READING: Romans 2
During his stay in Corinth near the end of his third missionary journey in AD 57, Paul wrote this magnificent epistle to the well-known and influential church in Rome, which he had not yet visited. Paul launches his epistle with a prologue that states his intention of coming to Rome as well as his theme of righteousness (conformity to God’s character) before God through faith in Christ (1:1–17). He then develops an unanswerable case for the universal condemnation of both Gentiles and Jews in view of their sinful condition of falling short of the righteousness of God (1:18–3:20).
Having demonstrated the condemnation of the Gentiles in chapter 1, Paul does the same regarding both the moral Jew and the religious Jew in chapter 2. The human conscience reveals that people cannot even live up to their own moral standards.
Prayer
Lord, I know that whenever I judge another, I condemn myself, since I cannot even keep my own moral standards, let alone those revealed in Your Word. May I keep my eyes on Your Son rather than on the shortcomings of others.
Meditation passage: verses 1, 14–16
