Without excuse (379) anapologetos

Without excuse (379) (anapologetos from a = without + apologéomai = apologize or more literally to speak oneself off and so to plead for oneself) means inexcusable. This word pertains to not being able to defend oneself or to justify one’s actions The root word "apologeomai" (defending in Romans 2:15) was used in secular Greek in a judicial sense to describe a legal petition or defense. The only other use of anapologetos is in the previous chapter where Paul writes that... "since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen (note the "seeing" of the "invisible attributes, which he goes on to explain - what they see of the Creation generates an inner seeing so to speak), being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Ro 1:20-21-note) Why is everyone without excuse ("without defense")? In Romans 1:18-32 all the "unrighteous" are without excuse and in Romans 2 he begins to demonstrate that all the "self-righteous" are also without excuse. They are without excuse because of the universal facts of the external creation and the internal voice of conscience (God made it evident within them). What was true of the "pagans" in Romans 1:18-32 is also true of this group he identifies with the pronoun "you" (in contrast to the pronoun they he had used repeatedly in Romans 1:18-32). Therefore both they and you are without excuse. In the following verses, Paul refers to you as if he is addressing an imaginary representative of a real and identifiable group of people. Undoubtedly, in many ways the Jew of Paul's day typified the moralist, but as discussed, his words in Romans 2:1-16 seem to have a wider application to all who think they are morally righteous (in comparison to the gross immorality described in Romans 1). Barnhouse - The key to the argument is the word, “inexcusable.” The first chapter asks, in effect, Did you ever look upon nature? The present verse asks, Have you ever criticized anyone for anything? Then you are without excuse, because your criticism arises from the fact that you have a conscience, which now recognizes a sin in another because it is aware of the existence of sin in self; and you have never lived up to the light of your conscience, whatever it may be. Anyone who has ever criticized anything in anybody has thereby written his own condemnation...No individual has ever criticized another for lying without having, sometime or other, been guilty of shading the truth. The conscience that makes you aware of imperfection in another finds written on itself the guilt of its own imperfection. MacDonald rightly reminds us that... Fallen man can see faults in others more readily than in himself. Things hideous and repulsive in the lives of others seem quite respectable in his own. But the fact that he can judge sins in others shows that he knows the difference between right and wrong. If he knows that it is wrong for someone to steal his wife, then he knows that it is wrong for him to steal someone else’s wife. Therefore, when someone commits the very sins he condemns in others, he leaves himself without excuse. The sins of cultured people are essentially the same as those of the heathen. Although a moralist may argue that he has not committed every sin in the book, he should remember the following facts: 1. he is capable of committing them all. 2. by breaking one commandment, he is guilty of all (Jas. 2:10). 3. he has committed sins of thought which he may never have committed in actual deed, and these are forbidden by the word. Jesus taught that the lustful look, for instance, is tantamount to adultery (Mt. 5:28-29). (Believer's Bible Commentary) When we seek to share with others their great need of Christ's free gift of salvation we meet with a variety of responses: What about the heathen? A loving God would never send anyone to hell. I'm okay because I belong to the church. Oh I don't show it or live it but I'm a Christian and I'm okay so you can worry about someone else." Romans 1 addressed the first objection - the heathen did know about God but suppressed this truth and therefore are guilty. Romans 2 addresses the other objections and misconceptions about genuine salvation and man's need for it. Jews were the people who judged, pronouncing all Gentiles to be born in sin and under condemnation. They loved to criticize the Gentile "dogs" as they called them and it warmed their hearts to hear Paul put those dirty heathen sinners in their place in Romans 1. Paul's unexpected conclusion (you are without excuse) abruptly challenges the self righteous Jew or anyone who thought himself exempt from the indictment in Romans 1. A good example of a "religious person" with a judgmental attitude is found in Jesus' illustration of the Pharisee and the Publican where Jesus addresses the "self-righteous", judgmental Pharisee to show him his need for God's righteousness. "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. 11 "The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. 12 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' 13 "But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' 14 "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 18:10-14) A person best understands his need for the good news of the Gospel when he understands he is guilty before God--whether immoral (Ro 1) or moral (Ro 2), whether Gentile (Ro 1) or Jew (Ro 2). Their sins may be different but their guilt is the same. But as everyone knows, it's not easy to convince a "moral man" of his guilt, because "moral" men truly believe they are better than other people. This is deception. And when a person is deceived, they do not even know it! (See the deceitful effect of sin - Heb 3:13). So whether one is a Jew or a "moral Gentile", both groups think they are exempt from God’s judgment because they have not indulged in the immoral excesses described in Romans 1. Paul is emphasizing that they are mistaken and deceived. In fact in some ways they are worse off than the pagans, for they have more knowledge (e.g., the Jews "were entrusted with the oracles of God" Romans 3:2) and thus they had a greater accountability. If the Gentile is without excuse, then the Jew is even more so because he had more information at his disposal. Later in this chapter Paul informs us that he "will be judged by the Law" (Romans 2:12). His judgment will be according to light and he will receive a greater degree of punishment because of his refusal of the light. The principle of greater light bringing greater accountability and a more severe judgment is clearly taught in Scripture - study the following passages (Mt 10:15, 11:20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 12:41 Jn 19:11, Lu 10:12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 12:47,48, 20:46, 47, Heb 10:29] EXTERNAL RELIGION, INTERNAL DEADNESS - The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through 4 decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During the conversion, her 3 massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4-inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than 30 coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away. There was no substance, only an exterior appearance! “No substance, only an exterior appearance!” Football legend Al Davis understood he was "without excuse" - “Death is the only thing I’m afraid of,” said Al Davis, the aging managing general partner of the Oakland Raiders. “It’s the only thing you can’t control. The football I’ll get straight. My biggest thing now is this death business. I’ve always been able to control the elements of my life, dominate my environment without hurting others. But this death business … I can’t beat it. I can’t win.” And of course death is the inevitable consequence of the entrance of sin into this world (Ro 5:12). EVERY MAN WHO PASSES JUDGMENT: o anthrope pas o krinon (PAPMSN): (Ps 50:16, 17, 18, 19, 20; Mt 7:1, 2, 3, 4, 5-see notes; Mt 23:29, 30, 31; Lk 6:37; 19:22; Jn 8:7, 8, 9; Jas 4:11) KING DAVID: A PICTURE OF EVERY MAN WHO JUDGES OTHERS Read the tragic example of David judging and getting judged by God through His prophet Nathan - "You are the man!" David had "one finger" pointing at the man, but 4 were pointing at himself! 2 Samuel 12:1-10 Then the LORD sent (a)Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 "The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 3 "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him. 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." 5 Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 "He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion." 7 Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 'I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 'Why have you despised (Heb = bazah = disdain; regarded with contempt; Lxx = phaulizo = considered worthless, held cheap, disparaged, treated with contempt) the Word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? (Note: Phaulizo is used in Nu 15:31 - notice what happened to that man!) You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised (Heb = bazah; Lxx = exoutheneo = utterly despised) Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' (We all need to remember this passage before you commit what you know to be a flagrant sin, be it in the area of immorality or otherwise! Woe! Read 2Sa 12:11-14!) Every (3956) (pas) means all without exception. As Ray Stedman quipped in his sermon on this section... Here Paul talks about those who pass judgment on others. If there are any here this morning who do not belong in that category, we will excuse you. You are free to go, because I want to talk to those who have, at one time or another, passed judgment on someone else. (Romans 2:1-11 Sinful Morality) Man (444) (anthropos) is the generic name in distinction from gods and the animals. It refers to a man or woman, an individual of the human race or a person. The KJV renders this with the phrase "O man". Passes judgment (2919) (krino) primarily signifies to distinguish, separate or discriminate and then, to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, without necessarily passing an adverse sentence, though this is usually involved. Krino means to sift out and analyze evidence. Krino is present tense indicating that they were continually passing judgment. Passing judgment, by implication, means condemning. The imaginary interlocutors ("you...every man") are envisaged not as objecting to what Paul had said but as agreeing with it very strongly. It is that tendency (in all of us) to point the finger at someone else -- the amazing ability to find someone whom we consider worse than we are, and to ask God to concentrate on him and leave us alone. But Paul corrects their (and our) mistaken conclusions by explaining that when "Mr. I'm Okay" meets his Maker, he will be judged by God. This section presents the principles by which that judgment takes place. MacDonald makes the point that... The sins of cultured people are essentially the same as those of the heathen. Although a moralist may argue that he has not committed every sin in the book, he should remember the following facts: 1. he is capable of committing them all. 2. by breaking one commandment, he is guilty of all (James 2:10."For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.") 3. he has committed sins of thought which he may never have committed in actual deed, and these are forbidden by the word. Jesus taught that the lustful look, for instance, is tantamount to adultery (Matt. 5:28-note "but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.") (Believer's Bible Commentary) Jesus addressing a Jewish audience, many of whom were undoubtedly convinced of their self-righteousness, admonished them to... not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5) MacArthur writes that... "The phrase "O man" (cf. Ro 2:3; 9:20) is a general reference to any moralist who thinks he's exempt from judgment because he hasn't sunk to idolatry, homosexuality, or any other reprobate activity." Paul's description fits us all to a certain extent...for we all have an amazing tendency to point the finger at someone else -- the amazing ability to find someone whom we consider worse than we are, and to ask God to concentrate on him and leave us alone. All of us know someone whom we consider a little bit lower on the ethical scale than we are, and what a comfort they are to our hearts! Every time our conscience gives us a little stab, we immediately remember these people, and we take courage, and feel a lot better. Have you ever noticed how frequently this attitude is encountered? When you are stopped by a traffic policeman, and he comes up beside your car, you say to him, "Officer, what are you bothering me for? Why don't you go out and catch some of the teenage speeders, and leave us law abiding citizens alone?" We all want a lightning rod that will divert the stroke of divine wrath from us, and channel it off to someone we consider a little more worthy of it. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Moody) Harry Ironside writes that... In the first sixteen verses of this chapter of Romans another class of people is brought into view: the world of culture and refinement. Surely among the educated, the followers of the various philosophic systems, will be found men who lead such righteous lives that they can come into the presence of God claiming His blessing on the ground of their own goodness! Certainly there were those who professed to look with disgust and abhorrence upon the vile lewdness of the ignorant rabble. But were their private lives any holier or any cleaner than those whom they so loudly condemned? It is now their turn to be summoned into court, so to speak, where the apostle fearlessly arraigns them before the august tribunal of the righteous Lord, who loveth righteousness. "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" (Romans 2:1). Philosophy does not preserve its devotee from the indulgence of the flesh. A recognition of the evil is not necessarily power to overcome the evil. Culture does not cleanse the heart nor education alter the nature. The judgment of God according to truth will be rendered against the evildoer. To praise virtue while practicing vice may enable one to get by with his fellows, but it will not deceive Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. (Romans And Galatians: An Ironside Expository Commentary) Ray Pritchard defines this "man" as "...a good person who is not a Christian. He pays his taxes, loves his wife, helps his kids, works hard, obeys the law and every year buys five boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Although he is a good neighbor, a hard worker, and an all-around nice guy, he is not a Christian. To be even more specific, he probably is a church member, but he is not saved. He is moral, but lost." (Romans 2:1-16: Mr. I.M. Okay Meets His Maker) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_21-2.htm#without%20excuse

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Without excuse (379) anapologetos

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