If you've ever been in a situation where you were late for something, you probably had a good excuse. Maybe the traffic was bad. Maybe the electricity was out from a storm the night before and your alarm didn't go off. Maybe you hit the snooze button one too many times. Maybe your spouse needed some extra help with the kids before you ran off to work. and maybe the dog really did eat your homework. Or perhaps you were just plain old late, and the only excuse that you could offer was that you weren't efficient enough with your time. Whatever the case may be, the reality is that we all make excuses. Whether they are elaborate or simple, we usually offer an explanation for why we were unable to meet some external demand. And excuses are not always bad, and neither are they always good. In our text this evening, Paul focuses in on two types of excuses to two different God-given realities. In the beginning of Romans chapter two, Paul urges believers to stop passing judgment on others who practice the very things that they themselves do. Paul's charge is clear in verse one of Romans chapter two that in fact there is no excuse for such behavior. The second category of excuse that Paul deals with is found in verses 12 through 16 of Romans chapter two. And here, Paul deals with the reality that because the law of God is written on the heart of every human being and their conscience, in fact, bears witness to God, there is no excuse for failing to worship God as king and creator. Both situations that Paul is dealing with and addressing have one underlying similarity. All human beings stand before God without excuse. Whether we are passing judgment on others or whether we have failed to bow the knee to God, we have no excuse before the creator. The natural human tendency is to rationalize and to make excuses. And yet, apart from being covered in the righteous robes of Christ, we stand before the throne of God without excuse. There is no crafty or eloquent explanation that we can make to save ourselves. We can wax and wane poetic. Yet outside of Christ, at the end of the day, we are guilty as charged. No grand justification for our circumstances will cause us to find favor in the sight of God. There is no perfect excuse, no matter how hard we try or how tough our lives have been. And yet, there remains the hope of the gospel, as we've seen is a central theme of the book of Romans. There is only one truth and hope that we can call our own as we stand to give an answer on account of our shortcomings. There is only one perfect solution that stands between our sin and between a holy and loving father. and that is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, whose precious blood covers us so that we may, in fact, appear before God the Father as presentable and blameless, clothed in the blood of the Lamb. And so this evening, I want us to examine these two God-given realities that render both the believer and the unbeliever without excuse. Firstly, the first God-given reality we'll look at is the impartial justice of God. The second God-given reality is the law of God burned upon the human conscience. Let's look firstly together at the impartial justice of God. Look with me at verse one in Romans chapter two. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. Now I'd like to take a moment here and say what Paul is not saying here. At face value, this verse might seem like the ultimate Trump verse. And if we happen to be in tune with the cultural mantras of our day, we're likely familiar with the obsession of being a judgment-free person. You'll often hear the saying, no judgment here, or this is a judgment-free zone, right? And this sentiment is actually couched in an autonomous framework and believes that no single person has the right to make a judgment about the life choices or decisions of another under any circumstance. Some who are actually even unfamiliar with the Bible or Christianity have even used this verse or the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7, judge not lest you be judged, to support their own moral compass. They mistakenly understand Jesus and the God of the Bible to be exclusively associated with the triumph of love in every situation. Love is love, and the Bible is a message that condemns judging another person for who they are, right? Well, not exactly. Paul opens chapter two of Romans with a very different conception of judgment than what we might see in our current cultural context. As Enrique preached last Sunday evening in the latter portion of Romans chapter one, Paul has just outlined the difficult and yet necessary reality of God's judgment that falls upon those who reject him. And as Paul starts Romans chapter two, he now moves to address the Jews of his day, those who were considered to be part of the covenant people of God. And as Paul begins to address the covenant people of Yahweh in verse one of Romans chapter two, they need to adopt an attitude of loving everyone and accepting everyone and judging no one, hypocrisy. While acceptance and love are Christian virtues to be praised when understood and practiced rightly, Paul is not instructing believers to adopt an all-encompassing attitude of accepting everyone and everything under all circumstances. Paul is condemning the heart posture of the hypocrite. At the end of verse one to verse two, Paul explains For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Here we see Paul is addressing the Jews who looked down upon the Gentiles with contempt. And while we don't actually know explicitly what practice the Jews were condemning the Gentiles for, what we know is that the Jews were guilty of the very same thing. Paul's problem with this heart posture, this hypocritical attitude, is that it actually indicts the very person who is passing judgment. The problem for Paul here is a deeply spiritual problem. Covenant members practice the very things that they judged others for, and the root of this sinful act is self-righteousness. Paul continues in verses three through five, explaining why such a hard-hearted hypocrisy is spiritually damaging. In verse three, Paul begins a series of rhetorical questions. In judging others for the very things we do, do we suppose we can escape the judgment of God? Verse three. Do we presume on the riches of God's grace, not knowing that his grace is designed to lead us to repentance? Verse four. These questions reveal the severity of what Paul is getting at. Hypocrisy presumes that we can escape the judgment of God. Hypocrisy presumes upon the grace and mercy of God. And the result of this presumption is the wrath of God poured out on the day of judgment, verse five. Brothers and sisters, we must consider our own spiritual state. Do we harbor judgment in our hearts for the very things that we ourselves are guilty of? I know that it can be tempting at times to pray like the Pharisee, whether it's subconsciously or consciously, in Luke chapter 18, verse 11, and say to the Lord, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. And yet, when we consider who we were apart from Christ, we quickly realize that we were, in fact, like other men. Like the extortioners, the unjust, the adulterers, or even the tax collector. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And even our best works are as menstrual rags, as the Bible tells us. This bird's eye view is certainly humbling and even hard to accept. Apart from the mercy of our Lord and Savior, we are but dust. Apart from the mercy of God displayed in the righteousness of Christ, we have no moral high ground to stand on. And so, as Paul says in verse one, we are without excuse. No excuse that we give to the Almighty at the last day will make up for the sin of our hard-hearted hypocrisy. Only standing in the perfect righteousness of Christ will excuse us from the demands of the law. God's justice is impartial. And as we see in verse three, we cannot escape the judgment of God. Paul further explores this reality in verses six through 13. Look with me there, verse six. God will render to each one according to his works. There are two ways, as Paul describes in verses seven through 10. There is the way of life, there is the way of death, there is the way of wisdom, and there is the way of folly. There is the path of righteousness, and there is the path of destruction. Now I do not want to get into a lengthy discussion here about works righteousness. But some interpreters have made the observation and the argument that verse six here and verse 13 of Romans two reveal that our works are in fact meritorious, meaning that they earn merit or favor before the sight of God. I will just say briefly that while true faith produces good works, And that while good works are evidence of true faith, and that faith without works is dead, good works in and of themselves are never meritorious. As we remember when Carol preached on Romans chapter one, verses 16 and 17, we saw that faith is the instrument whereby a believer comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul is not saying that the merits of our deeds are what is going to give us eternal life in verse seven. Rather, Paul is in the process of making a case, and he is setting forth the standard by which God will judge all men. If you were to break down the argument that Paul is making here, beginning in verse six, it would begin by saying that God's law is the standard that judges the works of everyone. Then in chapter three of Romans, verses nine through 19, Paul says that sin prevents us from keeping God's perfect law. Then in verse 20 of Romans chapter three, Paul definitively tells us that no human being can possibly be justified by their works. And then of course, climactically in chapter four, Paul informs us that we can only be justified on the basis of Christ's work. Now, I hope that I'm not giving too much away and getting ahead of myself, and I hope I haven't spoiled the surprise of the book of Romans for you. But I think it's paramount that we understand what's going on here in Romans chapter two. Paul is in the beginning stages of making his case for the reality that we cannot keep the law on ourselves, and we need someone who can keep it for us perfectly. Christ himself, as we know. God does not show favoritism. He judges on the basis of works, but for believers who share in the covenant blessings, thankfully God judges us based on the perfect works of Christ. God cannot show partiality, verse 11, he cannot. His justice and holiness demand that his law be kept. and praise God that the law was kept by our elder brother, the Lamb of God, the one who covers us with his blood so that we can appear before the throne of grace as guiltless and blameless. So we have firstly seen the impartial justice of God. We have seen Paul address believers and remind them that there is no excuse for a hypocritical hard-heartedness, for God alone is the judge of all. And now we will secondly examine the law of God inscribed on the heart of man and see how unbelievers are also without excuse. I'm sure over the course of your life that you may have run into a self-proclaimed atheist. Or at the very least, you may have some familiarity with atheist literature. Every excuse under the sun for unbelief has been given. If there was only enough evidence, I would believe. If God were real, he would come down and show himself to me. If God really is the creator of all things, then why does he allow evil? How can God be real if my life is filled with such suffering? And so on and so forth. The human race has wrestled with questions about the divine from the very beginning. The amount of literature actually addressing this topic would be enough to fill libraries to the brim. The point is, Human beings have been about trying to make sense of God as long as time has existed. And every thinkable excuse not to bend the knee to God has been thought of. And our text this evening gives us an astounding insight into the mind of those who refuse to subject themselves to God and worship him as creator. Paul begins in verse 14 of chapter two, noting a curious internal conundrum for unbelievers. As Paul writes, Gentiles become a law unto themselves when by nature they do what the law requires, even though they do not have the law. Here, Paul begins to describe what theologians have called natural revelation. Those who are not in Christ, by nature, conform to the law of God. Well, how is that possible? Unbelievers don't typically read the Bible. They're not particularly concerned with Christian living. And yet, by nature, they often do what the law requires, as Paul says. How can this be? And what does this mean? Well, think with me here for a moment. If you were to walk up to someone today and ask them if it would be okay if you stole their wallet or their purse, they would probably have a few choice words for you and then run away from you as quickly as possible. Of course, in their minds, right, stealing is wrong. You can't take what rightfully belongs from one person to another. It just is not right. But how does one know what is right and wrong? How do they establish this? What external moral code governs society? And from where does a person who doesn't adhere to a biblical code of ethics, where do they generate their moral framework? Well, Paul tells us in verses 14 to 15, it is from their nature. Verse 15, the law is written on their hearts while their conscience bears witness. You see, the law of God is written on the heart of every human being. No matter how hard one may try, the indelible mark of God's law is stamped on the heart and mind of each one of us. There's no eradicating it. There's no escaping it. And while this natural understanding of who God is cannot save a person, It creeps up into their daily lives quite often. The way they see the world, their notion of right and wrong, as I just discussed with the analogy of stealing someone's purse. God's creatures bear his image. As John Calvin has called it, the sense of divinity is implanted in the DNA of every man, woman, and child. You see, this is why we live in societies where the law of the land. Our governments even enforce aspects of the moral code and punish accordingly despite their godlessness. This is because the natural law of God is revealed to every person who walks the face of the earth. whether or not they acknowledge him as creator, their conscience and hearts, as Paul tells us, they bear witness to the natural revelation of God himself. This is why Paul said, if you remember, in Romans chapter one, verse 20, that they are without excuse. God has made himself known in all that he has created. Our world around us bursts with the knowledge of God at every corner. Paul is making quite the profound statement here, and I think it boils down to one simple nugget of truth. Every interaction that we have with another human being, unbeliever or believer, That interaction is with someone who has the law of God written on their heart. This has incredible implications for us today as believers. From an evangelism standpoint, this is actually a huge game changer. When we speak with unbelievers, As we try and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, we already know that God has endowed them with a knowledge of Him in their nature. This makes our conversations with unbelievers so much more meaningful because we in fact have a point of contact. the ways we see that God has revealed himself in nature suddenly become apparent in every facet of life. Whether it is art, music, literature, agriculture, sports, politics, every subject under the sun has a point of contact because God has written his law on the heart of every creature. And when we speak with unbelievers, We speak with someone who has the innate knowledge of God within and yet suppresses it. And this means that when discussions come up with unbelievers regarding things like truth or morality or beauty, we're equipped with the right questions to ask. As the psalmist says, The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. The beauty manifested in our world is quite frankly overwhelming. And as hard as we try, as hard as the human race has tried to explain away the divine, our efforts have always proven futile. The mystery and glory of God's creation baffles even the most accomplished scientist and baffles even the greatest philosopher. Our call as Christians is to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. And we are equipped as we go about this task knowing that the light of natural revelation shines in every corner of the universe. and there is no suppressing the truth of God's law. And so as we come to a close this evening, we see that there really is no perfect excuse. We who have professed our faith in Jesus Christ are without excuse when it comes to our hypocrisy. Those who suppress the truth of Christ and refuse to acknowledge him as Lord They have no excuse, for he has made himself plain to them. Try as we might to craft the perfect excuse will always come short. Well, Lord, if only this person wasn't so self-centered, well, then maybe I wouldn't have judged them. Or if only God had appeared to me and revealed himself to me, well, then I would have believed in him. No, Paul is clear Christians and non-Christians alike are without excuse. And yet, for the one who trusts in Jesus Christ and rests upon him, there remains only one way to be vindicated. There is only one answer to both the plight of the believer and the unbeliever, and that is Christ himself. Brothers and sisters, for us who have placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we rest in the perfect assurance that we are washed and renewed. We are called to put aside our fleshly ways and put on the robes of Christ. We are called to put to death what is unholy and dwell in the unsearchable light of Jesus himself. And as we walk in him, we must not presume on his riches and mercy. As Paul says, shall we then sin that grace may abound? By no means. We are a new creation in Jesus Christ, and we have been granted the full assurance that we can stand before the throne of God as guiltless and blameless on the merits of Christ himself. May we as children of the Most High live our lives to the glory of Him. May we pray for those who have not put their trust in Him. And may the light of God's revelation in this world shine through every sphere of life so that Christ may be exalted. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace We ask you that you would teach us not to presume on the riches in mercy of your grace. Lord, would you give us opportunities to speak to unbelievers about you and about your truth. Would you soften hearts even now, oh Lord. We pray that our world would bow the knee. We thank you, Lord, for the light of your revelation in this world. Your beauty and glory are displayed all around us. Give us eyes to see. May we taste and see that you alone are good. We pray all of these things in the strong and precious name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.