The Righteous Judgment of God
But 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, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.
In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul shows that all have sinned and earned the penalty of eternal death (Romans 6:23; 3:23).
In Romans 2:6 Paul quotes from Psalm 62:12 or Proverbs 24:12, both of which show God will reward people according to their deeds. Since all have sinned, those deeds are storing up God’s anger toward us.
Thankfully, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice made it possible for us to repent and have our slate wiped clean (1 John 1:9). Once we have received the unmerited forgiveness of sin—something we could never earn—God wants us to patiently continue to do good.
Obeying God’s good and righteous laws is part of doing good (Deuteronomy 10:13; Psalm 119:172; Romans 7:12). That shows that we truly appreciate and desire the priceless gift of eternal life.
For more about God’s judgment, read “Judgment of God: The Real Story.”
