What does it mean that God will render to every man "according to his works"?

Explanation:

Paul says in Romans 2:6 that God will repay each person according to his works. By saying this, Paul has introduced a standard Jewish principle that is clearly stated in several Old Testament passages.³ For example, in Psalm 62:12 the psalmist writes that God will render each man according to his works. Likewise, in Job 34:11 we read that according to the work of a man will God repay him. And in Proverbs 24:12 the writer asks rhetorically if God will not repay man according to his work.⁴ So we can detect that repaying a man according to his deeds was standard Jewish theology.

This helps us to understand why Paul mentions this in Romans 2:6. For we can detect from the context that Paul addresses a Jewish segment of the Christians in Rome. And what he wants them to understand is that while the Jews are God’s chosen people, they need to be careful not to judge the Gentiles or to presume salvation. For the gospel of Christ opens the way for Gentiles along with Jews to be saved. ⁵ To make it clear that the Gentiles are included in the gospel, Paul reminds them of what they already know from traditional Jewish theology: God will repay each person according to his works.

Counterargument:

This view holds that it was standard Jewish theology that God judges each according to his works. Since this was standard Jewish theology, it was a helpful device for Paul to show that the Gentiles are included in the gospel. But if Paul condones the Jewish notion that God judges according to a person’s works, this runs counter to statements he makes in Galatians. In particular, he writes in Galatians that no one is justified by works of the law (Galatians 2:16). So how can Paul promote the notion that God judges each according to their works, along with the notion that no one is justified by works of the law?

Response to counterargument:

There is a difference between being judged and being saved. This distinction explains why Paul can say in Romans 2:6 that all are judged according to works and in Galatians 2:16 that no one is justified by works of the law. That is because there is a difference between being judged and being saved by receiving God’s righteousness through faith. Romans 2:6 has to do with the principle by which God judges, while Galatians 2:16 has to do with the principle through which God saves.⁶ God judges on the principle of works, but unfortunately works are not enough to save. On the other hand, God saves on the basis of faith, apart from works of the law.

Explanation:

When Paul says that each person will be repaid according to his works, we can detect from the context that his purpose is to explain that Jews should not wrongly presume on God’s kindness. Paul explains in Romans 1:18–32 that God has revealed himself to all humans, so that even the Gentiles are without excuse for practicing wicked behaviour. Still, Paul goes on, the Jews who judge the Gentiles for their wickedness fail to understand that they fall under the same judgment (Romans 2:1). Paul explains that while some Jews may think they get a pass to sin because they are God’s covenant people, the fact is God judges each according to his works (Romans 2:6). In fact, Paul will explicitly note that all who sin without the law will perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law (Romans 2:12). In other words, both Jews and Gentiles will be judged according to their works, because God is an impartial judge.⁷

Counterargument:

This argument assumes that Paul has the Jews in mind when he warns those who judge that if they practice the same things, they fall under the same condemnation (Romans 2:1). That is, according to this view, the Jews think that they have God’s favour, but Paul is warning them that both the Jews and the Gentiles will be judged by what they do. The problem is that it is just as likely that when Paul warns those who judge not to judge, these include both Jews and Gentiles.⁸ In other words, Paul warns everyone from his audience that if they judge and do the same things, they will be condemned. Of course, if Paul is addressing both Gentiles and Jews through this section, then when he says that God repays according to what each has done, he is not convincing the Jews that God is impartial. Rather, he is simply stating a fact about the way God judges.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks the immediate context, including Romans 2:9. For in Romans 2:9, Paul explicitly notes that there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first, and then the Gentile. Now, if Paul was addressing both Jews and Gentiles in Rome, and not intending to explain to the Jews that God shows no impartiality, this leaves his comments in Romans 2:9 inexplicable. For if Paul is focused on stating how God judges, that is, according to works, rather than making a point about God’s impartiality, then there is no reason for him to mention the Jews and Gentiles separately in Romans 2:9. That he explicitly points out that each group will face God’s wrath for evil, the Jew first, and then the Gentile, suggests that Paul wants the Jews to understand that God is not impartial. That is, God judges each according to his works. Now, Paul is also stating a fact about the way God judges. That is, God judges by the principle of works. Still, his point is not only that God judges on the principle of works but also that he shows no impartiality.

The weakness of this view is that Paul seems to be doing more than simply giving us an abstract principle by which God judges. Rather, he seems to be saying that God renders to each according to his works, implying that each will somehow be rewarded according to what he has done. In other words, this view wants us to take Paul as making an abstract claim when he seems to be making a straightforward claim that actual persons will be rendered according to their works.

Explanation:

In order to understand what Paul means when he says that God will repay each according to his works, we need to consider the context. First, it is important to notice that in Romans 1:18–32, Paul explains that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven on the ungodly for their idolatry and wickedness. Paul is explaining that some of the calamity and destruction in the world is God’s wrath being revealed against the wickedness of the Gentiles.⁹

Next, Paul will turn his attention to the Jews, explaining that the Jews who judge the Gentiles for their wickedness are likewise condemned, for they practice the same things (Romans 2:1). In fact, Paul explains, the wrath of God also targets the Jews, except that in their case, rather than being revealed now, God’s wrath is stored for the final Day of Judgment (Romans 2:5).

Finally, Paul writes that God will repay each according to his works. Now we can understand what Paul means when he says this. For he means that God repays the Gentiles for their idolatry, and he repays the Jews for their self-righteousness and presumption of God’s mercy.¹⁰

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, there is a discrepancy in tense between God’s wrath being revealed against the ungodly now, and God repaying each according to their works in the future. For this view holds that the works mentioned in Romans 2:6 include the Gentiles’ idolatry, which, according to the tense of the verb to pay, God will repay in the future. Unfortunately, we know from Romans 1:18 that the wrath of God is already being revealed from heaven against the idolatry of the ungodly in the present. Since God’s wrath is being revealed in the present, it is unlikely that when Paul speaks about God repaying works in the future, he has in mind the idolatry of the Gentiles.

Second, when we reach Romans 2:7–8, Paul refines what it means that God will render to each one according to his works when he says that those who seek glory and honour will receive eternal life, while those who are self-seeking will face wrath. In other words, the works Paul has in mind include not only wickedness but also good deeds, for some works will be rewarded and others punished.

The weakness of this view is that there is no obvious semantic connection between the phrase according to works and the wickedness of the Jews and Gentiles. That is to say, according to works is obviously a broad phrase that can include both wicked and good works. If Paul wanted to say that the wickedness of the Gentiles and Jews will be repaid, he would have said that God renders each according to their wickedness, not their works, for there is no obvious semantic connection between being repaid for works and being repaid only for wickedness.