“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” -Romans 2:6–11
We have so far seen in this pregnant-with-truth passage that Paul has set up a contrast in judgment between two classes of individuals: those who seek God and those who seek self. For the first, glory, honor, peace, and eternal life is the reward. For the second, there will be hell to pay.
A final notable truth Paul emphasizes keeps us connected to the larger context: “God shows no partiality.” The Jew and Greek alike will be judged “each one according to his works,” not according to his social class, ethnic class, or his religious class, per se.
The Jewish expectation was that Gentiles would be judged for their sins while the Jew, being chosen by God, would be spared. But this runs counter to what the prophets of the OT proclaimed (Cf. Jer. 25:29; Amos 3:2). In fact, it will be God’s priestly nation who will be judged first.
Additionally, just as the expression, Heaven and Earth, is meant to encompass all of creation, so the expression, Jew and Greek, are meant to encompass all of mankind. Thus, Paul is arguing no one, neither the cultured class (Greek), nor the religious class (Jew), will escape the judgment of God because God doesn’t play favorites.