As we come to the end of Romans chapter one, we have learned that all humanity requires salvation, having been found guilty, and now exposed to the wrath of God for acting contrary to the knowledge presented to us, as stated in Romans 1:18-21. Paul gave a just but awful description of the abandoned state where the Gentiles had fallen, Romans 1:22-32.
Paul changes the focus of his letter to his current time and begins to address the problem of “finger-pointing.” The practice of pointing out the sins of others appears to be a problem in the eyes of God. According to Isaiah 58:9, it’s a sign of scorn or the equivalent of looking down our nose at someone we think inferior to us.
Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and the measure you use will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but do not notice the log in your eye? Or, how can you say, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
As we move into chapter two of our study, we will see that no one is without sin and, therefore, not exempt from accountability simply because we think we’re better than others. It may be easy to see the faults in others, but we need to see our own as well. Remember, God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:11)We also need to remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Even though we may call ourselves “Christians,” we are not to think we are better than the non-believers.