Romans 2

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¹Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ✦ ²But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. ✦ ³And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ✦ ⁴Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ✦ ⁵But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ✦ ⁶who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: ✦ ⁷eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ✦ ⁸but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, ✦ ⁹tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; ✦ ¹⁰but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ✦ ¹¹For there is no partiality with God. ✦ ¹²For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law ✦ ¹³(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; ✦ ¹⁴for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, ✦ ¹⁵who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) ✦ ¹⁶in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. ✦ ¹⁷Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, ✦ ¹⁸and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, ✦ ¹⁹and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, ✦ ²⁰an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. ✦ ²¹You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? ✦ ²²You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ✦ ²³You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? ✦ ²⁴For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. ✦ ²⁵For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. ✦ ²⁶Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? ✦ ²⁷And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? ✦ ²⁸For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; ✦ ²⁹but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Rom 2 ·23 Rom 9 ·14 Rom 3 ·11 Rom 1 ·10 Eph 2 ·7 Luke 12 ·6 Gal 6 ·6 Rom 8 ·6

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Romans videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Romans 2YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Romans 2David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on RomansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Romans 2Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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