Romans 2:16 - Exposition

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ . About this verse the main question is, what previous assertion the "when" refers to. The time denoted by "when" (whether we suppose κρίνει or κρινεῖ — i.e. the present or future tense—to have been intended by the writer) is certainly the ἡμέρα of 1 Corinthians 3:13 , and ether passages—the day of doom, when "every man's work shall be made manifest." Hence immediate connection of this verse with the preceding one, which would otherwise have been the natural one, seems to be precluded; for in 1 Corinthians 3:15 the present operation of conscience, during this present life, was described. One way of making the connection obvious is by understanding 1 Corinthians 3:15 as itself denoting the manifestation reserved for the day of judgment, when all will stand self-convicted. But not only the verb ἐκδείκνυντααι in the present tense, but also the fact of the whole verse being so obvious a description of present human consciousness, seems to preclude this view. Some would connect 1 Corinthians 3:16 with 1 Corinthians 3:12 , of which it is in itself a natural sequence; and this connection is intimated in the Authorized Version, which includes the three verses that come between in a parenthesis. The objection to it is the length of the parenthesis. Probably the apostle, in his characteristic way, paid little regard to precise logical sequence; he only desired to express, in this concluding verse, that in the great day full justice would be done, and all that he had been speaking of would be made plain. My gospel means "the gospel committed unto me to preach" (cf. Romans 16:25 ; 2 Corinthians 4:3 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:14 ; 2 Timothy 2:8 ). The idea that it means "the Gospel according to St. Luke," said to have been written under St. Paul's superintendence, is too improbable to call for serious notice.