who shall render to each according to his works
God judges by one fixed standard, and this verse names it: what each person has done. So if God settles accounts by works, what happens to salvation by grace?
Once God has revealed Himself, He deals with people by what they do. Being Jew or Greek changes nothing under that test.
Now that God is revealed, He deals with man according to his actions. In the day of judgment He will render to everyone according to his works, whether he is Jew or Greek, for God shows no partiality. He had indeed chosen a people, and brought them near to Himself, to put man to the test... but at root there was no difference among men. All were sinners by nature, and all had sinned... In His righteousness God counts only the measure of light each person has.
People share one fallen nature, so nature cannot tell one from another. Works can.
In the day of judgment, therefore, God will give the award not according to the nature, in which they are alike, but according to their works, in which they are not alike. God "will render to each one according to his works" (Rom. 2:6). And this, and this alone, will be the exact measure of guilt and responsibility.
God renders to everyone. That is not the same as judging everyone.
The third great principle of God's judgment is that in judgment "God will render to each one according to his works". The verse does not say here when God will do this for well doing. But for evil doing it plainly names the time: the "day of wrath". Yet the Apostle does not say that God will judge each one, for only the evil doer comes into judgment in the "day of wrath". God will "render" to each one according to his works.
Does forgiveness cancel the accounting? No — an honest man still settles his accounts, and past kindnesses do not make that settlement unjust.
This is the unchanging principle of God's righteous dealings, and grace does not weaken it at all. Grace, it is true, lays our sins on another as our substitute. It credits us with the good deeds God's own power works in us. But this confirms the principle instead of contradicting it. If an upright man winds up his affairs, he collects what is due to him, and pays what he owes. And it is no less just if he has cancelled some debts, or taken on some obligations, out of kindness.
Salvation and reward do not rest on the same basis:
Judgment takes account of everything, including greater advantages. Each person gives account according to his light and receives according to his deeds. Salvation is according to grace; reward or judgment is according to works.
Verses 6 to 11 never mention faith, and some read that as a doorway to earning eternal life by effort. Reading further closes the door.
Verses 6 to 11 trouble some minds, because they never mention faith in Christ. Some read verse 7, for instance, and say, "There! So after all you have only got to keep on doing good and seeking good, and eternal life will be yours at the end." But read on a little further, and you discover this: no one does good or seeks good unless he believes in Christ.
The verse can be misused, and that tempts us to soften it. The counsel runs the other way: answer the misuse from other Scripture, and let this sentence keep its full weight on the conscience.
Well, a man says, "There may then be good people, and if they do good, they will get glory, honour, and peace." But I say to him, "You are completely wrong; no one is good but God." Plenty of Scripture meets such a case. But we do not need to weaken this sentence in Romans to do it. God's nature requires a certain life and character in a man for him to be with God... You must have that life and walk in that life, or you will not be in heaven. So this is broad dealing with conscience, and that is what we must not weaken.
- Render — God's rule is fixed: He deals with each person by what they did, not by which group they belong to.
- Measure — all share one fallen nature, so works alone measure each person's guilt and responsibility, against the light they had.
- Distinction — God renders to each one, but the text does not say He judges each one. Only the evil-doer comes into judgment in the day of wrath.
- Confirmed — grace does not suspend this accounting. It lays the sins on a substitute and works the good deeds by God's own power. That upholds the rule instead of breaking it.
- Unweakened — no one seeks good except by believing in Christ, so let the verse stand at full force on the conscience.
to them who, in patient continuance of good works, seek for glory and honour and incorruptibility, life eternal.
This verse sits inside Paul's account of how God will judge every person, Jew or Gentile, "according to his works." Here we get the reward side of that judgment. It raises two questions: what are these people seeking, and how can such a verse stand beside salvation by grace?
The verse states a rule of God's dealings that runs through the whole Bible and is not softened by the good news of forgiveness.
This is the unchanging principle of God's righteous dealings, and grace does not weaken it in any way. Grace, it is true, lays our sins on another as our substitute. It also credits us with the good deeds worked in us by God's own power. But this confirms the principle instead of contradicting it. If an upright man settles his affairs, he collects what is owed to him and pays what he owes. Kindness may have cancelled some debts, or taken on some obligations. That does not make what he does any less just.
The Greek word translated "immortality" here is not the usual word for deathlessness.
In Romans 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:10 the word is aphtharsia — not "immortality," but "incorruption."
Older translations read "incorruptibility" here instead of "immortality." That changes what the seeking is about: not deathlessness, but a state that belongs to the resurrection.
God will render eternal life "to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption." That is not at all the same as seeking immortality. It is the blessed, incorruptible state into which resurrection, or the "change," will bring the saints at the coming of Christ.
The test is not flawless performance. It is what the heart aims at.
It is of course not a matter of absolute holiness or perfection here; but the heart clearly shows itself. Does the heart set itself on what is good? Does it patiently continue to follow what is pure and true? Does it bear the unmistakable stamp of eternity — the weighing of everlasting realities?
Verse 7 is only half of a pair. The next verse names the opposite of patient endurance.
"To them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality" — this marks out their object — "eternal life." Set against these are "them who are contentious." Contention is the opposite of enduring and suffering, and it marks the way of the world. They "do not obey the truth": they have not God's object, and they do not submit to His righteousness.
Nobody seeks glory, honour and incorruptibility by instinct. Someone has to tell you about them first.
But without the gospel men never heard of these things. The law set men to seek life on earth by fulfilling their obligations. It is the gospel that sets these great objects before the soul. So no one can meet the conditions for eternal life without hearing and believing the gospel.
God holds to this rule without exception. Yet nobody meets it out of his own resources.
God always holds to His own principle: those who "by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory, and honour, and incorruptibility" have eternal life, and none others. What produces this patient continuance in well-doing is another matter, and what awakens souls to seek after it. It is not from themselves, but from God.
Elsewhere eternal life is a present possession. Here it stands at the end of a journey, still ahead.
There is another way of viewing eternal life — its full completion in glory, according to the whole purpose of God. Seen this way, we are of course not said to have it, but to follow after it… Romans 2 puts this as a great general principle. It throws no cloud over that great truth. It is simply what is everywhere found in the New Testament: the energy of faith on the wilderness journey, moving on through grace toward the full result for which God has redeemed us. We have to go the road to arrive, but we have sure grace and the keeping of God to go it.
So what about John's writings, where the believer already has eternal life?
Paul here looks at eternal life more in its future aspect — that is, when it is separated from the very presence of sin, in its own proper sphere, heaven itself. But this does not deny the truth found in John's writings, that "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." Every believer possesses eternal life at present, but that life is out of its own home… so its full display must await heaven's glory.
- Standard. God renders to each according to his works; grace pays the debt but never repeals the rule.
- Object. They seek glory, honour and incorruptibility — the incorruptible state resurrection brings the saints at Christ's coming, not mere deathlessness.
- Direction. The test is not perfection but a heart stamped by eternity, patiently continuing in what is good.
- Source. No one hears of these things apart from the gospel. And no one produces the patient well-doing from himself; it comes from God.
- End. Eternal life is here the finish of the road; we must walk it to arrive, kept the whole way by grace.
But to those that are contentious, and are disobedient to the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [there shall be] wrath and indignation,
Paul describes people who refuse the truth, obey unrighteousness, and so receive wrath and fury. The questions are what that refusal is, what "the truth" means for someone who never heard the gospel, and how a chapter that weighs works fits a letter that says salvation comes by grace.
Where the ESV says "self-seeking," older translations say "contentious," and the writers below use that older wording. The word means more than a bad temper in an argument. One writer traces it to the whole bent of the natural life, and shows where the conflict comes into the open.
Verse 8 describes their character: they do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness. They are contentious! Man's natural life is a contest with God — the mind set on the flesh is hostile to Him. The desires of the natural mind stand in constant opposition to the will of God. The test of this hostility is the word of truth. By nature man refuses to obey that word. It is the declared expression of a will that the whole course of fallen nature stands against.
The verse does not describe someone who obeys nothing. It sets one obedience against another, and one writer turns that into a question for the reader.
But on the other hand, is the heart rebellious against the truth? Is there contention instead of submission? Do you yield yourself to unrighteousness instead of to the truth of God? For there is always yielding of some sort: there must be obedience either to what is true or to what is unrighteous. The very word "obedience" is offensive to the hardened heart. Yet he has still yielded himself to obey unrighteousness.
Not everyone has heard the same message. One writer defines "the truth" by what God sets before each person.
The truth is whatever testimony may be set before men. In chapter 1 we see the descendants of Noah turn the truth of God into a lie. They went so far that righteousness required God to give them up to their own uncleanness. They ignored the testimony of creation and went on in their godless ways. So they stored up wrath for the day of wrath, when God reveals His righteous judgment. These people did not have the law. God will judge them by the light they had, not by the law.
Verse 8 and the verse after it use four terms. One writer sorts them into two pairs.
On the other hand there are those who are contentious. They do not obey the truth of Christianity, but obey unrighteousness, and their works are evil. They will come under the indignation and wrath of God. They will also suffer "tribulation and anguish." "Indignation and wrath" describe God's attitude towards evildoers; "tribulation and anguish" describe their portion. In contrast, the portion of those who work good will be "glory, honour, and peace". God will show His attitude toward them in "eternal life".
This chapter weighs deeds, yet the letter says salvation comes by grace. One writer holds both together in a single line.
Those who sin without law perish without it too. Those who sin under law will be judged by it. This happens on the day when God judges the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, according to the apostle's gospel. Here he names the "Jew first" and the "Greek" in judgment, just as he did earlier in the ministry of the gospel. Judgment takes account of everything, including greater advantages. Each person gives account according to his light and receives according to his deeds. For salvation is according to grace, reward or judgment according to works.
Verses 7-10 tell us how God judges. They do not explain how anyone could do good in the first place.
These are general principles. The passage does not take up the question of how a person can do good, or can show "patience in well-doing." But we know from the Scriptures that a man must be born again to do good, for "no one does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:12.)
- Contention. This is not bad manners in an argument. It is a life set against God's will, and God's word brings it into the open.
- Obedience. No one obeys nothing. To refuse the truth is to obey unrighteousness instead.
- Light. God measures each person by the testimony set before him: creation, the law, or the gospel.
- Portion. Indignation and wrath show how God regards the evildoer. Tribulation and anguish are what the evildoer receives.
- Principle. Judgment goes by works. Salvation goes by grace, and only a person born again can do good at all.
tribulation and distress, on every soul of man that works evil, both of Jew first, and of Greek;
The verse names the outcome for a life spent doing evil. It sets that outcome in an order: the Jew first, and also the Greek. Two questions press on any reader. What do "tribulation and distress" mean? And why do the people closest to God stand first in line for judgment?
Verses 8 and 9 hold two pairs of words. They are not saying the same thing twice.
On the other hand there are those who are contentious. They do not obey the truth of Christianity. They obey unrighteousness, and their works are evil. They will come under the indignation and wrath of God. And not only this: they will also suffer "tribulation and anguish." "Indignation and wrath" describe God's attitude towards evil doers; "tribulation and anguish" describe their portion.
The ESV pairs "tribulation and distress." The two Greek words behind them also describe what a believer meets on the narrow road. One writer sets the two roads side by side and shows how the words switch ends.
'Tribulation' here is thlipsis, and 'anguish' here is stenochoria, the very words we have just seen that mark the path of the Christian through this world! The Christian starts with the 'narrow gate' and the 'narrow way' that tell of tribulation and anguish. But they are 'but for a moment.' He ends in the 'broad street' and the many mansions, for eternity. The unbeliever starts with the 'wide gate' and the 'broad way' that perhaps tell of ease and luxury. But they end in thlipsis and stenochoria — tribulation and anguish — for eternity!
The verse does not aim at nations or classes. It names "every soul of man." That wording settles a question people still argue over: what must punishment involve?
One of the principles of God's moral government is that He will render "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil" (Rom. 2:8-9). The word "punishment," so often used in Scripture here, "needs (as another has said) a conscious subject to endure it." It could have no meaning at all if applied to people who have ceased to exist.
Romans 1 said the gospel goes to the Jew first. Romans 2 keeps the same order for judgment.
In Romans 2 the apostle is not handling the gospel that saves the lost. He is handling the unchanging principles of God's righteous government. So he brings out the alternative: tribulation and distress for the one who works evil, glory and honour and peace for the one who works good, both Jew first and Greek, "for God shows no partiality." Such are His ways. Time, place and people make no deep difference with Him. The one exception is that having privileges brings a prior responsibility, and that is plainly just. If a man enjoys religious light and works out evil despite it, is he less guilty than his less favoured fellow-sinner?
This is a settled pattern in Scripture, not a one-off remark about Israel.
This is only in line with divine principles of action. Whatever claims to be near to God, God always takes in hand first for judgment. The direction for the judgment of Ezekiel 9:6 was "Begin at my sanctuary." So the Lord said to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2)… "It is time for judgment to begin at the household of God" (1 Peter 4:17).
Some read verses 7-10 and conclude that people earn life by their conduct.
Keep this in mind. Grace may be displayed in great power. Even so, the principles of righteousness are in no way set aside. Grace upholds them… Note the two-fold truth. "Each of us will give an account of himself to God." Yet the believer will not come into judgment (John 5:24) — not merely into condemnation, but judgment.
The passage states the rule. It never says how anyone could meet it. The answer comes later in the letter.
These are general principles. It does not enter into the question of how a person can "work good," or can "patiently continue in well doing." But we know now from the Scriptures that a man must be born again to "work good." For "no one does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:12.)
- Attitude, then portion. "Indignation and wrath" say what God feels toward evil. "Tribulation and anguish" say what the evildoer receives.
- Portion reversed. For the Christian these two words mark the road now, and the end is glory. On the broad road they wait at the end, and they never end.
- Portion personal. It falls on "every soul." Punishment needs someone conscious to bear it, so God judges people one by one, not by group.
- Portion ordered. The Jew first in the gospel, the Jew first in judgment. Nearness to God raises responsibility, so judgment starts where the light shone brightest. Yet God shows no partiality.
- Portion escaped. Grace upholds these principles instead of cancelling them. The believer gives account, but does not come into judgment.
but glory and honour and peace to every one that works good, both to Jew first and to Greek
This verse is the bright half of a pair: verse 9 warns the evildoer, and verse 10 names what God gives to the one who does good. It raises sharp questions — what does God reward, why is the Jew named first, and can anyone qualify?
God's warning in verse 9 does not stand alone. He sets it between two promises.
But God takes no delight in the punishment of unbelievers, though it is an absolute necessity. But His delight in those who bow to Him is deeper than words can tell, as verses 7 to 10 show. He announces His terrible judgment, yet promise comes before it and promise follows it — pure blessing for those who have chosen the good.
Verses 9 and 10 mirror each other. But the four terms in them do not all do the same work.
"Indignation and wrath" describe God's attitude towards evildoers. "Tribulation and anguish" describe their portion. In contrast, the portion of those who work good will be "glory, honour, and peace", just as God will show His attitude toward them in the sphere of "eternal life".
Two people can hold the same beliefs and the same religious background. God's judgment reaches deeper than either.
These verses do not ask how a man enters the path of "well doing", or by what power he keeps walking in it. What God takes account of is the reality of the walk. He does not count mere profession or privileges, the kind a Jew or an educated philosopher might boast in… Remember that in judgment God will deal with men not only for their evil deeds, but also for the way they have despised the truth.
Paul had used this same order once already, for something quite different.
In Romans 1 Paul began with the bright side. He affirmed the gospel to be God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, in Romans 2, he is not handling the gospel that saves the lost. He is handling the unchanging principles of God's righteous government, and he brings out the alternative… Time, place and people make no real difference with Him. The one exception is that having privileges brings a prior responsibility, and that is plainly just. If a man who enjoys religious light works out evil despite it, is he less guilty than his less favoured fellow-sinner? If he heeds the warning and testimony of God, working out what is good, God will not withhold "glory, honour, and peace."
Being named first changes the order, not the award.
In all this the Jew comes in along with the Greek (or Gentile); and his special privileges may even give him a first place; but the same exact award will be to each. There can be no favouritism with the righteous Judge.
Read alone, the verse sounds like an offer: do good, receive glory. But Paul has a different aim here:
The reader will note that the apostle is not here proposing terms on which eternal life is to be obtained, but is showing the righteous rule according to which God acts. On that ground all were lost.
Even so, the words stand as they are. When someone reads them and decides that good people will collect their reward, the reply is blunt:
But I say to him, "You are wrong entirely; there is none good but God." There is plenty of scripture to meet such a case, but we need not weaken this sentence in Romans to do it. God's own nature makes it necessary: a man must have a certain life and character in him to be with God… You must have that life and walk in that life, or you will not be in heaven.
If none is good but God, who is left to receive glory, honour, and peace?
The believer is the only one who works good, and so the only one who possesses glory, honour, and peace… It is the fruit of His own grace. It is not in man to direct his steps, and there is no good in him, except when faith enables him to do God's good pleasure. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
- Standard. God's rule is fixed, and verse 10 is its bright half: He gives good to the one who does good.
- Portion. The one who does good receives glory, honour and peace, and God shows His attitude toward him in eternal life.
- Reality. God weighs the actual walk, not profession or inherited privilege. He weighs not only evil done, but truth despised.
- Order. "To the Jew first" gives priority in both warning and blessing. More light means responsibility comes first, never a lighter verdict.
- Result. No favouritism: one exact award for each. By this rule everyone is lost, and only faith in God works the good He rewards.
for there is no acceptance of persons with God.
God ends His argument about the coming day of judgment with one short rule. It lands on Jew and Gentile alike. Older translations put it, "there is no respect of persons with God." The question is simple. Could anything about you tilt God's verdict in your favour?
Verses 6 to 11 lay out how God will deal with people in that day, and verse 11 is the last of the principles named. It cuts off the two excuses each side was holding.
This leads to the fourth great principle of God's judgment: in judgment "There is no respect of persons with God". God still keeps the place He has given the Jew. Yet God shows no partiality. So the Jew will not escape because he is a privileged Jew. And the Gentile will not be able to plead that he is only a poor ignorant Gentile.
We know how this works in human courts. The guilty sometimes walk free.
In some countries today respect of persons provides an escape route for the undoubted criminal. Favouritism does its work, or other influences behind the scenes, or bribery comes into play. So the offender escapes the penalty he deserves. It will never be like this with God.
Status, background and reputation are the currency people trade in.
Who can influence God on his behalf? Who can plead his personal prominence, importance, earthly position or advantage before the only true God? None of it matters to Him: "God accepts no man's person." Personalities may count for a great deal in the proud, empty judgment of man. But let no one think he can pass God's scrutiny wearing such a cloak.
Being impartial does not mean God ignores what a person was given. Light received works the opposite way from what people expect.
Such are His ways. Time, place and people make no basic difference with Him. There is one exception: having privileges brings a prior responsibility with it, and this is plainly just. If a man who enjoys religious light works out evil despite it, is he less guilty than his less favoured fellow-sinner?
The same distinction carries into the next verse, about the law.
This brings out the important principle, that, in rendering to every man his deeds, God takes into account the measure of light a man has had. We have already seen that when it is a question of the sin, God measures it by the truth of what He is. But when it is a question of measuring out punishment to the sinner, God takes into account the privileges he may have had under the law, or in some other way.
Put verse 11 beside the two earlier statements about God's judging. Every loophole is gone.
Suppose His judgment sometimes went by mere outward appearances. Suppose it now and then fell short of strict righteousness, or bent because of favouritism or other personal considerations. Then there might be some chance of escape. It is however "according to truth," and so it will drag the exact reality of things into the light of day. It is "righteous," and so absolute and inflexible justice will prevail. There is "no respect of persons." So nothing will turn God from a judgment of absolute righteousness in the light of absolute truth.
The rule that flattens everyone under judgment also flattens everyone at the point of mercy.
On the one hand sin is a great leveller in the presence of His eternal judgment. On the other hand grace levels just as much, but in the opposite direction. There it is a question of the value of Christ and His work, which brings souls into His presence in favour and in peace. Alike lost in sins, we are alike saved from them by the faith of Jesus.
Scripture applies the same rule to those who employ and those who serve. It speaks first to the one with power.
Masters are urged to remember that their Master is in heaven, and that "neither is there respect of persons with Him." He notes threats and oppression. The cry of the poor and needy comes up in His ears, and He will repay it in the coming day. I believe this verse should read, "their Master and yours is in the heavens." That adds an important point. Both master and servant answer to the one Lord, and will stand together at the same judgment seat.
- Level ground. The privileged cannot claim exemption. The ignorant cannot claim excuse. Both stand on one footing before God.
- Level standard. No fame, position or advantage carries weight with Him. What buys favour in a human court buys nothing in His.
- Level, not identical. Impartial does not mean blind. God weighs the light each person was given, and privilege raises responsibility instead of lowering it.
- Level, so no escape. God judges by truth, in righteousness, and without partiality — three walls with no gap between them.
- Level in grace too. Sin levels all under judgment. Grace levels all in Christ — alike lost, alike saved through faith in Jesus.