Character Not Color:Romans 2

“For there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11, NASB).

In my lifetime of seventy-three years there is no issue that divides people more than the color of one’s skin. I was raised in a segregated society in which the schools, churches, eating facilities, restrooms, and drinking fountains were restricted to people based on the color of their skins. The Negroes sat at lunch counters and endured abuse both verbally and physically for the right to be served. Black folks marched in the streets enduring attacks by dogs, sprayed with fire hoses, cursed at and called names, and physically assaulted to gain equal rights as citizens of the United States of America. All of these things and many more atrocities took place in a country that proclaimed that it was the land of the free and the home of the brave simply because of no other reason than the color of one’s skin.

In the midst of all of this chaos the late civil rights leader, Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of a day when people in America would be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Martin King’s dream and the plan of God agree. God does not judge a person by the color of their skin; rather God judges every individual by the content of their character. This is the theme of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. God is not partial. Both Jew and Gentile are guilty of sin and the only means by which a person can be reconciled to God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

In America today, it seems that every issue and problem raises the issue of skin color. Everything has a skin color component. The COVID-19 coronavirus has a skin color component. People are looking at the statistical data and seeing that there are differences between African Americans and people of color versus white people. This is seen as a result of racial discrimination and systemic racism instead of the lifestyles and health practices of the different racial groups. This kind of thinking is really no different than that of the world that the apostle Paul lived in. Paul did not address issues of skin color as much as we do. Paul had to deal with the issue of Jew versus Gentile. Paul was a Jew called by God to preach the gospel to Gentile people. The problem was Jew privilege and Jew supremacy. The Jews believed themselves to be the children of God and Gentiles were excluded from the family. They refused to accept the fact that the Jews had been freed from bondage in Egypt and given possession of Canaan for the purpose of making God known to the surrounding nations. They substituted responsibility for privilege. So, in what ways does the church of Jesus Christ contribute to the racial divide in America today?

I am an African American and I go to a Black church. We hear so much about the Black church; its role in the Black community and the world. Why do we have a Black church? What do we mean when we say “Black Church?” Does this mean that the members are Black? Does this mean that the church is controlled by Black people? If so, can white people attend the Black church and will white people be allowed to hold office in the Black church? Can a white person become the pastor of a Black church? We can ask the same questions about the white church even though for the most part white people do not label their churches as the “white church.” They do not need to because it is just assumed by white people that they are the church. If there is a Black church; a white church; a Korean church, and a Hispanic church; where is the church of Jesus Christ? You see all of these labels in the church of Jesus Christ contribute mightily to the racial divide and racial unrest in this country. The church has become like salt that has lost its flavor. It has become useless in making the love of God known throughout the world. It is failing miserably in bring about reconciliation and peace between the races. In his letter to the Christians in Rome Paul seeks to resolve the issues that divide Jews and Gentiles. He does this by showing that the statues of both Jew and Gentile are the same in terms of their relationship with God.

In chapter 1 Paul says that the Gentiles are lost in their sins. They do not have the law that was given to the Jews by Moses. They had no document that outlined the difference between sinful behavior and Godly behavior. They had no covenant with God and they lived according to their own desires without restraints. On the other hand, the Jews were lost even though they had the law that outlined appropriate behaviors approved by the Lord along with means of restoration when one was guilty of violating the law. They had the sign of circumcision and the sacrifices of animals to atone for their sins. Paul said that the Jews were just as guilty as the Gentiles because both Jew and Gentile were guilty of breaking the law. Paul said that people are ruled by their conscience more than by a written law. It is not a matter of written laws on tablets. Rather, it is the law written on the hearts of men and women that determine their behavior; and God judges the heart (See Rom. 2:11-15).

Paul never set out to establish a Jew Church and a Gentile Church. Rather, he preached the gospel in hope that all men would believe the good news; be converted, and become members of the church of Jesus Christ. Paul never distinguished members in the church by their skin color, their ethnicity, their country of birth, or any other social or economic status. The people were not distinguished by any human label. It is the purpose of the gospel that a person is set free from all human restraints that keep them separated from God. Instead, Paul and all the other New Testament writers made no distinctions at all. There was one Lord, one faith and one baptism. Jesus is Lord, our faith must be in Him, and we are baptized into His Spirit. John the Baptist said, “‘As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire’” (Matt. 3:11, NASB).

The world is unable to bridge the divide that exists between the various people groups in the world. This is because the world has no effective method to bring about real and permanent change in human behavior. All human beings are governed by their own selfish desires. Laws can have some effect on human behavior, but laws have no effect on the heart. It is the responsibility of the church of Jesus Christ to make one and only one distinguishing factor among people. The church distinguishes between people based on their character that reflects whether or not the person is behaving as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is character. Our faith in Jesus establishes and builds our character into the character of Jesus. Without the Spirit of God in our hearts we are in bondage to the sinful desires that builds ungodly character. Character is of the heart, and skin color has very little if anything to do with it.