God"s wrath is increasing against sinners while He waits ( Romans 2:5). Each day that the self-righteous person persists in his self-righteousness God adds more guilt to his record. God will judge him one day (cf. Revelation 20:11-15). That day will be the day when God pours out His wrath on every sinner and the day when people will perceive His judgment as righteous. This judgment is in contrast to the judgment that the self-righteous person passes on himself when he considers himself guiltless ( Romans 2:1). [source][source][source]
"God"s anger stored up in heaven is the most tragic stockpile a man could lay aside for himself." [1][source]
The second principle of God"s judgment is that it will deal with what every person really did ( Romans 2:6). It will not deal with what we intended or hoped or wanted to do (cf. Psalm 62:12; Matthew 16:27; et al.). [source][source][source]
"A man"s destiny on Judgment Day will depend not on whether he has known God"s will but on whether he has done it." [2][source]
Paul probably meant that if a person obeys God perfectly, he or she will receive eternal life. Those who do not obey God perfectly receive wrath. Later he would clarify that no one can obey God perfectly, so all are under His wrath ( Romans 3:23-24). [3][source]
Another view is that eternal life is not only a free gift, but it is also a reward for good deeds. On the one hand we obtain eternal life as a gift only by faith ( Romans 3:20; Romans 4:5; cf. John 3:16; John 5:24; John 6:40; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5). However in another sense as Christians we experience eternal life to the extent that we do good deeds (cf. Romans 6:22; Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:29-30; John 10:10; John 12:25-26; John 17:3; Galatians 6:8). In this view Paul"s point was this. Those who are self-righteous and unbelieving store up something that will come on them in the future, namely, condemnation ( Romans 2:5). Likewise those who are humble and believing store up something that will come on them in the future, namely, glory, honor, and immortality. Paul was speaking of the believer"s rewards here. [4][source]
Other interpreters believe Paul meant that a person"s perseverance demonstrates that his heart is regenerate. [5] However that is not what Paul said here. He said those who persevere will receive eternal life. One must not import a certain doctrine of perseverance into the text rather than letting the text speak for itself. [source][source][source]Romans 2:8 restates the reward of the self-righteous (cf. Romans 1:18). [6] The point of Romans 2:9-10 is that the true basis of judgment is not whether one is a Jew or a Greek, whether he was outwardly moral or immoral. It is rather what he really does, whether he is truly moral or immoral. God will deal with the Jew first because his privilege was greater. He received special revelation as well as natural revelation. [source][source][source]
"It is not possible to draw a clear distinction between psuche (soul) and pneuma (spirit). Psuche is from psucho, to breathe or blow, pneuma from pneo, to blow. Both are used for the personality and for the immortal part of man. Paul is usually dichotomous in his language, but sometimes trichotomous in a popular sense. We cannot hold Paul"s terms to our moderns psychological distinctions." [7][source]
The third principle of God"s judgment is that He will treat everyone evenhandedly ( Romans 2:11). There is equal justice for all in God"s court. [source][source][source]Romans 2:6-11 contain one unit of thought. Note the chiastic structure of this passage. However in this chiasm the emphasis is not on the central element, as is common, but on the beginning and the end, namely, that God will judge everyone equitably and impartially. [source][source][source]