2:6-8
God will “render to each one according to his works”. I.e. the judgement will not be based on what we think of ourselves, or any supposedly clever arguments, but will be based on truth and reality. 2:7,8 could be seen as being rather difficult for the evangelical perspective, for on a superficial reading could be taken as implying a salvation by works, but this is not what Paul is saying. “Well-doing” includes repentance and trusting in Christ’s work on the cross. However, trusting in Christ does not mean we don’t do anything! Such a concept is totally alien to the Bible. So the person who is aware of his own unrighteousness and trusts in Christ’s righteousness will be “patient in well-doing”. The person who is self-righteous is self-seeking. They are not obeying the truth and such a person will receive “wrath and fury”.
2:9-11
We now get an “impartiality statement”, and here it starts to become clear that Paul is aiming primarily at the Jews. They thought they were blessed. And indeed they were, but they drew the wrong conclusions from that. “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil”. This applies to both Jews and Greeks. “Greeks” essentially means non-Jews, or Gentiles. Likewise, for everyone who does good there will be “glory, honour and peace”. “For God shows no partiality”. This is the key message that Paul wanted to get over here to the Jews. They were very good at seeing all the faults in the Gentile world, but failed to see the sin in their own hearts.
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