Sermon Tone Analysis

Prairie View Christian Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Tuesday August 21, 2007

www.prairieviewchristian.org

Romans: Romans 2:12-The Gentile is Condemned without the Law and the Jew is Condemned Under the Law

Lesson # 52

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:1.

This evening we will continue with our study of Romans 2, which contains twelve principles of divine judgment by noting the ninth principle that appears in Romans 2:12-13, which is that God judges according to obedience and not knowledge.

Romans 2:12 teaches that the Gentile is condemned without the Law and the Jew is condemned under the Law whereas Romans 2:13 teaches that only the doers and not the hearers of the Law will be justified before God.

Romans 2:1-12, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

But 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, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For there is no partiality with God.

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” is the “explanatory” use of the conjunction gar (gavr), which introduces a statement that illustrates the principle taught in the preceding statement in Romans 2:11, in which Paul declared that God is impartial.

“All who” is the relative pronoun hosos (o%so$), which refers to the unregenerate Gentiles, who are described in Romans 2:12 by the phrase anomos hemarton, “who have sinned without the Law.”

“Have sinned” is the verb hamartano (a(martavnw) (ham-ar-tan-o), which is used intransitively (without a direct object) and refers to any mental, verbal or overt act of sin that is contrary to the will and law of God.

“Without the Law” is the adverb anomos (a)novmw$) (an-om-oce), which refers to never being exposed to the written form of the moral code of the Mosaic Law, also known as the “Ten Commandments.”

In Romans 9:1-5, the apostle Paul teaches his readers that the Mosaic Law was one of several privileges given to the Jews.

Romans 9:1-5, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.

Amen.”

Romans 2:12, “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.”

“Shall perish” is the verb apollumi (a)povllumi) (ap-ol-loo-mee), which means, “to destroy” and is a reference to the eternal condemnation of those human beings who will never fulfill the purpose for which they were created by God and are no longer useful for the Creator’s purpose for them.

In the Greek New Testament, the word was used by our Lord, James, the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter.

John 3:14-16, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

James 4:12, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?”

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

“Under the Law” is a reference to the fact that God placed the Jews under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law.

“Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which is used with such terms as the prophets, and writings, and as a title for the entire Old Testament Scripture, but in this way it looks at them in their division (Luke 24:27, 44).

It is especially used of the first five books of the Old Testament or the Mosaic Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).

(Compare Luke 2:23; John 8:5; 1 Corinthians 9:9; Galatians 3:10).

The term is used of the entire specific Mosaic code given to the nation Israel to govern and guide their moral, religious and secular life, and covers parts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:8, 44-45) and is used of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17).

Though part of the Law was mediated by angels, God is the origin and source of the Mosaic Law, which stems from the eternal and holy character of God, which is true even of the natural law written in the heart or conscience of man (Exodus 31:1b; Acts 7:53; Romans 2:14-16; Hebrews 2:1-2).

It is common to divide the Mosaic Law into three parts, but though this is helpful for analysis and the study of the Mosaic Law and the way it functions, such a division is never stated as such in Scripture but rather it is seen as a unit.

Part 1: The Moral Law or the Ten Commandments.

This part of the Law governed the moral life giving guidance to Israel in principles of right and wrong in relation to God and man (Exodus 20:1-17).

Part 2: The Ordinances or the Ceremonial Law.

This was the spiritual portion of Law, which guided and provided for Israel in her worship and spiritual relationship and fellowship with God.

It included the priesthood, tabernacle and sacrifices (Exodus 25-31: Leviticus).

Part 3: The Judgments, or the Social Law.

This part of the Law governed Israel in her secular, social, political, and economic life (Exodus 21:1–23:13).

Though the Law is usually divided into three parts, as described above, it is important to see that it was an indivisible unit.

The Jews did not view the Law as having a three-fold division but rather they divided the 613 commandments of the Law into twelve families of commandments which were then subdivided into twelve additional families of positive and twelve additional families of negative commands.

The Law was never designed to be a permanent rule of life but rather was simply a tutor or guardian to guide Israel and reveal her need for the Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:7, 11; Galatians 3:23-24; Romans 10:4).

Galatians 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

The Mosaic Law is weak because it is dependent on sinful man’s ability and is especially weak when adopted as a system of merit (Romans 8:3) and stands in contrast to the grace of God as now manifested in the coming of Christ (Romans 6:14; 7:6; 8:3; Galatians 3:12).

The Mosaic Law was given only to Israel (Exodus 19:3; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 3:19; 9:4) and was not given to the Gentiles of the Old Testament or the Church (Acts 15:5; 15:24; Romans 8:14; Galatians 2:19) and it cannot justify an individual before God (Romans 3:20-28; Galatians 2:16) and could not provide eternal salvation for men (Galatians 3:21-26).

Galatians 2:16, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

The Mosaic Law could not provide the Holy Spirit and could not solve the problems of the old sin nature (Romans 8:2-3) and it could not make perfect, or permanently deal with sin (Hebrews 7:19) nor could it sanctify (Galatians 3:21; 5:5; Romans 8:3).

However, Israel approached the Law as a system of merit, shifting from a faith basis to a works basis (Exodus 19:8; Romans 10:3).

Romans 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

The Word of God emphatically teaches us that the Law brings a curse (Galatians 3:10-12), brings death (2 Corinthians 3:6-7; Romans 7:9-10), brings condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9), makes offenses abound (Romans 5:10; 7:7-13), declares all men guilty (Romans 3:19), and holds men in bondage to sin and death (Galatians 4:3-5, 9, 24; Romans 7:10-14).

All this is because man possesses an old Adamic sin nature that can never fulfill the righteousness of the Law, especially in the spirit of the Law and thus, mankind always falls short and condemned guilty before a Holy God (Romans 3:19).

Several passages of Scripture clearly establish that the coming of Christ has brought an end to the Mosaic Law.

Romans 10:4, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Christ fulfilled the Ten Commandments by living a perfect and sinless life and so when man trusts in Christ as his Savior, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to that individual so we have justification (Romans 4) resulting in the fact that the Law can’t condemn us (Romans 8:1; 7:1-6; Romans 5:1; 4:4-8).

Christ fulfilled the ceremonial ordinances, the shadows and types of His person and work, by dying on the cross for us and in our place, which demonstrated that God was also perfect justice and sin must be judged, but God provided His Son, the precious Lamb of God.

The penalty, which the Law exercised, was paid in full at the Cross and so there is no condemnation because the be¬liever is “in Christ” (Col.

2:14; Romans 3:24-25).

Church age believers are not under the Mosaic law, but many of its principles have been carried over and are part of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ (Romans 8:2) or the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2).

In this, some of the former commands are carried over (Romans 13:9), some new commands and guidelines are added (Ephesians 4:11f; 1 Timothy 3:1f; 4:4), and some have been revised, as in the case of capitol punishment, which is to be exercised by human government (Romans 13:4).

The Law is still good from the standpoint of its main function and purpose (1 Timothy 1:8-10; James 2:1-10; Galatians 5:1-3; 6:1), which is how James uses the Law, to reveal sin (James 2:9), to get believers out of self-righteous legalism, and move them into a walk by faith in a living Savior.

The believer is never saved by keeping the Law (Galatians 2:21) and he is not under the Law as a rule of life, i.e., sacrifice, Sabbath keeping, tithing (Rev.

6:14; Acts 15:5, 24).

Therefore, he does not walk by the Law but by the Spirit, which is the new law for the New Testament saint (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:5), which is law of liberty through faith in the power of God.

The believer is dead to the Law (Rom.

7:1-6; Gal.

2:19) by virtue of his identification with Jesus Christ in His death, who fulfilled the Law and he is to fulfill the righteousness of the Law as seen in Christ’s words in Matthew 10:37-40 love for God, and love for one’s neighbor (James 2:9).

But this can only be fulfilled through the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit who furnishes the believer the power or ability needed to live the Christian life according to the eternal moral law of God.

Therefore, church age believers are under God’s new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2-4).

Romans 8:1-4, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Romans 2:12, “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.”

“Will be judged” is the verb krino (krivnw) (kree-no), which refers to the execution of the guilty verdict of eternal condemnation for rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior.

“By the Law” indicates that the Law is the means or the instrumentality by which the unsaved Jew will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment since he committed the sins that the Gentiles committed that violated the commands of the Mosaic Law.

In Romans 2:12, Paul teaches that if you as a Gentile have sinned without the Law, you will receive eternal condemnation and if you as a Jew have sinned under the Law, you too will receive eternal condemnation since only those who obey the Law will be justified or accepted by a holy God.

Therefore, if a Gentile has never heard of the Mosaic Law, or even Jesus Christ, he will receive eternal condemnation since he has disobeyed the revelation given to him in creation according to Romans 1:18-32 and has disobeyed the basic form of the Law written in his heart according to Romans 2:14-15.

On the other hand, the Jews received even more revelation from God since they received written revelation from God in the form of the Mosaic Law or Old Testament unlike the Gentiles, who did not receive written revelation from God.

Therefore, the Jews are under greater condemnation than the Gentiles since they received greater revelation.