Transcripts
The following are
sermons and messages Dr. Steven J. Lawson delivered through various the books
of the Bible. The transcripts and audio of these sermons have been provided for
your enjoyment. Please use these sermons to dig deeper into God's Word as your
faith is strengthened. We constantly updating with new transcripts as they
are completed, thank you for your patience.
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; for it is not the hearers
of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the
Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the
work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and
their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when,
according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus
(Romans 2:12-16).
As I teach and preach the word of God,
certain questions inevitably are raised. Among those most frequently asked is:
What about those who have never heard the gospel? How do they stand
before God? Will God grade them on a curve? Will God judge them in comparison
to a moderated standard of morality? Will God measure them by others in their
culture? If they are religious and sincere, can that gain them acceptance with
God?
Inevitably, as I talk to unbelievers,
these same questions seem to always be present. Today’s study in Romans will be
helpful for us, because it will equip us to better interact with to others
about those who have never heard the gospel. Romans 2:12-16 is the signature
text in the Bible on this controversial subject. We are going to use these
verses to walk through the book of Romans, seeing how God deals with those who
have never heard the gospel
The testimony of Scripture is clear that
all unconverted people are under the wrath of God. Paul writes, "For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans
1:18). This is true, not only of those who have heard the gospel and rejected
it, but of those who have never heard the gospel. They are deservedly under the
wrath of God. The verb "is revealed" is in the present tense. This
means that at this very moment, wherever an unbeliever is on the earth –
whether he has heard the gospel or not – he is already under divine wrath.
Every person is either a believer in Christ, or under divine wrath. There is
not another category in which someone could find themselves. There is no middle
ground.
All people have received general
revelation from God, which makes them without excuse before Him. Paul makes
this very clear, "because that which is known about God is evident within
them; for God made it evident to them" (Romans 1:19). God has revealed
Himself to every person on earth with general revelation, which gives the
definite knowledge that God exists. General revelation also tells us something
about what God is like. "For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being
understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans
1:20). Every person on earth, whether they have heard the gospel or not, is
directly accountable to God, being without excuse. They know that there is a
God, whether they admit it or not.
Any critically thinking person can look
at creation and realize that there must be a Creator. This is proven by the
simple truism, “Out of nothing, nothing comes.” If there is something created,
that presupposes and necessitates that there was an original first cause, an
uncreated entity. That uncreated entity is none other than God Himself.
The Creator's thumbprints are all over
what He has made. Anyone can look around at creation and clearly see what God
is like. Creation testifies that God is awesome. He is powerful. He is orderly.
He is perfect. We have already talked about this, but we need to remind
ourselves, as we begin our investigation of Romans 2:12-16, that all
unbelievers everywhere are under divine wrath because of their sin.
With this as a backdrop, let us consider
the case that Paul makes against those who are without the Law. That is, they
have never heard the truth of the gospel. What can be said about them?
I. They Have Sinned Without the Law
(2:12a)
First, this passage tells us that even
those without the Law have sinned. It is crystal clear, "For all who have
sinned without the Law will also perish" (verse 12). Those who have never
heard the gospel are not innocent. Neither are they found to be righteous
before God. They are sinners who have rebelled against God, and who are in
defiance against Him. Like those who have heard the gospel and have refused it,
they nevertheless have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
“Sin” (hamartia) means ‘to miss
the mark.’ It is the idea of an archer aiming his bow and arrow at a target,
firing it, but missing the mark. This is what sin is. It is failing to hit the
mark of God's perfect holiness with one’s life. Such people are not in a state
of innocence, but are unrighteous.
II. They Will Perish Without The Law
(2:12b-13)
Second, all who are without the Law will
perish. "For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without
the Law" (2:12). The word “also” is very important, because it indicates
whether you have the Law or whether you do not have the Law.
Without the gospel, you are going to
perish. “Perish” (apollymi) refers to eternal destruction, eternal
punishment, and eternal damnation. This is a very strong statement. It does not
say that they will be saved. It says they will perish without the Law.
According to 1 Corinthians 1:18, they are already perishing right now. They are
self-destructing by their own life lived without God. They are like a cheap
sweater that is unraveling as they live their life.
Doers Will Be Justified
Verse 13 is an explanation of the end of
verse 12. Law. Paul says, at the end of verse 12, "All who have sinned
under the Law will be judged by the Law." This refers to Jews who have
received the moral law from God. It has been passed down from generation to
generation, read in the synagogue and memorized. They are “under the Law,”
meaning they have the Law and are directly accountable to the Law. They have
sinned and will be judged by the standard that is in the Law.
Verse 13 begins with the word “for,”
which means it is an explanation of the end of verse 12. "For it is not
the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will
be justified" (verse 13). This does not mean that there are people who can
keep the Law, obey the Law, and therefore be justified by God. The whole book
of Romans makes it crystal clear that would be a wrong interpretation of what
Paul is saying. Even in the context of the passage, verse 13 is talking about
those who keep the Law but are not justified by keeping the Law.
Verse 13 is saying that if you are more
than a hearer of the Law, if you are a repenter and a believer in Jesus Christ,
who is presented in the gospel, then you will immediately begin to live in
obedience to the Law of God. Just because you have the Law does not mean that
you are right with God. You have to be a doer of the Law to prove that you are
right with God.
The Obedience of Faith
Paul has already established this truth
at the very outset of the book of Romans. In Romans 1:5, he talks about the
obedience of faith, which means the obedience that comes from faith or the
obedience that is produced by faith. All true faith is an obedient faith. There
is no such thing as faith that is disobedient. All true saving faith produces
obedience. James 2 is also abundantly clear on this matter. Obedience is a very
important fruit of salvation. Faith is the root, obedience is the fruit. It is
a cause and effect.
Even Jesus says, "Not everyone who
says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
who does the will of my Father" (Matthew 7:21). Verse 13 is addressing
those who have repented of their sins and have true, genuine, saving faith in
Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel. They are known as doers of the Law, and
they alone are justified by God.
Those who do not obey the Law are
unconverted. They may be religious, but they are lost. We would say today that
they are lost church members, unconverted religious people who have a form of
godliness, but deny the power thereof. They are those who have sinned under the
Law and they are judged by the Law.
III. They Instinctively Know To Do The
Law (2:14)
Third, they instinctively know what is in
the moral law of God. When we come to verse 14, we come back to Paul’s original
argument, which is found in the first part of verse 12. These are those who are
without the Law, who have not received special revelation, who have never heard
the gospel. "For when the Gentiles who do not have the Law do
instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to
themselves" (verse 14).
They instinctively and intuitively know
the difference between right and wrong. This is not referring to the ceremonial
law and the civil law. It is referring to the moral law of God contained in the
Ten Commandments. They instinctively know they should honor their parents. They
instinctively know they should not steal. They instinctively know they should
tell the truth. They instinctively know that they should love other people and
show compassion to others. They instinctively know it, because God has written
it upon their hearts.
IV. They Have the Law Written In Their
Heart (2:15a)
Fourth, as we come to verse 15, we see
that God has written the Law upon their hearts. Paul writes, “in that they show
the work of the Law written in their hearts” (verse 15). Those without the Law
instinctively know to do what is in the Law, because God has written it upon
their heart. The invisible finger of God has written His Law upon the tablet of
every human heart. It is a limited knowledge of the Law, not enough to be
saved, but it is enough to condemn. Because God has written the Law upon the
tablet of their heart, they are held accountable to God for the choices that
they make.
As we will see, they are held accountable
before God, not just for their deeds, but for their very thoughts, conscience,
and secrets within them. Verse 15 shows that they are accountable to God for
the Law that is within them. They are not off the hook or in no man's land.
They are not without accountability to God.
As a quick footnote, those who have the
Law do have a stricter accountability to God, because they have a greater
light. Those without the Law, that only have the Law written upon their heart,
have a lesser accountability, but nevertheless, it is an accountability. The
Bible is clear that it would be better to have never heard the truth than to
hear the truth and reject it.
V. TheY Have an Accusing Conscience
(2:15b)
Fifth, they have a conscience that bears
witness to them of right and wrong. "And if they show the work of the Law
written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness" (verse 15).
Their conscience is giving a clear and strong testimony regarding what is right
and what is wrong.
Every person on earth has a conscience. A
conscience is that which instinctively tells you when you have crossed the line
and violated the Law, or when you have kept the Law. Your conscience is like a
smoke alarm that goes off in the middle of the night that wakes you up and
alerts you when something is wrong. Your conscience is like feeling pain in
your body when you have broken your ankle. You need to know that you have
broken something, and pain is your friend because it tells you that something
is broken. That is the roll of the conscience.
The Strength of Your Conscience
Your conscience may be clean, your
conscience may be guilty, your conscience may be weak, your conscience may be
strong. It just depends upon how many stop signs you have been running as the
Law of God is telling you, "Stop, stop, stop." There comes a point
where the conscience becomes seared, as with a hot iron, and it no longer feels
what it once felt. There is now no moral restraint, there are no brakes in the
car, and you speed down the highway of sin. That is a seared conscience.
But as you humble yourself and keep the
Law, that strengthens your conscience. You become more sensitive to even the
little things. I have people who will call me after I have had a conversation
with them and say, “Would you please forgive me? I should not have said this or
that.” I may not even be aware anything wrong took place. It is because their
conscience is so sensitive, because they have been walking in the truth and
walking with the Lord.
For other people, it would take a
sledgehammer across the forehead for them to even ponder the thought that what
they are saying might be blasphemous. They have worn the brakes off their car,
because they have been plowing through their conscience until they have little
to no conscience left. They openly bring their sin out of the closet, they do
not hide it anymore. They proudly tell people of the sin they have been doing.
Earlier, they had enough moral restraint to hide it, but now there is no longer
that shame. They now flaunt their sin.
The inner thoughts of those without the
Law are accusing them of their sin. The Scripture says, “their thoughts
alternately accusing or else defending them” (verse 15). Their thoughts are
both accusing and defending them. Their thoughts are connected to their
conscience, and their conscience is bearing witness of their thoughts, accusing
them of wrong doing. It is bringing conviction and pressing down.
They feel a sense of guilt, which is
telling them that they need to get right, because something is wrong. There is
a false guilt, but there is also a true guilt. Guilt is one way you know that
you have violated your conscience. Your conscience is connected to the Law of
God written upon your heart. This person without the Law, this person who has
never heard special revelation, has a conscience that is accusing them before
God.
"Or else defending them." Every
so often they help old ladies across the street. Every so often they fold the
laundry for their mother. Every so often they do some right things. But they
are also doing that which the Law written in their heart forbids. They think
they are doing good things, but those good things will not save them from
condemnation. It only takes one sin to stand guilty before God.
VI. They Will Be Judged By God (2:16)
Sixth, even those without the Law will
stand on the last day before God. This passage says, “on the day when,
according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus”
(verse 16). There will not be a reprieve or stay of judgment for those who have
never heard the gospel. There will be no settling out of court for those
without the knowledge of the gospel. They will have their day in court, where
they will stand before God.
When Paul refers to “on the day,” he
addresses that final day at the end of time. He already addressed this day in
Romans 2:5. The day is so dramatic and graphic that Paul only needs to refer to
it as the great day looking on the horizon. He writes, "Because of your
stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (verse 5).
This is the day of judgment. Those who have never heard, those who are without
the Law, will still stand before God on that last day.
They will no only appear, but will be
weighed in the balances by God. On that day, they will be weighed against the
standard of the Law written on their heart. Please note, this does not say they
will be saved, but they will be judged. Paul writes, “on the day when,
according to my gospel, God will judge" (verse 16). There will not be a
different standard for those who have not heard. They will be judged by the
gospel.
The gospel includes not only the message
of salvation, but also the message of condemnation. The truth of the good news
necessitates the truth of the bad news. There can be no good news if there is
not the corresponding bad news. The bad news of the gospel is found in Romans
1:18 through 3:20. It is the foundation upon which the gospel is built. The bad
news of condemnation is inseparably bound together with the good news of
salvation. These two can never be separated.
The believing sinner has to be saved from
something. He cannot only be saved unto something. The truth is, he is
saved from the wrath of God and condemnation. Paul writes that “on that
last day they will be judged according to my gospel” (verse 16), which is the
gospel of Jesus Christ. The importance of this statement is the judgment will
not be by the morality of others sinners, how they compare to other people.
They will not be judged on the curve to see if they have done more good than
bad. They will be judged by the gospel, and the gospel commands that all men
everywhere repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those without the Law will nevertheless
be judged by God. I have already alluded to this, but in here it could not be
any more clear. Paul writes, "God will judge" (verse 16). This does
not say they will be saved or pardoned by God. Nor does this say that they will
be given a second chance by God. Rather, Paul maintains that they will be
judged by God. Those without the Law will be strictly judged in accordance to
the Law written upon their heart.
Those without the Law will have their
secrets exposed and judged. Paul asserts, "God will judge the secrets of
men" (verse 16). It is not just their deeds that will be made subject to
divine judgment. Far more exposing and condemning, it is their secret thoughts
that will be brought out into the open and condemned. Who could possibly stand
innocent and acquitted before God when their secret thoughts are made known
before God? Paul confirmed, "Their thoughts alternately accusing or else
defending them" (verse 15). What will be on trial goes deeper than just
their actions that violate the Law of God written on their heart. It is their
attitudes, their motives, their hidden thoughts, their selfish ambitions,
revenge, anger, and hatred. All of that will come out into the open before God
on the last day. The evidence will be overwhelming for those who are without
the Law.
Those who are without the Law will still
be judged through Christ Jesus. At the end of verse 16, Paul says that those
without the Law will be judged “through Christ Jesus." The truth is that
God has given all judgment to His Son. It is before the Son of God that every
person without Christ will stand. In John 5:22 it says that God has appointed
all judgment to His Son. In Revelation 20, at the great white throne judgment,
Him who sat upon that throne is Jesus Christ. It will be before Jesus Christ
Himself that all without the Law will stand.
Conclusion
As we conclude our look at these verses,
we see that even those without the Law are under sin and its curse. Paul will
conclude the larger section in which this passage is found, "For we have
already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin" ) Romans
3:9). The “Greeks” refers to those without the Law. Despite being without this
special revelation, they nevertheless are under sin. Therefore, they are under
the curse of the Law, which is eternal death or the second death. The Bible
says, "For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Even those without
the Law are still under this curse. If they die without Christ, they have no
other recourse but to pay this penalty in hell forever.
All mankind has Adam's original sin
imputed to them. This includes those who have never heard the gospel. Paul
teaches, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned"
(Romans 5:12). When Adam disobeyed God, his original sin was charged to the
account of every person who would ever be conceived in the womb of a woman.
Again, this includes even those without the Law.
The mere fact that infants die in the
womb confirms that Adam's sin has already been imputed to every person.
Otherwise, there could never be death in the womb. Even the infants of those
who have never heard the gospel are not immune to death.
Over six thousand years ago, Adam's sin
was charged to every person who would ever be conceived in their mother's womb.
If that sin was not imputed to that child in the mother's womb at the moment of
conception, that child would never die. This is why there are miscarriages.
Through Adam's one act of disobedience,
the many were made sinners. That includes not only those who are under the Law,
but also those who are without the Law. Every person who enters into this world
already has Adam's sin charged against them. This puts them in a state of death
at the moment of their conception.
As a result, those who have never heard
or read the Law are in desperate need to have the gospel preached to them. Paul
writes, "How will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). That is a rhetorical question, and
the obvious answer is they cannot. No one can call upon Him in who they have
not believed. You cannot believe in that which you have not heard. The answer
is they cannot hear unless someone tells them. No one can be saved without
hearing the gospel. Whether it is a pastor, a parent, or a businessman bearing
witness of the gospel, someone must share the good news if others are to
be saved.
Paul continues, "How will they
preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet
of those who bring good news of good things!’… So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:15,17). This is why we must be
resolutely committed to the cause of gospel preaching, one-on-one witnessing,
and world evangelism.
You do not have to go to the other side
of the world to meet people who have never heard the gospel truth. You can just
walk across the street and meet people who have never heard the good news of
Jesus Christ. There are many in churches who have never heard the truth. In
these places, church is show time, it is entertainment, or it is dead ritual
and empty routine. You do not have to go to Africa, China, or India to find
people who have never heard the truth. They live right where you are, and they
remain in need of the pure, simple, saving gospel message.
What Paul addresses in Romans 2:12-16 is
talking about the vast majority of people on planet earth. This is not
describing a small pocket of people. There are billions of people in the world
today who are without the Law. Untold numbers have never heard the saving
gospel of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they have the Law written upon their
heart. Consequently, their heart is accusing them, that they have sinned and
fallen short of God’s perfect standard. They will stand before God at the
judgment on the last day, just like every other unbeliever. At that time, all
of their secrets, their thoughts, ambitions, lusts, and motives will be brought
out into the open. The entire record of their lives will be made known. It will
be Jesus Christ before whom they will stand. In that day, they will have no
self-defense whatsoever to give. The only hope they have is in this world now,
for us to take the gospel to them while they are still alive.
Those who have never heard the gospel are
not just on the other side of the earth. They are in your zip code. They work
in your office. They marry into your family. They live in your neighborhood.
They think they have to work their way to heaven. They think they have to say Hail
Mary's to get to heaven. They think that they have to go to church a certain
number of times and do good to certain people in order to meet a standard in
which they will find acceptance with God. They are still on the treadmill of
self-righteousness and have no concept of the saving grace of God. It is our
responsibility to share the gospel with these people.
© 2019 Steven J.
Lawson
