As Simple As That

“Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:” (Ro 2:9-10 AV)

God’s economy operates in a very predictable way.  The understanding of these verses comes in the context of Jewish/Gentile friction.  Paul is arguing the Jews are no different than the Gentiles.  He is arguing the Jews are just the same regardless of being God’s chosen people.  Their nature to sin is the same as the Gentile.  In fact, he will make the argument the only difference as it applies to the inherent nature to sin is the Jew had the written word of God and the Gentile had the moral law written on their hearts.  But when it came to the nature of the individual, there is no difference.  All are sinners.  All are wicked.  All need Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin which only He can provide.  The above passage is a simple passage.  It is a statement of how God’s moral economy works.  If we do evil, then the consequences are tribulation and anguish.  If we do right, then glory, honor, and peace are the result.  Before we expound on this, please note these consequences are internal ones.  That is, if we do right, we may still suffer persecution for doing so.  We may suffer physical tribulation for doing so.  The promises are internal blessings.  Not always external ones.

If there is something every human soul desires it is peace of soul.  We can deal with quite a lot if we can simply bring quiet to the heart and mind.  One of my early ministries was to the Rochester, NY hospital for the emotionally and mentally disturbed.  Hospital visitation was a ministry I enjoyed rather well.  Praise the LORD there were only two times I went to the mental hospital.  Those two times I will never forget.  I was very young.  Just starting out in ministry.  One common theme throughout all the patients I observed was their general lack of peace of mind.  For whatever reason, they could not plug into tranquility and reality.  Years later, the LORD gave me more opportunity to minister to people in equally restless conditions.  In my church, I had two such attendees who were disturbed.  Both reacted differently to their situation.  One was a habitual recluse.  He never left his bed or bedroom.  The other was riddled with anxiety.  The LORD gave me wisdom and was able to help one of them who today, lives a normal life.  The other, as far as I know, is still in the same state of suffering.  We are not saying they suffered because they did evil.  Many times, these conditions can be caused by physical conditions.  A poorly functioning thyroid, whacked-out blood sugar levels, vitamin deficiency, or a host of brain issues can result in emotional or mental disturbance.  I mention these three cases because they all had one thing in common.  They wanted peace.  No matter the treatment, they simply wanted their emotional or mental equilibrium restored to normal and peaceful conditions.

We are all like this.  We want the tranquility that comes with knowing everything will be all right.  Even if things are not that way now, we know they eventually will be.  In the passage above, Paul states the obvious.  If we live right, generally speaking, we will have that peace of mind and heart.  If we do not, then anguish of heart is what we suffer.  Not all mental or emotional turmoil is caused by sin.  But a good deal of it is.  Not all mental or emotional anguish is caused by our refusal to trust God, but a good deal of it is.  Tribulation and anguish of soul come from (more times than not) sin or lack of faith.  Directly or indirectly, there are causes to our lack of peace which can be cured if we simply trust the LORD and walk in the commandments and statutes of His word.  Now, I know if we are suffering, we should seek out a health professional and be sure our suffering isn’t caused by physical issues.  I personally have a thyroid issue and another issue that can cause anxiety.  Once medicated and treated, the more obvious cause would be my own sin or lack of faith.  Anguish of spirit is no fun!  I can attest to that!  The only peace of mind I can have is to trust the Creator and obey Him as best I can.  Then I can claim the promise of glory, honor, and peace.