Finding
Jesus rebuked the Jews for this attitude toward the Word of God.
Paper
Paul's letter to the Romans
Citations: 12
Full textAbstract
and universal principle. When the article is present, the stress is upon “the law” as a special and concrete code. In the absence of a precise and simple rule for arriving at the identity of “law” by means of the use or nonuse of the definite article, it will perhaps be wisest to rely mainly upon the context to indicate the particular identification to be made. In each significant passage where the term “law” or “the law” occurs, mention will be made as to whether the article is present or absent in the Greek. Then the context will be considered to help determine whether the reference is to the moral or ceremonial law, to law as a principle, or to other aspects of law. In this verse, since the article is not present, the passage may be understood as a statement of the principle that those who have sinned against law will be judged by law. Those who have sinned without law will perish without law. However, it is evident from the context that Paul is also alluding to the revealed, or written, code of moral conduct against which the Jews have sinned. Fundamentally this is the moral law of the Ten Commandments, but Paul may also have had in mind the whole OT system of instruction, rules, and standards of moral conduct based upon the Ten Commandments (see PP 464). Those who have been privileged to know this law and yet have sinned against so clear an expression of God’s will are to receive greater punishment than those who have been less enlightened. The severity of punishment corresponds to the measure of guilt, and the measure of guilt depends on the amount of opportunity. That there are different degrees of punishment is clearly taught in the Bible (Matt. 11:21–24; 12:41, 42; Luke 12:47, 48). Judged by the law. The parallel “shall also perish” suggests that this is a judgment of condemnation. The word “judge” may have this meaning where the context so indicates (see John 3:18; 2 Thess. 2:12; Heb. 13:4, where the KJV translates “condemned,” “damned,” “judge,” respectively). Both classes of sinners will be condemned; both will perish. But judgment “by the law” is mentioned only of those who have the law. 13. Not the hearers. The Jews had opportunity to hear the law read regularly in the synagogues (Acts 15:21). But they had come to suppose that theoretical knowledge of the law in itself constituted righteousness. They did not seem to recognize the necessity of perfect and perpetual obedience. Jesus rebuked the Jews for this attitude toward the Word of God. “You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; ... yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39, 40, RSV; cf. DA 211). “The Jews had the Scriptures in their possession, and supposed that in their mere outward knowledge of the word they had eternal life” (DA 212). This same mistaken view that knowledge alone brings righteousness and salvation is still current among Jews, and Christians, today. That God’s will must not only be known but obeyed is also taught in Matt. 7:21, 24; Luke 6:47–49; James 1:22. Of the law. Literally, “of law.” The article “the” is absent in the Greek. Those who have a law to which they may listen and by which they may be guided should be obedient to it, if they wish to be “justified” in the judgment. The context indicates that as far as the Jews are concerned Paul is still alluding to the standard of moral conduct available to them, the standard revealed in the OT and especially in the Ten Commandments. Justified. Or, “accounted righteous,” “declared righteous.” Paul is still contrasting the position in the judgment of those who know the will of God, and yet are unwilling to obey it, with the position of those who not only know God’s will but give it their full compliance. That such obedience can come only from faith has already been mentioned in the epistle (ch. 1:5, 17; cf. ch. 3:20). This verse gives further emphasis to the fact that men are judged, not by what they claim to know or profess to be, but by what they have actually done (ch. 2:6). 14. When the Gentiles. Literally, “whenever Gentiles.” The absence of the article “the” calls attention to their character as non-Jews. Have not the law. Literally, “have no law,” or “have not law,” that is, no specifically revealed code of moral conduct such as the Jews possessed. Paul is about to explain that the Gentiles do have a law, but of another kind. Do by nature. That is, do spontaneously, not consciously acting according to the requirements of an external law, but according to the promptings of conscience (v. 15). “As through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light. Not only intellectual but spiritual power, a perception of right, a desire for goodness, exists in every heart” (Ed 29). Those among the Gentiles who have recognized the revelation of God in the works of creation (ch. 1:19, 20) and have responded to the divinely implanted impulse to do good have done “by nature” the things contained in the law (see COL 385). In the law. In this case “the law” is the literal translation. The article is present in the Greek (see on v. 12). Paul is quite evidently referring to the principles of the moral law as especially revealed in the Ten Commandments. The Gentiles could not possibly perform “by nature” the many activities and ceremonies prescribed in the whole Mosaic law, but they could fulfill “by nature” the requirements of the moral law. Paul later explains that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (ch. 13:10). See DA 638. All this is in comment on v. 13, that only “the doers of the law” will be accounted righteous. Ignorant Gentiles who have shown by their spirit of love that they are real “doers of the law” “are just before God,” while informed, privileged Jews and Christians who show by their lack of love that they are only “hearers of the law” are not justified. A law unto themselves. The need and the impulse to do good that exist in the reason and conscience are, in a sense, a standard and law to each man, as further explained in v. 15 (cf. James 4:17). 15. The work of the law. That is, the work that the law requires, the conduct the law demands. The phrase has also been understood to mean the practical effect or work of the law itself in establishing the distinction between what is right and what is wrong. Written in their hearts. Even though Gentiles do not know the written law, whenever they reveal love for God and for their fellow men they show that what the law requires is written in their hearts (see Jer. 31:33; Heb. 10:16). For the meaning of “heart” see on Rom. 1:21. “Wherever there is an impulse of love and sympathy, ... there is revealed the working of God’s Holy Spirit” (COL 385; cf. Gal. 5:22). The Holy Spirit is by no means restricted to Jews and Christians, but works on the minds and hearts of men everywhere. This passage must have been hard doctrine for the Jews to accept. It is no less needed today by Christians who are tempted to assume too narrow and selfish a view of salvation (see John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4). Conscience. Gr. suneidēsis, “co-knowledge,” a second knowledge that a man has of the quality of his acts, along with his knowledge of the acts themselves. Paul uses suneidēsis more than 20 times in his epistles. Men have the faculty that enables them to pass judgment on their thoughts, words, and actions. The conscience can be overscrupulous (1 Cor. 10:25) or “seared” by abuse (1 Tim. 4:2). It can be enlightened by further knowledge of truth (1 Cor. 8:7), and it acts according to the light it has. Bearing witness. Paul points to the exercise of conscience among the Gentiles as further evidence that they still possessed some awareness of the will of God, despite their ignorance of the written law. Thoughts. Or, “reasonings,” “thoughts.” The mean while accusing. These and the remaining words of v. 15 have been variously explained. “The mean while” is translated from a word meaning, literally, “in the midst.” By connecting this word with “one another” it is possible to arrive at the meaning “between themselves.” Some understand this as referring to reflective consideration of questions of right and wrong. The RSV translates the passage “their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them.” Some take “between themselves” to mean Gentile with Gentile and conclude that Paul is here referring to accusations or vindications being carried on by the Gentiles among themselves. Taken either way, this passage indicates that Paul is establishing his point that the Gentiles were not without some sense of right and wrong. By their response to the promptings of conscience they are to be judged. 16. In the day. That is, the time of final judgment (Acts 17:31). The KJV connects this verse with Rom. 2:12 by placing vs. 13–15 in parentheses. It is not necessary, however, to regard vs. 13–15 as parenthetical. Verse 16 may be regarded as summing up the entire preceding argument. Secrets. Or, “hidden things.” It is by these that the character is really revealed (see on Prov. 7:19). Since God has an exact record of every secret thing in our lives (Eccl. 12:14; cf. Matt. 10:26; Luke 8:17; 1 Cor. 4:5), He is able to judge without “respect of persons” (Rom. 2:6, 11; cf. GC 486). “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing” (Eccl. 12:14). This verse further explains Paul’s main argument in Rom. 2. The favored Jew, with all his knowledge of the law, was inclined to look down upon the ignorant Gentile and to adjudge him quite unworthy of salvation. But only God, who can read the inner life, is in a position to make such decisions. The loving disposition, the readiness to obey the law of conscience, are things that only God can fully know. Yet these are the essential things that really constitute the keeping of God’s law. They are the qualities of character that God expects of Jew and Gentile alike, and in the final judgment no amount of external piet
Authors
J. C. O'Neill
Journal
Journal of Biblical Literature