Romans 2:11

Rom_2:11

For there is no respect of persons with God.

God no respecter of persons

I. It needs be so, for God rules us all.

II. It may well be so, for God is good to all.

III. It ought to be so, for God has made all.

IV. It must be so, for God is just to all. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

God no respecter of persons

Impartiality is one of the chief qualifications of a judge. Without it no amount of knowledge or ability can inspire confidence. Yet it is by no means a common quality. Even where a judge is truly conscientious, he is made partial by common prejudices, and by the law itself, which, in many instances, favours the rich above the poor. But God is strictly impartial, and the law affords shelter for no rich sinner, nor can any outlet be found for him who has broken it. And yet, there is an appearance of partiality. The good are the objects of Gods peculiar regard. But such is no partiality. He favours the good because they are good. He, who is righteous Himself, could not favour the unrighteous without being implicated in their sin. But Gods impartiality is seen by the fact that anyone can become a participator in His goodness. This impartiality is shown in--

I. The common declaration of sin affirmed of all. On this the whole Word of God is uniform. Now, strong as the assertion here may seem, one moments reflection will show its righteousness. With one consent men declare they have done wrong. Should one affirm that his life was perfect, he would be laughed at, so utterly at variance is it with the common experience of men. Here, then, is the impartiality of God. For His own honour it would seem that the faults of those who were His favourite servants should be concealed; but no, all is told.

II. The common Saviour provided for all. No man could save himself, because all had sinned. Then all must rely on this one great Mediator, who was to die for the sins of the whole world. The Jew, as a Jew, was not the object of His life and death, but the Jew, as a man, and the Gentile as a man.

III. The common condition required of all. It is usual in man-made religions so to frame the condition of salvation in favour of the rich and influential. But no such thing can be found in Gods Word. All may be saved from the common evil by one way only. It tells all that they must submit themselves to God, and that submission is shown and obtained by repentance and faith.

IV. The common rewards and punishments adjudged to all. This was beautifully taught by our Lord in the parable of Lazarus and Dives. God purposes that all should possess the blessings of eternal life, irrespective of their condition. The truly loving, faithful heart, wherever it may be found, shall be taken into Abrahams bosom; while the disobedient, the unbelieving, will be subject to eternal death.

V. The common revelation given to all. It is in one book, which may be read and understood by all who can read. In our own country, every man cannot be his own lawyer, and so at great cost has to employ a lawyer; hence, the rich can obtain the best advice and knowledge, while the poor cannot obtain counsel at all. Such is not the case with Gods law. The book is given into our hands. (H. W. Butcher.)

God no respecter of persons

Whatever apparent varieties there may be in Divine dispensations, they do not affect the perfect rectitude of Gods moral administration, and everyone will be harmonised by the decisions of the judgment day. It will be seen, then, that the judgment of God is according to truth, for He will render to every man according to his deeds. A superficial inspection of His government often leads men to a different conclusion; and nothing is more natural than that the government of an infinite Being should present mysteries to finite minds, for it is an obvious impossibility that we should comprehend all the reasons by which an infinite Spirit is actuated; but until we can do so, we are not in a position to form a correct estimate of His proceedings. But whatever is mysterious to us, may yet be in strict accordance with the rectitude of the Divine character. His ways are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts. He treats men differently. There is an immense variety in His dealings with His creatures, so that the experience of no two men is exactly alike; yet whatever differences exist, they do not trespass on equity; His punishments never exceed the demands, and His mercy is never exercised without a sacred regard to the rights of justice. Let us examine--

I. The testimony of Scripture; and we shall perceive more clearly wherein the Divine impartiality consists.

1. God hath not that respect for outward appearances which man has. In the selection of instruments to accomplish His purposes, He has respect solely to moral qualities. This is seen in the selection of David instead of Eliab. The Lord looketh on the heart.

2. While there is great variety in His providential government, with regard to different nations, yet it arises not from partiality; and though the Jews had put this interpretation on the Divine conduct, they were taught by Paul that both Jew and Gentile would be recompensed according to their works. And Peter, having imbibed the prejudices of his nation, was taught to acknowledge that God is no respecter of persons.

3. Rank, riches, honour, etc., do not affect the moral character of the Divine administration. The king and his subjects, the master and his servants, are treated on the same equitable principles.

4. We often form a too favourable estimate of those we love; our partiality conceals their defects, and magnifies their excellencies; but not so with God.

5. We cannot conceive of an infinitely perfect moral governor, and divest him of this impartiality.

(1) To suppose Him destitute of it, would be to imagine some defect in His perfections. He is infinitely wise, so that He cannot possibly mistake the characters of men. He is a God of knowledge; by Him actions are weighed. Partiality might be shown unwittingly, as when it arises from defective information; but intentional partiality must have a motive, and is ordinarily connected with a feeling of interest arising from the limitations and weakness of authority. But no such motive can operate with the Divine Being. The independence of Jehovah is a security for His impartiality. As He has no natural inducements to it, so partiality could only result from moral obliquity. But He has no tendency to depart from perfect uprightness; He naturally and necessarily esteems that which is good and excellent in itself, and dislikes that which is evil. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness.

(2) As His infinite perfections are a security for the impartial administration of His government, so the inspired writers have inferred it from the common relation in which He stands to all men. He is our Creator; and it may be fairly inferred, that those who stand in a common relation will be treated on common principles. As our universal Parent, He will display the parental character to all; and whatever diversities obtain in His administration, they are not violations, but different manifestations, of the strictest impartiality. Thus God will not regard the rich more than the poor, because He is the Maker of them all.

II. Illustrations from the great features of Gods government of the world.

1. His providential dispensations are, notwithstanding their great variety, impartial.

(1) There is perfect equality in the principal facts of mans history; and all the varieties of providence are trifling when compared with the points in which mens experience agree. Men enter into life in the same state of helpless infancy; they are subject to similar diseases; and the characteristic joys of different periods of life are much the same in all countries. There is great sameness in the occupations of men; and while there are differences of rank and station, the advantages and disadvantages of each are so nicely poised, that it is difficult for us to say, when we contemplate the whole of our being, which is to be preferred.

(2) Human life, in itself considered, presents no essential difference. It is preserved and sustained by means which have all the regularity of laws; and the actions of the body and mind are obviously essentially the same in all men. And while there is no important distinction in the physical or mental constitution of mankind, the external world stands in the same relation to all, quite irrespective of persons or character. The sun shines on the evil and the good; God sends His rain upon the just and upon the unjust. The same physical laws are in operation with regard to all men; and the natural results of conduct are experienced over the whole world. In all ordinary circumstances, He becometh poor that is slothful, and the hand of the diligent maketh rich. As the whole character of mans existence is strikingly similar, so in death there appears a similar equality.

(3) Gods experimental probation of His intelligent creatures is perfectly adapted to the infinite variety of mind and character. He governs them by one law, which, by its contractile and expansive force, is a perfect law of equity to every individual He has formed. Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much will be required. There is nothing in Gods law which respects only a portion of our race; it is of universal obligation, and of common concern to every individual. It is accompanied by the same rewards and punishments to all men. Its sanctions are of universal application, and constitute encouragements to obedience, and motives against transgressions. There is not one kind of reward for the rich and another for the poor.

2. The doctrine of the text is illustrated by the universal aspect of the gospel to all mankind. God so loved the world, etc.

3. In the final decisions of the judgment day it will be seen that God is no respecter of persons. None will be exempted from judgment; they will all have to appear at the same tribunal, before the same Judge, and their judgment will proceed on the same principles of equity and truth.

Conclusion. Let the doctrine of the text--

1. Guard us against a rash and hasty judgment of any part of the Divine conduct. We see but small parts of an immense and combined system of operation, and are incompetent to decide upon the character of any one event without knowing vastly more than we do in the present state.

2. Guard us against presumption. Men cherish undefined notions of the goodness of God, that induce them to suppose He will not be strict to mark iniquity. Other men presume on their self-righteousness. Another class are hypocritical professors, who name the name of Christ, but depart not from iniquity.

3. Direct us to the only ground of hope and confidence towards God. There is no respect of persons with Him: nothing in our external condition or relations will induce Him to form a judgment of us contrary to truth. The universal condition of salvation is faith in Christ Jesus. (S. Summers.)

God no respecter of persons

Even those works of God, with which we seem the most familiar, are replete with mystery; much more is this true of the moral world, which the mind of God administers and directs. We see, e.g., virtue prostrated with calamity, while ungodliness prospers in the world. And yet we are told that there is no respect of persons with God. How, then, are we to reconcile what we see, and feel, with what we read? In order to a complete view of the subject, I shall--

I. Assign the reasons why there is apparently respect of persons here. Now it is popularly, but mistakenly assumed, that differences of outward circumstances is an evidence of respect of person; because we are in every instance what God has made us, and have in every instance what He has given us; and He hath given to some preeminence over others in personal endowments, in worldly possessions, and in honour among mankind. For this, however, we may assign the following reasons--

1. That such has been the order of nature, throughout all Gods works, from the beginning. And not only has it been the order of nature that there should be degrees of beauty in the vegetable, and of strength in the animal world; that trees, e.g., should be of different height, flowers of different hues, and fruits of different flavour, and that the irrational creatures should vary in the measure of instinct; but the same wise Creator ordained a difference also in the first living pair whom He was pleased to form in His own image. But from the first fatal act of disobedience, both were alike involved in the common transgression, and both are alike capable of realising the proper deliverance. Hence says St. Paul, There is no difference between male and female.

2. That inequality among individuals conduces to the general good. And this connects itself with the former. Some men, indeed, raise the absurd and senseless cry of universal equality; forgetting that such a state of things could not possibly exist, unless all mankind were exactly equal in strength, and talent, actuated by the very same propensities, and in pursuit of the same objects. So long as there are some formed by natural endowments to lead, and others to follow, so long must there be some to exercise command, and others to render obedience. And could we balance the advantages of either state, we should find it very difficult to determine on which side the scale preponderates. David, the innocent youth, keeping his fathers sheep, with not an enemy upon earth, and with God for his Friend in heaven, was assuredly not less happy than David, king of Israel. Again, what was the result of the attainment of royal dignity to Saul? The nation, indeed, required one to lead them against the Philistines; and for their sake, but not for his own, was Saul exalted out of the people; but for his own sin, not for theirs, were the weapons of his warfare broken.

3. That the worldly condition, whatever it be, is the trial of faith, and the probation for eternity, best suited to him who occupies it. Some are born, as it might seem, to do--others to suffer--the will of God; but if action is more profitable to others, endurance is most assuredly not the least profitable to ourselves; and only towards that man could God be said to act with partiality, to whom He should deny the power of doing His will, and the opportunity of attaining to the perfect bliss of the righteous. But God has done this to none. Whether we are possessed of the one talent, or of the two, or of the ten, is comparatively of inferior moment; since a man is accepted according to that he hath, and not according to that he hath not. Thus St. Paul charges them that are rich in this world, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, etc.; but even if they attain to this, it is not a higher degree of attainment than to suffer patiently the will of God. Had Dives given half his goods, like Zaccheus, to the poor, we have no warrant whatever for supposing that this would have been more acceptable than the patient self-devotion of the beggar. Lazarus could not act, indeed, but he could suffer; he could not relieve the distress of others, but he could, and did, exhibit a shining example of long suffering and patience. And thus everyone placed in a humble sphere ought to consider whether that situation is not the best calculated to advance his highest and most enduring interests; whether if God were to bestow upon him worldly prosperity, his heart might not thereby become hardened, or his spiritual perceptions obscured. The fact of an eternal existence must be taken to be the true test of the interests of time. Hence, again, there is no respect of persons with God, because He will judge all by what they have done, and by what they have suffered for Christs sake; not by what they have enjoyed or possessed.

II. Afford the evidence why there is really no respect of persons with God because there shall be none hereafter. And this evidence is also three fold.

1. Because the distinctions to which men attach so much importance are transient and precarious. Whatever difference there may be in the character of our path through life, there is none whatever in the nature of the end. One house is appointed for all living; and no sooner do we enter that common tenement than all are on the same level. And what is the undying soul? It is either rejoicing in Gods manifested presence, or it is an outcast from the glories of redemption. Then, if not before, it will be seen that the fancied advantages on account of which we call the proud happy, are far more than counterbalanced by the downward tendency of wealth. It may, indeed, cost an effort on the part of those who are daily struggling with privation to suppress the rising wish that they had been born to opulence, but never let them harbour for an instant the vain imagination that it is because they are of less estimation in the sight of God. They ought to consider that if they have not the advantages, neither have they the trials of the affluent; if they have not their means of doing good, neither have they their responsibilities for leaving good undone. Nay, they ought to consider that the very necessity of daily toil is a preservative against sin; and though necessities and distress may plant their path with thorns, they at least diminish the attractions of things below, and point the soul to things above. The good part is that which cannot be taken away; and while the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

2. Because all, whatever they possess, are alike responsible to their Judge. Every one of us, said St. Paul, must give account of himself to God. To whom little is given, of him is little required, while to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more; and so it is with God.

3. Because, as to all there is a common Saviour, there must be a common salvation. All, therefore, who shall be convened before the tribunal of the Judge, whether those who reigned or those who served, those who smiled or those who suffered--all shall be separated into two classes, and only two. (T. Dale, M. A.)

The Divine impartiality

How is this possible, since all men are what God made them, and since no one thing can more differ from another than one person seems to differ from another?

1. As to the body, one is defective, and another well-formed; one is deprived of some of the senses, or hath them in low degree, another enjoys them all in their full vigour; one is weak and sickly, another healthy and strong; one hath length of days, another is cut off in the flower of youth.

2. As to circumstances; one is poor, and another rich; one unfortunate, another successful; one is doomed to obscurity, another is powerful and in high station.

3. As to temper; one is easily satisfied, and possesses serenity of mind; another is anxious or melancholy, and is plagued with forebodings.

4. As to the passions; they seem to be more impetuous in some, whilst others find them more compliant.

5. As to natural abilities; one hath a strong memory, a lively fancy, a good judgment, a fine taste, and a large capacity; another is deficient in all these respects.

6. As to the external advantages, of country, situation, and education, upon which so much depends; one is placed in a land of liberty, learning, religion, and good manners, and wants no helps of enlarging the mind and improving the heart; another hath his hard lot in regions quite the reverse. To clear up the Divine impartiality from objections consider--

I. What is respect of persons, and distinguish between matters of favour and matters of justice.

1. Amongst men, gifts to which another person hath no claim, are free, and none can be accused as a respecter of persons who makes one rather than another the object of his kindness, if he is guided by prudence or by innocent affection. As in the choice of friends or servants, or in beneficence, we cannot keep company with, or employ, or assist everyone, and we may prefer one deserving person to another equally deserving, without being respecters of persons. But in points of justice and matters of trust, whosoever favours the guilty hurts the innocent, or gives or refuses contrary to the eternal rules of right, such an one is a respecter of persons.

2. The same distinction holds true in relation to Gods dealings with His creatures. His giving them more or less, His placing them here or there, is a matter of favour, and respect of persons hath nothing to do with it. But in His behaviour to His creatures consequent to their behaviour towards Him, in this He acts by the rules of justice, and in this His justice shall be so manifest as to clear Him from all imputations of partiality.

3. If you examine the Scripture where God is said to be no respecter of persons, you will find that it is as He is Ruler and Judge, and dispenser of rewards and punishments; and so with relation to men, when they are commanded not to respect persons, they also are considered, not as doing favours, but as exercising acts of authority and justice, in a public or private character.

II. The present diversity of condition amongst men is so uncertain and variable, and lasts for so very short a space, that it becomes in this view far more inconsiderable than is usually imagined.

1. Man is called into this world for a few years, and then to depart into eternity. One flourishes, and another struggles with adversity; and whilst we gaze with envy upon the one, and pity on the other, the scene closes, and the vision fades away. It is our future lot alone that can determine us happy or unhappy upon the whole.

2. Even the present condition of men is perpetually varying. All men, more or less, pass through the vicissitudes of what we call good and evil.

3. Even temporal happiness depends not so much upon externals. Many other circumstances are to be taken into account; and of two persons, of whom the one passes for happy, and the other for unhappy, perhaps the sum total of their pleasure and pain is nearly equal.

4. Natural evil, such as poverty, pain, and disappointments, is not always a real calamity, but rather discipline, tending to make the sufferer better, and to guide him to happiness.

III. The evils of which men complain are often of their own procuring. Virtue has a natural connection with happiness. This connection is sometimes suspended and interrupted by accidental causes; but it holds good on the whole, and vice has the same connection with misery. If the evils to which men were obnoxious were traced up to their causes, we should find that the greater part of them are the consequences either of thoughtless folly or wickedness. Therefore these sufferings are not to be charged to the Divine administration.

IV. The impartiality of Providence, whatsoever difficulties may attend it in the present state, will be fully cleared up in the next; and we must wait with patience to that time for the fuller solution of some of our doubts. As to the temporals there is no reasonable objection to the Divine impartiality. It is the moral and religious difference between men that creates the main difficulty. One hath an opportunity of religious improvement, and is a good Christian; another is deprived of this advantage, by no fault of his own, but by having his hard lot in the dark regions of rudeness and of ignorance. In answer to this, the Scripture saith that God will judge the world in righteousness, and deal with everyone according to his talents, and to the use which he hath made of them.

1. All men have it in their power to do what God requires.

2. All those who in the main act suitable to their abilities have a secret influence of God to help them so far as is needful.

3. All such have Christ for their Redeemer, though He never was revealed to them.

4. All those who have thus behaved themselves shall enjoy the beneficial effects of it hereafter, according to the extent of their desires and capacities, and shall have the means of making greater progress in goodness and happiness.

5. All they who by their own perverseness have abused the talents committed to them, shall suffer for it in such manner as the Supreme Wisdom shall judge expedient. Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required; and unto whomsoever little is given, of him little shall be required. This is the voice of reason, this is the express declaration of our Saviour.

V. Men, in many respects, and with a few exceptions, are rather more upon the level than we usually imagine.

1. All men have a mortal body, an immortal soul, the same senses, and much the same powers and faculties.

2. All have the same earth to feed them, the same sun and stars to shine upon them, the same air to breathe, and the same heavens to cover them.

3. All have the same ordinary means and methods to improve themselves, such as diligence, application, sobriety, civility; and all suffer by the contrary vices.

4. As they are reasonable creatures, they have the same great law of reason, or natural religion, to guide and instruct them.

5. As they stand equally in need of the Divine assistance, they all may secure it, if they behave themselves suitably to their situation and circumstances.

6. They are all subject to one supreme Governor, to whom they are answerable, not according to their rank or possessions, but according to their use or abuse of the Divine blessings.

7. Christianity, indeed, hath not been revealed to all; but this arises from other causes, and not from anything in its nature. It is plainly intended for universal use, and where revealed, it is for all classes and conditions.

VI. God is and must needs be impartial, from His own nature and perfections.

1. All partiality arises either from vice, weakness, or ignorance; consequently it can find no access to an all-perfect Being.

2. As God is almighty, self-existing, eternal, and independent, all His creatures are at the same infinite distance below Him. Compared with each other, they differ in a vast variety of degrees; but compared with Him, they bear no proportion at all. Therefore He must behold them all as they are created beings, with the same disposition.

3. As He is perfectly wise, He must treat them according to the laws of wisdom and justice.

4. As He is perfectly good, He considers them all as His offspring. He created them to do them good, and nothing can hinder Him from exerting this beneficence, except their undutiful behaviour. Conclusion: Let us imitate God in this perfection. It is indeed extremely difficult for man to be impartial, and therefore we must divest ourselves of those qualities which lead us to unfairness, such as pride, selfishness, party zeal, anger, envy, indolence of temper, capriciousness, etc. (J. Jortin, D. D.)

The Divine impartiality

This was a bold and startling declaration to make at Rome, to a community whether of Romans or of Jews; for these two nations were each, above all others at that moment, convinced that such a respect did actually exist in their special favour. The Roman deemed his own the favoured race, and regarded the extent of his dominion as a conclusive proof of it. The Jew, with no less complacency, maintained that the Divine preference of himself was intimated by the spiritual advantages he manifestly enjoyed, and the glorious hopes proclaimed to him. To require the Jew and the Roman each to surrender the assurance on which he relied, and admit the other to an equal footing in Divine favour, was indeed a bold undertaking. But between the Jew and the Roman there stood also the Greek, and the Epistle of St. Paul was addressed to the Greek equally with both the others; perhaps, indeed, to the Greek more directly than to either of them, inasmuch as the Grecian element in the early Roman Church was larger probably than either of the others. The Greek, too, had a pride of his own, a pride in his intellectual culture; and he looked down from his own point of view with equal scorn on both the Roman and the Jew. He, too, would despise, if he dared not resent, the apostolic declaration of a universal equality of the races. (Dean Merivale.)

No partiality with God

A little black girl, eight years old, was setting the table, when a boy in the room said to her, Mollie, do you pray? The suddenness of the question confused her a little, but she said, Yes, every night. Do you think God hears you? the boy asked. She answered promptly, I know He does. But do you think, said he, trying to puzzle her, that He hears your prayers as readily as those of white children? For full three minutes the child kept on with her work; then she slowly said, Master George, I pray into Gods ears, and not His eyes. My voice is just like any other little girls, and if I say what I ought to say, God does not stop to look at my skin.

No respect to person

M. Boudon, an eminent surgeon, was one day sent for by the Cardinal du Bois, Prime Minister of France, to perform a very serious operation upon him. The Cardinal, on seeing him enter the room, said to him, You must not expect to treat me in the same rough manner as you treat your poor miserable wretches at your hospital of the Hotel Dieu. My lord, replied M. Boudon, with great dignity, every one of those miserable wretches, as your Eminence is pleased to call them, is a Prime Minister in my eyes.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(c.) The cause of heathen considered as fulfilling the law, Rom_2:11-17.

The apostle now proceeds to show more fully that the awards of happiness or punishment described in Rom_2:5-10 are as truly available for heathen as for Jew. Blessedness may be attained by either in his own dispensation, whether of the law written on the tables of stone or by the law written on the heart.

11. Respect of persons—When a judge on the bench decides not according to the strict merits of the case, but with an eye to the rank or other quality of one of the parties, he shows respect not to justice but to the person. Under God as judge there is no such injustice. The strict demerit of sin and merit of holiness guide the decision.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_2:11. Ground assigned for Rom_2:9-10, so far as concerns the Ἰουδ. π. κ. Ἕλλην.

προσωποληψία] Partial preference from personal considerations. See on Gal_2:6. Melancthon: dare aequalia inequalibus vel inequalia aequalibus. The ground specified is directed against the Jewish theocratic fancy. Comp Act_10:34 f.; Sirach 32 (35) 15.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 11, 12. “For there is no respect of persons with God. For all those who have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and all those who have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.”

The principle stated in Rom 2:11 is one of those most frequently asserted in the Old Testament; comp. Deu 10:17; 1Sa 16:7; 2Ch 19:7; Job 34:19. Accordingly, no Jew could dispute it.

The phrase πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, literally: to accept the countenance, to pay regard to the external appearance, belongs exclusively to Hellenistic Greek (in the LXX.); it is a pure Hebraism; it forcibly expresses the opposite idea to that of just judgment, which takes account only of the moral worth of persons and acts. With God signifies, in that luminous sphere whence only just sentences emanate. But is not the fact of the law being given to some, and refused to others, incompatible with this divine impartiality? No, answers Rom 2:12; for if the Gentile perishes, he will not perish for not having possessed the law, for no judgment will cause him to be sifted by the Decalogue and the Mosaic ordinances; and if the Jew should sin, the law will not exempt him from punishment, for the code will be the very standard which judgment will apply to all his acts. Thus the want of the law no more destroys the one than its possession saves the other. The aorist ἥμαρτον, sinned, transports us to the point of time when the result of human life appears as a completed fact, the hour of judgment. The καί, also (“will also perish without law”), brings out the congruity between the mode of the sin and that of the perdition. In the second proposition, this also is not repeated, for it is a matter of course, that where there is a law men should be judged by it. The absence of the article in Greek before the word law, makes this word a categorical term, “A mode of living over which a law presides;” as applied: the Mosaic law.—Διὰ νόμου, by law, that is to say, by the application of a positive code (the Mosaic code). We must beware of regarding the difference between the two verbs: ἀπολοῦνται, shall perish, and κριθήσονται, shall be judged, as accidental (Meyer). The very thing the apostle wishes is by this antithesis to emphasize the idea that the Jews alone shall be, strictly speaking, subjected to a judgment, a detailed inquiry, such as arises from applying the particular articles of a code. The Gentiles shall perish simply in consequence of their moral corruption; as, for example, ruin overtakes the soul of the vicious, the drunken, or the impure, under the deleterious action of their vice. The rigorous application of the principle of divine impartiality thus brings the apostle to this strange conclusion: the Jews, far from being exempted from judgment by their possession of the law, shall, on the contrary, be the only people judged (in the strict sense of the word). It was the antipodes of their claim, and we here see how the pitiless logic of the apostle brings things to such a point, that not only is the thesis of his adversary refuted, but its opposite is demonstrated to be the only true one.

Thus all who shall be found in the day of judgment to have sinned shall perish, each in his providential place, a result which establishes the divine impartiality.

It is evident that in the two propositions of this verse there is the idea understood: unless the amnesty offered by the gospel has been accepted, and has produced its proper fruits, the fruits of holiness (in which case the word ἥμαρτον, sinned, would cease to be the summing up and last word of the earthly life).

And why cannot the possession of the law preserve the Jews from condemnation, as they imagine? The explanation is given in Rom 2:13, and the demonstration in Rom 2:14-16.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_2:11

For there is no respect of persons with God. He is righteous and impartial, looking not at the person, but the conduct of those whom he judges. This is the ground of the assurance that he will judge Jews and Gentiles according to their works. The words προσωποληψία, προσωπολήπτης, προσωποληπτὲω, are all peculiar to the New Testament, and all owe their origin to the phrase πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, which is used in the sense of the Hebrew phrase, נָשָׂא פָנִים, to lift up, or accept the face of any one, that is, to be favorable to him. This is sometimes used in a good sense, as Gen_32:20 Peradventure he will accept of me, literally, lift up my face. Gen_19:21; Job_42:8. Most frequently in a bad sense, for partiality. Hence judges are forbidden to accept the face of any one, Lev_19:15; Deu_10:17. In the New Testament, all the expressions above mentioned are used in the sense of unjust partiality. All προσωποληψία, respect of persons, is denied to God, and forbidden to men. See Eph_6:9; Col_3:25; Jam_2:1.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God doth not measure men either by their blood, or by their country, either to receive them, or to cast them away.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. For there is no respect of persons with God.] The righteous Judge will not act according to any principle of partiality; the character and conduct, alone of the persons shall weigh with him. He will take no wicked man to glory, let his nation or advantages be what they may; and he will send no righteous man to perdition, though brought up in the very bosom of Gentilism. And as he will judge in that day according to character and conduct, so his judgment will proceed on the ground of the graces, privileges, and blessings which they had received, improved or abused. And as there is no respect of persons with God in judgment, so there can be none in the previous administration of his saving blessings. He that will be condemned for his unrighteousness, will be condemned on the ground that he had sufficient grace afforded him for the salvation of his soul; and his condemnation will rest on the simple principle, that he abused the grace which was sufficient to save him, by acting in opposition to its dictates and influence. No man, in that great day, shall be brought to heaven through any partiality of the Judge; and no man sent to hell because God did not afford him sufficient grace, or because he had made a decree which rendered even his use of it ineffectual to his salvation. In reference to the great design of God, in the salvation of man, it shall be said,-in time, at the day of judgment, and throughout eternity,- -THERE IS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS WITH GOD.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. There is no respect of persons, etc. He has hitherto generally arraigned all mortals as guilty; but now he begins to bring home his accusation to the Jews and to the Gentiles separately: and at the same time he teaches us, that it is no objection that there is a difference between them, but that they are both without any distinction exposed to eternal death. The Gentiles pretended ignorance as their defense; the Jews gloried in the honor of having the law: from the former he takes away their subterfuge, and he deprives the latter of their false and empty boasting.

There is then a division of the whole human race into two classes; for God had separated the Jews from all the rest, but the condition of all the Gentiles was the same. He now teaches us, that this difference is no reason why both should not be involved in the same guilt. But the word person is taken in Scripture for all outward things, which are wont to be regarded as possessing any value or esteem. When therefore thou readest, that God is no respecter of persons, understand that what he regards is purity of heart or inward integrity; and that he hath no respect for those things which are wont to be highly valued by men, such as kindred, country, dignity, wealth, and similar things; so that respect of persons is to be here taken for the distinction or the difference there is between one nation and another. But if any hence objects and says, “That then there is no such thing as the gratuitous election of God;” it may be answered, That there is a twofold acceptation of men before God; the first, when he chooses and calls us from nothing through gratuitous goodness, as there is nothing in our nature which can be approved by him; the second, when after having regenerated us, he confers on us his gifts, and shows favor to the image of his Son which he recognizes in us.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Respect of persons.—Regard for the external circumstances of a man as opposed to his internal condition; here, especially, “regard for the circumstances of birth and race.” (Comp. Act_10:34; Gal_2:6; Eph_6:9; Col_3:25; Jas_2:1; Jas_2:9.) It is interesting to observe the phrase appearing in such different quarters. The great result of the Christian revelation was to break down the belief in race-religions—the “middle wall of partition,” as St. Paul calls it.

The essential equality of Jew and Gentile before God is not affected by the precedence of the former in point of time or order, whether as regards punishment or reward.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. for there is no respect of persons] “For” points to the last words of Rom_2:10, and shews that though St Paul has just emphasized the special privilege of the Jew, (“to the Jew first,”) as balanced with his special accountability, yet his main emphasis of thought is on the position of the Gentiles as side by side with the Jews. See Act_10:34-35, where St Peter at length admits the equal acceptability of pious Jews and pious Gentiles before God.

with God] The Greek construction is one often used in judicial connexions;=before God; “in His court, at His bar.” It may, however, mean no more than “with,” “in the case of;” French chez, German bei.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For not the hearers of the law are just before God,.... The apostle here shows, that the Jews were justly condemned, notwithstanding their having and hearing of the law; since hearing without doing it, will never denominate persons righteous in the sight of God, however it might recommend them in the sight of men: regard seems to be had either to the first delivery of the law by Moses to the people of Israel, when he read it to them, and they hearkened to it, and promised obedience; or rather to the reading and hearing it every sabbath day; and may include a speculative knowledge of it, without a practical obedience to it; and which therefore must fall greatly short of entitling them to a justifying righteousness; since not these,

but the doers of the law, shall be justified; by whom are meant, not such who merely literally and externally fulfil the law, as they imagine; for the law is spiritual, and regards the inward as well as the outward man, and requires internal holiness, as well as external obedience; and the apostle is speaking of justification before God, who sees the heart, and not before men, who judge according to outward appearance: nor are such designed who are imperfect doers of the law; for the law requires a perfect obedience, and what is not perfect is not properly righteousness; nor does it, nor can it consider an imperfect righteousness as a perfect one; for it accuses of, pronounces guilty, curses, and condemns for every transgression of it. But such only can be intended, who are doers of it spiritually, internally, as well as externally, and that perfectly. Adam, in his state of innocence, was a perfect doer of the law; he sinning, and all his posterity in him, none of them are righteous, but all pass under a sentence of condemnation. The best of men, even believers in Christ, are not without sin in themselves; and when any of the saints are said to be perfect, it must be understood in a comparative sense, or as they are considered in Christ. There never was but one since Adam, and that is Christ, who has fulfilled, or could perfectly fulfil the law; the thing is impossible and impracticable for fallen man: hence these words must be understood either hypothetically, thus, not the hearers of the law, but if there were any perfect doers of it, they would be justified before God; or else of such persons who are considered in Christ, by whom the whole perfect righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them, and who may be reckoned as perfect doers of it in him, their substitute, surety, and representative.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

Ver. 11. For] {See Trapp on "Act 10:34"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For - This particle is used here to confirm what is said before, particularly that this punishment should be experienced by the Jew as well as the Gentile. For God would deal with both on the principles of justice.

Respect of persons - The word thus rendered means “partiality,” in pronouncing judgment, in favoring one party or individual more than another, not because his cause is more just, but on account of something personal - on account of his wealth, or rank, or function, or influence, or by personal friendship, or by the fear of him. It has special reference to a judge who pronounces judgment between parties at law. The exercise of such partiality was strictly and often forbidden to the Jewish magistrates; Lev 19:15; Deu 1:17; Pro 24:23; Jam 2:1, Jam 2:3,Jam 2:9. In his capacity as a Judge, it is applied often to God. It means that he will not be influenced in awarding the retributions of eternity, in actually pronouncing and executing sentence, by any partiality, or by regard to the wealth, function, rank, or appearance of people. He will judge righteous judgment; he will judge people as they ought to be judged; according to their character and deserts; and not contrary to their character, or by partiality.

The connection here demands that this affirmation should be limited solely to his dealing with people as their judge. And in this sense, and this only, this is affirmed often of God in the Scriptures; Deu 10:17; 2Ch 19:7; Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; Gal 6:7-8; 1Pe 1:17; Act 10:34. It does not affirm that he must make all his creatures equal in talent, health, wealth, or privilege; it does not imply that, as a sovereign, he may not make a difference in their endowments, their beauty, strength, or graces; it does not imply that he may not bestow his favors where he pleases where all are undeserving, or that he may not make a difference in the characters of people by his providence, and by the agency of his Spirit. All these are actually done, done not out of any respect to their persons, to their rank, function, or wealth, but according to his own sovereign good pleasure; Eph. 1. To deny that this is done, would be to deny the manifest arrangement of things everywhere on the earth. To deny that God had a right to do it, would be,

To maintain that sinners had a claim on his favors;

(2)That he might not do what he willed with his own; or,

To affirm that God was under obligation to make all people with just the same talents and privileges, that is, that all creatures must be, in all respects, just alike.

This passage, therefore, is very improperly brought to disprove the doctrine of decrees, or election, or sovereignty. It has respect to a different thing, to the actual exercise of the office of the Judge of the world; and whatever may be the truth about God’s decrees or his electing love, this passage teaches nothing in relation to either. It may be added that this passage contains a most alarming truth for guilty people. It is that God will not be influenced by partiality, but will treat them just as they deserve. He will not be won or awed by their rank or function; by their wealth or endowments; by their numbers, their power, or their robes of royalty and splendor. Every man should tremble at the prospect of falling into the hands of a just God, who will treat him just as he deserves, and should without delay seek a refuge in the Saviour and Advocate provided for the guilty: 1Jo 2:1-2.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This seems to be borrowed from 2Ch 19:7, and Deu 10:17. You have the same again, Act 10:34; see Job 34:19; Gal 2:6; 3:28; Eph 6:9; 1Pe 1:17. Obj. God loved Jacob, and hated Esau, when they were yet unborn, and had done neither good nor evil.

Answer. This was not properly a respecting of persons, because God did not this as a judge, but as an elector: so the apostle states it, Rom 9:11-13. God is gracious to whom he will be gracious, and may do what he will with his own.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For there is no respect of persons with God - He will reward every one according to his works. But this is well consistent with his distributing advantages and opportunities of improvement, according to his own good pleasure.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Necessity of Keeping the Law Properly.

Not the hearing of the Law, but the doing of the Law has value:

v. 11. For there is no respect of persons with God.

v. 12. For as many as have sinned without Law shall also perish without Law; and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law,

v. 13. (for not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified;

v. 14. for when the, Gentiles, which have not the Law, do by nature the things contained in the Law, these, having not the Law, are a law unto themselves;

v. 15. which show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another,)

v. 16. in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel.

The apostle had plainly stated that the judgment of God on the last day would be a righteous judgment. This statement he now establishes by declaring that there is no respect of persons with God; the external condition, position, or station of a person, his wealth and social connections, have absolutely no influence upon Him; He is righteous and impartial. For whatever people have sinned without Law, without Law also perish; and whatever people have sinned in or under the Law will be judged and condemned through the Law. If any people in the world are not in possession of the codified Law, the statement of God’s will as contained in the Ten Commandments, then these people, evidently heathen, will perish, will be lost without a formal judgment according to such rule, they will suffer eternal death. But if any people—and this is true especially of the Jews—led a life of sin while in possession of the Law, with the full knowledge of its demands, promises, and threats, their judgment and condemnation will take place in accordance with and through the sentence of the Law. Whether, therefore, people have actually had the Law or not, whether they have been Jews or Gentiles, in either case the sinner incurs the penalty of God’s wrath. And the special prerogative of the Jews, that they had received the written revelation of God, would have no value as an excuse for the transgression of the Law. For, as Paul very emphatically declares, not the hearers of the Law would be considered just before God, but the doers of the Law would be declared righteous. No degree of external familiarity with the words of the Law will have any weight before the judgment-throne of God; if there is to be justification in connection with the Law, it must be that of a perfect fulfillment of the Law, Luk 10:28. It follows, of course, that no man living can actually be justified by keeping the Law in his own strength, by his own merits. The fact that the believers are regarded by the Lord as doers of the Law, 8:4, is due to the perfect righteousness of Jesus, in which He fulfilled the Law for us, which is transmitted to us by faith and then regarded by God as our own property, though entirely the result of Christ’s vicarious obedience.

The apostle had said, v. 12, that the people who had sinned without the Law would be condemned and suffer eternal damnation without the written Law. This he now proves in a parenthetical sentence. Whenever, as often as, or because the Gentiles who have not the Law, the written Law, yet by nature perform the things enjoined in the Law, do that which is commanded in the Law of Moses on account of the knowledge which they possess by nature, in all such cases these Gentiles, though they have not the Law, yet are a law unto themselves. These facts are fully substantiated in history. There are many heathen, unbelievers, who, by following the prompting of their conscience, shun every form of extraordinary shame and vice, do the work of their calling with all diligence, give assistance to the poor, and otherwise perform deeds which seem in total conformity with the injunctions of the written Law. They are a law unto themselves, they watch over their own deeds and distinguish between good and evil. This is further substantiated in v. 15: They thereby being men that show, prove, that the work of the Law, that which the Law requires, is written in their hearts. As the Jews had the words of the Law written on tables of stone, so the heathen had the contents of God’s holy will written in their hearts, not in its concrete form, but according to its general trend; the knowledge of its demands was an intellectual possession of men. And now the heathen prove the work of the Law as written in their hearts, their own conscience testifying therewith, their own consciousness acting as witness for or against them. The natural law of God, the impress of His holy will in the heart of man, which tells him in general what is right and what is wrong, is accompanied and supplemented by the voice of conscience, which judges the concrete individual acts of a person, tells him whether the specific thing which he has done or is about to do is right or wrong. This is done in such a way that the thoughts between one another accuse or defend each other. The individual judgments, the individual actions of conscience are engaged in a dispute over the permissibility or inadmissibility of certain deeds which the person contemplates or has performed. The description of the apostle reminds of a formal court session, and incidentally brings out the fact that the judgments of conscience are not always reliable, and that an erring conscience is a possibility.

After this parenthetical digression the apostle now continues his thought regarding the judgment of the great day, a thought which is also loosely connected with this sentence: On the day on which God will judge the hidden things of men according to my Gospel, through Christ Jesus. The Gospel, as preached by Paul and emphatically declared to be his Gospel, entrusted to him, that will be the norm according to which sentence will be passed on the last day, Joh 12:48. The decision concerning salvation or damnation will depend upon the position which a person assumed toward the Gospel and toward Jesus, the Mediator of his salvation, whether he has accepted Jesus and the salvation of the Redeemer by faith or not. And since this faith will reveal itself in words and deeds, therefore it is correct to say also that sentence will be passed on the basis of the works as they have appeared in the life of every person.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. “For there is no respect of persons with God.” He only knows character. The fact that you have been a great churchman or an elegant preacher will be neither known nor mentioned in the Judgment Day. Many who have lived and died unknown to the great of church and state will be called to the front, while multitudes who have been very great and honorable, standing at the front, will be relegated to the rear. There is but one question, “Are you like God?” If not, all the good you think you did is sunk in the sloughs of Satan’s kingdom.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

for there is no respect of persons with God . [Paul here reiterates the two phases of God's judgment which he has just described. He does this to emphasize their universality--that they are upon every man, regardless of race. The punishment shall come upon Jew and Gentile alike; but the Jew, because of pre-eminence in privilege, shall have pre-eminence in suffering ( Luk_12:47-48 ). The blessings also shall be received alike, but here also the Jew, having improved his privileges, and having more pounds to start with ( Luk_19:16-19 ), shall have pre-eminence in reward in as far as he has attained pre-eminence in life; for there is no unfair partiality or unjust favoritism with God. The man born in a Christian home stands to-day in the category then occupied by the Jew. He will be given greater reward or greater punishment according to his use or abuse of privilege.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. There is no respect of persons. Greek, as well as Jew, if he works good, shall have the same blessed rewards. Compare Acts 10:34, 35. God is impartial in the blessings conferred, as well as in his punishments.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

11. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν προσωπολημψία. The fundamental quality of the righteous judge. Cf. Deu 10:17; Mat 22:16 |[84] Luk 20:21; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9, alibi

[84] | parallel to

παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ‘with GOD,’ that is, in Him and His acts, as judge; for this use of παρά (for ἐν) due to reverence, cf. Hort on Jas 1:17 (p. 30), cf[86] Mar 10:27.

[86] confert

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11.] This remark serves as the transition to what follows, not merely as the confirmation of what went before. As to what preceded, it asserts that though the Jew has had great advantages, he shall be justly judged for his use of them, not treated as a favourite of Heaven: as to what follows, it introduces a comparison between him and the Gentile to shew how fairly he will be, for those greater advantages, regarded as πρῶτος in responsibility. And thus we gradually (see note on ver. 1) pass to the direct comparison between him and the Gentile, and consideration of his state.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. προσωποληψία: peculiar to Biblical and Ecclesiastical Greek (Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; Jas 2:1; cf. προσωπολήπτης Act 10:34; προσωποληπτεῖν Jas 2:9; ἀπροσωπολήπτως 1Pe 1:17): πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν = (i) to give a gracious reception to a suppliant or suitor (Lev 19:15); and hence (ii) to show partiality, give corrupt judgement. In N. T. always with a bad sense.

The idea goes back to Deu 10:17 ὁ Θεὸς … οὐ θαυμάζει πρόσωπον οὐδʼ οὐ μὴ λάβῃ δῶρον, which is adopted in Ps. Sol. 2:19 ὁ Θεὸς κριτὴς δίκαιος καὶ οὐ θαυμάσει πρόσωπον, and explained in Jubilees 5:15 ‘And He is not one who will regard the person (of any) nor receive gifts; when He says that He will execute judgement on each: if one gave him everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands, for he is a Righteous Judge’; cf. Apoc. Baruch. xiii. 7, Pirqê Aboth iv. 31 ‘He is about to judge with whom there is no iniquity, nor forgetfulness, nor respect of persons, nor taking of a bribe.’

12., 13. νόμος and ὁ νόμος. The distinction between these two forms did not escape the scholarship of Origen, whose comment on Rom 3:21 reads thus in Rufinus’ translation (ed. Lommatzsch, vi. 201): Moris est apud Graecos nominibus ἄρθρα praeponi, quae apud nos possunt articuli nominari. Si quando igitur Mosis legem nominat, solitum nomini praemittit articulum: si quando vero naturalem vult intelligi, sine articulo nominat legem. This distinction however, though it holds good generally, does not cover all the cases. There are really three main uses: (1) ὁ νόμος = the Law of Moses; the art. denotes something with which the readers are familiar, ‘their own law,’ which Christians in some sense inherited from the Jews through the O. T. (2) νόμος = law in general (e.g. 2:12, 14; 3:20 f.; 4:15; 5:13, &c.). (3) But there is yet a third usage where νόμος without art. really means the Law of Moses, but the absence of the art. calls attention to it not as proceeding from Moses, but in its quality as law; non quia Mosis sed quia lex as Gif. expresses it in his comment on Gal 2:19 (p. 46). St. Paul regards the Pre-Messianic period as essentially a period of Law, both for Jew and for Gentile. Hence when he wishes to bring out this he uses νόμος without art, even where he is referring to the Jews; because his main point is that they were under ‘a legal system’—who gave it and what name it bore was a secondary consideration. The Law of the Jews was only a typical example of a state of things that was universal. This will explain passages like Rom 5:20, Rom 10:4.

There will remain a few places, which do not come under any of these heads, where the absence of the art. is accounted for by the influence of the context, usually acting through the law of grammatical sympathy by which when one word in a phrase drops the article another also drops it; some of these passages involve rather nice points of scholarship (see the notes on 2:25; 3:31; 13:8). On the whole subject compare esp. Gif. p. 47 ff.; also a monograph by Grafe, Die paulinische Lehre von Gesetz, Freiburg i. B. 1884, ed. 2, 1893. Dr. Grafe goes rather too far in denying the distinction between νόμος and ὁ νόμος, but his paper contains many just remarks and criticisms.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Respect of persons [προσωπολημψια] Only once outside of Paul 's writings, Jas 2:1, on which see note.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.