Is there a vast difference between what someone knows and what someone thinks? Surely, what someone knows is also something that he may think about. On the other end, what someone thinks about may also be something that a person knows. But there would actually seem to be a difference in thinking about something and thinking something.
For instance, someone can think about God. This can be good, for he sets his mind on things above. He can also actively take part in what Paul described in Philippians 4:8: He can think about true things, and honorable things, and just things, etc. He can think about the words of Scripture, chewing them over in his mind, thus leading to healthy meditation on the Word. In these examples, thinking about something can be very beneficial.
But to think about something and to think something seem to have slightly different connotations. To think something has to do with a state of mind. It has to do with a direction of mind or disposition. It could be fashioned by personal experience, but it may still not be true to reality.
As an example, while driving down the road, a person may notice that many other people do not actually come to a complete stop at a stop sign. Instead, what he notices is that people slow down a good bit, but then pull on through the stop sign if the coast is clear. He then develops this habit for himself.
He begins to think that this practice doesn’t matter. But as he thinks this way, a day arrives in which he gets pulled over by a police officer for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. He did not actually know that it didn’t matter whether or not he came to a complete stop. What happened was that he thought it didn’t matter.
His thinking was off, but so often the thinking of man is off. The scary reality is that, oftentimes, the thinking of man is off on some very important matters. Paul addresses one of those matters in Romans 2:2-4.
What do we know?
Scripture says, “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things” (Rom. 2:2). Paul here states that there is something in which “we” are sure about. This statement implies that there was, in fact, something that these people knew. To be sure about something is to know something, at least in the context of Paul’s statement.
In this portion of Scripture, Paul is pointing the reader back to the sin list that he wrote in Romans 1:29-31. He acknowledges that it is common for man to know that the sins that Paul previously stated are bad. It is equally common for man to know that the sins he stated are deserving of punishment.
It is not hard to look throughout the Bible and see the many times in which God presents Himself as a righteous Judge Who punishes sin. God’s thoughts about sin are frequently on display. In this portion of Scripture, Paul knew that it was easy for people to look into the lives of others and quickly condemn. He said, “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them…” The focus was outward: “them” (the judgment was “against them”). So often this is the focus of mankind. Man can care very little about his own heart and care much about the sins of others. But Paul turns the page relatively quickly.
It is a proven fact from the Scriptures that sin will be punished. This is why Paul said, “We are sure.” The people knew for certain that when someone carries on in unrepentant sin, judgment will come. The major problem was they were not looking into their own hearts.
What do we think?
Paul started out by saying, “We are sure.” He then transitions into, “And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgement of God?” (Rom. 2:3). Paul here moves from knowing (“we are sure”) to thinking (“And thinkest thou this”). The people were off track. They were skewed in their thinking. They did not know that which was true. They were doing the very same things that they were condemning others for.
As the Christian reads this, may he be warned. The common tendency in reading God’s commands is to do what the Pharisees did. The Pharisees knew what God had called them to, and their outward appearance of fulfilling the commands was amazing. It is possible that Paul had people like the Pharisees in mind when he wrote these verses.
Do you remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees? Scripture says, “…That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt. 5:20). So how are the Pharisees likened to these unrighteous judges? The Pharisees honored God with their outward appearance (lips), but internally, they were declared to be whitewashed tombs (hearts).
It can be very easy for the Christian to condemn others for their outward conduct. However, it is important for that same Christian to make sure that he is taking a good hard look into his own heart. Sins of the heart, inward sins, transgressions of the mind, and the like are a unique branch of evil that the Pharisees were mastered in. So the Christian in the 21st century can also be deceived that inward sins do not matter.
A close look at the Sermon on the Mount will reveal Jesus’ intention to target the heart of man, not simply outward appearances. When God chose David as king, Scripture highlights that man is the one who looks on outward appearances, but God looks into the heart. It seems that so often, the Christian even looks at his outward self as well and bypasses those sins that only he knows, the sins of his own heart. As he does this, he finds himself condemning others when they commit outwardly what he meditates on inwardly. As all of this is going on, he finds himself being deceived into thinking that he does not really have a problem. The reason for this is that sin is deceptive by its very nature.
But Jesus is looking for faithful followers from the heart. Paul tells us one of God’s catalysts for heart change.
What do we know?
Paul tells the reader yet again something that we can know for sure. (The interesting thing is that the unrighteous judges Paul spoke about did not know this truth about God.) Scripture says, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). Paul knew that God’s patience in withholding His wrath from sinners was meant to produce change rather than greater sin.
God does not want anyone to perish, Peter tells us, but rather God desires that all people would repent of their sin. The book of Ezekiel clearly states that God does not find some sort of sick pleasure in the death of the wicked. He does not delight in it. Even Jesus spoke plainly when He came into the world: He did not come to condemn sinners but to save them. This is the force of Scripture, and it is meant to be life changing. God loves His creation. The problem is that His creation does not love Him back.
Man has a problem. Man does not want God. God wants man. God is greater than man’s heart. Therefore, God will overcome the rebellious heart of a man when that same man begins to see God’s love for him as it is displayed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. God is patient toward the sinner. This act of love should burrow down deep into the heart of a sinner and slowly work out the secret sins found within.
Final prayer
Father, I thank You that You have been so patient with me. Help me not to be deceived by my outward conduct around others. I pray that, in the words of David, You would search my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. If You see that there is any way in me that is not of You, lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ name, Amen.