God’s Kindness Towards Hypocrites

God’s Kindness Towards Hypocrites | Romans 2:1-5 | Ian Goodman
1. Naming the problem
Paul has spent the best part of Chapter 1 railing against the sins of the world. It is then a marvellous strategy to turn his attention towards the sin of the church and to point out our inexcusability, because we have been judging the world for the sin that we ourselves are committing. Like Nathan the prophet did with king David, Paul has drawn us into a holy rage against sin and then turns that holy rage against ourselves.
2. Critiquing the problem
Paul offers 3 critiques of our hypocrisy:
Firstly, we are only men and not God and so we should be slow to judge and quick to repent.
Secondly, we are without excuse because we have been judging the world for its sin, a fact that reveals we know better and how not to behave thus.
Thirdly, our hypocrisy reveals that we are presuming on the kindness of God. We are presuming that He will be more gracious with our unrepentant sin than with the sins of the world. And we use this knowledge to keep on sinning without applying the same standard to ourselves.
3. Solving the problem
The solution to all this is to remember that the purpose for the kindness of God is to lead us to repentance. Are you using God's kindness as an excuse to sin or as motivation for holiness?