Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
—Romans 2:1
In the first chapter of Romans, Paul held up a mirror to the pagan world, the idolatry, the immorality, the open rebellion against God. And I can almost see the religious folks nodding along: “Yes, look at those terrible people out there.” Then Paul wheels around in chapter two and points the finger straight at them. At us.
“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.” Here’s the trap of the religious heart: the very act of judging others proves you know the standard, and you’ve broken it too. “You who judge practice the same things.”
You might be thinking, “Well, I’m okay. I’m a good, religious person.” This verse is written for you. The fact is, every one of us has broken God’s commandments, if not in substance, then in spirit. Jesus took the commandments deeper than we’d like. He said that anger raging in your heart toward another person is akin to murder. That a lustful look is adultery of the heart. Suddenly the line that we thought separated us from “those people” runs right through our own chest.
There are really only two kinds of people in this world. There are those who think they’re too bad to be saved, and there are those who think they’re too good to need saving. The pagan in chapter one may think he’s too far gone. The religious man in chapter two thinks he’s doing just fine. But both are wrong, and both need the same Savior.
Remember Nicodemus? He was a Pharisee, a genuinely good and devout man, a respected teacher of Israel. And Jesus looked at this good religious man and told him, “You must be born again.” All his goodness, all his religion, could not do for him what only the new birth could do.
No amount of good behavior, good works, religious activity, or basic human kindness can save us from our sin. The world insists we’re all basically good, that if we just educate people enough and invest enough, everything will turn out fine. But God says we’re not basically good. Spiritually, apart from Christ, we are dead in our trespasses and sins.
So, drop the comparison game. Stop measuring yourself against the people you consider worse than you, that scoreboard means nothing before a holy God. The question is never whether you’re better than your neighbor. The question is whether you’ve been born again.
There is no excuse to hide behind, but there is a Savior to run to. And He receives the man who stops judging others and finally says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE, THOSE TOO BAD TO BE SAVED, AND THOSE TOO GOOD TO BE SAVED. BOTH NEED JESUS.
