Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 2:16

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

16. in the day, &c.] This sentence is often connected with the close of Rom 2:12. But the parenthesis is thus, even in the style of St Paul, highly difficult and peculiar; and Rom 2:13 stands in close natural connexion with Rom 2:12. Meanwhile the sequence of Rom 2:16 on Rom 2:15 is not hard to trace; the allusion to the Great Day is anticipatory; q. d., “These moral convictions and verdicts have their good and final confirmation in the day, &c.;” “all that was true in them will be recognized and carried out in Divine action then.”

the secrets of men ] i.e. of men in general, heathens as well as Jews. The “ secret things” are here named, as implying also of course the judgment of all that is “ open beforehand.” Perhaps the word alludes too to the “cloke” of Jewish formality, and faith in privileges.

by Jesus Christ according to my gospel ] The word “Gospel” is here used (a deeply significant use) of the entire contents of the Apostle’s teaching; of holy principles and threats of condemnation as well as holy promises of life. “ My Gospel:” same word as Rom 16:25. The original of the phrase is not strongly emphatic, but certainly not without point. It indicates on one hand St Paul’s deep certainty of his direct Divine commission and its precise import, and on the other his consciousness (much more strongly expressed in the Galatian Epistle) of opposition to his position and doctrine. Cf. e.g. Gal 1:6-12. “By Jesus Christ: ” the words emphatically close the sentence; perhaps with implicit reference to the rejection, by the unbelieving Jews whom the Apostle now more distinctly addresses, of Him who is to judge the world.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

In the day – This verse is doubtless to be connected with Rom 2:12, and the intermediate verses are a parenthesis, and it implies that the pagan world, as well as the Jews, will be arraigned at the bar of judgment. At that time God will judge all in righteousness, the Jew by the Law which he had, and the pagan by the Law which he had.

When God shall judge – God is often represented as the Judge of mankind; Deu 32:36; Psa 50:4; 1Sa 2:10; Ecc 3:17; Rom 3:6; Heb 13:4. But this does not militate against the fact that he will do it by Jesus Christ. God has appointed his Son to administer judgment; and it will be not by God directly, but by Jesus Christ that it will be administered.

The secrets of men – See Luk 8:17; Ecc 12:14, For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, etc., Mat 10:26; 1Co 4:5. The expression denotes the hidden desires, lusts, passions, and motives of people; the thoughts of the heart, as well as the outward actions of the life. It will be a characteristic of the day of judgment, that all these will he brought out, and receive their appropriate reward. The propriety of this is apparent, for,

1. It is by these that the character is really determined. The motives and principles of a man constitute his character, and to judge him impartially, these must be known.
2. They are not judged or rewarded in this life. The external conduct only can be seen by people, and of course that only can be rewarded or punished here.
3. People of pure motives and pure hearts are often here basely aspersed and calumniated. They are persecuted, traduced, and often overwhelmed with ignominy. It is proper that the secret motives of their conduct should be brought out and approved.

On the other hand, people of base motives, people of unprincipled character, and who are corrupt at the heart, are often lauded, flattered, and exalted into public estimation. It is proper that their secret principles should be detected, and that they should take their proper place in the government of God. In regard to this expression, we may further remark,

(1) That the fact that all secret thoughts and purposes will be brought into judgment, invests the judgment with an awful character. Who should not tremble at the idea that the secret plans and desires of his soul, which he has so long and so studiously concealed, should be brought out into noon-day in the judgment? All his artifices of concealment shall be then at an end. He will be able to practice disguise no longer. He will be seen as he is; and he will receive the doom he deserves. There will be one place, at least, where the sinner shall be treated as he ought.

(2) To execute this judgment implies the power of searching the heart; of knowing the thoughts; and of developing and unfolding all the purposes and plans of the soul. Yet this is intrusted to Jesus Christ, and the fact that he will exercise this, shows that he is divine.

Of men – Of all people, whether Jew or Gentile, infidel or Christian. The day of judgment, therefore, may be regarded as a day of universal development of all the plans and purposes that have ever been entertained in this world.

By Jesus Christ – The fact that Jesus Christ is appointed to judge the world is abundantly taught in the Bible, Act 17:31; 2Ti 4:1; 1Pe 4:5; Joh 5:22, Joh 5:27; 1Th 4:16-18; Mat. 25:31-46.

According to my gospel – According to the gospel which I preach. Compare Act 17:31; 2Ti 4:8. This does not mean that the gospel which he preached would be the rule by which God would judge all mankind, for he had just said that the pagan world would be judged by a different rule, Rom 2:12. But it means that he was intrusted with the gospel to make it known; and that one of the great and prime articles of that gospel was, that God would judge the world by Jesus Christ. To make this known he was appointed; and it could be called his gospel only as being a part of the important message with which he was intrusted.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Rom 2:16

In the day when God shall Judge the secrets of men.

The future judgment

I. The grand subject of inquiry. The secrets of men. A phrase to be understood in its utmost latitude, including not only matters known only to God and our own consciences, but also things which escape ourselves, or the nature of which may be undiscovered. The hypocrite, who either deceived others or deluded himself, shall then be laid open. And the good actions of the sincere Christian, uncharitably mistaken by the world, or unreasonably censured by his own conscience, shall be vindicated. The expression does not exclude public actions (Ecc 12:14), which are, in a sense, a secret as to their nature, motives and consequences. Our secret sufferings will also be judged; what we have endured, and in what spirit, whether with resignation toward God, and with gentleness towards men; all which is difficult to determine now.

II. The person who will judge the secrets of men.

1. God who alone–

(1) Has a right to judge them; it is His law that is broken.

(2) Can judge them; none other has power to assemble the living and the dead; wisdom, to know all the individuals and their actions, words, thoughts, etc.; holiness to hate sin; justice to pass an equitable sentence.

2. By Jesus Christ (Joh 5:22; Mat 28:18; Rev 1:18; Mat 16:27; Mat 25:31; Act 10:42; Act 17:31; 2Th 1:7).

(1) This appointment is reasonable, as a reward of His obedience and sufferings. If He reward us for ours, how much more is He, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, worthy to be crowned with glory and honour (Php 2:6-10).

(2) This perfect honour is appropriate to Him. The powers of hell employed their force and fraud in opposing the kingdom of Christ, and it is fit He should pass sentence upon them (Rev 17:13-14).

(3) With respect to His followers also, it is fit that He should acquit them, who bore their sins; that He should determine their happiness, who purchased heaven for them with its various mansions; that He should present them faultless, who preserved them from falling; that He should judge those who were under His government while on earth. (Joseph Benson.)

Coming judgment of the secrets of men

I. On a certain day God will judge men.

1. A judgment is going on daily. Every deed is recorded in the register of doom.

(1) This session of the heavenly court is like the daily sessions of our local magistrates, and does not prevent but rather necessitates the holding of an ultimate great assize.

(2) As each man passes into another world an immediate judgment is passed upon him; but this is only the foreshadowing of the final judgment.

(3) There is a judgment also passing upon nations, for as nations will not exist as nations in another world, they have to be judged now, and history shows how sternly justice has dealt with empire after empire, when they have become corrupt. Where is Assyria, Babylon, Rome, etc.? The world is full of monuments of the mercy and justice of God: the very monuments of His justice being proofs of His goodness; for it is mercy to put an end to evil systems when, like a nightmare, they weigh heavily upon mankind. We have often laughed at the idea of the New Zealander sitting on the broken arch of London Bridge sketching the ruins of St. Pauls. But is it quite so ridiculous as it looks? What is there about London that it should be more enduring than Rome? If we rebel, God will not hold us guiltless.

2. Though such judgments proceed every day, yet there is to be a day in which more distinctly and finally God will judge men. We might have guessed this by the light of nature and of reason. Even heathen peoples have had a dim notion of a day of doom; but we are solemnly assured of it in Holy Scripture.

(1) By judging is here meant all that concerns the proceedings of trial and award.

(a) There will be a session of majesty, and the appearing of a great white throne, surrounded with pomp of angels and glorified beings.

(b) Then a summons will be issued, bidding all men come to judgment.

(c) Then the indictment will be read, and each one examined.

(d) Then the books shall be opened, and everything recorded there read.

(e) Then the great Judge shall give the decision, pronounce sentence and execute it.

(2) This will be so, and it ought to be so: God should judge the world, because He is the universal ruler and sovereign.

(a) There has been a day for sinning, there ought to be a day for punishing.

(b) It ought to be so for the sake of the righteous. The best have had the worst of it, and there ought to be a judgment to set these things right. Besides, the festering iniquities of each age cry out to God that He should deal with them.

(3) Why doth it not come at once? And when will it come? It is idle and profane to guess at it, since even the Son of Man, as such, knoweth not the time. It is sufficient that it will surely come; sufficient also to believe that it is postponed.

(a) To give space for repentance.

(b) That the Church may be completed. The Lord keeps the scaffold standing till He hath built up the fabric. Not yet are all the redeemed with blood redeemed with power and brought forth into the holiness in which they walk with God. But do not deceive yourselves. The great day of His wrath cometh on apace, and days of reprieve are numbered.

II. God will judge the secrets of men.

1. By these are meant–

(1) Those secret crimes which hide themselves away by their own infamy, which are too vile to be spoken of.

(2) The hidden motives of every action; for a man may do that which is right from a wrong motive, and so the deed may be evil in the sight of God, though it seem right in the sight of men. Oh, think what it will be to have it proven that you were godly for the sake of gain, that you were generous out of ostentation, or for love of praise, etc.

(3) The sensual desires and imaginings.

(4) Secrets, that were secrets even to the sinners themselves, for there is sin in us which we have never yet discovered.

2. Why God should judge the secrets of men. Because–

(1) There is really nothing secret from God; for all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

(2) Often the greatest of moral acts are done in secret. The brightest deeds that God delights in are those that are done by His servants when they have no motive but to please Him, and when they studiously avoid publicity. It were a pity that such deeds should be left out at the great audit. Thus, too, secret vices are also of the very blackest kind, and to exempt them were to let the worst of sinners go unpunished.

(3) Besides, the secret things of men enter into the very essence of their actions. An action is, after all, good or bad very much according to its motive. So, if God did not judge the secret part of the action He would not judge righteously.

(4) The secret thing is the best evidence of the mans condition. Many a man will not do in public that which would bring him shame. That which a man does when he thinks that he is entirely by himself is the best revelation of the man.

III. God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. This will be–

1. For the display of His glory. What a difference there will be then between the Babe of Bethlehems manger and the King of kings and Lord of lords; between the weary man and full of woes, and He that shall then be girt with glory, sitting on a throne encircled with a rainbow! From the derision of men to the throne of the universal judgment, what an ascent! This, too, will finally settle the controversy about our Lords Deity.

2. Because men have been under His mediatorial sway, and He is their King. We have been placed by an act of Divine clemency, not under the immediate government of an offended God, but under the reconciling rule of the Prince of Peace.

3. That there may never be a cavil raised concerning that judgment. Men shall not be able to say, Vie were judged by a superior being who did not know our weaknesses and temptations, and therefore judged us without a generous consideration of our condition. The Judge was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He is our brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, partaker of our humanity, and therefore understands and knows what is in men.

4. This judgment by Christ puts beyond possibility all hope of any after-interposition. If the Saviour condemns, and such a Saviour, who can plead for us? If He that bled to save men at last comes to this conclusion, that there is no more to be done, but they must be driven from His presence, then farewell hope.

5. Does not this also show how certain the sentence will be? for this Christ of God is too much in earnest to play with men. If He says, Come, ye blessed, He will not fail to bring them to their inheritance. If He be driven to say, Depart, ye cursed, He will see it done, and into the everlasting punishment they must go.

6. It seems as if God in this intended to give a display of the unity of all His perfections. In Christ you behold justice and love, mercy and righteousness, combined in equal measure. He turns to the right, and says, Come, ye blessed, and with the same lip, as He glances to the left, He says, Depart, ye cursed,

IV. All this is according to the gospel. There is nothing in the gospel contrary to this solemn teaching. Men gather to hear us preach of infinite mercy, and our task is joyful; but oh, remember that nothing in our message makes light of sin! There is grace for the man who quits his sin, but there is tribulation and wrath upon every man that doeth evil. The gospel is all tenderness to the repenting, but all terror to the obstinate offender. The background of the Cross is the judgment seat of Christ. According to my gospel, saith Paul; and he meant that the judgment is an essential part of the gospel creed, and in times of righteous indignation its terrible significance seems a very gospel to the pure in heart. I have read this and that concerning oppression, slavery, the treading down of the poor, and the shedding of blood, and I have rejoiced that there is a righteous Judge. Thousands of men have been hanged for much less crimes than those which now disgrace gentlemen whose names are on the lips of rank and beauty. Where this is not preached, I am bold to say the gospel is not preached. It is absolutely necessary to the preaching of the gospel that men be warned as to what will happen if they continue in their sins. Surgeon, you hope to heal the sick without their knowing it. You therefore flatter them; and they die! Your delicacy is cruelty; you are a murderer. Shall we keep men in a fools paradise? Shall we lull them into soft slumbers from which they will awake in hell? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The secrets of men disclosed and judged

Secrets of–

I. Conduct. Those actions we concealed from friendship and from man, proclaimed on the housetop. How many secrets are now in progress in the world! Secrets of–

1. Ambition, where the man is sacrificing all for it.

2. Covetousness; call them secrets of trade if you like, but there are many practices countenanced which cannot bear the light. How have you held back from the widow, and passed by the orphan?

3. Sensuality. In darkness, not to be named in public. Look in your closets; how have your consciences been contaminated.

4. Envy: I cannot go into your closets; but what has God seen there!

II. Character. Character is formed by principle. Now this can only be known to Him who searches the heart. I know not the springs of your conduct, nor the principles on which your character is formed. Though Jesus says we may know the tree by the fruit, yet there is not always a faithful correspondence between principles and practice. How few seek only the glory of God. Self is a subtle principle. In private a man will blush at his own hypocrisy; and Satan, helping him, may make him a self-deceiver. But every motive will then start up! How many actions now under the garb of humility will then be seen to have originated in pride! How many blazoned deeds from self-love! How many actions, which seem under the motive of zeal to God, like those of Jehu, are prompted by interest!

III. Inattention. A large portion of our actions are thought to be venial, trifling, etc. For every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give account in the day of judgment.

IV. Influence. We are members one of another. We are always, when in society, doing either good or harm.

1. Little do we know how many are they on whom we have in some way exerted an unhallowed influence. In that day the author of blasphemous works will answer for all the evil he has done.

2. At the same time, many secrets of prayer will then be found, many tears, etc.

Conclusion:

1. This subject requires deep self-examination. What secrets will this night conceal!

2. What will be the effects of this judgment?

(1) The shame of exposure. What would you not give here to avoid exposure?

(2) Besides shame, the agony of remorse, the horror of despair. Some shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt. (J. Summerfield, A. M.)

Judgment of our thoughts

1. Thoughts are amongst the secrets of men. They are what men cannot be sure of in each other. They are what men often seem to imagine that even God cannot behold.

2. Whence is it that the thoughts arise which will be called to account? Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts (Mat 15:19). Out of the heart also it is that good thoughts, by Gods good grace, spring up.

3. And this make it so needful for them to be judged hereafter. They prove what is the inward disposition of the soul, what there is of good or evil there.

4. But though it is easy to see why the thoughts must be judged; yet it is not easy to think as if they would be. How few think continually such thoughts as they would wish to have entirely laid open unto those amongst whom they live! How few such as are fit to be beholden by Him to whom all thoughts are open! How few that God will judge them!

I. What are the thoughts that will be judged.

1. Selfish thoughts. For what are the thoughts which God commands us to cherish towards each other? (see Mat 19:19; Rom 12:10; Php 2:4). Consider how far are your thoughts guided by these rules?

2. Proud thoughts. The pattern set before it Christian is as follows: Learn of My, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Mat 11:29). The rule laid down for his thoughts of others is, In lowliness of mind, etc. (Php 2:3). How often is this rule violated; how seldom this pattern followed! There is, indeed, a great variety in rank, ability, etc., and it would be but a pretence to humility for a man to profess himself inferior in a point where he cannot help to know his own advantages. But whatsoever be his comparative advantages, let him fix his attention rather on his own actual defects–his sins, wasted opportunities–and he will scarcely think highly of himself.

3. Angry thoughts. These are closely connected with pride and selfishness. He that thinks highly of himself covets largely for himself, and must, therefore, often be disappointed and affronted. Thus spring up angry thoughts; and though neither unkind words or actions follow, the thoughts alone are sinful, and will be judged. The most secret thoughts Christ would have to be now gentle and charitable.

4. Impure thoughts (Mat 5:27-28). Let no one imagine himself innocent, merely because his conduct is respectable. The fear of shame, the lack of opportunity, may preserve the outward character, but they cannot secure the favourable judgment of Him who sees the heart to be sensual. Thus not only he who follows after strong drink in excess, but he also who fain would do so if he could is a drunkard in the sight of the Almighty. Thus in another sin, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer (1Jn 3:15).

5. Worldly thoughts. We learn that a Christian should set his affections on things above (Col 3:2), and not be anxious for this worlds morrow (Mat 6:25-34). How, then, can they answer for it hereafter, whose whole minds are occupied with the business of the world they live in; with scarcely one reflection in the day on the world which they so soon must enter? Are not these things among those secrets of men which God will judge?

II. What should we do in view of this?

1. Besides the times which you set apart for prayer, etc., you must endeavour to cherish thoughts of heaven in the midst of your attention to the business of earth. Say you are engaged in work. Why should you not relieve your toil by thinking of what awaits you when life shall end?

2. Set before yourselves your Christian calling. Keep in view the condemnation from which you have been delivered, and the dealings of Him who has delivered you (Php 4:8). And think further of what God has yet in store for us in the world which now we see not. Let us more stedfastly believe that we shall dwell in heaven, and we shall think more frequently of dwelling there. Let us believe more firmly that Christ died for our sins, and we shall think of Him both more often and more thankfully. Then shall we less fear to have our secrets judged, when we have not a thought which is not beforehand submitted to our Judge, suggested by His Spirit, guided by His Word, or devoutly surrendered to His will. (C. Girdlestone, M. A.)

The secrets of the soul

I. We live is a strange secrecy, even hidden from our most intimate friends.

1. If any one of us were asked to relate his own life, he might relate two lives which would seem all but independent of each other. He might tell when he was born, where he had lived, what he had done, etc. He might anticipate the future, calculate what were his chances of success, and how he expected to end his days. Or, again, he might tell quite a different story. What he remembered of his own early character; what were his real affections; what did he secretly like, and pursue, and hope for; what changes had passed over him; what events had influenced the general current of his thoughts; what struggles he had been engaged in, and their issue. He might tell of the very beginnings, unknown to all save himself, of habits of sin never since quite shaken off; of deeds done in darkness; why some names, associations, memories make him uncomfortable without any visible reason; why he wishes, in his secret heart, some subjects to be forbidden, and is always conscious of an effort to seem indifferent when they are mentioned.

2. Now how different these two lives would often be! How events of the highest importance, and persons who play a large part in the one would disappear in the other! How strange it would be to see that a man who had succeeded in the eyes of his friends in a particular path had meanwhile been cherishing within him quite foreign thoughts and other longings! How strange to find that a fair character was only fair outwardly! Those who had been praised would, in many cases, win pity; and some few who now suffer from showing ill would be found to rank far above the level at which they had always been placed. Often the recital of a mans secret life would completely change our opinion of him. But still more often we should be astonished to see how these two lives seemed to run side by side almost without mingling.

II. The revelation will one day be made, and Christ will decide, and he alone can decide, on the evidence which each will give.

1. Neither tells the whole man.

(1) The outer life only tells what we are under all the influences of the eyes of others, which eyes call into use a completely different set of faculties and motives–the desire to be thought well of, to please, to win popularity or love, then begin to act. Our consciences, too, are strengthened in some ways by the sight of each other; and there are some duties which we see much more clearly.

(2) On the other hand, the inner life tells what we are when quite left to ourselves, but no man is complete when alone. There is a large part of his nature which is made to fit into the society of his fellows; and if this part of him does not find its proper complement, the nature of the man is not all called out. Moreover, what goes on in our secret lives is, to a great extent, the very consequence of our believing that it will end where it begins. Many a man indulges passing thoughts, who would not put them into deeds even if tempted by the certainty of perpetual concealment. It would not be possible, therefore, to judge a man either by the secret life or by the public. But Christ will unveil them both, and we shall see and feel the justice of His decision.

2. Now we can see why God has thus shut up a large and important part of our lives in this absolute secrecy. God has made us to be members one of another; but He will not have us to be nothing but members one of another. Every soul shall have an individual life, with an individual history, and shall come at last to an individual judgment. God requires that each soul shall have a separate strength supplied by Himself alone. The Church is much. But the Church shall not be everything. You shall, if you are to call yourself a servant of Christ, give something which you and you alone can give, which you and you alone can know whether you give or not. From this responsibility you cannot escape. Another may ask you whether you have done it, but he must depend for his answer on what you tell him, and he cannot know whether your answer is the whole truth. God alone can tell that; and between yourself and God the secret must remain till the judgment day.

3. God has hidden a part of our lives; and this concealment we can cast over much more than He has hidden. But again and again are we warned against it. It is the man whose deeds are evil that loves darkness rather than light. And what is the voice of Gods Word is also the voice of natural feeling. The man who is fair outside and foul within is condemned of all men as a hypocrite. Men reserve all their strongest terms of reprobation for the dark, reserved, and secret sinner. Men refuse their love to the reserved and secret character. Nature and revelation both warn us against the danger we run if we pollute our inner and secret life with what we dare not tell.

4. In view of this awful coming judgment let us determine to force all our faults outwards. At whatever cost let us keep sacred to God that inner shrine which He has thus hidden with a secrecy of His own making. Let us avoid a secret sin with a hundred times more eager avoidance, just because it is secret. If we can be fair anywhere let it be in that which God has reserved for Himself, and where Christ is willing to dwell. (Bp. Temple.)

According to my gospel.

St. Paul and his gospel

It is impossible to tell what it cost Paul to write Chapter

1. It is a shame even to speak of the things, but Paul felt that it was necessary to break through his shame, and to speak out concerning the hideous vices of the heathen. Monsters that revel in darkness must be dragged into the open, that they may be withered up by the light. After Paul has thus written in anguish he bethought himself of his chief comfort. He clings to the gospel with a greater tenacity than ever. Here he did not speak of it as the gospel, but as my gospel. He felt that he could not live in the midst of so depraved a people without holding the gospel with both hands, and grasping it as his very own. My gospel. Not that Paul was the author of it, not that Paul had an exclusive monopoly of its blessings, but that he had so received it from Christ Himself, and so fully taken it into himself that he could not do less than call it my gospel. In another place he speaks of our gospel; to show how believers identify themselves with the truth which they preach.

1. He had a definite form of truth, and he believed in it beyond all doubt; and therefore he spoke of it as my gospel. Herein we hear the voice of faith, which seems to say, Though others reject it, I am sure of it, Should all the forms that men devise, etc.

2. Is not this word my gospel the voice of love? Does he not by this word embrace the gospel as the only love of his soul–for the sake of which he had suffered the loss of all things, and for the sake of which he was willing to proclaim, even in Caesars palace, the message from heaven? Though each word should cost him a life, he was willing to die a thousand deaths for the holy cause.

3. Does not this show his courage! As much as to say, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

4. There is a touch of discrimination about the expression. Paul perceives that there are other gospels, and he makes short work with them. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Pauline gospel

Twice in this epistle the apostle uses this remarkable expression; here and in Rom 16:25. Now, it would be obviously arrogant for any ordinary preacher to use such an expression. We dare not speak of it so as to imply that it has acquired some distinctive character from our way of putting it. But in Pauls case we may feel sure that this expression was not used presumptuously.

1. Not only was he a chosen apostle, but there was given to him such excellency of knowledge in the mystery of Christ, that it is impossible to see how Christianity could have become the religion of all men but for Paul. Peter may have been qualified to open the door of faith to the Gentiles, and may have struck the first blow at the middle wall of partition, but it was through Pauls preaching that this middle wall was broken down effectually and finally, and the last trace of the long inferiority of the Gentile to the Jew completely effaced.

2. Then, again, it is Paul who has shaped all our formal theology as such, and given the life of Christ in the soul that articulate form without which it would soon die away into a vague and bodiless sentiment. It is Paul who has opened up the types, and linked Old Testament and New together.

3. All philosophy and all history may be said to stream out of the teaching of this the greatest of the apostles, like those rivers which flowed out of Eden and parted into four heads. As for the philosophy of history, it may be said to take its rise from the Epistle to the Romans, in the same way as it has been said that history itself was born on the night of the Exodus.

4. I dare not make use of this expression. And yet I feel irresistibly attracted to use it, though in a much lower sense. My justification for preaching at all is, that there is a sense in which any true teacher has a message from God which may be said to be distinctively his own. Every man must be fully persuaded in his own mind, and then declare his own mind to others. (J. B. Heard, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 16. In the day when God shall judge] And all this shall be farther exemplified and proved in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ; which judgment shall be according to my Gospel-according to what I am now laying down before you, relative to the impartiality of God, and his righteous procedure in judging men, not according to their opinions or prejudices, not according to revelations which they never possessed, but according to the various advantages or disadvantages of their political, religious, or domestic situation in life.

Much stress has been laid on the word, , by nature, in Ro 2:14, as if the apostle designed to intimate that nature, independently of the influence of Divine grace, possessed such principles as were sufficient to guide a man to glory. But certainly the term cannot be so understood here. I rather think that the sense given to it in Suicer’s Thesaurus, vol ii. col. 1475, reipsa, revera, CERTAINLY, TRULY, is its sense here: for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, , TRULY, or in effect, DO the things contained in the law, c. This seems to be its sense in Ga 4:8: When ye knew not God, ye did service to them which , CERTAINLY are no gods i.e. are false gods. Suicer quotes Cyril of Alexandria, (sub Anathematismo iii. in Actis Ephesinis, p. 212,) speaking of the union of the two natures in Christ; he calls this union , natural; that is, says he, , true, or real. He adds, that the word should be thus understood in Eph 2:3: We were by nature, , children of wrath; and says, . is here used for , TRULY; We were TRULY, INCONTESTABLY, the children of wrath, even as others. That is, like the rest of mankind, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and, consequently are exposed to punishment. Some think that this text refers to the natural corruption of man; but, although it is true that man comes into the world corrupt, and that all men, since the fall, are very far gone from original righteousness, yet it is not clear that the text in Eph 2:3, speaks of any other thing than the effects of this degeneracy.

I prefer this sense, in the passage in question, to that which says the light of nature, or natural instinct, is here meant; for I know of no light in nature that is not kindled there by the grace of God. But I have no objection to this sense: “When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do, by the influence of God upon their hearts, the things contained in the law, they are a law unto themselves; that light and influence serving instead of a Divine revelation.” That the Gentiles did really do the things contained in the law, in reference to what is termed natural justice, and made the wisest distinctions relative to the great principles of the doctrine of civil RIGHTS and WRONGS, every man conversant with their writings will admit. And in reference to this the word may be legitimately understood thus-they incontestably did the things contained in the law, c.

The passage in Ro 2:15, Their thoughts-accusing or excusing one another, certainly does not refer to any expostulations or operations of conscience for this is referred to in the preceding clause. The words accusing, , and excusing, , answering or defending one another, , among themselves, are all forensic or law terms, and refer to the mode of conducting suits of law in courts of justice, where one is plaintiff, who produces his accusation; another is defendant, who rebuts the charge and defends himself; and then the business is argued before the judges. This process shows that they have a law of their own, and that to this law it belongs to adjust differences-to right those who have suffered wrong, and to punish the guilty.

As to the phrase written in their hearts, it is here opposed to the Jewish laws, which were written on tables of stone. The Jews drew the maxims by which their conduct was regulated from a Divine revelation: the GENTILES theirs from what God, in the course of his providence and gracious influence, had shown them to be right, useful, and necessary. And with them this law was well known and affectionately regarded; for this is one meaning of the phrase, written in the heart. It was from this true light, enlightening the Gentiles, that they had so many wise and wholesome laws; laws which had been among them from time immemorial, and of which they did not know the origin. Thus Sophocles, in the noble speech which he puts in the mouth of Antigone:-

, ‘

, .

“Not now, nor yesterday, but evermore

These laws have lived: nor know we whence they came.”

Antig. ver. 463-4.

These are the laws, , which the Spirit of God wrote originally on their hearts; and which, in different forms, they had committed to writing.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

These words may be referred to Rom 2:12, and so they express the time when Jews and Gentiles shall be judged. Though some annex them to the words immediately preceding: q.d. Now the consciences of men do testify for or against them, and their thoughts accuse or excuse them; but in the day of judgment they will do it more especially. Shall judge the secrets of men; so that the most secret sins shall not escape the notice and censure of the Judge: see Ecc 12:14; 1Co 4:5.

My gospel; i.e. the gospel which I preach. So, Joh 12:48, our Saviour calls his word, his disciples word. He calls it his gospel, not as the author, but as the publisher of it; it was not his in respect of revelation, but in regard of dispensation, Rom 16:25; 1Co 9:17; 2Co 5:18,19; 2Ti 2:8. As for the fiction of a Gospel written by Paul, as was by Matthew, Mark, &c., the papists themselves begin to be ashamed of it.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. In the day, c.Here theunfinished statement of Ro 2:12is resumed and closed.

shall judge the secrets ofmenhere specially referring to the unfathomed depths ofhypocrisy in the self-righteous whom the apostle had to deal with.(See Ecc 12:14 1Co 4:5).

according to my gospeltomy teaching as a preacher of the Gospel.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

In the day when God shall judge,…. These words are to be read in connection with Ro 2:13, and express the time when both Jews and Gentiles will be judged, called a “day”, both because of the clearness and evidence of the judgment that will be made, and because a certain time is fixed, though not known, which will surely come; also the matter of the judgment, which will be,

the secrets of men: whether good or bad, which are only known to God and themselves, and which may have been done ignorantly by them; “for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil”, Ec 12:14, which is so interpreted by the Jews t,

“when R. Jochanan came to that Scripture, he wept; “for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing”;”

upon which the gloss says, yea, for those things which are hidden from him, which he has committed through ignorance, will he bring him into judgment; everything, even the least thing in a literal sense, but not for such silly trifling things they mention in the same place; doubtless the Holy Ghost means the secrets of men’s hearts and actions, and the hidden things of darkness which are contrary to the holy law of God. The person by whom this awful judgment will be carried on is,

Jesus Christ; to whom all judgment is committed, who is ordained Judge of quick and dead, and is every way fit for that office, being God as well as man, and so both omniscient and omnipotent: and this the apostle says will be,

according to my Gospel; his meaning is not that the Gospel will be the, rule of judgment, because he speaking of the judgment of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, who never heard of the Gospel; but that what he had said concerning a day of judgment, of Christ’s being the Judge, and of God’s judging by him the secrets of men, were as true and as certain as the Gospel which he preached was; and was “conformable”, or agreeable to it, as the Arabic version reads it, and might be learned and proved from it. This he calls, “my Gospel”; not because the author or subject of it; but because it was committed to his trust and was preached by him; and in opposition to, and to distinguish it from the Gospel of the false apostles. Eusebius says u, that the Apostle Paul had used to call the Gospel according to Luke his Gospel, and that it is said, that whenever he makes mention of his Gospel, he designs that.

t T. Bab. Chagigah, fol. 5. 1. u Eccles. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. p. 73.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

According to my gospel ( ). What Paul preaches (1Co 15:1) and which is the true gospel

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

My gospel. As distinguished from false teaching Paul ‘s assurance of the truth of the Gospel is shown in his confident assertion that it will form the standard of judgment in the great day.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) In the day when God shall judge, (en he hemera krinei ho theos) In the (what) day God judges; the trinitarian, Elohim, one God is to judge all men after death, not to determine their salvation, but to issue just, fair, equitable rewards or degrees of retribution, Heb 9:27; Ecc 12:13-14.

2) The secrets of men, (ta krupta ton anthropon) the hidden, suppressed, concealed, or covered up things of men, even the secretsas surely as other things, all things, every deed and idle word! How sobering should be this thought! Mat 12:37-38; Ecc 12:14; All of mens secrets are known of God, kept in store till the judgment h our, Deu 29:29; 2Co 5:10-11.

3) By Jesus Christ, (dia Christou lesou) through Jesus Christ, as administrative judge on the throne, to whom God has committed all things, Joh 3:35; Joh 5:22; Act 17:30-31; 2Ti 4:1-2.

4) According to my gospel, (kata to euangelion mou) According to or based upon my gospel, which was the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul possessed and which possessed him, Rom 1:16; 1Co 15:1-4.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

16. In which God shall judge the secrets of men (75) Most suitable to the present occasion is this periphrastic definition of judgment: it teaches those, who willfully hide themselves in the recesses of insensibility, that the most secret thoughts and those now completely hid in the depths of their hearts, shall then be brought forth to the light. So he speaks in another place; in order to show to the Corinthians what little value belongs to human judgment, which regards only the outward action, he bids them to wait until the Lord came, who would bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the secrets of the heart. (1Co 4:5) When we hear this, let it come to our minds, that we are warned that if we wish to be really approved by our Judge, we must strive for sincerity of heart.

He adds, according to my gospel, intimating, that he announced a doctrine, to which the judgments of men, naturally implanted in them, gave a response: and he calls it his gospel, on account of the ministry; for the authority for setting forth the gospel resides in the true God alone; and it was only the dispensing of it that was committed to the Apostles. It is indeed no matter of surprise, that the gospel is in part called the messenger and the announcer of future judgment: for if the fulfillment and completion of what it promises be deferred to the full revelation of the heavenly kingdom, it must necessarily be connected with the last judgment: and further, Christ cannot be preached without being a resurrection to some, and a destruction to others; and both these things have a reference to the day of judgment. The words, through Jesus Christ, I apply to the day of judgment, though they are regarded otherwise by some; and the meaning is, — that the Lord will execute judgment by Christ, for he is appointed by the Father to be the Judge of the living and of the dead, — which the Apostles always mention among the main articles of the gospel. Thus the sentence will be full and complete, which would otherwise be defective.

(75) In accordance with some of the fathers, [ Jerome ] , [ Chrysostom ] , [ Theophylact ] , and others, [ Calvin ] connects this with the immediately preceding verse: but almost all modern critics connect it with the 12th verse, and consider what intervenes as parenthetic. This is according to our version. In the Rom 2:12, both the Gentile and the Jew are spoken of, and that with reference to judgment. In this verse the time and the character of that judgment are referred to, and its character especially as to the Gentile, as his case is particularly delineated in the parenthesis. The Apostle then, in what follows, turns to the Jew. “According to my gospel” must be understood, not as though the gospel is to be the rule of judgment to the Gentile, but as to the fact, that Christ is appointed to be the Judge of all. See Act 17:31. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(16) This verse takes up the main thread of the subject. God will judge Jew and Gentile alike at the last day. It cannot refer (as some would make it) to what immediately precedes, because there the Apostle is referring to the daily process that goes on whenever doubtful actions are submitted to the law of conscience, here he is speaking expressly of the final judgment held by God and not by man.

By Jesus Christ.As the Son of God is the Mediator of salvation, so also is He the Mediator of judgment. The function of judgment is specially committed to Him. This is the consistent teaching of Scripture. (Comp. Joh. 5:27, the Father hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man; Act. 17:31, He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world . . . by that Man whom He hath ordained; 1Co. 4:5; 2Co. 5:10, et. al.)

According to my gospel.How is this to be taken? To what is it that the gospel, as preached by St. Paul, testifies? It may be either to the simple fact that God will judge the secrets of men, or to the particular law or standard by which He will judge them. Probably, on the whole, the former is the preferable explanation. In the day when, as I teach, God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. In the day The parenthesis including Rom 2:13-15, and so connecting this verse with Rom 2:12, makes the sense clear. But it is the whole doctrine of retribution (6-15) which is to be consummated in that day.

Secrets of men All the hidden thoughts, words, and deeds which constitute their moral history and character. Wickedness can be concealed in the breast, or in the darkness; but the dread day of Christ will uncover it.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘In the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.’

This verse continues the thought in Rom 2:13 where it is not the hearers of the Law who are to be seen as just in the eyes of God, but the doers of the Law, who, if they fulfil the Law perfectly, will be counted as in the right. We may then ask, ‘when will such a judgment take place?’ And Paul now tells us. It will be in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, in accordance with Paul’s Gospel, which is the Gospel of God (Rom 1:1), the Gospel of His Son (Rom 1:9). Note the emphasis on the fact that in that day nothing will remain hidden. All men’s deepest secrets, their hidden things, will be brought into the light, and men will be judged by them. What was done in the darkness will be revealed by the light. Man may look at the outward appearance, but God will look at the heart. They will be known as what they really are. Compare Rom 2:29 where ‘the true Jew’ (who can be a Gentile), is one ‘hiddenly’.

We note also that this is the first mention of Jesus Christ since Paul’s argument began (indeed since Rom 1:16). All the emphasis has been on ‘God’, for Paul has been facing both Jew and Gentile up with his arguments on the basis of what they know and accept. Now, however, his readers are suddenly faced up with the reality that, according to Paul’s Gospel, God’s judgment on men will be in the hands of Jesus Christ, the Son Who had lived among them but was also declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:2). Having lived among men, and having endured as a man, He is seen as perfectly fitted to judge. This is fully in accord with what Jesus Christ Himself taught, that God has committed all judgment to His Son (Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Rom 2:16. The secret of men Not, we conceive, their secret bad actions, but, agreeably to the preceding discourse, their moral state and circumstances under different degrees of light; which are secrets now to us, or of which we are by no means competent judges. We cannot judge what capacities, opportunities, and advantages every man, in every different age and country, enjoys; nor what use he makes of them; these are things only known to God. This interpretation will be confirmed by observing, that this 16th verse is in connection with the 12th.According to my Gospel refers not to the day of judgment in general, as it the Apostle intended no more, than that he made known a future judgment in his preaching the Gospel.This was not peculiar to St. Paul’s preaching as he was the Apostle of the Gentiles; other apostles and preachers made known a future judgment, as well as St. Paul; therefore it seems rather to refer to God’s judging the secrets of men. It might be asked by what rule will he judge them? The answer is, According to my Gospel; that is “according to the nature and extent of the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, and which represents all mankind as the objects of the divine beneficence, cognizance, and care through the merit of the great Atonement.” According to St. Paul’s Gospel, or upon its principles, God is the God, Father, and Judge of all, who has in one degree or other revealed himself to all, who expels a proportionable obedience from all; and consequently will judge, and either reward or punish all the nations of the world under different dispensations, and different degrees of light; and this principle is expressed in the very first words of the first sermon preached to the Gentiles, Act 10:34-35. See Locke.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Rom 2:16 has its connection with what goes before very variously defined. While Ewald goes so far as to join it with Rom 2:5 , and regards everything intervening as a parenthesis, many, and recently most expositors, have connected it with the immediately preceding . .; in which case, however, cannot be taken for (Calvin), nor the present participles in a future sense (Fritzsche), since, in accordance with the context, they are contemporary with . And for that very reason we must reject the view, which has been often assumed, that Paul suddenly transports himself from the present into the time of the judgment, when the exercise of conscience in the Gentiles will be specially active, and that for this reason he at once adds . . [666] directly without inserting a , or , or the like (Rckert; Tholuck, de Wette, Reithmayr, Philippi, van Hengel, Umbreit; comp Estius). The supposition of such an illogical and violent leap of thought in so clear and steady a thinker as Paul is thoroughly arbitrary and wholly without analogy. Moreover, the simple temporal self-judgment of the Gentiles fits into the connection so perfectly, that Paul cannot even have conceived of it as an anticipation of the last judgment (Mehring). Quite an incorrect thought, repugnant to Rom 2:12 and to the whole doctrinal system of the Apostle, is obtained by Luthardt ( v. freien Willen , p. 410 f.), when, very arbitrarily joining it only with , he discovers here the hope “that to such the reconciling grace of Christ shall one day be extended.” This is not confirmed by Rom 2:26 . A relative natural morality never in the N. T. supplies the place of faith, which is the absolutely necessary condition of reconciling grace. Compare Rom 3:9 ; Rom 3:22 , Rom 7:14 ff. al [668] Lastly Hofmann, who formerly held a view similar to Luthardt’s (see Schriftbew . I. p. 669), now connects . . [669] to in such a way, that he explains Rom 2:16 not at all of the final judgment, but, in contrast even to the latter, of every day on which God causes the Gospel to be proclaimed among the Gentiles; every such day shall be for all, who hear the message, a day of inward judgment; whoever believingly accepts it, and embraces salvation, thereby proves that he himself demands from himself what the revealed law enjoins on those who possess it. This interpretation, which would require us to read with Hofmann (the present) instead of , is as novel as it is erroneous. For the expressions in Rom 2:16 are so entirely those formally used to denote the last judgment (comp on 1Co 1:8 ; 1Co 5:5 ; 2Co 1:14 al [671] ; on , Rom 2:2-3 ; Rom 2:5 ; Rom 3:6 al [672] ; on as the Jdg 3:6 ; Jdg 14:10 ; Jdg 14:12 al [673] ; on , 1Co 4:5 ; on . 2Co 5:10 ; Act 17:31 ), that nothing else could occur to any reader than the conception of that judgment, which moreover has been present to the mind since Rom 2:2 , and from which even . does not draw away the attention. Every element in Hofmann’s exposition is subjectively introduced, so that Paul could not have wrapped up the simple thought, which is supposed to be expressed in so precious a manner, in a more strange disguise a thought, moreover, which is here utterly irrelevant, since Paul has to do simply with the natural law of the Gentiles in its relation to the revealed of Judaism, and apart as yet from all reference to the occurrence of their conversion; and hence also the comparison with Heb 4:12 is here out of place. The proper view of the passage depends on our treating as a parenthesis , not (with Winer and others) Rom 2:13-15 , but with Lachmann, Rom 2:14-15 . This parenthetical insertion is already indicated as such by the fact, that the great judicial proposition previously expressed: is in Rom 2:14-15 proved only with reference to a part of mankind, with regard to which it might seem possibly doubtful: it is required by the circumstance, that without it has no proper logical reference whatever; and lastly, it is confirmed by the consideration that, if it is adopted, the whole is wound up not with an illustration having reference to the Gentiles, but and how emphatically and solemnly! with the leading thought of the whole discussion. [674]

.] The hidden things of men, i.e. everything in their inner or outer life which does not come to the knowledge of others at all, or not according to its moral quality. This special characteristic of the judgment is given with reference to Rom 2:13 , inasmuch as it is just such a judging that is necessary for, and the preliminary to, the realisation of what is affirmed in Rom 2:13 .

. ] contains, according to the usual view, the accordance of the assertion . . . . with the Apostle’s official proclamation of salvation. But the fact that God will judge, etc., was so universally known and so entirely undoubted, that the addition in that sense would have been in the highest degree superfluous; and indeed the in that case would have no significance bearing on the matter, since no one proclaiming the Gospel could call in question that truth. We must therefore explain it, with Pareus, Calovius, and many others, including Umbreit and Hofmann, as referring to the manner of the . Paul was so certain of the sole truth of the Gospel committed to him (Rom 16:25 ; Eph 4:20 f.) which he had by revelation of God (Gal 1:11 f.), that he could not but be equally certain that the future judgment would not be held otherwise than according to his Gospel , whose contents are conceived as the standard of the sentence . In that same Gospel he knew it to be divinely determined, to whom the , the eternal life and its , or on the other hand its opposite, eternal , should be awarded by the judge. But he knew at the same time the axiom announced in Rom 2:13 , with which Rom 2:16 connects itself, to be not at variance therewith (comp Rom 3:31 ); as indeed on the contrary, it is just in the Gospel that perfection in the fulfilment of the law is demanded, and accordingly (see ch. Rom 6:8 , Rom 13:8 ff.) the judicial recompense is determined conformably to the conduct, Rom 8:4 ; 2Co 5:10 ; Eph 5:5 ; 1Co 6:9 f.; Gal 5:19-23 . On Calvin’s note suffices: suum appellat ratione ministerii , and that, to distinguish it from the preaching not of other apostles, but of false, and especially of Judaizing teachers. Comp Rom 16:25 ; 2Ti 2:8 . The mistaken view is held by Origen, Jerome and other Fathers (see Fabricius, Cod. apocr. p. 371 f.), that Paul meant by his Gospel that of Luke .

.] As He is the Mediator of eternal salvation, so also it is He who is commissioned by God to hold the judgment. Comp Act 17:30-31 ; 1Co 4:5 ; 2Co 5:10 al [678] ; Joh 5:27 ; Mat 25:31 .

[666] . . . .

[668] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[669] . . . .

[671] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[672] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[673] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[674] There is therefore the less reason for assuming with Laurent that ver. 16 was a marginal note of the Apostle on ver. 13, which was copied into the text at the wrong place.

[678] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Ver. 16. According to my gospel ] Which promiseth heaven to believers. This is comfort to those that are faithful in weakness, though but weak in faith. The sentence of the last day shall be but a more manifest declaration of that judgment that the Lord in this life, most an end, hath passed upon men. Heathens shall be judged by the law of nature; profligate professors by the law written, and the word preached; believers by the gospel, which saith, “If there be a willing mind, God accepteth,” &c.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

16. ] To what has this verse reference ? Hardly to that just preceding, which surely speaks of a process going on in this life (so however Chrys. takes it. See also a fine passage in Bourdaloue’s Sermons, Vol. i. Serm. ii. p. 27, ed. Paris, 1854): nor, as commonly assumed, to ( Rom 2:12 ), which only terminates one in a series of clauses connected by : but to the great affirmation of the passage, concluding with Rom 2:10 . To this it is bound, it appears to me, by the , answering to , Rom 2:9 . This affirmation is the last sentence which has been in the dogmatic form: after it we have a series of quasi-parenthetic clauses ; i.e., the reasons, necessitated by the startling assertion, are one after another given, and, that having been done, the time is specified when the great retribution shall take place .

. ] See reff.

according to (not belonging to as the rule of judgment , but to the whole declaration, ‘as taught in,’ ‘as forming part of’) the Gospel entrusted to me to teach.

. . ] by Jesus Christ , viz. as the Judge see Joh 5:22 : belongs to . See also Act 17:31 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rom 2:16 . The day meant here is the same as that in Rom 2:5 . Westcott and Hort only put a comma after , but a longer pause is necessary, unless we are to suppose that only the day of judgment wakes the conscience and the thoughts of man into the moral activity described in Rom 2:15 . This supposition may have some truth in it, but it is not what the Apostle’s argument requires. The proof he gives that Gentiles are “a law to themselves” must be capable of verification now, not only at the last day. Hence Rom 2:16 is really to be taken with the main verbs of the whole paragraph, , , : the great principle of Rom 2:6 will be exhibited in action on the day on which God judges the secret things of men through Christ Jesus. A final judgment belonged to Jewish theology, and perhaps, though this is open to question, one in which the Messiah acted as God’s representative; but what Paul teaches here does not rest merely on the transference of a Jewish Messianic function to Jesus. If there is anything certain in the N.T. it is that this representation of Jesus as judge of the world rests on the words of our Lord Himself (Mat 7:22 f., Mat 25:31 ff.). To assert it was an essential part of the Gospel as preached by Paul: cf. Act 17:31 . (Baldensperger, Das Selbstbewusstsein Jesu , . 85 f., thinks that in the circles of Jewish Pietism, in the century before Christ, the Messiah was already spoken of as the Divine judge, and as sharing the titles and attributes of Jehovah.)

In Rom 2:17-24 the Apostle brings to a point the argument for which he has been clearing the way in Rom 2:1-16 . The Jew makes much of the possession of the law, but when we pass from possession to practice, he is not a whit better than the “lawless” Gentile. The construction is not quite regular, but the meaning is clear. The natural order would be: If thou bearest the name of Jew, and restest upon the law, and yet in thy conduct settest the law at nought , art not thou equally under condemnation with sinners of the Gentiles? But the construction is interrupted at the end of Rom 2:20 , and what ought in logic to be part of the protasis if in thy conduct thou settest the law at nought is made a sort of apodosis, at least grammatically and rhetorically: dost thou, in spite of all these privileges, nevertheless set the law at nought? The real conclusion, which Paul needs for his argument, Art not thou then in the same condemnation with the Gentiles? is left for conscience to supply.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

shall = will.

secrets. Greek. kruptos.

Jesus Christ. App-98.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

16.] To what has this verse reference? Hardly to that just preceding, which surely speaks of a process going on in this life (so however Chrys. takes it. See also a fine passage in Bourdaloues Sermons, Vol. i. Serm. ii. p. 27, ed. Paris, 1854): nor, as commonly assumed, to (Rom 2:12), which only terminates one in a series of clauses connected by :-but to the great affirmation of the passage, concluding with Rom 2:10. To this it is bound, it appears to me, by the , answering to , Rom 2:9. This affirmation is the last sentence which has been in the dogmatic form:-after it we have a series of quasi-parenthetic clauses – – – ; i.e., the reasons, necessitated by the startling assertion, are one after another given, and, that having been done, the time is specified when the great retribution shall take place.

. ] See reff.

according to (not belonging to as the rule of judgment, but to the whole declaration, as taught in, as forming part of) the Gospel entrusted to me to teach.

. .] by Jesus Christ, viz. as the Judge-see Joh 5:22 :-belongs to . See also Act 17:31.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rom 2:16. , in the day) It is construed with show, for the present tense is no objection; Rom 2:5 employs the present in the same general way. And Paul often says, in the day of the Lord, which implies more than against [or unto the day] 1Co 5:5-comp. before, or in the presence of 1Ti 5:21, note. Such as each thing was, such it shall then be seen, be determined, and remain. In that day, that writing of the law on the hearts of men will be manifest, having also joined with it some defence of upright acts, although the man be condemned [fall] in the judgment, himself being his own accuser, on account of other offences. And that circumstance implies, as a consequence, [infers] (reasoning, from the greater to the less, i.e., from the final judgment, to the judgments of conscience in the present life), accusation, or even defence, exercised in this life also, as often as either the future judgment itself is vividly presented before a man, or its anticipations, without the mans own privity (consciousness), are at work in the conscience.-Comp. 1Jn 4:17. And Scripture often speaks so of the future, especially of the last things, as that it presupposes those which precede them. The Jews at Rom 2:5, as the Gentiles in this passage, are threatened with the future judgment.- , the secrets) the conscience, and the thoughts.-Comp. 1Co 4:5. This confirms the connection of this verse with the preceding. The true quality of actions, generally unknown even to the agents themselves, depends on the secrets.-See Rom 2:29. Men judge by outward manifestations, even concerning themselves. Outward manifestations of good or evil will also be judged, but not then for the first time; for they are judged, even from the time in which they are wrought; deeds, that are secret, are then at length brought to judgment.- , of men) even of the Gentiles.-, according to) i.e. as my Gospel teaches. Paul adds this short clause, because he is here dealing with a man, who does not yet know Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the whole preaching as to Christ; and Christ will be the Judge; and the judgment in regard to the Gentiles, is not so expressly declared in the Old, as in the New Testament. And it is called the Gospel of Paul, as it was preached by Paul, even to the Gentiles.-Act 17:31. All the articles of evangelical doctrine, and the article concerning the final judgment, greatly illustrate one another; and moreover, this very article, even in respect of believers, is altogether evangelical.-Act 10:42; 1Pe 4:5.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rom 2:16

Rom 2:16

in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men,- This verse connects with verse 12. The three verses between are parenthetical and explanatory. So the connection is: as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men.

according to my gospel,-All secrets and hidden things of man will be laid open by God in the last day by Jesus Christ in the light of the truths preached by Paul. [Paul was entrusted with the gospel to make it known, and that one of the great prime articles was that God would judge the world. To make this known he was appointed, and it could be called his gospel only as being a part of the important message with which he was entrusted.]

by Jesus Christ.-[That Jesus is the appointed Judge of men is plainly and repeatedly affirmed in the Scriptures. (Mat 25:31-46; Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27; Act 17:31; 1Co 4:5; 2Co 5:10).]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

God: Rom 2:5, Rom 3:6, Rom 14:10-12, Gen 18:25, Psa 9:7, Psa 9:8, Psa 50:6, Psa 96:13, Psa 98:9, Ecc 3:17, Ecc 11:9, Ecc 12:14, Mat 16:27, Mat 25:31-46, Luk 8:17, Joh 12:48, 1Co 4:5, 2Co 5:10, Heb 9:27, 1Pe 4:5, 2Pe 2:9, Rev 20:11-15

by Jesus: Joh 5:22-29, Act 10:42, Act 17:31, 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:8

according: Rom 16:25, 1Ti 1:11, 2Ti 2:8

Reciprocal: Gen 38:25 – Discern Job 20:27 – heaven Psa 44:21 – knoweth Psa 90:8 – our Pro 24:12 – doth not he that Isa 51:5 – mine Mat 12:36 – every Mat 13:41 – and them Mat 25:32 – before Mar 6:11 – in the day Luk 12:2 – General Joh 16:11 – judgment Act 24:25 – judgment Rom 2:12 – in the law 1Co 3:13 – the day 1Co 5:13 – God 2Co 4:3 – our 2Co 10:14 – the gospel Eph 5:12 – in 1Th 1:5 – our 2Th 2:14 – our gospel Heb 4:13 – with Heb 6:2 – eternal

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE JUDGMENT

The day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Rom 2:16

This verse should be joined to the tenth. That asserts an impartial judgment of Jew and Gentile. The intervening verses give a parenthetic series of reasons for this impartiality.

I. There is a day of judgment.A fixed and definite time. When, is not known: but the fact is certain.

(a) Scripture testimony ample, varied, peremptory and express.

(b) Conscience confirms Scripture.

(c) Our natural sense of justice. Mans instinctive feeling is that, if the world is under moral government, there must be a day of retribution and redress and recompense.

II. The matter of judgment.The secrets of men. Apparently only a part; yet the chief part, and virtually the whole matter of judgment is mens secrets. This embraces not only the inward and hidden things, but also the outward things as effected by the inward.

(a) Secrets. The things we have kept in our inmost heart.

(b) Outward actions will be tested and judged by the secrets. It will be seen how far the inward and the outward corresponded, and a true moral value will be assigned to the outward deed, according to its secret spirit. Many showy deeds will shrivel up and become only pieces of pride, vanity, selfishness, meanness. Many insignificant actions and endurances, unnoted of men, will be invested with unspeakable grandeur from the inner Christian principle from which they sprang.

III. The judge is God.As Creator and Lawgiver He is Judge; but His judicial function He has delegated to Jesus Christ, the Mediatorial King (Joh 5:22-27). He judges by Christ Jesus. Therefore

(a) There will be a visible transaction in judgment. It will be no invisible act, such as the judgment which a mans conscience now passes on him; but a veritable, literal, matter-of-fact occurrence patent to all.

(b) There will be impartial justice.

(c) There will be no appeal. If God judges by Jesus Christ alone, the great white throne is the highest and last judgment-seat, from which a case cannot be carried to God Himself. If His judgment is impartial and according to truth, how can there be an appeal from His bar? How trying a position for impenitent sinners to face the Son of Man, Who came to save sinners! With what boldness and confidence may saved sinners face their Saviour as Judge!

IV. Judgment part of the gospel message.It is the gospel to warn sinners of the coming judgment of their hidden thoughts, and to comfort saints by the prospect of the full revelation of their true character, and vindication of their righteousness. The gospel involves the idea and fact of a day of judgment as a fundamental element. Did not Christ come to save us from the condemnation of sin? Abide in Him, that when He shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

:16

Rom 2:16. This verse states the day on which the judging will be done; it is the one Paul mentions in Act 17:31. My Gospel does not denote origin or ownership, but the one that Paul was preaching; the Gospel that was the subject of his preaching.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rom 2:16. In the day. The question of connection is the important one. Some Join directly with Rom 2:15;, referring the day to the day when the gospel is preached to the Gentiles, and the demonstration of Rom 2:14-15 is made. But this verse seems to point to the future judgment. Most commentators, therefore, look for the connection in some more appropriate part of the preceding context. The E. V. loins with Rom 2:12, but Rom 2:13 is not parenthetical (see Rom 2:13). Rom 2:14-15 are, however, and the connection with Rom 2:13 (the doers of the law shall be justified) is even more appropriate, since it brings the discussion closer to the main thought, namely, the conviction of the Jews. (Rom 2:5; Rom 2:10, which have been suggested, are too remote.) The attempt to preserve the close connection with Rom 2:15, rendering unto the day, is grammatically objectionable.

Shall judge. A change of accent permits the translation, judgeth, but even the present tense might point to the great day of judgment.

The secrets of men. In order to justify the doers of the law (Rom 2:13), the moral quality of their actions must be determined; this is not known to men, it belongs to the secret things.

According to my gospel. This cannot refer to a writing called Pauls Gospel. It was the gospel he preached, my pointing either to the fact that he preached it, or to his special message to the Gentiles. The gospel of the free grace of God in Christ for the salvation of all that believe, revealed to him directly by Christ at his conversion and call to the Apostleship; comp. Gal 1:7-9; Gal 1:11; Gal 1:16. According to may refer only to the fact of judgment, which his gospel declares; but this seems a weak thought in this connection. Paul was so assured of the truth of the gospel he preached that he conceives of it as presenting the standard of judgment in the great day. Nor is this an inappropriate thought. The principle of Rom 2:13, it is thus indicated, accords with the gospel; furthermore, the gospel is about Jesus Christ (chap. Rom 1:3-4), and the judgment is through Jesus Christ, who is not only Mediator in the gospel, but Judge in the great day (comp. Act 17:30-31); and many similar passages. The Saviour is Judge; good news for those who accept Him, but a warning to those who refuse Him. Since He is the Judge, and God renders to every man according to his works (Rom 2:6), our good works also are through Jesus Christ, and His salvation must result in such works.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

As if the apostle had said, If any shall ask, when shall rewards and punishments be distributed to Jew or Gentile? The answer is, In that day when God shall judge the secrets of mens hearts by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel: That is, as my gospel testifies, he will most certainly do.

Here observe, 1. A fundamental doctrine asserted That there will be a day of judgment, in which the secrets of all mens hearts shall be judged by Jesus Christ, as Mediator. All the thoughts, words, and works of men that lived from the beginning of the world, or shall live to the end of the world, will then be produced in judgment; and if so, may we not infer, that the day of judgment must certainly and necessarily take up a vast space of time? For if all records and registers now made shall then be opened and read, and all the witnesses for and against man, shall be then examined and heard, what a vast space of time then must that great day take up! Some divines are of opinion, that the day of judgment may last as long as the world hath lasted: This we may depend upon, that things will not be huddled up, nor shuffled over in haste; but as sinners have taken their time for sinning, so God will take his time for judging.

Observe, 2. The proof and confirmation of this doctrine of a future judgment. According to my gospel; that is, as certainly as I have foretold you of it in the doctrine which I have preached, so certainly shall all men, and the secrets of all men’s hearts, be judged by Jesus Christ.

But was it not a presumption in St. Paul, to call the gospel his gospel?

Answer, He means that he was the publisher, not the author of it; it was God’s in respect to authority, St. Paul’s in respect of ministry: It was God’s in respect of revelation; his only in respect of dispensation.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Rom 2:16. In the day, &c. This relates to Rom 2:12, the intermediate verses, from the 13th, being a parenthesis; when God shall judge the secrets of men Not only their outward actions, good and evil, which are manifest to all men, but their most secret and hidden ones, with their internal desires and designs, their intentions, purposes, schemes, contrivances, with the various workings of their passions, imaginations, and thoughts; for he will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, Ecc 12:14; will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, 1Co 4:5. On secret circumstances depends the real quality of actions, frequently unknown to the actors themselves, Rom 2:29. Men generally form their judgments, even of themselves, merely from what is apparent. By Jesus Christ To whom the Father hath committed all judgment; according to my gospel According to the tenor of that gospel which is committed to my trust, and is preached by me: or as I testify in my preaching the gospel, Act 17:31; 2Ti 2:8. For it is not the apostles intention to signify that all men shall be judged by the gospel, but only that the gospel teaches such a judgment.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 16. In the day when God shall judge the hidden things of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

In this final proposition there is expressed and summed up the idea of the whole preceding passage (from Rom 2:6), that of the final judgment. But what is the grammatical and logical connection of this dependent proposition? It would seem natural to connect it with what immediately precedes (Rom 2:15), as Calvin does: Their inward thoughts condemn or approve them in the day when…for: till the day when…But this sense would have required . Tholuck and Philippi employ another expedient; they understand: and that especially in the day when…; or: and that more completely still in the day when…Others: as will be seen clearly in the day when…But if Paul had meant to say all that, he would have said it. Hofmann and Lange, also connecting this proposition with Rom 2:15 (Hofmann especially with , manifest), regard the judgment of Rom 2:16 as being only the internal and purely moral judgment which is produced in the human conscience every time the gospel is preached to man. They read , judges, and not , will judge. The phrase: in the day when, would therefore denote, not the last judgment, but every day that a man hears the gospel for the first time. There is a context in which this explanation would be possible; but here, where the dominant idea from Rom 2:6 has been the final judgment, it is inadmissible. Besides, the phrase: by Jesus Christ, is not exactly suitable to any but the last judgment; comp. the words, Act 10:42; Act 17:31; Mat 25:31 et seq.; and especially the very similar phrases in 1Co 4:5. Moreover, Rom 2:29 can leave no doubt as to the apostle’s meaning. The only tolerable explanation, if it were wished to connect Rom 2:16 with Rom 2:15, would be to take the verbs of Rom 2:15 as expressing the permanent present of the idea: The manifestation of the presence of the law, written within their hearts, takes place, for: will certainly take place, in the day when…; but this meaning of the verbs in the present in Rom 2:15 could not be guessed till after reading Rom 2:16. The time of the manifestation would have required to be indicated immediately to prevent a misunderstanding. The only natural connection of the words: in the day when, is to join them to the end of Rom 2:13 : The doers of the law shall be justified…in the day when…No doubt Rom 2:14-15 thus become a sort of parenthesis. But, notwithstanding, Paul has not deviated for a moment from his principal thought. These two verses contained an explanatory remark, such as we nowadays would put in a note; it was intended to show that the Gentiles also would be entitled to believe themselves justified, if all that was necessary for this end were to possess and hear a law without doing it. This false idea set aside, Paul resumes the thread of his discourse at Rom 2:16. To explain this verse, there is clearly no need of the two expedients proposed, the one by Ewald, to join it with Rom 2:4, the other by Laurent, to regard it as an interpolation.

The phrase: hidden things, is to be explained only by the understood contrast to external works, legal or ceremonial, in which the Jews put their confidence. None of those fine externals of piety or morality will deceive the eye of God in that day of truth. He will demand holiness of heart; comp. the expression, Rom 2:29; , the Jew who is one inwardly, and: the circumcision of the heart; comp. also, in the Sermon on the Mount, Mat 5:20-48; Mat 6:1-18. This idea was indispensable to complete what had been said of judgment according to deeds.

The word men sets the whole body of the judged face to face with the Judge, and reminds the Jews that they also will be there, and will form no exception.

At the first glance the phrase: according to my gospel, is surprising, for the expectation of the final judgment by Jesus Christ belongs to the apostolic teaching in general, and not to Paul’s gospel in particular. Nevertheless, it is this apostle who, in consequence of his personal experience, and of the revelation which had been made to him, has brought out most powerfully the contrast between the , legal and purely external works, wanting the truly moral principle of love and good works, the fruits of faith working by love (Eph 2:9-10; Gal 5:6). This antithesis was one of the foundations of Paul’s preaching.

The last words: by Jesus Christ, recall all the sayings in which Jesus announced His advent as judge. If it is really He who is to preside in the great act of final judgment, it is plain that, being such as He has made Himself known to us, He will not be satisfied with a parade of external righteousness, and that He will demand a holiness like that which He realized Himself, which, taking its origin in consecration of heart, extends over the whole life.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ. [This verse relates to the thought interrupted by the parenthesis; i. e., the thought of Rom 2:13 . Not hearers, but doers, shall be justified in the judgment-day, that day when God shall judge the secrets of men’s lives and judge them, as my gospel further reveals, through Jesus Christ as judge. The Jewish Scriptures revealed a judgment-day, and the thought was not unfamiliar to the Gentiles; but it remained for Paul’s gospel to reveal the new truth that Jesus was to be the Judge. Paul started with the thought that, in judging another, a sinner condemned himself (Rom 2:3). Having discussed that thought and shown that it is applicable to the Jew, because God’s judgments rest on moral and not on national or ceremonial ground, the apostle here resumes it once more, in connection with Rom 2:13; that he may show that if the law of Moses did not shield from condemnation, neither would circumcision.]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Verse 16

In the day, &c.; referring back, apparently, to the last clause of Romans 2:12, the intervening verses being parenthetical.–The secrets of men; their secret and real characters.–My gospel; the gospel which I preach.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

2:16 {7} In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to {m} my gospel.

(7) God defers many judgments, which he will nonetheless execute at their convenient time by Jesus Christ, with a most candid examination, not only of words and deeds, but of thoughts also, be they ever so hidden or secret.

(m) As my doctrine witnesses, which I am appointed to preach.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes