“July 16, 2024 - Written on Their Hearts”

Monday, July 15, 2024

Written on Their Hearts

Reading:  Romans 2:12-16
    
    Paul is challenging the hypocrisy of the Jews who condemn Gentile misbehavior while guilty themselves.  He wants them to remember that “God shows no partiality”(Rom 2:11) but judges all nations fairly.  “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law”(Rom 2:12).  The Jews in his audience evidently think that the Law is proof that they are superior; Paul pushes back.  While Gentiles, not having law, will perish due to their sin, so Jews will also be judged by the very law they do not fully obey.  First he addresses the Jewish part of the equation:  “For it is not hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified”(Rom 2:13).  Just because Jews hear and know the law does not mean they fully do it.  When they break the law, it becomes a witness against them rather than a blessing.

    But what does Paul mean that Gentiles have “sinned without the law”(Rom 2:12)?  How is this possible?  He argues that Gentiles at times “by nature do what the law requires” and “are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law”(Rom 2:14).  “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them”(Rom 2:15).  All people have a general sense of moral behavior which often coincides with the precepts of the Law of Moses.  All people try to live by it, with mixed results.  All people have consciences which guide us in this quest.  So what happens when Gentiles inevitably fail to do what they know?  They also find themselves guilty.  Paul continues to build toward the conclusion that all people have sinned (Rom 3:23).   

    Even people who have not been formally taught about God “by nature do what the law requires” and “show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.”  These statements remind us that God has always been at work among all kinds of peoples.  He has placed within us a deeply ingrained moral sense, but it needs direction and clarity which his revelation provides.  It is this sense that pushes us toward him for righteousness, order, and forgiveness—and is also one basis of appealing to others with the gospel.

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One Thing to Think About:  How do I respond when my conscience accuses me?

One Thing to Pray For:  Awareness that I am just as guilty of sin as anyone else
 

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