to Christian Living”
2. The world sees the church as a place full of judgmental hypocrites
  1. Let’s first be clear, if a parent, teacher, police, etc. gets on you for breaking the rules or the law; that’s not judging
  2. We, in the church are constantly trying to take the gavel from God
    1. In other words, we want to pass judgement rather than waiting on God
    2. This is a message that will challenge us to take a look in the mirror
  3. iii.The question that we will ponder is, “Am I a judgmental person?”
    1. Usually, if you ask your peers or someone close to you that you trust and respect, you will get the real deal
3. There are three checks that I want to pull out of our text today to help us know if we are judgmental people

II.Point #1: Judgmental people accuse others of sins that they are personally guilty of

Romans 2:1-2 – ¹You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
Whenever you see a “therefore” at the beginning of a chapter, you need to go back and see what the “therefore” is there for
1. In chapter 1, Paul calls out over 22 different sins (some of which are just high-level descriptions of a multitude of sins)
Many times, the things that others do that makes us crazy are the personal sins we have (or had) the most trouble with
1. Ex. For me, it is lying
2. After hearing Paul’s words, those in the Roman church may have reacted with disdain towards those who got us into the mess that we are in
3. iii.It is easy to see the speck in someone else’s eye
  1. Matthew 7:1-5 – ¹“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
  2. Try as I might, I have a hard time seeing myself
  3. I don’t have time to judge you
    1. I’ve got my hands full with myself
    2. “I’ve got six months to mind my own business and six months to leave yours alone.”
  4. Notice that Matthew does not say that we should not help our brother get the speck out of his eye
    1. Rather, it says that I should deal with our own issues first, so then I can help my brother
    2. Verse 2 of Romans 2 implies that the reason that we should not judge as God judges, is because He does it according to truth
      1. Implying that we may not have all of the facts before we start judging people
      2. Romans 2:2 – ²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
      3. iii.God’s truth is founded in His love for us and His desire to bring us back to the path of righteousness
        Man’s judgement is to condemn and God’s judgment is to correct and build up
Before we look to judge one another, let’s pull out the mirror (God’s word) and examine ourselves
1. The mirror might just be seeking and accepting feedback of a trusted, Godly, friend or relative

III.Point #2: Judgmental people show contempt for God’s timing

Romans 2:3-4 – ³So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Here is the problem
1. Our judgment is based on our interpretation of the magnitude of sin
2. We forget about the verse 2 of Matthew 7 that we read earlier
  1. Matthew 7:2 – ²For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
  2. Paul asks a profound question in verse 3, “you pass judgment; do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”
When we pass judgement, we are, in essence, saying that we don’t trust God
1. Ex. “God, you are not moving fast enough!” “I want them smited!”
2. Here again is where we forget about our own sins

IV.Point #3: Judgmental people think they are right with God

Romans 2:9-11 – ⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹For God does not show favoritism.
The Jew in Paul’s time felt that since they were God’s chosen people, and since they followed the letter of the law given to them by Moses, they were good in God’s sight
1. In their minds, they then had the right to judge the Gentiles who did not have the law
2. I think that Paul put it very succinctly
3. iii.In their pompous arrogance, the Jews believed that they were right with God because they kept the letter of the law
  1. They felt that they then had the right to judge the Gentiles
  2. The Jews did not realize that being “right with God” was not about your works
    1. Rather, it was about what in your heart

V.Conclusion

The misguided righteousness of the Jews was a hindrance to many around them
1. Just like the Gentiles were looking to the Jews for how to get close to God

“Don’t Judge Me” Carlton McCullough

Share