Our secret heart

"When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are the law to themselves.  They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness;  and their own conscience will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all."  Romans 2:14-16 (NRSV).

Although this scripture passage talks about Jewish law and unbelieving Gentiles, the idea that Paul is conveying is a message for Christians today.

Going to church every Sunday is not a requirement to be saved.  However, God desires that we seek hard after Him, and to that end, attending church is a way to seek God.  And, the church seems to be a preferred way that God speaks to mankind, because it is mainly through the church or religious organizations that the great commission to make disciples of all nations is accomplished. Matthew 28:19.

A question that is often asked is how God will judge those who have never heard the gospel.  According to the scripture above, God will not judge any of us according to a man made law, but according to the law that is written on our hearts.  There is another component to God's judgment as well, and that is that God will judge THROUGH CHRIST the secret thoughts of all. 

Every human being has secret thoughts that we harbor and cherish, and most of us would do anything we could to protect those thoughts from being discovered.  However, God knows our secret thoughts on an even deeper level than we know them. God, the great psychologist, understands the deep, deep pain from which our sinful thoughts are born, and He looks with grace, through Christ, to judge those thoughts. 

 

To put it simply, this is why we cannot judge another human being. If we want God to judge our secret hearts with grace, then we must allow God to judge everyone's secret heart with grace.

God's grace covers us--all of us

"For though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened." Romans 1:21 (NRSV).

"Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself." Romans 2:1 (NRSV)

"Do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?  Do you not realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" Romans  2:4 (NRSV).

In Romans 1:21, Paul is explaining to the Romans that all sin comes from the same root, which is honoring ourselves before God.  WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH THIS!  Moreover, we struggle moment by moment with it.  When we spend our money redecorating our homes instead of obeying the nudge to give money to aid the destitute, we are glorifying our possessions before glorifying God.  When we are addicted to drugs and alcohol, we are glorifying our own needs and desires over the righteousness of God.

 

This is how Paul can say in Romans 2:1 that the house decorator cannot judge the drug addict because although the house decorator may not be a substance abuser, the decorator is still guilty of not putting God first. 

 

How then should we respond to those who so blatantly sin?  In Romans 2:4, Paul reminds us that we need to respond to the sin of others the same way that God does--with kindness.  If we ask God to show grace to us when we repent, then we must expect God's grace to lead others to repentance. 

 

We do not have to worry about the hardness of another person's heart.  God's grace has it covered.

Judgment through grace

"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done.  They were filled with every kind of wickedness...They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die...Therefore you have no excuse whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.". Romans 1:28-2:1 (NRSV).

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight...”  Psalms 51:3

In the scripture above, we learn that it is by God's decree that our actions are condemned.  When Christians, especially those who became Christians at a young age, look around and see the wicked acts committed by others, it can be hard to agree with the apostle Paul when he says that when we judge others, we are doing the same things.  Paul provides a list of evils that was not included in the quotation above.  When we read this list, we want to say, "Really? Me?" I am not a murderer and I am not a thief. Am not as bad as Paul seems to think I am."

However, we really are that bad, and it is the recognition of our own sin, not the sin of others, that allows grace into our lives.  When we judge others, we recognize their sin but we do not see our own.  Paul is telling us, in this scripture passage, that when we judge others, we are assuming the right to judge and that right is reserved only for God.  When we judge, we commit idolatry—the first and foremost thing we are not supposed to do!  We are making our own judgments more important to us than God is.

When we look away from the sin of others and recognize our own sin, then we have the opportunity for grace to flood our soul!