Principles of God’s Judgment: Deeds (Part 1)

Romans 2:6-10

⁶ who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: ⁷ eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ⁸ but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, ⁹ tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

(Verse 6-10) – Paul here is continuing to talk about “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (v. 5). As mentioned in the previous chapter, “the day of wrath” refers to God’s final judgment of sinful mankind. Peter refers to it as “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:7), and Jude as “the judgment of the great day” (v. 6). Paul explains that it will occur at the second coming of Jesus Christ, “who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1). At that time “the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:7-8).

This final judgment is described in some detail by John:

I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)

Jesus declared that at that time “the Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:41-43). All of history is moving inexorably toward that awful day when the sinful of all ages will “fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

The story is told of an ancient Roman ruler named Brutus the Elder who discovered that his two sons were conspiring to overthrow the government, an offense that carried the death penalty. At the trial the young men tearfully pleaded with their father, calling him by endearing names and appealing to his paternal love. Most of the crowd who had gathered at court also pleaded for mercy. But because of the severity of the crime, and perhaps because being the ruler’s sons made the men even more accountable and guilty of worse treason, the father ordered and then witnessed their execution. As someone has commented about the incident, “The father was lost in the judge; the love of justice overcame all the fondness of the parent.”

God offers Himself as a Father to fallen mankind. He pleads with them to come to Him for salvation through His Son, because He does not want “any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). But one day the opportunity for repentance will end. At that time God will execute His perfect judgment even more inexorably than that Roman ruler.

The first three of the six criteria God will employ in final judgment were discussed in previous devotionals. The second three are deeds (Rom. 2:6-10), impartiality (vv. 11-15), and motive (v. 16).  Although it is simple and straightforward, this passage embraces several truths that are easily misinterpreted if not studied carefully. 

Who will render - That is, who will make retribution as a righteous Judge; or who will give to every man as he deserves. The principle of man’s responsibility and accountability before God is well established.  It is the primary thing that man rejects – that is, that God is God and he isn’t!  Man hates the idea that God will one day call him to account for his actions.  Yet, this is, perhaps one of the two or three primary things that must be upheld in our preaching and witnessing to those around us.  Men need to know that they will be called to account.

To every man - To each one. This is a general principle, and it is clear that in this respect God would deal with the Jew as he does with the Gentile. This general principle the apostle is establishing, that he may bring it to bear on the Jew, and to show that he cannot escape simply because he is a Jew. The key thought here is that there will be no exceptions to this principle.  Every man, elect and non-elect, will be judged according to his deeds – hence the need for mercy!  From this follows the justification for salvation by grace through faith by means of the imputed righteousness of Christ as developed later in the Epistle.

According to his deeds - That is, as he deserves; or God will be just, and will treat every man as he ought to be treated, or according to his character. The word “deeds” is sometimes applied to the external conduct. But it is plain that its meaning here is larger than just the external actions. It denotes everything connected with conduct, including the acts of the mind, the motives, the principles, as well as the mere external act. Our word character more closely expresses it than any single word, though that word in English carries with it an “intangible” idea that would seem to exclude the physical actions, and that is unfortunate. It is not true that God will treat people merely according to their external conduct: but the whole language of the Bible implies that he will judge people according to the whole of their conduct, including their thoughts, and principles, and motives; that is, as they deserve.

In the text from Revelation 20 quoted above, we are twice told that men will be judged “according to their deeds” (vv. 12-13). That is the same truth Paul emphasizes in Romans 2:6-10, declaring plainly that God will render to every man according to his deeds.

It is to be observed here that the apostle does not say that people will be rewarded for their deeds, (compare Luke 17:10,) but according to their deeds. Christians will be saved on account of the merits (the deeds) of the Lord Jesus Christ, (Titus 3:5), but still there is indication that the rewards of heaven will be according to their works; that is, they who have labored most, and been most faithful, shall receive the highest reward, or their fidelity in their Master’s service shall be the measure or rule according to which the rewards of heaven shall be distributed, (Matt. 25:14-29). Thus, the ground or reason why they are saved shall be the merits of the Lord Jesus. The measure of their happiness shall be according to their character and deeds. On what principle God will distribute his rewards the apostle proceeds immediately to state.