ROM 2
2
The Righteous Judgment of God
1 Therefore, you are without excuse before God, O morally self-righteous person, whoever you are who sits in judgment over others. For in the very act of passing judgment on another person, you are actually condemning yourself, because you who claim moral superiority practise the very same kinds of sins you condemn in others.
2 And we know with certainty that God's judgment falls according to truth—not according to outward appearances or self-deception—against those who practise such sinful things.
3 But do you actually imagine this, O self-righteous person, that while you judge and condemn those who practise such sins, yet do the same things yourself, that you will somehow escape God's righteous judgment?
4 Or do you presume upon and despise the abundant riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patient endurance towards you, failing to recognise that God's kindness in withholding immediate judgment is intended to lead you to genuine repentance and a change of mind about your sin?
5 But because of your stubborn pride and your unrepentant heart that refuses to turn from sin, you are accumulating for yourself God's wrath, which will be poured out on the day of judgment—the day when God's perfectly righteous judgment will be fully revealed.
6 God will render to each person exactly what their deeds deserve, judging with perfect justice:
7 To those who by patient persistence in doing good works—works that flow from genuine faith—seek the glory, honour, and immortality that come from God, He will give eternal life.
8 But to those who are selfishly ambitious, who reject and disobey the truth while trusting in unrighteousness instead, God will give His burning wrath.
9 There will be suffering, tribulation, and anguish upon every human soul who produces evil works—coming upon the Jewish person first, and also upon the Greek.
10 But glory, honour, and peace will come to everyone who does what is good—to the Jewish person first, and also to the Greek.
11 For God shows absolutely no favouritism—based on ethnic identity, social status, or religious background.
The Law, the Gentiles, and the Jews
12 For all who have sinned without having the written Mosaic Law will also perish without being judged by that Law, and all who have sinned while possessing the Law will be judged according to the standards of that Law.
13 For it is not merely those who hear the Law read and taught who are righteous and acceptable before God, but rather those who actually obey and do what the Law requires will be justified or declared righteous.
14 For when Gentiles, who do not possess the written Mosaic Law, instinctively do by their God-given conscience the moral requirements contained in the Law, these people, though not having the written Law, serve as a law to themselves through their conscience.
15 They demonstrate that the essential moral work and requirements of the Law are written on their hearts by the Creator, with their conscience bearing witness to this inner moral knowledge, and their conflicting thoughts either accusing them when they do wrong or defending them when they do right.
16 This reality will be fully evident on that final day when God judges the hidden secrets, motives, and thoughts of all humanity according to the gospel I preach, exercising this judgment through Jesus Christ as the appointed Judge.
The Hypocrisy of Religious Pride
17 But if you identify yourself by the honoured name of "Jew" and place your confidence and security in possessing the Law, and boast proudly about your special relationship with God,
18 And if you know His will revealed in Scripture and are able to discern and approve what is morally superior, having been carefully instructed from the Law,
19 And if you are confident that you yourself are a qualified guide for those who are spiritually blind, a light illuminating the path for those in spiritual darkness,
20 An instructor and corrector of the morally foolish, a teacher of those who are spiritually immature, because you possess in the Law the embodiment and full expression of knowledge and truth—
21 You, therefore, who take it upon yourself to teach others, why do you not teach yourself? You who preach so boldly, "Do not steal," do you yourself steal?
22 You who declare, "Do not commit adultery," do you yourself commit adultery? You who abhor and detest idols with such passion, do you rob pagan temples of their valuable items?
23 You who boast so proudly in possessing the Law actually dishonour God by your violation and transgression of that very Law!
24 For just as it stands written in Scripture: "The name of God is blasphemed and dishonoured among the Gentile nations because of your hypocritical behaviour."*
True Circumcision
25 For indeed, the rite of circumcision has spiritual value if you actually obey and practise the Law, but if you are a habitual transgressor of the Law, your physical circumcision has become functionally equivalent to uncircumcision—it means nothing spiritually.
26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised Gentile keeps and obeys the righteous moral requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited and counted by God as if it were circumcision?
27 And the person who is physically uncircumcised by birth, yet fulfils and obeys the Law's requirements, will stand in judgment over you who possess the written code of the Law and bear the physical mark of circumcision, yet remain a transgressor of the Law.
28 For the true Jew is not one who is merely outwardly identified as such by physical descent and external rituals, nor is true circumcision merely an outward physical mark in the flesh.
29 But the true Jew is one who is inwardly transformed in the heart, and true circumcision is a spiritual circumcision of the heart accomplished by the Holy Spirit, not by adherence to the written code. Such a genuinely transformed person receives praise and approval not from other people, but from God Himself.
Notes
24 Quoted from Is. 52:5
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
ROM 2
2
The Righteous Judgment of God
1 Therefore, you are without excuse before God, O morally self-righteous person, whoever you are who sits in judgment over others. For in the very act of passing judgment on another person, you are actually condemning yourself, because you who claim moral superiority practise the very same kinds of sins you condemn in others.
2 And we know with certainty that God's judgment falls according to truth—not according to outward appearances or self-deception—against those who practise such sinful things.
3 But do you actually imagine this, O self-righteous person, that while you judge and condemn those who practise such sins, yet do the same things yourself, that you will somehow escape God's righteous judgment?
4 Or do you presume upon and despise the abundant riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patient endurance towards you, failing to recognise that God's kindness in withholding immediate judgment is intended to lead you to genuine repentance and a change of mind about your sin?
5 But because of your stubborn pride and your unrepentant heart that refuses to turn from sin, you are accumulating for yourself God's wrath, which will be poured out on the day of judgment—the day when God's perfectly righteous judgment will be fully revealed.
6 God will render to each person exactly what their deeds deserve, judging with perfect justice:
7 To those who by patient persistence in doing good works—works that flow from genuine faith—seek the glory, honour, and immortality that come from God, He will give eternal life.
8 But to those who are selfishly ambitious, who reject and disobey the truth while trusting in unrighteousness instead, God will give His burning wrath.
9 There will be suffering, tribulation, and anguish upon every human soul who produces evil works—coming upon the Jewish person first, and also upon the Greek.
10 But glory, honour, and peace will come to everyone who does what is good—to the Jewish person first, and also to the Greek.
11 For God shows absolutely no favouritism—based on ethnic identity, social status, or religious background.
The Law, the Gentiles, and the Jews
12 For all who have sinned without having the written Mosaic Law will also perish without being judged by that Law, and all who have sinned while possessing the Law will be judged according to the standards of that Law.
13 For it is not merely those who hear the Law read and taught who are righteous and acceptable before God, but rather those who actually obey and do what the Law requires will be justified or declared righteous.
14 For when Gentiles, who do not possess the written Mosaic Law, instinctively do by their God-given conscience the moral requirements contained in the Law, these people, though not having the written Law, serve as a law to themselves through their conscience.
15 They demonstrate that the essential moral work and requirements of the Law are written on their hearts by the Creator, with their conscience bearing witness to this inner moral knowledge, and their conflicting thoughts either accusing them when they do wrong or defending them when they do right.
16 This reality will be fully evident on that final day when God judges the hidden secrets, motives, and thoughts of all humanity according to the gospel I preach, exercising this judgment through Jesus Christ as the appointed Judge.
The Hypocrisy of Religious Pride
17 But if you identify yourself by the honoured name of "Jew" and place your confidence and security in possessing the Law, and boast proudly about your special relationship with God,
18 And if you know His will revealed in Scripture and are able to discern and approve what is morally superior, having been carefully instructed from the Law,
19 And if you are confident that you yourself are a qualified guide for those who are spiritually blind, a light illuminating the path for those in spiritual darkness,
20 An instructor and corrector of the morally foolish, a teacher of those who are spiritually immature, because you possess in the Law the embodiment and full expression of knowledge and truth—
21 You, therefore, who take it upon yourself to teach others, why do you not teach yourself? You who preach so boldly, "Do not steal," do you yourself steal?
22 You who declare, "Do not commit adultery," do you yourself commit adultery? You who abhor and detest idols with such passion, do you rob pagan temples of their valuable items?
23 You who boast so proudly in possessing the Law actually dishonour God by your violation and transgression of that very Law!
24 For just as it stands written in Scripture: "The name of God is blasphemed and dishonoured among the Gentile nations because of your hypocritical behaviour."*
True Circumcision
25 For indeed, the rite of circumcision has spiritual value if you actually obey and practise the Law, but if you are a habitual transgressor of the Law, your physical circumcision has become functionally equivalent to uncircumcision—it means nothing spiritually.
26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised Gentile keeps and obeys the righteous moral requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be credited and counted by God as if it were circumcision?
27 And the person who is physically uncircumcised by birth, yet fulfils and obeys the Law's requirements, will stand in judgment over you who possess the written code of the Law and bear the physical mark of circumcision, yet remain a transgressor of the Law.
28 For the true Jew is not one who is merely outwardly identified as such by physical descent and external rituals, nor is true circumcision merely an outward physical mark in the flesh.
29 But the true Jew is one who is inwardly transformed in the heart, and true circumcision is a spiritual circumcision of the heart accomplished by the Holy Spirit, not by adherence to the written code. Such a genuinely transformed person receives praise and approval not from other people, but from God Himself.
Notes
24 Quoted from Is. 52:5
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).