Romans 2-Condemned by Yourself

When it comes to this concept of judgment found in Romans 2, I think Francis Schaeffer does a superb job of illustrating. He writes about it like this:

Let us suppose for a moment that as each baby is born, a tape recorder is placed about its neck. Let us further suppose that this tape recorder works only when moral judgments are being made. Aesthetic judgments, etc., are not recorded, but every moral judgment is. Throughout one's whole life, every moral motion is recorded upon the tape recorder. Finally, when each person dies and stands before God in judgement, God pushes a button and each person hears with his own ears his own moral judgments as they roll out over the years: "You were wrong in doing this. You are wrong in doing that." Thousands of moral judgments pour forth, and God simply turns and says, "On the basis of your own words, have you kept these moral standards?" And each man is silent. No person in all the world has kept the moral standards with which he has tried to bind others. Consequently, God says, "I will judge you upon your own moral statements (those judgments upon which you have bound and condemned others), even if they are lower than moral statements should be. Are you guilty or not guilty? No one will be able to raise his voice. The whole world will stand totally condemned before God in utter justice, because they will be judged not upon what they have known, but upon what they have judged others and have not kept themselves. So all men must say, "Indeed I am justly condemned." (A Christian View of the Church pg.278)

As you can see, God is utterly just in His dealing with us. I try to emphasize this over and over, there will never be a person in Heaven that feels slighted. Grace will be the only explanation of why anyone is present.