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It will be seen by the words quoted from Rom. 2: 17-20, that the Jew not only made
great claims for himself, but spoke with emphatic judgment against the Gentile. This,
which the Jew thought his strong point, proved his overthrow, for the apostle brings to
light a solemnizing truth, namely, that the clearer our judgment is against the
shortcomings of others, the higher, necessarily, the standard must be by which we
ourselves shall be judged. This, moreover, is aggravated by the fact that the Jew, while
condemning the Gentile for breaches of the law, himself was responsible for similar
breaches, and, like David before Nathan, uttered his own doom. The apostle here is
stripping the false covering of privilege, both by his argument in Rom. 2: 1-3, and by the
definite statement which is axiomatic the world over: "there is no respect of person with
God" (Rom 2: II).
At the beginning and ending of this section we have a three-fold reference to judging
(the verb krino), followed by a statement concerning the judgment (krima) of God:
"Whoever judges another is inexcusable." The apostle had been " an Israelite," and
having been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel he was swift to anticipate the cavils of his
Jewish antagonist, which might be presented somewhat as follows:
You say Paul, that whosoever judges another is inexcusable and condemns himself. You stress the whosoever to
the breaking down of distinction and privilege, but do you not see that by so doing you must therefore include God
Himself? He too must stand before the bar and be judged.
Instead of meeting this specious argument with a swift and passionate denial, the apostle
quietly assents to the main contention. In Rom. 3: he says, in effect:
Within certain limits I agree that your words contain a deeper truth than you are aware. God Almighty could
withhold any account of any of His matters. In some things He does, but not in the matter of judgment. David
acknowledged that God would ever become victorious when His judgments were questioned. Not because of His
MIGHT, but because His judgments are RIGHT.
So concerned is God that no suspicion should lurk anywhere concerning His
righteousness, that He is at pains to justify Himself in connection with passing over the
sins of the past. He will not have His forbearance misinterpreted (Rom. 3: 25). The God
of Israel challenges them, saying: " Are not My ways equal?" (Ezek. 18: 29). The point
of the case is that although God's judgments will be subjected to the most patient
scrutiny, yet will He always triumph, and Israel will immediately collapse, " For thou that
judgest doest the same things" (Rom. 2: I). In God's case He is not unrighteous Who
taketh vengeance, for how then could He judge the world?
In case any reader should object to this rather free use of the Name and Person of
God in this argument, we would direct his attention to the end of Rom. 3: 5 (" I speak as
a man ").
" The judgment of God is according to TRUTH" (Rom. 2: 2).
This stands in contrast with prosopolepsian of verse II, the respect of persons which
is denied. God has further manifested the utter impartiality of His judgment in the fact
that
"He hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath
ordained, whereof He hath given assurance (margin, offered faith, i.e., good faith) to all, raising Him from among the
dead" (Acts 17: 31).
.
"The judgment of God is RIGHT" (Rom. 3: 8).
The A.V. reads, "whose damnation is just." It is an entire repudiation of the casuistry
of the Jew contained in the false charge: "Let us do evil that good may come" (Rom. 3: