Romans 2:12-16 "The Inexcusable Law"

Introduction:

I can’t think of anything that reveals the hypocrisy of fallen man more than God’s revelation of law.

Nor can I think of anything that makes the reality of mans accountability before God more obvious than God’s order being mimicked in man’s actions on earth.

All of this is built upon the principle of God’s judgement revealed in the law. Look at verses 12-13:

I. The Principle (12-13).

The principle is that regardless of whether or not one has the formal written law code they still will perish even though they were never formally made aware of the law (12a).

Now this is where our atheist and agnostic friends often like to argue that it would not be just of the Christian God to judge those who were never made aware of His law.

Actually it is not just the atheist and agnostics who argue this. Sometimes so called Christians argue this because they deny the biblical doctrine of universal sin and the undeniable truth of God’s revelation.

This is nothing more than an attempt at truth suppression. Trying to hold God’s beach ball under water but it keeps popping up.

Those who have sinned under the law will be judged by that written law code (12b). And Paul goes on in verses 17-24 and explains this. His point is that the written moral law code in the end exposes one’s sin.

If all wee do is take the 10 commandments it is not hard to show our failure to abide by those commands in violation of God’s law.

The principle causes Paul to derive a certain application: Namely, that it is not the hearers but the doers of the law that will be justified before God.

Well, we can see this for those who have the law in written form but how are those who have never been made aware of the written law still accountable in their practice for obedience? Look at verse 14-16:

II. The Practice (14-16).

When Scripture says “by nature” it is not referring to their sin nature. It is referring to how they have been created by God with His law written on their hearts.

Certainly man is born in sin and with a disposition towards sin but he has been created by God with a moral conscience that predisposes him to the basic moral law of God.

Now we have already seen in Romans 1:18-32 that God’s order in creation is undeniable. Fallen men suppress the truth in order to attempt to explain away the general Revelation of God. But this ends up condemning them in the end.

Because man is Predisposed to Structure and Order and even mimics God in how he lives out the reflection of his Creator.

Man does this in how he reflects creativity, design, order in family structure and governing systems. All of which reflect to one degree or another God’s sovereign design.

A man may be an atheist and exercise accountability and order in his own home. This man may even be a teacher at the University and oversee strict academic standards in the classroom against cheating and plagiarism. And yet hate the idea of the biblical God exercising His divine rule over creation as the Bible describes.

Such a man is living out his of hypocrisy before God and in the end his own actions in life will result in his condemnation. But it is not just design in creation that will rise up and condemn him in the end.

Moral law will do the same thing. This is the moral presuppositions that man comes pre-programmed with in his moral conscience. He has been predisposed to God’s moral law.

Man is Predisposed to Worship.

From the beginning man was created for the capacity to worship and fellowship with God. The fall brought about the perversion of this.

Ancient cultures worshipped a variety of false gods. Out of their rebellion and truth suppression they crafted gods out of wood, stone and metal. And then they attributed divine qualities to these gods and even offered sacrifices to them to appease them in order to purge them of their guilt and shame.

But why the guilt and shame?

Man is Predisposed to Moral Good vs. Evil.

The moral law written on the heart brings the guilt and shame due to their sin. Man inherently knows this. You don’t even need to read the Mosaic law code to get this.

I once heard talk show host David Letterman say that he didn’t need help with feeling guilty, his Lutheran upbringing was enough to produce guilt in his life.

There is little doubt that his exposure to Christian truth may have informed his conscience in more detail, the law written on his heart is enough to bring the conviction against sinful behavior.

And because of sin and the behavior that goes with it there are still today perversions of this that are being witnessed. In the Psychology world they refer to such perversions as sociopath or psychopath.

Even a psychologist who may be an atheist knows that there must be a basic moral perception to govern behavior and to measure moral behavior.

The moral truth argument is a powerful apologetic to use when you are doing evangelism. It actually builds on the presuppositions that are already placed there by God.

Most often even an atheist will argue that murder is morally wrong. But he will usually tie the principle back to being the perceived “practical good” for society as a whole.

Now there is a novel idea. Especially since this philosophy in the last century produced the slaughter of over a hundred million people. And in some cases what was once considered to be the most sophisticated and cultured societies on earth slaughtered millions.

The unbelievers love to emphasize religious wars but atheism has put far more to death in a more narrowed space of time than any other worldview in all of history. And the death toll continues into the current day.

But why would an atheist be so hostile towards Christianity’s influence on society and culture? One reason is they consider it dangerous to the psyche of the individuals in that society.

They think we impose a moral standard on the hearts and minds of people’s conscience. But they fail to recognize that God pre-wired them with a moral conscience.

For them it can’t be God who did this because He doesn’t exist in their minds. So the only source they can find that make such truth claims are biblical Christians and any other religion that makes absolute claims of morality. So they turn on religion.

In our culture they turn on Christianity because it is the largest and historically the most non-threatening religion in the nation. They can openly blaspheme Christianity all they want but few are courageous enough to go to Saudi Arabia and openly blaspheme Muhammad or Allah.

Making moral truth claims in our culture is being progressively censored because they contradict the perceived therapeutic well-being of society as a whole.

Guilt and shame are believed to be present in the hearts of people because of the judgmental-ism of those making the moral truth claims.

This is why the Church has been conditioned to minimize moral absolutes and any notion of divine judgement. It fits better with the non-threatening view of the therapeutic notion of god.

Jesus came into the world and He said a lot about human well-being and where the true reality of freedom actually comes from. He talked about moral accountability to God and He did not shy away from declaring the judgement of God.

And He said it all in the context between the human power structures of the religious institution of Judaism and the political institution of the Roman Empire. And His truth claims led to His death on a Cross.

Conclusion:

As Christians I don’t think it is any different for us. This world system in an increasing manner is demanding our allegiance.

But God’s order and His moral law that informs the human conscience reminds us that this world is lost and in need of the gospel.

Or goal is not to win moral arguments in the culture but to win souls for the Kingdom of God. That is why the moral argument has to lead us to a gospel presentation.

Amazing how we know we can’t make it without God and His gospel, the most crucial truth in life. The very means by which we confess our sins and know that He forgives us and cleanses us from our sin.

He takes our guilt and shame for Christ paid or debt. Nothing greater than salvation in Christ. But often it is the one thing we are the most quite about.

Unbeliever you know. Your own moral conscience and your own order and structure in your life tells you that God exist and that you need His gospel as revealed in the Scriptures.

Believe the gospel! Lets pray!