ACC ~ Romans 2 v2

ONLY GOD KNOWS THE HEART. ORIGEN: The judgment of God is to be expected … not only for those who do the things which are listed above but for all who have in any way done anything good or evil. What Paul wants to show here is that only God can judge rightly. For there are some crimes committed in which the deed is evil but the intention is not, e.g., when someone accidentally kills someone else. And there are other cases in which the deed may be good but the thought behind it is not, e.g., if someone shows pity not because God has commanded it but in order to win praise from men. And there are still other cases in which thought and deed are so interfused that one cannot distinguish which is good or evil. Given that only God knows the hearts of men and only he can discern the secrets of the mind, only he has the power to judge rightly.

God has judged rightly in the case of those whose iniquities have been forgiven by the grace of baptism, whose sins have been covered by repentance and whose sin has not been imputed to them because of the glory of martyrdom. Rightness of judgment presupposes that the evil person will receive bad things and the good person good ones. Although the gifts and generosity of God do not allow of any dispute, nevertheless we shall show just how right the divine judgment is. It is commonly accepted that a good man should not be punished and that an evil man should not be rewarded with good. Suppose a man has at some point done evil. It is certain that at the time he was doing it he was evil. But if he repents of his previous deeds, turns his mind to the good and does what is right, says what is right, thinks what is right, desires what is right—does not that person seem good to you, and worthy to receive good things? Likewise, if someone is turned from what is good to what is evil, he will be judged now not to be good (which he was but is no longer) but rather evil, which he is now. For the deeds of both a good and an evil man pass away, but they shape and construct the mind of the doer according to their respective quality and leave it either good or bad and accordingly destined to receive either punishment or rewards. Therefore it will be unjust either for a good mind to be punished for evil deeds or for an evil mind to be rewarded for good deeds. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

GOD JUDGES THE WICKED AS THEY DESERVE. AMBROSIASTER: This means that we are not unaware that God will judge these people in truth, for we judge them ourselves. If what they do is displeasing to us, how much more will it be so to God, who is truly just and efficient in carrying out his work. … Paul is instilling fear, so that although the ungodly say that God does not care, in fact he will judge the wicked and most severely render to each one according to his deserts, not sparing any. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

UNGODLY DESPITE KNOWLEDGE OF CREATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul shows that the ungodly had fallen even with a knowledge of God. Such knowledge they had got even from their creation. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

JUDGMENT RIGHTLY FALLS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: “Judgment” means the tribunal and judgment seat of God, and as if to make the condemnation of the wicked certain Paul added “rightly.” PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

DEFLECTING THE APPEARANCE THAT EVIL PLEASES GOD. PELAGIUS: If you, a sinner, pass judgment upon a sinner like yourself, how much more will God, who is just, condemn you as unjust? If he did not do so, it might appear that evil is pleasing to him while good is not. But God has no favorites, and he spared neither his friends (the patriarchs) nor his angels when they sinned! Human judgment on the other hand is imperfect in many ways. The integrity of judges is often compromised by love, hate, fear and greed, and occasionally mercy is allowed to overturn the rule of justice. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

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