Romans 2:1-3. Christ our Candle.

The first three verses of Romans 2 deal with judgment, a fascinating and tricky undertaking. On the one hand, Jesus tells us, in Matthew 7:1, to be cautious when we judge because God will take our yardstick of judgment and use it to judge us, a warning against hypocrisy. On the other hand, we are told to discern or judge between right and wrong, false and true teachers. I Corinthians 6:3 says we will even judge the world and the angels.

So, what are we to make of judgment in this context? The “you” in verse 1 tells us that Paul is pointing the finger at those who profess Christ and are sitting in judgment of their fellow Christians. Paul is using the same principle that Jesus taught, as shared in Matthew 7, warning of hypocrisy. He clearly says that critical Christians are actually doing the very things they criticize others of doing. In passing judgment, they are, in fact, under judgment, thus already condemned in God’s eyes.

Verse 2 is really the key verse because it tells us of the way God judges. “Now we know that God’s judgment…is based on truth.” it is accepted knowledge that God will judge. God’s judgment will not be based on partial, circumstantial, or inaccurate evidence, but on the full and complete light of truth. That is quite different from our perspective; we only see partly, outwardly, and circumstantially. Paul contrasts the way man judges, with the way God judges, as a warning about how limited man is in his understanding and scope of insight or knowledge.

I Samuel 16:7 tells us man looks on the outward, the appearance, actions, and words of others, but God can see the inside, the thoughts, and intents of the heart. When I was a girl, I often visited my friend, whose parents had an egg ranch. One of her jobs was to “candle” eggs. Each egg was passed in front of a bright light to make sure it was pure; there could be no blood spots, which would cause them to be rejected. Christ is that bright, true light, as He is seen on the pages of His Word. As we pass before Him through the reading of His Word, we must judge ourselves, to see if there be any fault in us. We are told in I Corinthians 11:31 to judge ourselves truly, that we not be judged.

-Jinet Troost