Romans 2

"...for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things.". v. 1


That verse, in a nut-shell, is what the whole chapter is about. The church, starting as early as Paul's first churches and continues to this day, seem to practice judgement of each other. Maybe it came from having to follow the law for hundreds of years, or just our human nature to feel ourselves better than someone else; whatever the reason, it is always our downfall. It has been my experience that the very thing someone boasts that he is so much better at, will be the very thing that will eventually bring him down, ie: morality/adultery. How many pastors have fallen to this because they didn't recognize in themselves the possibility of their own desires. I was trying to think of other examples of this. Can you come up with a couple that you have seen along your path in life?


"...God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." v. 16


Ultimately, it is the deep secrets of our heart, that if we don't acknowledge and hand over to God, has a greater chance of finding fluidity. There is a song or a story about how you let Jesus into the rooms of your heart but there is one closet you don't want Him to go into, you don't want Him to see. The content of that closet needs to be cleaned out. Do you know how good you feel when you go into conquer the disaster area of a closet that, though painful in the beginning to start sorting through and throwing things away, leaves you with a feeling of peace and relaxation and cleanliness?

One note on a particular word "stubbornness". v. 5 "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation...".
The English word, "sclerosis" - as in arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries) comes from the Greek word. Stubbornness, rigidity, callous is a result of the hardening of the heart.