June 17, 2025 IT MATTERS
Romans 2:4-8 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that that the kindness of the God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfish and ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
These verses are among those that may be a bit unpopular; you do not hear many sermons preached on this passage. We may think these verses are written to unbelievers, but apparently they were written to believers living in Rome. Once we read through this passage and reflect on it, we can find encouragement. Paul at first reminds us that God is kind, forbearing and patient, and because of that, we should be quick to repent from living out of selfishness and living according to our own dictates. It is a frightening thought to realize that as believers we can be stubborn and have an unrepentant heart. We can resist the leading of the Holy Spirit; we can choose to go our own way; and we can harden our hearts. These scriptures really capture our life; they reveal our motivations in life and they reveal our hearts. The BIG fact that we must not miss is that Jesus is coming back to earth AND and that will be a day of reckoning for how we have lived our lives. Do not misunderstand; we are saved by grace, not by works-but we are accountable to God for our life on earth. For believers who have lived the selfish and stubborn life, it will be brought to light. ‘And here it is: God will render to every man according to his or her deeds.’ Those who persevere in doing good will be blessed; but those who are selfish and do not obey the truth but live in unrighteousness, there will be wrath and indignation. (I do not understand all of this-but I get the main point.) I think this is the main deal; because God is good and because He lives in us, it stands to reason that we would be expressions of His goodness through our actions. God is for us; He desires that we experience life to the fullest in Him. Let us remember that God is about transforming us in to His image; the obvious is that if we are working with Him as He works in us in the transformation process, we will be becoming more and more like Him. So our actions, our doing what is good, is super important in the sight of God. Again, we do not do good works to earn our salvation or His approval, we do good deeds because He is good and His life is being expressed in us. The scriptures tell us that only God is good; anything done apart from God is not truly good.
Psalm 23:5 “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
Blessings, Buddy
Romans 2:4-8 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that that the kindness of the God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfish and ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
These verses are among those that may be a bit unpopular; you do not hear many sermons preached on this passage. We may think these verses are written to unbelievers, but apparently they were written to believers living in Rome. Once we read through this passage and reflect on it, we can find encouragement. Paul at first reminds us that God is kind, forbearing and patient, and because of that, we should be quick to repent from living out of selfishness and living according to our own dictates. It is a frightening thought to realize that as believers we can be stubborn and have an unrepentant heart. We can resist the leading of the Holy Spirit; we can choose to go our own way; and we can harden our hearts. These scriptures really capture our life; they reveal our motivations in life and they reveal our hearts. The BIG fact that we must not miss is that Jesus is coming back to earth AND and that will be a day of reckoning for how we have lived our lives. Do not misunderstand; we are saved by grace, not by works-but we are accountable to God for our life on earth. For believers who have lived the selfish and stubborn life, it will be brought to light. ‘And here it is: God will render to every man according to his or her deeds.’ Those who persevere in doing good will be blessed; but those who are selfish and do not obey the truth but live in unrighteousness, there will be wrath and indignation. (I do not understand all of this-but I get the main point.) I think this is the main deal; because God is good and because He lives in us, it stands to reason that we would be expressions of His goodness through our actions. God is for us; He desires that we experience life to the fullest in Him. Let us remember that God is about transforming us in to His image; the obvious is that if we are working with Him as He works in us in the transformation process, we will be becoming more and more like Him. So our actions, our doing what is good, is super important in the sight of God. Again, we do not do good works to earn our salvation or His approval, we do good deeds because He is good and His life is being expressed in us. The scriptures tell us that only God is good; anything done apart from God is not truly good.
Psalm 23:5 “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
Blessings, Buddy
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