Bible Study Romans Part 50-The Work of the Law

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We are in the midst of our Romans series.

We are slowly making our way through one of the most important books in all of Christianity.

Lots of people call this Paul's Magna Opus.

We are doing our best to drag out everything that Paul wants us to know, everything the Holy Spirit wants us to know.

Never forget, everything that's in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

He is the one behind all of the ideas.

The writers, the authors of these books are the ones that provide the style and the background and the cultural content.

But the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the true mind of God.

And that's what we're dealing with here.

We are in the second chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans.

Let's read up to the point we're at for this lesson.

I read out of the King James.

Please follow along in the Bible that you have.

If you didn't bring a Bible, make sure you bring one next time.

Whatever translation you want to use, it's fine.

When we read out of Scripture, we have the verses up on the screen.

As I said, they're in the King James, so they will probably look different than your Bible.

Most of you don't use the King James.

Some of you do, and I appreciate that you do.

Romans 2, 1, out of the King James.

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.

But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

Verse three, and thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Verse 6.

Who will render to every man, God will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile.

But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.

Verse eleven.

For there is no respect of persons with God, for as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

The word means acquitted.

Now, this next verse is where we begin today.

We're at verse 14, and Paul has not lost a single bit of momentum.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves.

Now I want you to note, I want you to notice the word for there, for when the Gentiles, etc.

The word for gives us the impression that what Paul is now saying is related to what he said previously.

Now, some are confused as to which part this refers back to, but I agree with those who say that the apostle is expanding on what he said in verse 12.

Now, I really need you to pay attention here because this gets complicated.

Let's go back and read verse 12 and 13.

13 is just an explanation of 12.

We'll read 12, 13, and 14, and that will be the basis of our lesson, most of our lesson for today.

For as many as have sinned without law shall perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.

For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Verse 13 is just an explanation or clarification of verse 12.

They should be sort of glumped together when you're reading them and studying them.

Now, verse 14.

This statement, verse 14, is an illustration of the fact that actions are important.

That's why it relates to verse 12.

Even those who don't have the law, but still live the spirit of the law, God will acquit.

He will justify.

Paul is making the point that having the law, being aware, knowing, having received the law, the written law of God, does not mitigate judgment.

In fact, it sort of intensifies the possibility of judgment.

We'll expand, we'll expand on that later.

Paul is also saying that when those who have no idea what God's standards are still meet his standards, they're doing so because, listen to me closely, because what God expects of us, by and large, is natural to us.

We know what's right and wrong with God.

Now, I didn't say we were naturally good at doing good, but we know what that is.

Some refer to this as a vestigial remnant of God in our hearts, meaning that all of us descendants of Adam have remaining somewhere deep in our beings a knowledge of God.

He created us to be his companions.

And no matter how far we are from the garden, we somehow relate to that time, if only a little.

Now, whether that's true or not, Paul is saying even the Gentiles know what God wants from them.

They don't need God to tell them everything.

Devout Jews love to pat each other on the back for the compliance with the letter of the law, or as a defense for bad behavior, will claim that there's nothing in the law that prohibits their indiscretions, even though an innate sense of right and wrong should have prevented such conduct.

Again, this comes back to God's judgment being according to truth.

God sees the heart and knows what drives a man, as any good judge would.

Jesus clearly demonstrated this when he was up on that mount sermonizing on God's ways, he said, as recorded in Matthew 5, verse 21, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill.

Matthew 5:21

And whosoever shall kill shall be in the danger of shall be in danger of the judgment.

But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

In other words, God connects the heart with the hands.

Just because you didn't commit the murder doesn't mean you're free of the judgment of hatred.

That's what God is saying.

He's judging what's in your heart.

That's what Jesus is saying up on the mount.

God is judging your intentions.

God doesn't see the law as governing just our actions.

It's concerned with our attitudes.

Jesus says it doesn't matter if you're innocent of the act, are you guilty of the thought?

Has the law made a difference in the manner of your life, your outcome, your demeanor?

Verse 14, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.

Now, this is really confusing.

So you're going to have to work hard, paying attention to what Paul is saying.

I'm doing my best to try to unravel the confusion, but you have a part in this too.

You must focus on what Paul is saying.

Verse 15.

Now, let me do another bit of clarification on the language here.

Verse 15, as written in the King James, mentions the work of the law written on the hearts of the Gentiles.

This does not imply that the literal law itself, the letter of the law, is inherently known.

That is not what Paul is saying.

They can't, for instance, recite word for word the Ten Commandments in their own language.

Now, that may sound obvious to you, but there are some who interpret this verse in exactly that way.

They are saying that Paul is implying that everyone could recite the law.

Somehow it is in all of our beings.

Some will try to convince you that Romans 2.15 proves that human beings actually and naturally know the law, but that is not what it says.

This verse says that it's the work of the law that's inherent in all men.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, what's the purpose of any law?

Laws and rule books and standards of conduct, those sorts of things, are designed to produce an outcome.

That's the work of the law, of any law.

Laws are put in place in order to produce a society, to foster in society an attitude toward doing the right thing.

That's the work of any law.

God's law included.

God gave his law now in part, in part, so that his light could shine through those that have received it.

He wanted his people to carry themselves in a way that reflected glory on him while at the same time creating a culture of righteousness.

The aim of any set of laws is to produce a culture where people don't murder each other or steal from each other or corrupt the family through things like prostitution and adultery.

Almost every society of mankind, Jew or Gentile, has these sorts of laws in place.

The goal is to produce a law-abiding, orderly, unified collective.

Ever since civilization began, that's what the purposes of our rule standards are.

That is the work.

It's the work, the outcome, the result sought after that is written on the hearts of the Gentiles.

Now, at this point, you may be wondering why I'm making such a big deal out of this.

Well, we're not going to spend too much more time on this.

It's jam-packed with emotion, and frankly, it involves one of the most difficult, stark realities of the human condition.

It's one of those things that most of us find difficult to face.

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to avoid talking about the tough things, but that isn't our mission at this moment.

We're currently trying to study Paul's letter to the Romans, and I don't want to get too far off track.

But nonetheless, let's wrap up this current discussion.

Let me start out by quoting our Lord Himself.

Hopefully, this will get us to the point we're headed to quickly and without too much debate.

This is one of the most famous statements in the Bible, as well as one of the most important, John 14, 6.

Jesus saith unto him, listen very closely, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

If you're a Christian, a true God's word following Christian, then you believe it's part of your belief system, that there can be no exception to the above statement.

There's no way to rationalize away John 14, 6.

The way to the Father, which means the way to heaven, because that's where he is, the way to heaven is through Jesus only.

There's no way to alter that fact.

There's no way to ignore that fact.

There's no way to deny it.

These are the words of our King, and therefore to us they are law.

In fact, these are the words that saved you.

So what does that have to do with Romans 215?

Well, let's read it real quick.

Which show the work, meaning those that do not have the law, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

To repeat, the mistake many, and I think well-meaning Christians make in their interpretation of this verse, is that they think Paul is saying the law itself is written on the hearts of all men.

And listen, this is the crux of the argument.

The reason they cling to this interpretation, even in the light of strong evidence to the contrary, is that they want to use this verse to say that people don't need the gospel preached to them to be saved.

Now, they wouldn't put it that way, but that's in effect their position.

You see, it comes down to this uncomfortable question.

That thing I say it's difficult for all of us to face.

If we need to accept the gospel in order to be saved, what about those who die without ever hearing the gospel?

What happens to those far-flung tribes who've never been reached by Christian missionaries?

That's a tough question.

Well, there's a biblical answer and there's a humanistic answer.

And the humanistic answer involves this misinterpretation of Romans 2.15.

Those who ignore John 14.6 will tell you, listen, they'll tell you that Romans 2.5 is authorizing a sort of 15, 2.15, they'll authorize a sort of follow whatever in your heart message.

They say that's the interpretation of what Paul is saying.

They'll say that if the truth of the gospel never reaches someone, well, it's fine.

It's before they die.

If it doesn't reach them, that's fine.

As long as they answered whatever light they had in their heart, if they do that, then God will let them in.

God will save them.

It's a lovely thought, but not one found in the Bible.

Now, don't ask me what God does with those people.

That's not my point here.

I'm just telling you, just following what's in your heart, the light that you have, as they say, is not going to get you saved.

And that is not the interpretation of Paul's statement in Romans 2.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, you're angry with me, and you're saying to yourself, do you really think that God would be so unjust as to condemn a man even if he did his best?

Well, all I can tell you, the only answer I can give you is from Scripture.

And in Scripture, God said, For sin comes death.

And no man is justified by works, no, not one, and several other passages I could give you.

Also, over and over I've reminded you that the message of this section is that the judgment of God is according to truth.

To judge a man as anything other than a sinner, no matter how hard he tries, is not judging according to truth.

At best, it's judging according to emotion.

And and I I know I said it'd be brief, but that's not working out.

And if you honestly advocate for the doctrine that states that God would, in your estimation, judge a man worthy of salvation as long as he lived up to the light he had, then what's the point in sending out missionaries?

In fact, if you truly believe that way, then you should be against sending missionaries because the moment you teach the pagan man the gospel, the standard for salvation for that man reaches a very high bar, and it may cost him his salvation.

You should pick it and demonstrate outside your church on missionary Sunday, Sunday with signs that say, down with missions, save a pagan, fire a missionary.

And then finally, by your way of thinking, wouldn't it have been better for the whole race if Jesus just stayed home?

Instead of sending Christ to the cross, shouldn't God have just Put all his efforts into spreading the law?

If a man can save himself simply by following a good set of rules, then why not expose the whole world to the most holy set of rules ever known to man?

I mean, the law was already given to the Jews.

Just tell the Jews to spread the law.

Give them a great commission.

And everyone will get a chance to follow in his heart a light that shines far brighter than any light any human human civilization could think of.

But that's the funny thing.

If you look at your Bible, God put no provision in his word for spreading the law, not one.

He never told the Jews to go out and teach the law.

He certainly put several in for spreading the gospel, but not the law.

Listen, the law came directly from God.

Therefore, it could not have been any holier, any better if it was possible to save yourself by following a good set of rules that you embrace in your heart, as some claim is possible for those who never knew Christ, then it wasn't really all that necessary for God to send his son and for his son to die, was it?

Do you want to tell God that?

Because I don't.

If there could have been any other way, you would have never heard the name of Jesus, which means Savior.

If you don't absolutely need a savior from heaven, one is not coming.

I can tell you that.

But the number one reason militating against the above-mentioned theory about salvation, that being that being that salvation for the man who never hears the gospel comes when he follows the moral codes he does have.

Listen, I know how easy it is to fall into that trap.

We fundamentalist Christians think Paul is always talking about salvation.

Heck, we think everyone in the New Testament is only talking about salvation.

Well, that's just not true.

And it's certainly not true about this first section of Romans 2.

And we know that because Paul set that tone all the way back in the beginning of this chapter when he said, But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

And he's been explaining that ever since.

And that will actually spill into the next chapter.

This entire section is a discussion of how God judges the deeds of men.

Listen to me without regard to the gospel.

All things being equal, this is how God sees things.

If you don't accept the gospel, this is how it's going to go for you.

It's the absolute, it's the way judgment is without Christ in the midst.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

You being Jewish is not taken into account when God judges according to truth.

Your birth into a Christian home has no impact on God's view of you.

By the way, here Paul references the Gentiles, but that was just a general term for those who don't know the true God.

And the reason why I say that is because in Paul's day, there were actually Gentiles who had converted to Judaism.

He's not talking about them.

When Paul talks about Gentiles, he means those that have not the law.

And he says, even though they don't have the witness we do in their natures, they know the things God would have us do.

I know that sounds mystical, but it's true.

There is no other explanation for the orderly societies that don't have God explicitly in their lives.

The only explanation is that what God wants is an orderly society, and that's imprinted on our hearts.

Paul is saying, you don't need the law to tell you right from wrong.

We know, as proven by those who don't have the law, humans know how to act properly.

The Gentiles who have not law, by the way, in the original, there's no article.

It says the law.

For some reason, the King James translators put the in there, but they put an article in there, and I think it negatively affects the original meaning.

For the Gentiles who have not law, do by nature, etc., no article.

It's not that they have no rules of society.

Of course they do.

Paul is saying they have no direct word from God on how to conduct themselves like the Jews did.

The Jews got Moses went up on Mount Sinai and he got God's moral code.

Well, not everyone received those moral codes.

And those that did not receive those moral codes, by and large, have what God would have told them if he had direct communication with them on their hearts.

That I think is a subtle dig on those Jews.

They think they're so special because they've been given the law.

Now, yes, the giving of the law is special, but that doesn't elevate the people that received it when it comes to judgment.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves.

This is difficult language.

It's an awkward statement.

Having not law are a law unto themselves.

That's a little bit difficult to unpack.

And I think the best way to explain it is to do so in light of both verses 14 and 15.

Let's read them again.

For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

I believe Paul means that the heathen, when they act on their consciences, have devised a system, a moral code that then becomes their standard.

That standard is derived partially from their inbuilt sense of right and wrong.

And any transgressions of this law unto themselves is how they will be judged by each other, of course, but more importantly, by God in the end.

Just like anyone, including the Jews, if the heathen act outside their own laws, they are considered wicked and sinful, and they will be without excuse.

Just because they don't have God's explicit law, the law of Moses, if you will, just because they don't have Moses' law doesn't mean they're exempt from judgment.

We talked about that before.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Since God judges according to truth, if God judges according to what's in a man's heart, no matter the source of any given law, those that go against it will be condemned because that would be the just thing to do.

Now, let me make sure I'm clear on this.

Paul's point is that those who have not received the law, according, if they act according to its principles, they are considered just as far as God is concerned.

This isn't only being faithful to their own laws, because very often in the heathen world, local laws conflict with God's laws.

Let me read the part I'm referencing to help me make my point.

Paul says, for when the Gentiles, which have not law, no article, not the law, but law, do by nature the things contained in the law are a law unto themselves.

If in their law they do things that are similar or in of the same spirit, of the same heart as God's law, the law, then they are a law unto themselves.

When the unenlightened heathen follow the Spirit of God's given law, they are judged as just.

But listen to me, just because they're following their law, their local law, doesn't make them just.

It's just when they're following the same precepts found in the law that God deems them to be just.

For example, I know this is confusing, but listen to me.

If their law says, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you should not commit adultery, those are the sections that are in agreement with God's law.

Adhering to those laws is considered favorable to following God's law.

But if their law demands child sacrifices or cannibalism or abortion, then following those sections of their law is doing so in opposition to God's law and will be judged accordingly, because such laws, if they exist, are in themselves wicked, and human beings know that.

Human beings know that child's sacrifice is wrong.

Human beings know that adultery is wrong.

Now, I'm sure I've made that more confusing, but I hope not.

For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of their law, work of the law, the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

When those who do not have special revelation from God cling to that which is good and right and true, they prove that there is on their hearts, and indeed all hearts of mankind, an innate sense, a built-in sense in all of us of what God considers lawful.

The principles of God's law are imprinted on our nature and are present in our consciences when we follow those higher impulses to govern our societies, direct revelation from God or not.

God judges us to be just when we follow his principles.

I know I repeated myself, but this is an important concept.

Paul is telling those Jews that there's no excuse for sin.

We all know the difference between right and wrong.

And when we go against those impulses, we are going to be judged.

We'll all be judged whether we're a member of the chosen people or a high-ranking church official or any other such thing.

This is judgment according to truth.

Now, I know we spent a long time on this section, but it's such a vital statement that we had to make sure to cover it as intensely as we can.

Well, that should do it for now.

Next time we'll pick it up right here and continue to try and work our way through this vital message from the mind of God.

See you then.

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