Romans 2:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

On the basis of both doctrine and deeds, the Apostle has proved the great sin of the whole world. Though men were wise and had the world as their guide, they not only abandoned God, but chose likenesses of reptiles instead of Him. They dishonored virtue, yielded to vice according to the impulse of nature, and even rose up against nature itself.

Therefore he finally proceeds to prove that all who do such things will be punished. Yet while speaking about the deeds themselves, he had already mentioned the punishment, saying: "receiving in themselves the recompense which was fitting for their error" (Rom 1:27).

But since they do not feel this recompense, the Apostle announces another, which they especially feared. Yet he had already disclosed this punishment also. When he says, "the judgment of God is according to truth" (Rom 2:2), he is speaking of nothing else but this very punishment.

Moreover, he again confirms his word by other, stronger arguments, saying: "Do you think this, O man, you who judge those who do such things and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?"

You did not escape your own judgment. Will you escape God's judgment? Who can say this? Certainly you condemned yourself. But if the severity of this tribunal is so great, and you could not spare yourself, how will God, who is sinless and boundlessly righteous, not do so all the more?

Or have you condemned yourself, while God will approve and praise you? What sense could that have? Certainly you yourself deserve greater punishment than the one whom you condemned. It is not one and the same thing simply to sin, and after punishing another sinner, to fall into the same sin yourself.

Do you see how the Apostle has increased the guilt? If you, he says, punish a lesser sinner, while you yourself do not cease to defile yourself with sins, how will God, who is never a partaker of sin, not condemn and accuse you far more? You are already condemned by your own thoughts.

And if you say that you acknowledge yourself worthy of punishment, but because of God's long-suffering you neglected correction, and because you were not punished immediately after the transgression, you even had hope in God's mercy, then know this. Because of this very thing you must fear and tremble most of all.

The Lord delays punishment not so that He may never punish, but so that, if you remain incorrigible, He may punish with greater severity. May this never happen to you. Therefore the Apostle adds: "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, gentleness, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

If, after creating the world, God then rejected it, He would be a poor Creator. By this rejection He would show that what He created was bad. But since it is impossible to deny that what He created is good, for it is unworthy and impossible for the One who is good to create evil, one must say that He cares for what He created.

It would be a crime and dishonor for Him not to care for the good He created. All life is directed by His command and providence, and all parts of the world serve Him. The Lord Himself says: "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Mt 5:45).

Therefore, when He does all this, will He not care for what He created? Will He not give reward to those who love Him and condemnation to those who reject Him?

The teaching that each will be recompensed according to his deeds was not unknown even to the Gentiles. But it was fully revealed to the Hebrews, and still more clearly to Christians. Therefore the apostolic rebukes, though they mainly concerned the Roman rulers and the Jews, also apply to Christians. Like them, Christians seek various excuses to justify their negligence concerning salvation.

The Gentiles reached such audacity that they not only fearlessly did shameful deeds themselves, but also praised others for them. For example, writers praised the impious Roman emperors. But the Jews and some Christians fell into another delusion. They condemned others for evil deeds but did not try to avoid them themselves. They seemed to forget that they would equally fall under condemnation.

Perhaps they thought that God would deal more leniently with them, as persons closer to Him. They did not know that God endures His chosen ones only in order to give them the opportunity to repent. "God shows His mercy so that you may be freed from sins, not so that you may add new ones. If you do not do this, the punishment will be more dreadful," says Chrysostom.

"You have not escaped your own judgment, and will you escape God's judgment? Who will say this? You have condemned yourself. Such is the severity of this tribunal that you could not spare yourself. Will God, who is sinless and righteous, not condemn you far more? Or have you condemned yourself, while God will approve and praise you? How is this possible? For you deserve greater punishment than the one whom you condemn. To punish, or condemn, another for sin and then fall into it yourself is already more than simply to sin. Do you see how much the Apostle has increased the guilt? If you, he says, punish, or condemn, for a lesser sin, while you yourself do not cease to defile yourself with sins, will God, who is never a partaker of sin, not all the more condemn and accuse you for far greater offenses, since you are already condemned by your own thoughts?" (Chrysostom).

At this point someone might think: I have already sinned much, yet I do not see that God punishes me. He will not punish me then either. The Apostle forestalls this thought, saying: