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on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:16 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
  • KJV In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
  • BSB on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
  • NKJV in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
  • NLT And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

This judgment will come on the day God judges the secrets of all people through Jesus Christ, according to Paul's gospel. Christ is the appointed judge of every hidden thing.

Overview

Paul links the witness of conscience to the coming day of judgment, when God will judge even people's hidden secrets. Strikingly, this judgment is carried out 'by Jesus Christ,' affirming Christ's role as final judge (Acts 17:31). That this is 'according to my Good News' shows the gospel includes the sobering reality of judgment, which makes the offer of salvation in Christ all the more urgent.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 30

  • Eccl 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
  • 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
  • Acts 17:31because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
  • Luke 8:17For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light.
  • Acts 10:42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
  • John 5:22–29For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
  • Rom 14:10–12But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
  • 1 Pet 4:5who will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
  • Rom 3:6May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
  • 2 Cor 5:10For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
  • Matt 25:31–46“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
  • John 12:48He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day.
  • 2 Pet 2:9the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
  • 1 Tim 1:11according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
  • Rom 16:25
  • 2 Tim 2:8Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the offspring of David, according to my Good News,
  • 2 Tim 4:1I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom:
  • Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
  • Rev 20:11–15I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
  • 2 Tim 4:8From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
  • Rom 2:5But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
  • Matt 16:27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
  • Ps 50:6The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
  • Ps 9:7–8But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment.
  • Heb 9:27Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
  • Eccl 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
  • Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
  • Eccl 3:17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
  • Gal 1:11But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.
  • Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Romans 2:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.

How Romans 2:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.