God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

Psalms‬ ‭9:16‬
The Lord is known by his acts of justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
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I sense a little sarcasm in Paul’s voice here, towards the end of the passage … and it bites hard. He is calling out the Jews for their arrogance in thinking that because they thought that since they were God’s people first before Christ, they were better than the Gentiles, who were God’s people second, after Jesus Christ came. Can you hear it? “First to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” “First to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” He is mocking their pride in a good way. Calling them out. The last sentence tells it all, God is a God of impartiality, he does not show favoritism! Both the devout Jews and the recent Gentile converts are considered brothers and sisters in God’s kingdom with full access to his power and grace. “Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.’” (Mark‬ ‭9:35‬) Just before this verse, the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them. And Jesus here sets the standard — if you want to be first, you must be a servant of all and realize that you are last in worthiness and you deserve nothing, but have been given grace.

Along with favoritism, Paul deals with justice here. He says we will be judged by what we “persist in doing”. Another way to say this is: What is my heart-passion in life, as demonstrated by my actions? There is no guaranteed salvation by being “good enough” or by keeping to a set of laws, as the Jews were doing. A magic prayer cannot save by itself; without a changed life, it does not count. It is by God’s grace and our faith. And this faith must be whole-hearted and acted upon. It must become the overriding passion in our lives. We must seek after God with all our hearts and persist in doing good. Some people like to use the scale method. They weigh the good deeds against the bad, thinking that they can convince God to change His standard of justice. This is foolish. It is heresy, an incorrect teaching. Jesus died for sinners and he came to heal the sick, even you and me. He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life is found in Him! (John 14:6) So our response (that is acceptable to God) is complete surrender of our will and our pride to Him. And when we do this, we stop measuring “goodness” by the world’s standards. Justice by God’s standard is to live and follow His Son in our calling and purpose in life.
Lord, thank you for setting the record straight on the trap of thinking we are better than others. You judge the heart, and sin always corrupts our hearts. You want hearts that KEEP COMING BACK TO YOU and grow into more and more faithful servants of your kingdom. Then we will be good by your standard and love in unbelievably rich and awesome ways!