He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking [1] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:6-11)One of the best ways to study the Scriptures is to ask hard questions about what you read. And one of the best ways to be deeply affected by the text is to think deeply about it. So instead of just providing some comments, Im going to raise a couple of questions that this text provokes in me. I look forward to your thoughts on them. Here are my two basic questions.
1) Being self-seeking leads to God’s wrath, but isn’t doing good to gain glory, honor, and immortality self-seeking? Isn’t doing good for an eternal gain self-seeking?
2) Aren’t you granted immortality based on grace and not on works? If bad works leads to God’s wrath and good works leads to honor, peace, etc. then isn’t that getting eternal life through good works and not through God’s grace?
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