God Cannot Be in the Presence of Sin

Think of God as a perfect, bright light, as described in 1 John 1:5 (KJV) “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Think of sin as darkness as described in Ephesians 5:11 (KJV) 11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Darkness is defined as “the absolute or comparative absence of light¹.” To be in the presence of God, a perfect and bright light, darkness cannot exist.  In the same way, sin cannot be in the presence of our perfectly righteous God.  From the very beginning, God has made it clear the penalty of sin is death.  This is more than just physical death, but also spiritual separation from God for eternity.  This was first mentioned in Genesis 2:17 (KJV) 17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God gave Adam and Eve a simple commandment and the broke it, which means they sinned.  As a result of that action, they lost their eternal bodies and were cursed to live a life of hardship and trouble and eventually die.  All of their offspring were therefor born into that world of sin. 

However, there are still many people who do not consider themselves sinners and think they are good enough to get into Heaven, based on their good behavior.  Paul explains the fallacy of their thinking in the first 3 chapters of Romans.  He later summarizes this in Romans 5:12 (KJV), when he says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”.  To get to this point, Paul walks us through the three examples of humanity and their curse under the law of sin.

The Pagan Man is a Sinner

God never condemns without a justifiable reason.  In Romans 1:18-23 (KJV), Paul provides three reasons why god is justified in condemning the Pagan world, as it was before the calling of Abram (Abraham). “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all (1) ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because (2) that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, (3) when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”

The term “pagan” means “strange, foreign, or alien”.  In essence it means not of God.  Paul’s discourse starts by reminding his readers that Abram (Abraham) was called by God out of a pagan land.  Abram was raised in a pagan household.  His father, Terah, was an idol worshiper.  A pagan can be equated to a non-believer today.  God makes it clear that those who are pagans, or non-believers are fully responsible for their suppression of the truth of God. That is what it means when Paul says “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” 

Paul goes on to explain that all humanity is responsible in God’s eyes for recognizing God’s existence by the very existence of all the things God made.  This means every non-believer is responsible for knowing God exists!  The book of Job highlights this emphatically in chapters 38-41, in which God describes to Job His majesty, omnipotence and omnipresence through His creation of the universe and everything in it.  Science today has provided clear insight into this by revealing the impossibility of random chance developing the intricate and highly designed digital code of our DNA, as a single example.  The laws of science have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the universe had absolutely no scientific explanation for its beginning outside of a creator outside out the physical universe being responsible for its existence.  Modern science tries to couch these terms in such a way as to continue to deny what the science has already proven to be true.  The unproven theory of “evolution” has absolutely no scientific basis to explain how the universe began, or how life evolved from non-life, which is opposite of all known scientific laws.  Those who follow such science, are in this pool of non-believers whom God holds fully responsible for their unbelief. 

Paul finishes this section by explaining how pagan humanity is responsible for perverting God’s glory by worshiping idols.  Keep in mind an idol isn’t just a statue of a specific god.  It is anything you put before God that keeps you away from the true God.  That can be a relationship with a spouse, a job, money, or an actual physical statue of Buddha that you pray to.  It is anything you put your trust in that isn’t God.  God will hold those who do such things fully responsible for their actions and thoughts.  Obviously, those who pray to idols understand there is indeed a god, but are refusing to respect their true maker and worship something created by humanity instead.  Those of us who rely on others, or a job, or money to make them happy instead of trusting in God for that happiness, peace and joy fall into this trap of putting something else before God.  That doesn’t mean you don’t need relationship, jobs, or money to be happy.  It means you need God first and then all of the worldly things are simply things we make use of while here.  God will hold us responsible for not recognizing Him as the source of the happiness we all seek because He has made it clear through His creation that He is!

The Moral Man is a Sinner

Next, Paul addresses those who consider themselves good enough based on their good moral character. There are plenty of people who think they can get into heaven because they are good people.  They keep most of the commandment, most of the time.  There are many who think God must accept those who come from different religions, such as Buddhists or Hindus, or Muslims, or Jews, not just Christians.  This is a concept that relies on good works to earn your way into Heaven. 

Romans 2:1 (KJV) says, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” The Greek word for “judgest” does not mean to estimate a man’s value but to condemn the person being judged.  In other words, God is saying in modern English, “You have no excuse, you who condemns another: you are guilty of the same thing you are condemning the other of.”  See our lessons on Free Will & Sin and on The Fall of Manfor a more in-depth look at the nature of sin in our world. 

Paul then describes seven principles of God’s judgement.  In this, God lays out what it will take to spend eternity with Him.  These are the seven principles throughout the rest of Chapter 2.

1. According to Truth (Romans 2:2-4) – The self-righteous are trapped and cannot get away from the truth of God’s impending judgement on they who judge others. Surely you have heard the old saying, “Judge not, lest you be judged yourself”. 
2. According to accumulated guilt (Romans 2:5) – The term used in Romans 2:5 is to “treasure up”, or to accumulate, and “wrath…of the righteous judgment of God.” God’s judgement is not what any of us want. We want His mercy!  We are all guilty before God and “None is righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10).   
3. According to works (Romans 2:6-10) – These five verses tell us judgement comes to those that sin, even if they do good all of the other times. A single sin of action or thought (see Matthew 5:28) is all it takes to be considered a sinner in God’s eyes.   The Law was given not to make humanity learn how to be good in God’s eyes, but to show us that we cannot be good enough for God on our own efforts.  We must have the mercy of God and the redemption provided through Jesus Christ.  Galatians 3:24 (KJV) tells us, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
4. Without Respect of Persons (Romans 2:11-12) – God is telling us here that He does not discriminate or play favorites. It is all about their actions and the content of their heart, not their position, ethnicity, or any other label we might have.  This means even the Jews under the Law were no different.
5. According to obedience, not knowledge (Romans 2:13-15) – verse 13 says it is not the hearers of the Law, but the doers of it that shall be justified. Knowledge is not enough.  Obedience to the law is required.  Eternal life is not a reward for good living.  That would contradict many other scriptures that clearly state salvation is not by works but is by God’s grace to those who believe (see Rom 6:23, 10:9-10, 11:6, Eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5).
6. Reaching the secrets of the heart (Romans 2:16) – Romans 2:16 (KJV) says,” In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Nothing will remain hidden. Not even the things we thought no one would ever know.  God knows everything.  God’s light will expose every evil thing we have ever done or even thought.  Imagine that!  No one will be able to stand before God on their own good works, because regardless of what good we have done, we have all at least thought some sinful thing at least once in our lives. 
7. According to reality (Romans 2:17-29) – Paul spends the next 13 verses describing the Jews standing before God. That is the next sub-section called “The Religious Man is a Sinner.

In other words, even the most moral, upright person is still a sinner in God’s eyes. Psalms 14:3 tells us “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.“

The Religious Man is a Sinner

The Jews considered themselves far above pagan man in terms of their righteousness.  They were indeed proud of the heritage and their traditions.  The Jews were proud of the Law, but not very good at keeping it!  Verses 17 and 18 focus on the five things the Jews were most proud of, which are.

1. Being called a Jew
2. Relying on the Law
3. Boasting of God
4. Knowing God’s will
5. Being instructed in the details of the Law

First of all, God hates pride. Proverbs 8:13 (KJV) explains, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Second, God wants us to be doers. Not just hearers of His Word.  James 1:22 (KJV) tells us, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” The Jews had a calling but failed. Paul has nailed the pagans and the gentiles so far. He wants to make sure there are no misconceptions on the part of his Jewish readers, who had their pride in their Law and culture.

In verses 25-29 Paul talks about the circumcision of the Jews and how they outwardly saw the physical act as a separation from the pagans and gentiles, but Paul explains it is the circumcision of the heart (or spirit) that matters, not that of the flesh.  The fleshly act made them no better than anyone else.