https://youtu.be/RCH9nncvm4Q
In our verse by verse study of Romans we finished Rom 2:6; with the expanded translation "(Jesus Christ) who will render judgment to each one according to his works."
We noted that sins are not mentioned in any of the passages that describe the last judgment. According to the doctrine of unlimited atonement all sins were judged in Jesus on at the cross so they are never mentioned.
Rom 2:7; "To them" "tois men"" Tois" is a plural indirect object from the definite article that is used as a demonstrative pronoun to emphasize those who adjust to God's justice at salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, emphasizing the basis of doctrinal principle.
The indirect object describes those for whom salvation is provided (the entire world).
This is a dative of advantage since it is to the advantage of every person in the human race to have their sins judged by God's justice in Jesus' body on the cross, and it also an advantage to be positive at the point of God-consciousness and again at gospel hearing.
From the standpoint of doctrinal principle, we have adjustment to God's justice in this passage. These people have previously been positive at the point of God-consciousness so the opportunity for salvation has also been provided.
The second word, "men," is the affirmative particle that introduces a concessive clause in verse 6 that is followed by another concessive clause in verse 7. This is the correlative use of the participle where there is a comparison made between two groups or classes of people.
We translate "tois men, as "to those on one hand." "Those" refers to those who expressed positive volitional adjustment to God's justice for salvation. This is refers to the first group or class of people.
At this point we are going to go right to the verb "zetew" that is translated seek and pick up the prepositional phrase translated "by perseverance in doing good" after we look at the verb.
"Zetew" means to seek, to look for, to search for, as in Acts 17:27; it is the word that is used to describe positive volition at God-consciousness. It is normal that for a person who learns that there is a God through the function of the "kardia" or heart in the soul and if you are positive at God-consciousness, there is a seeking for God, a thinking about God, a looking into the sky and wonder about God, etc.
This is description of positive volition at God-consciousness. The verb "zetew" connotes the desire to somehow bring oneself into a relationship with God, you think about God you want to know about God, you want to have a relationship with God.
The word also means to obtain without knowing where something could be found. God-consciousness, then, is the subject of Paul's message to the Athenians on Mars Hill. Paul's message was given to those who had reached God-consciousness, but they needed to hear the gospel.
Acts 17:27; "That they should seek the God." The purpose of the freedom God creates with divine establishment that is described in verse 26 is to give people the freedom to seek God if they want to.
The present active infinitive of "zetew" describes this action. The present tense is an iterative present describing a situation that recurs periodically in this case that recurring event is positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. The active voice: the unbelievers in the human race produce the action of the verb at God-consciousness.
Positive volition is expressed in terms of seeking. The infinitive is the infinitive of conceived result, assumed as a consequence of positive volition at God-consciousness.
"if perhaps they might grope for him, and find him;" seek and find is the issue. Seek is positive volition at God-consciousness; find is positive volition at gospel hearing. The word for "find" is the aorist active optative of "euriskw" that means to discover or to recognize.
The constantive aorist tense gathers into one entirety the function of common grace and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in perception of the gospel. The active voice indicates positive volition at God-consciousness producing the action gospel hearing.
The optative mood is a mood of strong contingency or strong possibility that contains no certainty of actualization but presents the action as conceivable, and it is. Some are positive and some are not. It could read, "That they should seek the God, if perhaps they might grope for him, and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."
Acts 17:30; "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance (between God-consciousness and gospel hearing). There is a time after a person has become God conscious where they are still ignorant of God.
God is always communicating to people so that everyone everywhere should change their mind. He doesn't say believe, he says to repent or change their mind and the reason he said repent is because he was dealing with intellectual people at the point of God consciousness and he knows that they have to change their minds about their preconceptions about God.
Their preconceived ideas about of God were taken from their culture, their art forms, and their statuaries; so they first had to change their mind so that once their misconceptions were resolved they could believe.
"all everywhere should repent" "repent" is present active infinitive of "metanoew" ("meta" means to change; "noew" means to think). The present tense is an aoristic present for action at a specific point in time.
That time is right now. It is today. Paul is challenging them now while he is standing on Mars Hill and looking down at the crowd in the agora. It only takes a second to be saved. The active voice: the human being at God-consciousness and gospel hearing produces the action of the verb.
The infinitive is intended result, when the result is indicated as fulfilling a deliberate aim or purpose. It is a blending of purpose and result.
Acts 17:31; "Because he has set a day in which he will judge the inhabitants of the world in righteousness through a noble man (Jesus Christ) whom he (God the Father) has appointed; having provided doctrinal proof to everyone when he raised him from the dead."
Paul is describing something that was completely foreign to their thinking. Everything he has said up to righteousness they understood, and they can understand faith; but what they could not understand was a literal, physical, bodily resurrection because of the preconceptions of Greek thought about the physical body.
Rom 2:7; "Tois men" translated "to those on one hand." Next is the prepositional phrase" kata' hypomone ergon agathos" this can be misunderstood as translated in all of the English translations that I looked at that translate it as "perseverance in doing good."
The phrase begins with "kata" plus the accusative of "hypomone" means patience, endurance, fortitude, or perseverance, but it also means patient expectation, and that is the way it should be translated here.
"Kata' ("on the basis of") "hypomone" ("patient expectation.") Next is a descriptive genitive singular from the adjective "agathos" that means good of intrinsic value referring to divine good that can only be produced by God. The noun that goes with "agathos' is the singular of "ergon" translated "work."
Translation: "To those on the one hand who on the basis of patient expectation" (on the way from God-consciousness to gospel hearing) are patiently expecting a divine good work."
We have " those on the one hand" because another group that is negative is coming up in the next verse.
The " intrinsic good work" that is in view as a descriptive genitive singular is being compared with an abundance of relative good works" that are judged at the last judgment. At the last judgment unbelievers are going to be judged for all of their relative human good works.
But in verse 7 the word translated is "work" (singular) is being contrasted with "works" (plural).
The good work is that the sins of the world were poured out upon Jesus Christ on the cross and judged. That is "a good work," that is comprised of divine good.
Jesus Christ being judged for the sins of the entire human race on the cross is intrinsic divine good because God's justice judged our sins as Jesus Christ was bearing them.
Some principles from the verse up to this point:
In this phase of the angelic conflict human volition is tested at two points: God-consciousness and gospel hearing.
At God-consciousness man becomes aware of the existence and the power of God through the function of his own mentality and human perspicacity.
At gospel hearing man understands epignosis gospel information through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 1:20,21; informs us that man has the ability to reach God-consciousness through his own mentality.
There are two exceptions: those with brain damage and those who die before reaching accountability. The exceptions are always saved automatically. 2Sam12: 23.
Members of the human race who arrive at God-consciousness are accountable to God's justice.
The age of accountability varies with culture, language, historical circumstance, environment, and civilization.
If any member of the human race, regardless of geographical isolation or linguistic barrier, desires relationship with God after reaching God-consciousness then God will provide necessary gospel information whereby that person can make instant adjustment to God's justice through faith in Jesus Christ-Jer 23:13; John 7:17; Acts 17:27.
So the expectation of a good work at God consciousness is the anticipation of gospel information or the communication of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross at which point an additional decision is made regarding-faith in Christ.