CHAPTER TWO: The Great Principles according to which God's Judgment of Human Action

The Great Principles according to which God's Judgment of Human Action Must Proceed.

1. Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man,--any one judging [others]: for in the very matter in which thou judgest the other man, thou art giving judgment against thy very self: tor the same things thou art practising,--thou who art judging!

WE HAVE TRACED the awful history of the human race in iniquity and idolatry, especially since the Flood, and have seen that fearful indictment of above twenty counts which ends Chapter One.

We now enter upon the greatest passage in all Scripture as to the principles and processes of God in His estimate, or judgment, concerning His creatures. If God is "Judge of all," and if the whole world is to be "brought under the judgment of God" (Rom. 3:19), God will surely take pains to make known the great principles of His action, so that men may know beforehand how He will decide and act. Otherwise, men would "imagine vain things" about the true God, and hug their delusions to their own damnation.

The personal character of God's relations toward men, either in the matter of salvation or of damnation, is rapidly being forgotten by this generation. Yet, if God be God, He must be the Judge of All. Back of the whole revelation of His works and ways, in His Word, is God Himself. And it is only the fool that saith in his heart, "No God." Mark that it is in his heart, his desires, that he speaks; and not in his reason or judgment!

God created man "in His own image." Since we are persons,--so is God. Since we have personal feelings,--so has God.

Now every creature stands in relation to God according to what God is. God cannot change. Daniel Webster, in answer to the question: "What is the greatest thought that ever entered your mind?" said, at once, "My responsibility to my Maker!" You must meet God, and that as He is, not as you might wish Him to be. If you have Christ, you have already met Him! If you have not Christ, you have still to face God in His infinite holiness, and that arrayed against you, at the Judgment Day.

Now this second chapter of Romans deals with those who do not believe that the awful things of the first chapter mean themselves. Consequently, we find two sets of such self-appointed "judges" of others [34] in Chapter Two:

First, Those who discountenance the "openly bad" of humanity, considering themselves "better"--because of race, civilization, environment, education, or culture; and,

Second, Those who discountenance the bad, thinking themselves "better," because of their religion,--the possession of the Divine oracles: these, of course, were, in Paul's day, the Jews (2.17).

Concerning the first class, the "respectable" sinners, who esteem themselves "better," God lays down six great principles of His estimate or judgment of men; and adds a seventh concerning the second class, the "religious" sinners; of whom God declares that the world itself despises inconsistency between practice and religious profession.

Now just because the history of our race has been so black, as shown in