Chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Romans can be hard to follow unless we understand he is showing that all mankind “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This means that because God is holy people can’t come to Him in and of themselves or they would die in their sins. But because of Jesus horrific and agonizing death on the cross people can now stand before God just as if they hadn’t sinned (justified), by faith. Faith ‘clothes’ us in Jesus’ perfect right-ness.

The people at the time of Paul’s writing were broadly classified as either Jew or Gentile. The Jews had a much higher standard of morality than what we read about at the end of Chapter 1 but Chapter 2 shows that they were in no position to judge the Gentiles because they were guilty of very serious sin as well. Whilst the Jews may have prided themselves on having God’s Law and circumcision they did not keep the Law properly and relying upon their religious heritage was of no use to them. God is impartial in His judgment.