Library /
God has made Himself known to all people.
No one has an excuse—all of creation declares the glory of God. Even Gentiles have the benefit of looking at the natural world and how it points to God. And their consciences testify to God’s existence, even though they suppress this truth.
Just as Romans 1 shows that the Gentiles are without excuse based on God’s general revelation, so Romans 2 demonstrates that the Jews are without excuse based on His special revelation. Unlike the Gentiles, the Jews have the Law. Even though the Law was not complete under the old covenant—they did not yet understand about Jesus Christ—the Law pointed to Christ.
General and special revelation both point to God. Thus, even those who do not have the Mosaic Law have their consciences to testify for or against them. There is a universal moral law, an underlying set of moral standards, that our conscience recognizes.[efn_note]C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity addresses the idea of this universal law. For Ken’s ideas on this book, check out his book A Taste of the Classics, Vol. 1 or this article on Mere Christianity.[/efn_note] God calls us all to obey Him and walk in His ways.
Paul writes in Romans 2:12–13, “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” (NASB 1995).
There is an inner quality of obedience to a universal moral standard that Paul captures here. Therefore, both Gentiles and Jews are held responsible for not acknowledging God.
Paul does not hold back the bad news from his readers: Neither Jews nor Gentiles can keep the Law. For that matter, we cannot even live up to our own moral standards, let alone the moral standard God has revealed to us. We all walk in disobedience to God.
But when we understand the bad news, that’s when the good news becomes really good. After all, someone who is healthy is less likely to listen to a doctor than someone who is critically ill. Knowing our own sinfulness paves the way for us to recognize our need for God. When we do so, He is faithful to supply His own righteousness to us.
[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]
This teaching is based on Ken’s Handbook to Scripture.
Related Reading:
These are the last recorded statements of Jesus Christ before His death on the cross. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and
Mortality and the purpose of life are prominent themes in Thomas Cole’s paintings. Through his paintings, he vividly brings out the human dilemma of mortality, a dilemma we ourselves must wrestle with. Given the inevitability of death, what are we to do with our days? We can try to stave
In the article below, Dr. Boa synthesizes material from several teaching sessions from his series Biblical Principles for Marriage and from portions of his spiritual formation text Conformed to His Image (primarily from chapter 18, “Holistic Spirituality”). Dr. Boa focuses on agape love as one of the five forms of loves (based on the different Greek words). After reviewing all forms, he gives reasons for why agape is the greatest.
Receive the Latest from Reflections & Ken Boa
Site by MacMillan Design