God’s judgment falls impartially on people who do such evil things; He is impartial to Jews and people from the nations (Rom. 2:2). God will render to every man, irrespective of his national background, according to his works (Rom. 2:6).
To those who are patient in doing well, seeking for glory, honor and immortality, God will give eternal life; for those who obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.(Rom. 2:7-8). Jews who do evil will not receive eternal life, Paul makes clear; they await the same fate as the people from the nations who do evil (Rom. 2:9). Glory, honor and peace will be given to all people who do good, to Jews and to all others. This is logical, because God is not partial to anyone (Rom. 2:10-11).
What it means to be saved is made very clear by Paul in Rom. 2:7-10, even though he does not use that term in this context: terms related to salvation are glory, immortality, honor, peace and eternal life.
If Jewish followers of Jesus were excited when Paul said in Rom. 1:16 that the gospel is for the Jew first and also for the Greek, then their enthusiasm has probably been tempered by now; the gospel is first for the Jew, because God’s judgment is also first for the Jew.
Paul underlines: God is not partial (Rom. 2:11). In this context, this means that with regard to the judgment over sinful behavior and the offer of the gospel, it does not matter to God whether someone is a Jew or from the nations. This indicates that the term first for the Jew and also for the Greek, should be seen in the context of the sequence in God’s salvation history, and not in the context of God favoring one nation over the other.
Those who sin without the law (the nations) will perish without the law. Those who sin with the law (Jews) will be judged by the law. Jews are not helped by having the law, as God’s judgment is based on obedience, not on possession of the law (Rom. 2:12-13).
Perishing is the opposite of being saved. Words in this chapter that have to do with perishing, or being lost, are: judgment, wrath, fury, factious, disobeying the truth, obeying wickedness, tribulation and distress.
Paul then says that not those who hear the law (Jews) will be justified, but those who do the law. So if people from the nations do by nature what the law demands, they are better off than Jews who do not. Rom. 2:14-16 should be seen as an argument by Paul that is based on his thesis that God knows no partiality. The issue is not nationality, but obedience. Later Paul will say that no-one whoever follows the law, so I think his arguments here are for the sake of theological logic. Paul is not saying that there are people among the Jews and the nations who actually obey God.
So the question for the Jewish followers of Jesus is: If God is not partial, what difference does it then make that we are Jews? That we know His will and that we have the law? That we are a light in the midst of the nations?
Paul's answer is rather straightforward. He repeats his argument that what counts for God, is not possession of the law but obedience. He lists a few matters that show that Jews do not follow the law. He mentions theft, adultery, idolatry, temple robbery; even the name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of the sins of Israel (Rom. 2:24).
'But we Jews, we have been circumcised', the Jewish Church members then say. Circumcision was the sign par excellence of the covenant of God with Israel. Did He not promise that all of Israel would be saved when the Messiah would come? Paul responds: To be circumcised and at the same time to not keep the law, makes circumcision meaningless. Your circumcision become uncircumcision (Rom. 2:25b).
As for the person from the nations who does follow the law, his uncircumcision will be regarded as circumcision (Rom. 2:26). As mentioned before, I think Paul is arguing logically here. Later in this letter he says that actually no-one obeys God.
Be careful now. Paul is drawing some radical conclusions. A circumcised Jew who has the law but does not obey the law, will be judged by uncircumcised people from the nations who do follow the law (Rom. 2:27). So Jews who do not follow the laws of God, await judgment. Not all Jews will be saved because they are Jewish.
Paul supports this conclusion in Rom. 2:28-29:
For he is not a (real) Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal.These verses are of great importance for the question whether, in accordance with the prophets, all Israel shall be saved. Paul concludes that the real Israel must be defined as those Jews who believe in Christ; the promise of salvation is for them, not just for any Jew who is born in that nation and who is circumcised physically.
A few verses before, Paul had said that uncircumcised people are counted as circumsized if they follow the laws of God. That is why Paul seems to say in Rom. 2:28-29 that not only Jews may count on God’s salvation if they obey the law, but also that people from the nations who follow the law may count of being saved. From God’s perspective they count as circumcised, and so they are included in the covenantal promise of God to Israel. Those two groups together form the true Israel, of which Rom. 2:28-29 speak.
I am repetitive now, but let me say it again: Later in his letter Paul makes clear that actually no-one is able to obey God’s commands. But in the light of what Paul says later about Jews and people from the nations who believe in Christ, it seems reasonable to conclude that what he says in Rom. 2:28-29, also suggest that the true Jews for whom God’s promises of salvation are valid, are those from Judaism and from the nations who believe in Jesus Christ.
With this statement, Paul responds to the claim of Jews who think that their Jewishness gave them special status, also inside the Church. There were people who prided themselves in being Jewish (See Rom. 2:17, if you call yourself a Jew…). This attitude is not justified, Paul says. It is not nationality but obedience that is the real issue. From whatever tribe people are, if they obey God He accepts them without partiality (Rom. 2:11). These are the people who are being saved in accordance with God’s promises.
Words related to the Greek word pas (all, everyone) occur in Rom. 2:1 (whoever you are), Rom. 2:9 (every human), Rom. 2:10 (every one). In each of these cases the word point to each and every man; focus is on the fact that no-one is excluded.
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