THE LAW OF GOD AND THE GENTILE
ROMANS 2:14–16
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law
(Romans 2:14).
Some have mistaken this passage to mean that while the Jews had the law but did not keep it, the Gentiles did not have the law but did keep it. Their conclusion then, is that non-religious people can live a good enough life to get into the Kingdom of God. This is not what Paul states, however. Paul does not write that the Gentiles do the law, but that they do the things of the law.
Civic righteousness
In Romans 1 Paul already has made it clear that nobody keeps the law. Yet pagans who do not know the Ten Commandments still do things in their own cultures that are right. Theologians call these “civil acts” of virtue or “civic righteousness.” For instance, pagans take care of their children, refrain from stealing, have laws against murder, and so forth. They understand certain things of the law, and may obey some aspects of it, even though they have never heard of Moses. Of course they don’t obey the whole law, but they do perform some of the things addressed by the law of God.
The innate sense of right and wrong
In doing this, non-Jews show that in a certain sense the work of the law is written in their hearts. As this verse indicates, the law of God is known to man not only through the Scriptures, but also through a form of “natural law.” Every human being has some ethical sense within him, a light of nature by which he can distinguish right from wrong.
Everyone has an innate, God-given, ethical awareness. The human conscience bears witness to this internal knowledge, as Paul writes in verse 15, “since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” Each of us, if we are honest, can testify to that truth from our own experience.
CORAM DEO
While God-given, the conscience has certain limitations in its ability to discern right from wrong. It must constantly be informed by the Word of God. At what points has the culture, instead of the Scriptures, influenced your conscience?
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