NOTES for Rom 2:1-11

The list of “depravities of mind” in the Letter to the Romans is impressive. Perhaps we do not find all of them in ourselves, but we will certainly find some. The apostle Paul says that the voice of conscience condemns all people, regardless of their “religion.” This concerns not so much deeds as an inner orientation toward sin; Jesus says the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus also emphasizes the importance of remaining faithful within our existing relationships rather than seeking new ones. All our indecency and unfaithfulness evaporate when true love moves us.

In denouncing sins, Paul points to the danger for the one who denounces: he risks sinking into the very same sins that he denounces in those around him. And all the more should people who do the very same things they have undertaken to denounce not judge the sins of others. In fact, a person often tends to accuse others precisely of the sins to which he himself is inclined.

Many people might object to this by saying that they condemn because they themselves are not like that. But let us remember how easily Peter fell in a way he did not suppose himself capable of. Persistence in sins, of which Paul writes, may show itself, among other things, in an unwillingness to see one's own sins.

One way of resisting one's own sinfulness can be constancy in good works, and Paul does not simply call for doing them from time to time, but writes specifically about constant doing. Is this possible for human beings? Generally speaking, no. But "what is impossible with men is possible with God" (Luke 18:27).

Paul's words that the one that judges others, has nothing to defend himself (it is in particular like that can be translated literally this Greek word, which in the translation King James Version is transmitted as "inexcusable"), remind the words of the Savior about the Judgment, that each will be judged in the same way he judges the neighbor. But the apostle accentuates here one concrete aspect of the problem connected to the fact that only the one who does not commit what the defendant is charged has the morale right to judge others. At first sight, there is nothing here which could prevent the judgment and the condemnation. Indeed, not all people on earth are thieves, murderers, debauchees or blasphemers.

But Paul, as we see, has another Christian vision on righteousness, which is required from the man, pretending for the Kingdom (and every Christian pretends to it by definition) complete freedom from sin. Of course, according to the not transformed world such kind of request loses any sense. In practice it would end simply in the impunity justified by the principle emitted by Dostoevsky in the mouth of one of his heroes, saying that "everyone is guilty before everyone". That sounds good, but in practice "everyone before everyone" usually means "nobody owes anything before any body". The world not transformed admits the evaluation not of man, but only his concrete act, and asks in particular for such evaluation, an evaluation of a concrete sin or crime committed by man. But the Torah supposes all the same that such an evaluation is given by the righteous man.

And for Paul righteousness is in particular the freedom from sin, because he speaks about the Kingdom, and not about the not transformed world. And nobody of those who seek for the Kingdom cannot boast of such a freedom, because seek for it fallen people. And if we evaluate man and his works from the point of view of the Kingdom, from the point of view that who and to what extent is ready to enter there, it will simply not remain those worthy. Except, of course the Christ Himself, Who came, however, not to judge, but to save. That is why the apostle says that should not judge others the one who commits the same sin of which he condemns. In the Kingdom can judge only the one who has no sin. For others it is better to be more modest. And do not think about the sins of others, but about one’s own salvation.

Reasoning about judgment and condemnation, Paul proceeds from the same thing as the Savior Himself, who called His followers to refrain from judging and condemning their neighbors. The point here is not that we are unable to see another person's sin. The point is that none of us, as human beings, is able to evaluate another person's life in all its fullness. One of the great teachers of the Torah, Hillel, who lived roughly two centuries before the Savior's coming, said: do not judge your neighbor until you yourself have been in his situation. He was speaking only about evaluating concrete actions, but even here he was very cautious and understood that, for an adequate evaluation, one must know the situation in all its fullness and from within. And Christianity is the life of the Kingdom and life in the Kingdom.

And the judgment of which Paul speaks, like the one of which Jesus Himself speaks, is judgment in the Kingdom over an inhabitant of the Kingdom. Absolute judgment. It cannot exist apart from Christ Himself, and even then only at the end of time. For only He alone can see the whole life of a person in all its fullness, and not before the moment when the person himself puts the final point in it; and the final point in any case will be put no earlier than the day of the Last Judgment.

So it follows that any other evaluation of a person's concrete act in one situation or another can be only an evaluation, not a judgment. A qualification of a crime, if it is truly a crime, but not a verdict. This is also because the principle "be in your neighbor's skin before judging" remains in force for Christians. But in this case it means not only being in his situation with respect to a concrete life circumstance, but also being in the fullness of the life of the Kingdom in order to evaluate everything adequately: after all, the issue is an evaluation of a person living in two worlds, in the world not yet transfigured and in the Kingdom at the same time. We usually have no problems with the untransfigured world, but problems may well arise with the fullness of the Kingdom.

The principle here is simple: let the one who is without sin judge. Otherwise the one judging will himself be judged according to the logic of the fallen world, not according to the logic of the Kingdom. The very world where there is no forgiveness for consciously committed sin, but only eternal punishment for it. The point here is not some vindictiveness in God, but that, choosing one or another point of view, one or another way of looking at a person and his life, we thereby choose the measure of the fullness of our own existence. Or, more precisely, having chosen one or another measure of the fullness of our own existence, we decide to evaluate in one way or another the actions of those nearby. And precisely this choice becomes the choice of destruction or salvation. It determines whether in the end we find ourselves in the Kingdom or in the "outer darkness."

This is one of the most frequent human illusions -believe that to judge the sin in other people makes us just. We indeed resist sins; we even fight against sins. And it is written in Holy Scriptures: "reprove them" (Eph. 5:11).

It is comfortable like that to overlook what is written at first there: "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness". It is so easy to forget all which was said by the Rescuer, who kept to Himself the right of judgment (Matt. 7:1-5, Jn. 8:7). The occupation of our soul with the eradication of others’ sins "protects" us from the work of own repentance and gives us the feeling of participating in a good, God’s deed – the salvation of humanity.

Paul's words that God is not partial would seem clear for every believer. And, generally, speaking about it, we mean first of all the incorruptibility of God and His justice. Our expectations of God's judgment are connected first of all with the fact that in His judgment each will receive according to the merit, including the one, who for some reasons managed to avoid a just judgment on earth, also as the one who sought justice from earthly judges and was not able to find it. In other words, we see in God the guardian of justice, as we understand it, such a guardian, who can make what we cannot because the fallen world according to the word of the Savior "lies in evil".

But however the purposes of God, it seems, are completely different. And the notion of justice also. His task is not the restoration of justice, but the salvation of all those, who can be saved. Of course, it is absolutely important here the spiritual and moral choice of man. It is too difficult to save someone who does not find necessary to respect the commandments given by God. And not because God gets angry with such people, but because commandments were never given by God to the people as an exceptionally moral code. They were always first of all, the description of this spiritual way, which led man to God, by deepening and strengthening his relationship with God. Or the way, which, on the contrary, led far away the man from God, if this one chose the way of the violation of the commandments. And it is not easy to save the one who runs far away from you.

And the problem here is not in the fact that God has no possibilities of influencing on those who violate the commandments given by Him, but in the fact that He respects too much the freedom of each of us to save us by force, without our agreement on it. But only if man is ready to leave behind his sin and his opposition to God, if he is ready to be converted and to repent, God accepts him as if he had no sin. God is not the guardian of morality and justice; He is the God of love and salvation.

For him, it is not important who was man, when he sinned, for Him it is important who is the man who addresses Him here and now. And really especially it is not important for God, which views and convictions holds the man who addresses Him. For him, it is not even important if the one who addresses Him is religious or not. One thing is important: how the one who addresses is going to build from now on his life: according to God's will or contrary to it. Indeed, it is only that which defines, if the one who addresses can enter the Kingdom, or will stay outside it, in the external darkness.

There is a notion in the religious psychology such as: the religious anthropomorphism - it is when we judge about God in ourselves, thinking that He is as us and forgetting His own words: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" (Is 55 8). We think, especially in such dazzle that God chooses and distinguishes those who for of some reasons please Him more. But He says Himself that "he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust". No secondary circumstances make us be closer or farther of God, except our personal will and acts. And it is still important for us to remember the context, in which Holy Scriptures pronounce this idea: "every nation on earth that fears God is a delight to Him". What we consider as our merits and advantages: membership in a defined ethnic group, in a defined confession or whatever else - all this also has less importance, quite as the color of eyes and hair. Because there is no respect with God, and a scoundrel is better in nothing than another.

It is not the existence of the law or formal adherence to it that justifies, but its fulfillment; the deeds of those under the authority of the law will be judged by that same law. But why must those who sinned without having the law perish without the law? Is the legal principle “ignorance of the law is no excuse” consistent with the highest mercy?

Paul also answers this question and another one that is constantly asked: what will happen to those who did good deeds without knowing the commandments? They did not know them intellectually, indeed, but the law of conscience lived in their hearts, intelligible to everyone who has not stifled it within themselves. In practice, such people may fulfill the unwritten law more fully than some experts in the written law. It is not said of such people that they do not come into judgment; it is those who have believed who do not come into judgment (Jn 3:18). But at the judgment they will be able to present the good deeds they performed at the prompting of conscience. We do not know what the verdict will be in each individual case, but we believe that the verdict of the One who shows no partiality cannot fail to be just.