Paraphrase of the Book of Romans
by E.H. “Jack” Sequeira
Chapter 2
God’s Judgment is Impartial
1 Incidentally, those of you who are self-righteous
[Jews implied] and are quick to pass judgment on others, may I point out that
you are really condemning yourselves; for in reality you who pose as judges are equally
guilty of these very sins. 2 As you know, only God is rightly
qualified to pass judgment on those who are indulging in the sins I have described.
3 While you who act as judges of those who practice such
sins and yet secretly continue doing the same yourselves, do you for a moment think that
you are going to escape the judgment of God?
4 Don’t you realize it is only because of a loving God
who is rich in kindness, tolerance, and patience, that you are still alive? And should
not this cause you to turn in humility to Him with deep heartfelt repentance?
5 Instead, your stubborn refusal to admit that you yourselves
are sinners and therefore in need of God’s saving grace will one day be your downfall,
when you face the reality of your own condemnation in the day of judgment.
6 For when God finally judges the world, He will pay
everyone exactly what they justly deserve.
7 Those who in sincerity have patiently been engaged
in good works and put God first will receive eternal life, 8
while those who have rejected God’s grace and insist on being self-dependent, continually
and persistently resisting the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, will reap the consequences
of their actions when God abandons them to their own destruction. 9
And this applies to everybody, irrespective of whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, for
God does not play favorites. 10 In the same way, glory,
honor, and peace will be bestowed upon everyone who pursues doing good, beginning with
the Jews and ending with the Gentiles. 11 For again, there
is no partiality with God.
12 We shall all be judged according to the light we
have received; those who have sinned without the knowledge of the law will be judged
according to the convictions of their consciences, while those who have sinned with
the knowledge of the law will be held accountable to the law. 13
And the fact that you have the knowledge of the law does not of itself make you righteous,
since the law demands perfect obedience to all its commandments before one can be declared
righteous [Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:10].14 Indeed, the
heathen who have never heard the law but are obeying their consciences in the right way
will be declared righteous, since their consciences will act as the law to them.
15 They show by their deeds that they are obeying the law
written in their hearts; their consciences will either vindicate or condemn them,
depending on how they responded to their innermost convictions 16
because every secret thought, motive and conviction will be brought to the open on
judgment day when God will judge the world through Jesus Christ, according to the
gospel I preach.
Hypocrisy of Judaism Exposed
17 Now you who call yourselves Jews and rely on your
knowledge of the law and boast you are the only ones who know God,
18 claiming to understand His will, and capable of
determining what is right and what is wrong from your knowledge of the law,
19 you think you only are qualified to guide the blind, the
only true light to those that are groping in darkness, 20
a genuine tutor of the foolish and a teacher of the youth, seeing you only have the
correct knowledge of truth as spelled out in the book of the law!
21 You who claim all these privileges and boast to be the
only ones who can explain the truth, do you not teach yourselves too? You who preach that
men should not steal, are you not guilty of stealing, yourselves? 22
You who warn men to cease committing adultery, are you not practicing it yourselves?
You who outwardly abhor idolatry, are you not fleecing their temples?
23 You are constantly boasting about the law, but in reality
are you not dishonoring God by breaking it? 24 For, as the
Bible clearly indicates, the name of God is being slandered among the heathen because of
your hypocrisy. 25 Now you may claim to be God’s people
because you have been circumcised, but if you are not fulfilling the whole law your
circumcision is valueless and therefore you are no different than the heathen who are
uncircumcised (Jas. 2:10).
26 In fact, don’t you see that an uncircumcised heathen
who is living a good life to the best of his knowledge will be considered a child of God?
27 And will not this heathen, who has never been circumcised,
but yet is observing the law written in his heart, condemn you who are circumcised and
have an explicit knowledge of the law but in practice are hypocrites?
28 You see, the real Jew in God’s eyes is not the one who
happens to have Jewish blood running through his veins, and true circumcision is not an
outward physical thing; 29 but the true Jew in God’s eyes
is the person who from the heart truly appreciates Him, and genuine circumcision is a
spiritual matter, the removal of unbelief, and not just an outward act. Such a person is
full of praise and adoration for what God has done and has no confidence in himself
[Phil. 3:3].