All Other Ground Is Sinking Sand

In one paragraph

The pastor opened by acknowledging that this passage offers no comfort on its own, and he held to that honestly throughout. Romans 2:11-24 sits in the foundation of Paul's argument, before the gospel relief arrives, and the sermon stayed there without rushing to softer ground. the pastor had spent the previous week closing out Romans 2:6-11, where Paul's point is that God shows no partiality. God...

Read together

1. Romans 2:11 closing verse of last week's passage, 'there is no partiality with God'
2. Romans 2:12-24 main passage for this sermon, covering sin, judgment, and the indictment of the religious
3. Romans 7:24-25 referenced as where the congregation turned last week to find hope after the hard passage
4. Romans 8:1-2 referenced alongside Romans 7:24-25 as the 'no condemnation in Christ' turn
5. James 1:22 quoted to parallel Paul's point that hearers of the law are not justified, only doers

Talk about it

1. The pastor described these chapters in Romans as foundation work, laying out the bad news before the good news. Why do you think it matters to sit with the bad news rather than rushing to the hope? How has that felt over these weeks of Lent?
2. Paul says in Romans 2 that all who sin without the law will perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by it. God shows no partiality. Where do you find yourself tempted to think your background, upbringing, or church attendance gives you a kind of standing with God that others do not have?
3. Paul writes that the Gentiles who do not have the law still show its work written on their hearts, with their conscience accusing or defending them. When has your own conscience accused you of something you already knew was wrong? What did you do with that?
4. The pastor read from the book Unchristian, which documents how outsiders describe Christians as moralizing, condemning, and hypocritical. Romans 2:24 says the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. How honest are you willing to be about whether that charge has merit, and what would it look like to take it seriously personally?
5. After all of the hard truth in this passage, the pastor pointed back to the hymn: my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. How does hearing the bad news this plainly actually change the way you receive that hope, compared to hearing the gospel without the weight of what came before it?