Romans 2:12 – 16 bring us to focal point of Paul's teaching of
God's judgment on man, pointing out that those who have not heard the Word of
God have sinned and are condemned apart from Christ as well as those who know
the Truth and have transgressed it. Paul’s use of the term “the law” in this
paragraph is very clearly meant to refer to the Mosaic Covenant and the Law of
Moses – most of the time. Those without
the law are Gentiles: everyone who was not a Jew in Paul’s day. In verse 12
we see that these people (which includes all here) are no worse off than those
with the law. Sin was announced as carrying the sentence of death in the
garden, long before the Law of Moses was given to the Hebrews. The soul that
sins, it shall die! That is the consistent judgment of God throughout His
Scriptures. The Jews had no problem seeing sin in the Gentile camp, their
religious leaders tended towards self-righteousness. The apostle, a Jew of
Jews, lumps both groups together, telling his kinsmen of the flesh that having
the Law of Moses is not the same as keeping it. Verse 13 spells it out: those
who hear the Law of Moses are not justified; those who DO the Law of Moses are.
Hence the common but deadly wrong assumption by many Jews that they were
keeping the Law of Moses because they were following the traditions laid down
by their fathers.
The audio of this message can be found here.
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