What does it mean that God will judge by Christ Jesus?

 Explanation:

Paul ends Romans 2:16 by saying that God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. What Paul means is that on Judgment Day, Christ Jesus will be the one who stands as judge. He is actually clarifying a common Jewish teaching, which was that God would judge by a mediator. That is, the Jews believed that on Judgment Day, God would execute his judgment by a mediator. Paul affirms and clarifies this traditional Jewish teaching by explaining that Christ Jesus is the mediator who will judge.

We know this was a common Jewish teaching because we have Jewish documents that state this. ³ For example, in Jubilee 4:23–24 we read that Enoch testifies against the wickedness of the children of men until the day of condemnation. Likewise, we read in 1 Enoch 45:3–6 that on the Day of Judgment, the Chosen One will sit on the throne of glory and try their works.⁴ Finally, in 1 Enoch 49:4 we read that the Chosen One will judge the things that are secret. ⁵ 

Counterargument:

In none of the mentioned passages does the author say that on the Day of Judgment, God will judge the secrets by a mediator. Rather, in Jubilee 4:23–24 we read that Enoch testifies against the wicked until the day of condemnation. Of course, this leaves open that God will be the one who will judge on that day. Further, while the Chosen One will try their works on Judgment Day, this does not mean he will judge them. Finally, when Enoch writes that the Chosen One will judge the secrets, he does not specify that this will happen on Judgment Day.

Response to counterargument:

 While the author of Jubilee may not specifically state that God would judge by Enoch, the point is that God uses a human to present the wickedness of the children of men, which implies that God uses some other being as a mediator in relation to judgment. Further, when it comes to the Chosen One mentioned in 1 Enoch, clearly, trying people’s works has to do with judgment, as does judging the secrets of men. Further, we can combine insights from both 1 Enoch 45 and 49 to deduce that the Chosen One will judge the secrets of men on Judgment Day. For in 1 Enoch 45 we learn that the Chosen One tries men’s works on Judgment Day, and in Enoch 49 he will judge the secrets of men. Putting these together, we conclude that Enoch is teaching that God would judge the secrets of men on Judgment Day, by a mediator. And Paul is saying this Chosen One is Christ Jesus.

Explanation:

We know from Old Testament passages that God will judge the world by a mediator. For example, in Isaiah 16:5 we read that a throne will be established in the tent of David, and on it will sit one who judges and seeks justice. Likewise, we read in Isaiah 42:1 that God’s chosen servant will bring forth justice to the nations. So Isaiah teaches that God will use his chosen servant to judge.

Added to this, Christ Jesus himself taught that he is the chosen one who will be God’s judge. For example, in Matthew 24:31–33 Jesus teaches that the Son of Man will sit on his throne, and before him will be all the nations, and he will separate the people. Likewise, in John 5:22 Jesus says that the Father has given all judgment to the Son.

Now Paul reiterates this Christian teaching that the mediator by whom God would judge the world is Christ Jesus.

Counterargument:

We know from the New Testament that Christ taught that he would judge the world. Unfortunately, the Old Testament passages presented do not suggest that according to traditional Jewish theology, God would judge by a mediator. Rather, these passages teach that there will be one who seeks justice and righteousness, but seeking justice and righteousness is not like judging on Judgment Day.

Response to counterargument:

Isaiah uses specific language in Isaiah 42:1 to suggest that he has in mind the mediator by whom God would judge. For through Isaiah, God calls the one who will bring forth justice his servant, his chosen, in whom his soul delights. That God refers to his servant who brings forth justice, his chosen, is important because we know that Enoch refers to the one who will judge the secrets of men on the day of judgment God’s Chosen One (1 Enoch 45:3-6; 1 Enoch 49:4). Thus, we can deduce that Jewish theologians interpreted the chosen one who would seek justice as the Chosen One who would sit on God’s throne to judge. So according to Jewish teaching, the Old Testament taught that God would judge by a mediator. And the apostle Paul explains that this mediator is Christ Jesus.

The weakness of this view is that it does not make a case to show that Enoch’s understanding that God would judge by a mediator was typical Jewish thinking. Thus, to contend that it was a tradition in Jewish thinking to hold that God would judge by a mediator, this argument needs to show that Enoch represents traditional Jewish thinking.

Explanation:

When Paul says that God would judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus, he introduces a particularly Christian idea, not just in the sense that Jesus would judge but that God would judge by another. We can detect this from the fact that the Jews never taught that God would judge by another. In fact, while the Jews did believe that a Messiah would come, they did not believe that God would judge by the Messiah.⁶ Given that the Jews never taught that God would judge by another, not even by the Messiah, we can deduce that Paul introduces an entirely new Christian idea.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that there are Jewish sources that suggest God would judge the world by the Messiah (see interpretation 1, argument 1). ⁷ For example, in 1 Enoch 45:3–6 we read that on the Day of Judgment, the Chosen One will try the works of men. And in 1 Enoch 49:4 we read that the Chosen One will judge the secrets of men. So it was not entirely outside the scope of Jewish theology that God would judge by another. Still, what is significant and new in Paul’s teaching is that Christ Jesus is the mediator by whom God will judge.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it only uses one source to support the fact that the Jews believed God would judge by another. While there might have been some Jewish sources who thought this, it is not clear from one source that Jewish teaching generally held that God would judge by another.

Explanation:

When Paul says that God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus, this is a new teaching in the sense that the Jews believed God alone would judge. For there are Old Testament passages where God alone is the judge. For example, the prophet Joel says that on the day of the Lord, the Lord utters his voice, and who can endure it (Joel 2:11)? In other words, the Lord will judge on the day of the Lord. What’s important to notice is that the Hebrew name for Lord used by Joel is Yahweh. Yahweh is the Lord’s personal name.

Counterargument:

When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek in the third century BC, the translators chose to translate the Hebrew Yahweh with the Greek term κύριος (Lord). This is important because the New Testament writers consistently use the same Greek term to refer to Christ Jesus. They do this to indicate that Christ Jesus shares the name Yahweh, because Christ Jesus is God. So when Joel asks, Who can endure the voice of Yahweh on the day of the Lord? given the New Testament revelation of Christ Jesus, we can associate Yahweh with Christ Jesus. So we can see that the Old Testament teaching is consistent with the notion that God would judge by a mediator, and Paul teaches that this mediator is Christ Jesus.

The weakness of this view is that it does not refute the Jewish sources that suggest God would judge by a mediator. It is one thing to assert that Jewish teaching never teaches that God would judge by another, but it is another to recognize and refute the notion that in fact, some Jewish sources do suggest that God would judge by another.