Yes — in Romans 2, even outwardly moral people are just as guilty as the openly immoral.
Paul, by the Holy Spirit, turns to the moral person after dealing with the grossly immoral and declares them equally guilty. Les Feldick points out that the moral person, the immoral person, and the religious person all stand under the same verdict: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, so no one can merit favor on his own.
Romans 2:1 — This verse directly addresses the moral person who judges the openly immoral and shows that his judgment actually condemns himself.
Romans 3:23 — This is the capstone of Paul's case: all have sinned, so the moral person is included in universal guilt.
In Romans 2:1, Paul describes the very person who looks down on the openly immoral: "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." The moral person's judgment of others is treated by Scripture as self-condemnation, because he is not a different kind of sinner. The conclusion of this line of argument is stated plainly: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Another passage says, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19). Scripture therefore gives no category of human beings who are naturally exempt from guilt.
Les Feldick places Romans 2:1 in the context of God building His case against all humanity. After the grossly immoral person, Paul moves to the moral person, and Les stresses that they are "just as guilty" (Clip 0). He also reminds readers that God's conclusion covers the immoral, the moral, and the religious — everyone has failed, and there is none righteous (Clips 1, 2, 7). Les makes the capstone of this case Romans 3:23: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He emphasizes that there is no person who can merit favor with God on his own, and that every child of Adam is under this decree (Clips 4, 5). He also draws attention to the role of the law: the law makes the whole world guilty, and it provides the knowledge of sin, so that no flesh is justified by keeping the law (Clip 6).
Les Feldick groups the moral person with the rest of humanity: the moral person is a child of Adam like everyone else, so he is under the same decree that all have sinned. He does not have his own grounds for merit.
The law speaks to every person under it, shutting every mouth and making the whole world guilty before God. By the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified; the law's purpose is to give the knowledge of sin.
Les Feldick summarizes that after going from the immoral to the moral and to the religious Jew, the conclusion is that all three categories are enemies of God.
Moral people equally guilty
Les introduces Romans 2:1 as God's turn from the openly immoral to the moral people, showing that these respectable people are just as guilty as the others.
God's case against all humanity
Les explains that God is building His case against all humanity, and the conclusion on the immoral, the moral, and the religious is that none is righteous.
Moral and religious equally condemned
Les says even a person no one can fault is condemned just like the immoral, and the third category — the religious person — also fails; everyone is guilty.
The Wages of Sin vs. the Gift of God — Romans 6:23 Explained
And so always remember that as Paul writes, he keeps this uppermost in his mind, that these new converts now did not have an easy role living in the midst of their idolatrous friends and relatives. All right, back to Romans chapter 6, verse 20 again. So when you were, past tense, the servants or the employees or under the domination of old Adam, then you were free from righteousness.
All have sinned
Les calls Romans 3:23 the capstone: every child of Adam, moral or otherwise, has sinned and cannot merit God's favor on his own.
All categories come short
Les repeats the same conclusion — the immoral, the moral, and the religious all come short of the glory of God, and none is righteous.
The law makes the world guilty
Les connects the law with universal guilt: the law makes the world guilty and gives the knowledge of sin, so no flesh is justified by law.
All are enemies of God
Les summarizes Paul's case in Romans 1-3 as moving from the immoral, to the moral, to the religious Jew, with all of them being enemies of God.
Romans 2:1: Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
This verse shows that the moral person who judges the openly immoral is actually condemning himself.
Romans 3:10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
This is part of the conclusion Paul reaches after building his case against the immoral, the moral, and the religious.
Romans 3:12: They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Scripture explicitly states that no one does good, which includes the outwardly moral person.
Romans 3:19: Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
The law silences every person and makes the whole world guilty, including the moral person.
Romans 3:20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
No one, including a moral person, can be justified by keeping the law; the law only reveals sin.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This is the capstone of Paul's argument — the moral person is guilty because all have sinned.
Yes. Romans 2:1 addresses the person who judges those who are openly immoral, and Scripture says he condemns himself. Les Feldick emphasizes that the moral person is just as guilty as the grossly immoral, since all have sinned (Romans 3:23).
Because in Romans 2:1 the one who judges another practices the same things and therefore condemns himself. The moral person is not a different kind of sinner; he is under the same human condition.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Les Feldick says the immoral, the moral, and the religious all come under the same verdict, and no one can merit favor with God on his own.
Watch the Teaching: Why Even "Good People" Can't Escape God's Judgment — Romans 2