In Roman’s 2:2-4 Paul writes“Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” How ridiculous it is to hope that the God who sees all both inside and outside somehow will judge others for the same things we are guilty of and yet let us slide.
When we begin to ask, “Why, doesn’t God just judge people?” In saying this Paul is asking each of us to examine our own hearts and start being critical of our own attitudes and actions instead of others.
It has been pointed out that there are four ways a person can escape justice:
• If no one knows about their offenses
• If they can escape beyond the bounds of jurisdiction
• If there has been a failure in the legal process after arrest
• If they escape from prison and hide from the law
But none of those situations will work when a person is trying to escape the judgment of God. The darkest sin is not righteousness violated, it is mercy despised.
In Roman’s 2:4 Paul writes “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” Paul’s second question is, since you know that those who judge aren’t going to escape the same judgment, why are you not taking the opportunity God is giving you to repent?
There was a woman who quickly grabbed a few cookies from a vendor at the airport before she got on her plane. She sat next to a man with an empty seat between them. After the plane was in the air she reached into the empty seat and grabbed a cookie then noticed that the man next to her did the same thing.
Shocked, she gave him a look to show her disapproval then grabbed another cookie and so did the man but instead of eating the whole cookie he broke it in half and gave her the other half. Throughout the rest of the flight she was so angry she couldn’t speak. After the plane and the man got off she was about to complain to the stewardess when she opened her purse only to realize that her bag of cookies was still inside.
That’s the way we are when we are self-righteous about another’s sin: We are partaking of the same cookie while complaining about others eating ours.