No Partiality with God – Romans 2:6-11
Bethel Baptist Church David Rising
Romans 2:6-11 May 10, 2026 Sunday AM
No Partiality with God
Deuteronomy 10:17 (NKJV) 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.
Last week we saw Paul in the opening 5 verses of Romans 2 address the hypocrite. This person loves to judge others while himself doing the very same things.
Paul made it clear that this person will one day face the perfect Judge who will render the perfect judgment based upon one’s deeds.
In the text before us today Paul will make this same point with more details and also with an argument that may make us feel uncomfortable. Pray.
1. Overview of 2:6-11
Last week we ended by looking at verse 5, and I want to read it again as it is the beginning of the thought that carries through verse 11.
5 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, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
God will render perfect judgment to all who have a hard heart and are unrepentant.
Verse 3 says God will not overlook anyone.
Verse 5 makes it clear that the focus here is the one who is hard-hearted and refuses to repent.
Verse 6 says that God will reward each one according to his deeds.
The context of Romans 2:1-5 is the hard-hearted and impenitent person, and we will see today that his argument includes all of God’s renderings: blessings or judgments.
To help understand how Paul writes, let’s consider the …
2. Shape of verses 6-11
Some bible students point out that there is a pattern in verses 6-11 – a way of writing something – that is found elsewhere in scripture. This pattern is called a chiasm. This odd name comes from the Greek letter X which also displays the shape of the words. I’ll show you what I mean in a moment.
It is a way of writing that highlights and emphasizes.
Verse 11 says “For there is no partiality with God” and this essentially repeats the point of verse 6: God … “will render to each one according to his deeds.”
To use another analogy, these two verses form the book covers.
Let’s look now at the shape of these verses:
6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in
doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey
the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation
and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul
of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of
the Greek;
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works
what is good,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
Do you see the shape I described?
If you ever saw Marieta McMillen’s poems on paper, she tried to shape her words to the content of her poems. If she wrote about a tree, the words on the page depicted a tree.
Talk to David O’Brian about how he uses the inverted pyramid for his sports writeups. It’s about positioning the lead, then giving the details, and then drawing the conclusion. This method helps the reader grasp the main point up front.
Often in a chiasm the center point is an emphatic point, and we see that here. Verses 8-9 are the emphatic points in the context of this chapter – that judgment that awaits the impenitent.
Paul is making the point that God is not partial and will render fairly to all according to their deeds, especially for those who are hard-hearted and refuse to repent.
And so now let’s look at the verses.
3. God will render impartially because it will be according to deeds (2:6, 11)
6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
6ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ·
Verse 6 cites Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12 and gives support for the point of verse 5: the hard-hearted and unrepentant will be judged by God because He will pay them according to their works.
This word ‘render’ (ἀποδίδωμι) emphasizes that God will pay, will give, will reward according to the appropriate standard.
Under this same point, notice verse 11:
11 For there is no partiality with God.
This verse ties with verse 6 and makes the same basic point: God will judge impartially because it will be according to deeds.
This is a cause for rejoicing. God is impartial. He does not play politics!
He does not give special favors to certain people apart from His grace.
What matters is who we truly are, and who we truly are has everything to do with God’s abundant grace.
Now Paul will explain this impartial God by illustrating His rendering with a positive illustration:
a. Blessing: Eternal Life, Glory, Honor, and Peace (2:7, 10)
7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
7τοῖς μὲν καθ̓ ὑπομονὴν ἔργου ἀγαθοῦ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ζητοῦσιν ζωὴν αἰώνιον,
And then
10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The text says that God will render eternal life to those who have done these good deeds. This is what it says. They have sought for glory, honor, and immortality and God will grant to them eternal life.
They worked with patient continuance seeking three things: glory, honor, and immortality.
To seek glory is not to seek self-glory, but God’s glory.
To seek honor is not to seek self-honor, but to honor the Lord.
To seek immortality is to seek the things that are above rather than the things that are below.
Living in obedience to God is to live by faith and to seek to do whatever He wants us to do, regardless of the outcome.
Verse 10 emphasizes the same point. God will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good. This is a very straightforward statement that underscores what verse 7 says.
Verse 7 spoke about seeking glory. Verse 10 shows God granting glory.
Verse 7 spoke about seeking honor. Verse 10 shows God granting honor.
Verse 7 spoke about seeking immortality. Verse 10 shows God granting peace.
The godly pursuit is one that God will one day reward by His good pleasure. This too is to the Jew first and also to the Greek – to everyone.
And so, just as the text notes, God grants this blessing to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek these things.
Now, as we came through these verses, you might have thought I was teaching false doctrine. Does this passage actually teach that eternal life is the result of doing good? It seems to be saying that.
Since this seems to contradict the bulk of scripture, some bible students say that Paul has introduced a hypothetical situation – a situation for the sake of an argument. The NET bible has that note.
Keep in mind that Paul has much yet to say, and it is an error to isolate a few verses and not pair them with the rest of the text.
Clearly in the previous chapter, verses 16-17, the gospel of Christ is described as being the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Salvation in Christ is by faith alone, and not by the deeds of the law (3:20).
Paul has said nothing here of the work of Christ in his argument, because in large part I believe the emphasis of this chapter is upon the guilty which is the conclusion of this long argument as we see in 3:9: “that they are all under sin” and thus worthy of judgment.
The only solution is the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
And so I can see why some see this as hypothetical situation because on the negative side, there truly is a one-for-one equivalent. God is not partial. His judgment is according to the deeds one has done.
The life of faith is a life that leans completely upon Jesus Christ for what He has done for us, and leans completely upon Him alone for our eternal life.
And so whether this is a hypothetical argument, or not, the good works done here in verses 7 & 10 cannot be the basis for reward. Rather, they could be seen as the manifestations of life of faith of the believer who has been justified and forgiven.
Indeed, a true believer will by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, and so forth.
Our faith in Christ manifests itself in our lives by good works.
Our standing before God comes as a result of justification, which Paul will explain in chapter 3.
That right standing before God is a truly amazing blessing. We are transformed by God’s grace into a new person, and that new person desires and seeks to honor and obey God in all things.
In other words, there is a tremendous difference at the core of those who will face judgment and those who will enjoy eternal life with God for ever.
There certainly is tension in these verses, but on the whole I do not think we are being taught here salvation by works. That would fly in the face of the rest of the book.
The bulk of the focus in this chapter is the negative, which we see now.
b. Judgment: indignation, wrath, tribulation, and anguish (2:8-9)
8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
8τοῖς δὲ ἐξ ἐριθείας καὶ ἀπειθοῦσι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ πειθομένοις δὲ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ ὀργὴ καὶ θυμός. 9θλῖψις καὶ στενοχωρία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν ψυχὴν ἀνθρώπου τοῦ κατεργαζομένου τὸ κακόν, Ἰουδαίου τε πρῶτον καὶ Ἕλληνος·
To those who obey unrighteousness (8), to those who do evil (9), God will judge them with indignation, wrath, tribulation and anguish.
God is pouring out His wrath now upon mankind, but in that final day He will render that final judgment upon the sinfulness of mankind who are hard-hearted and unrepentant.
Notice how Paul describes these people in several different ways.
God’s wrath will be poured out upon those who, in verse 8, are self-seeking (ἐριθεία). Selfish. Having ambitions that only benefit self.
Do we ever see this today? We see it all the time.
The contrast is clear with verse 7. Godliness is seeking God’s honor, God’s glory. Walking in evil is seeking benefits only for self.
If you think about it, self is the fuel for sin. Look at the list of sins again at the end of chapter 1 – take out selfishness, and these vices disappear. Envy. Boasters. Proud. Deceit.
Verse 8 notes that those who are self-seeking are those who also do not obey the truth but rather obey unrighteousness. They are obedient to the wrong master. They are slaves to their own selfish desires.
Their reward is God’s indignation and wrath – words that describe for humans a powerful emotion that often results with improper actions.
With God, indignation and wrath are the perfect and holy response to sin.
God’s judgment described here illustrates a strong judgment God has prepared for those who walk in unrighteousness.
Tribulation and anguish describe the judgments we see in Revelation. It is not a pretty picture, and we must take this very seriously.
Notice in verse 9 that this judgment is upon “every soul of man” – everyone who is like this, and notice the list: “of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” This is Paul’s way of saying everyone.
Paul’s mentioning of the Jew and Gentile is a way of saying that God will not excuse anyone.
As this chapter develops, it will be clear that Paul is addressing Jews who especially believe they will be given a pass simply because they are Jews.
Verses 8-9 make it clear: God will render judgment to every single person who does not obey the truth, but rather obeys unrighteousness.
And so in verses 6 & 11 we see the fact of God’s impartial judgment.
In verses 7 & 10 we see the illustration of reward.
In verses 8-9 we see the illustration of wrath.
God will render both blessing and judgment and in so doing He will be perfectly fair and right.
Paul has more to say in his argument and we’ll see next time how Paul brings the law into the discussion.
Application
1. What is our view of God? As much as this text discussion the activities of people, it really is framed with a view of who God is.
God is impartial. He does not show favorites. He is good, forbearing, longsuffering.
At the core of so many of our problems is an incorrect view of God. WE think we know what God should do, and we are sure when things go wrong that He has not been good.
Paul seeks to set the record straight that although God could do whatever He wants, He does not show favoritism nor partiality. His rendering is according to a standard and that is His righteousness.
We see this most vividly in the death of His Son. 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2. Remember our standing before God depends upon the finished work of Jesus. Isolating verses 7 & 10 can make it seem like eternity with God depends upon our good works. Paul would be the first to say – read the whole book. Yes, there is an appropriate place for good works and reward, but what is front and center in this book and in our gospel message is Jesus.
Romans is a great book to study and is difficult in places to understand. And yet, the big picture is clear – that the gospel, the good news is all about Jesus and His completed work upon the cross for us.
May our focus be upon Him and living our lives for His honor and glory.