The Unchanging Truth

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher, lead pastor of Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. Through the living and active word of God, the Unchanging Truth exists to encourage your soul, transform your life, and help you trust and treasure Christ as redeemer, savior, and king. Now, opening the scriptures and proclaiming the truth that never changes, here is Dr. Jerod Gilcher.

Dr. Jerod Gilcher: So the question is, we've got to ask. We follow the lead of the text. If there are themes in the text that are hard and difficult, we've got to follow the lead and we've got to talk about these things. So the question is—and I'm not accusing, I'm not assuming—but we have to ask: do you see anything like this in your life? Do you see a sort of glaring hypocrisy? Can you follow a pattern in your life where you condemn in others the very things you do yourself?

Do you have habits and patterns of sin that you knowingly tolerate and secretly justify? I talk to you as a man who repents every single day. None of us, not one of us, lives out the theology we know. We get that. In Christ, there is grace because he died for hypocrites like us. But the question is: does how you live tell another tale about who you actually are?

At the end of the day, beloved, imperfect though it is, authentic saving faith reveals itself in highly imperfect but ever-increasing patterns of joyful trust and allegiance to Jesus Christ. Do you see that in your life? That brings us to reality number two: the uncompromising impartiality of God. This really is the point of the text—that God is unbiased, God is impartial.

At the end of the age, it doesn't matter what we claim or what we say, but God will look at the facts. What Paul is about to do here in verses six through 11 is the essence of what I call "no-frills, no-gimmicks" theology. He is clear and blunt and honest and bold and deliberately repetitive, and it's all to make a point. His point is that God is unbiased. He plays no favorites. He shows no partiality.

At the end of the day, all people will be judged according to their works because, as you're about to see, what we truly believe is revealed in how we live. Look at verses six through 11. Paul says, "God will repay to each one according to his works." To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, eternal life. But to those who are selfishly ambitious and disobedient to the truth and obeying unrighteousness, anger and wrath.

Tribulation and distress upon every soul of man who does evil, for the Jew first and also to the Greek. But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, both to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why? For there is no partiality with God. What a text. That's a gnarly text. That's a difficult text. Yet you probably noticed what Paul says kind of sounds repetitive. Did you notice that?

There was a lot of repetition there. He just repeats himself, and yet that's all on purpose. Look very carefully here; this is really profound stuff. You'll notice, look at verses eight and nine. Do you see that? Same themes, same content. They sound a lot alike. They're almost exactly the same. But then notice verses seven and 10 are also alike and sound the same.

Talking about future rewards, glory, peace, immortality in the age to come. Eight and nine sound alike. Seven and 10 sound alike and are the same. And then verses six and 11 virtually say the exact same thing. Do you see the pattern that Paul is creating here? Which means what he has done for us is created a chiasm. A chiasm is a device in which a series of ideas are presented and then repeated again in reverse order.

That's what a chiasm is, and that's what Paul does. Technical technical to think about, but we have to understand the point of this chiasm. The point of this arrangement is verses six and 11. That is the point of the chiasm—that God will judge all according to their works. There is no partiality with God. That is the message these Jews and others need to hear.

That sounds crazy, right? That God will judge people according to their works? Does that sound weird to you? It sounds kind of strange. That's exactly what he said, though, in verse six: God will judge all according to their works. But I don't want you to misunderstand. Listen very carefully and hang with me here. To be judged according to your works and to be saved by your works are completely different things. One is true; the other is heresy.

Salvation is only by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and never by works. You cannot earn or merit salvation. That is absolutely out of the question. But to be judged according to your works? Now, that's a real thing. That's true. It doesn't mean salvation by works. Listen carefully. It means at the end of the age, God will examine the reality of your faith or of your unbelief by the works and deeds that you did in this life because what we do reveals who we are.

So don't be freaked out by Paul's statements here in verses six through 11. He's being perfectly theological. He's not saying anything weird. So let's look at the chiasm. Let's start at the innermost ring of the chiasm, verses eight and nine, and then we'll work our way to the edges. Start in verses eight and nine. Paul says to those who are selfishly ambitious and disobey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, for them is anger and wrath, tribulation and distress on every soul of man who does evil to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

You can see the parallels, can't you? Those are mutually reinforcing. The same thing is said in two different ways. What you have to understand in verses eight and nine is a picture of unbelief and its consequences at the end of the age. Does that make sense? Look at verse eight again. To those who are selfishly ambitious and disobey the truth but obey unrighteousness, the end for them, what does Paul say, is anger and wrath.

What is Paul doing here? The point is, beloved, these are the facts. It doesn't matter what people say. It doesn't matter what people claim. Their heritage, their history, their legacy, their lineage, their bloodline, or anything else—none of that matters. Paul points out here that selfish people who do just what they want to do, if they obey unrighteousness, it's because they love unrighteousness. What you do with the truth tells the truth.

Notice verse nine, speaking of the anger and wrath of God. Look at the parallel verse. He ends verse eight with anger and wrath. He begins verse nine with distress and tribulation. Tribulation and distress on every soul of man who does evil to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Do you see his point there? Anger and wrath is the penalty. Tribulation and distress is the pain. One is the sentence; the other is the suffering.

By the way, verses eight and nine rule out the possibility of what some call annihilationism. You know what that is? The belief that people simply cease to exist after they die. That's not true. Hell is a real place, and people go there. There are people there right now, and we should be there right now. We're not there, and by God's sovereign grace alone, we will never go there.

But it is real, it is conscious, it is literal, it is eternal, it is unbearable, which is why the work of Christ is so absolutely necessary. But notice, notice very carefully: for whom is tribulation and distress reserved? What does he say? Every soul of man. Every single individual person who does evil. Israel, are you listening? To the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Don't miss the memo here. Yes, God chose the Jews. Yes, he made covenants with them. Yes, he loved them. Yes, he adopted them. Yes, he even in a sense married them. Yes, they have a future. Yes, they will have a kingdom. Yes, all Israel will be saved, Romans 11:26, at the end of the age. But that doesn't mean Jews will get saved simply by being Jewish. They have to put saving faith in Jesus Christ just like everybody else.

Paul's point is very simple: you reap what you sow. You chew on a power cord long enough, eventually you will be electrocuted. If you're going to do evil and disobey the truth, you show your faith isn't real. Then you must face the judgment and wrath of God unless you yield to Jesus Christ because the facts of our faith are displayed in our works. Beloved, I've just got to tell you, the stakes are just too high.

The stakes are just too high to play around, to invent another version of Christianity that caters to people who want to live like the world but still claim to be believers. We won't do it. We won't have it. Not because we're mean, but because we love the truth. We love precious souls way too much to let them live a lie or live in sin. It's not unloving to be honest with people you care about, which is what Paul's doing here.

But then notice verses seven and 10, the next outer ring. Paul displays the reality of faith. What does it look like to have faith? Verse seven: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But then verse 10: glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Do you see it there? Just like verses eight and nine, you see the parallels.

Perseverance in good work, verse seven, is equal to the one who does good, verse 10. Eternal life, verse seven, is equal to glory and honor and peace in verse 10. You see the parallels? That's what Paul's doing. On the surface, I know how it sounds. If you didn't read carefully and you kind of brushed past it without thinking, you could maybe kind of sort of—if not careful—think that this could be salvation by works.

Look at verse seven: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, their end will be eternal life. There it is! If you do good and seek for glory, you will earn eternal life. Is that what he's saying? It's not at all what he's saying. I mean, the same apostle that said this also said in chapter three that by the works of the law, no one will be saved.

The same apostle said in chapter 11 verse six, "It is by faith, not at all by works." The same apostle said, "By grace we are saved through faith, not from works, that no one may boast." Salvation by works is not at all what he means. Rather, his point is—listen very carefully—persevering in good work, seeking glory and honor and immortality in the age to come, is not the way to earn eternal life. That is the proof you already have eternal life.

People who are truly saved—this is how they live because the fruit of faith is the facts of our works. That's exactly what he means in verse 10. Look: glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good. Israel, are you listening? To the Jew first and also to the Greek. I love what Paul does. He just defined eternal life from verse seven.

Verse seven, what is eternal life? Verse 10: it is glory and honor and peace. That's eternal life. Yet eternal life belongs to who? Who exactly, Paul? Who is going to experience glory and honor and peace in the age to come? What's his answer? What does he say? The one who does good. The one who does good. Not as a way to earn salvation, but as the proof that you have salvation.

The proof of faith is in the life that you live. Is this not exactly what the master said? Is this not exactly what Christ spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount? Matthew chapter seven, it's in your notes. It's worth reading this. Speaking about true and false believers and the difference between the two, he says, "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits." Then some of the most haunting words ever: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Here it is: but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" That is exactly Paul's point in Romans chapter two. Good trees bear good fruit. They do the will of the father, which means it does not so much matter what we say.

It does not so much matter what we claim. But if we are born again and saved by grace, there should be the ever-increasing evidence that validates our claims. The question is, beloved, do you see this in your life? Do you see seven and 10 in your life? Do you hunger for glory and peace and immortality in the age to come? Do you sigh for the springs of eternal life and long to walk on the shores of eternity?

Do you long to see the glory of God and the reward of his fellowship and eternal peace in the kingdom of the Son where death and sin are no more? Do you want that? And if your answer is, "Absolutely, I want that. I want all of that," Paul's point is inevitably that shapes and changes who you are. Authentic faith is visible. It's tangible. Which brings us to the outer ring, the very point of the text.

Look at verses six and 11. We're almost done. He says, "God will repay to each one according to his works." And then verse 11: "For there is no partiality with God." There they are, the parallels. The language is different, but the theology is the same. These verses complement one another. They explain one another because for God to give according to his works is to say that he is impartial, right?

Before things got weird in the job market, they used to do a thing called blind resumes. Maybe they still do that. Blind resumes. You know what that is? That means when someone applies for a job, they take out all the personal information that could possibly bias a hiring decision so that the only thing you can see about the applicant are the skills and the talents and the abilities and the experience and the only thing that really matters for the job. In a very similar way, that is exactly how God will do the judgment at the end of the age. Not blind, but unbiased.

Unbiased. You see, the Jews thought that their lineage and their legacy, that their history and their heritage, their background, their bloodline would make them VIPs in the plan of God and that how they lived their lives was inconsequential. But that's not true. That's not true because God will give to each according to his works. There is no partiality with God. Works are the facts that tell the truth.

I think we need to ask: is there anyone in your life with whom you need to have a loving but serious conversation about the state of their soul? Someone who claims to know Christ, but they give no evidence that their claims are authentic? Have you had concerns for anyone in your life—someone in your life, in your family, maybe even in this church—who, although they name the name of Christ for far too long, they have not revealed the kind of evidence that would indicate that their claims to faith and salvation are actually real?

I'm not talking about being nasty or weird or always being suspicious or trying to catch people in the act. I'm not talking about anything weird. I'm talking about real burdens for people. Because you understand, I hope, that silence is not grace. Just hoping that they'll be inspired by your example and run to repentance is noble, but it's not very realistic. People are brought to repentance through words.

Example, too—don't get me wrong—but there's got to be words. Truth words, Bible words, loving words, urgent words asking them to consider the most important question in the universe: are you sure that you are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ? I close with this. You see, I hope, why this matters for us. Why Romans 2:1-11 is worthy of our contemplation, worthy of our time. Precisely because it clarifies the gospel.

It clarifies the gospel, and that is Paul's goal: clarity and love. It's loving to be clear with who is and who is not a child of God. It is loving to be clear with what is and what is not the gospel. It is loving to be clear with what is and what is not authentic saving faith in Christ. I just want you to know—I want to end with this, and you know this—and if you don't know Christ, I want this to be what he uses to win you over to yield to him.

And if you do know him, I want what I'm about to say to be what you can take in a message to bring to someone else. But you have to understand: this is not a savior who leaves people unchanged. This is not a savior who simply leaves people as they are. This is a savior who is God, who became man to transform ruined sinners from the inside out.

The gospel, you understand, is about a savior who saves and cleanses and forgives. This is a savior and king and lord and messiah who challenges us and changes us and converts us and is coming again to reign over us. Put it like this: the gospel is a call to stop drinking from the mud puddles of sin and to drink from the fountain of delight. So the question is: have you believed this gospel?

Have you believed this gospel of repentance, of yielding to the king, this gospel of transformation? Because today, today I am calling you to yield—to yield to the king in humble submission and thirsty delight, to take up a cross and count all as loss for the sake of knowing Christ, that you may savor the riches of eternal life and forever enjoy the splendor of his glory. That's what we have to offer.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for the Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher and Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. At Christ Community Bible Church, we exist to prize, portray, and proclaim the supremacy of Christ as we trust in his word and wait for his return. We hope today's teaching has encouraged your soul and helped you trust and treasure Christ as your redeemer, savior, and king.

If you're in the DFW area and looking for a church home, join us for worship Sunday mornings at 10:30. To learn more about the mission of the church, meet the pastoral staff, or plan a visit, go to ccbiblechurch.com. You'll find ministry services and additional teachings there as well. Just click on the resources tab to get started. That's ccbiblechurch.com. Join us again next time as we open the scriptures together and proclaim the truth that never changes. This has been the Unchanging Truth.