Romans 2:12-16 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 righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be
justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the
law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the
law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their
conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even
excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of
men by Christ Jesus.
(Note: what follows is not a complete exegesis of this passage;
it is focused review of the stated topic.)
A casual read of this paragraph has caused many to get confused about
Paul’s use of the term “the law;” it requires careful thought and analysis of
what he is saying here and what is revealed elsewhere. Much of Paul’s use of
“the law” is clearly meant to refer to the Mosaic Covenant and the Law of
Moses. Those without the law are
Gentiles: everyone who was not a Jew in Paul’s day, and includes all people in
all ages who were not part of national Israel. It was clearly Paul’s kinsmen of
the flesh who had “the law” in this paragraph.
Lost Gentiles are not without a law; God’s universal law
convicts them of certain truths. We in the New Covenant are not without law;
but we are not within the Law of Moses.
James gives the same counsel as Paul: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who
looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and
goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty,
and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be
blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25) We see reference to a different law
than that of Moses; one that is given to the church, not national Israel. He
picks this up again in chapter two, My
brothers, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious
Lord Jesus Christ. (James 2:1) Indeed,
if you keep the royal law prescribed in
the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if
you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as
transgressors. (James 2:8-9) This phrase, love your neighbor as yourself, is the second great command, taken
from Lev 19:18. It is the other side of the coin which also conveys the
greatest command: You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,
cited from Deuteronomy 6:5. On these two commands, neither taken from the
Decalogue, hang the Law and the prophets – all the scripture then in hands of
man. This shows us that while the Law of Moses is not our master, certain
truths that apply to all of God’s people are found in his books. Jesus draws
out two and declares them to be supreme to the Old Covenant, the essence of the
New Covenant – love for God and one another; love as defined and portrayed in
the Bible, not as our culture as deceitfully defined it these past few
centuries.
Paul clarifies this in his letter to the Galatians, wherein he gives
another term for the perfect law, the law of liberty, the royal law. These are
not different laws we must figure out, they are different terms for the same
divine concept, in simplicity for those in Christ, contrasted to the endlessly
complex scheme developed by the nation of Israel. The New Covenant is
contrasted with the Old Covenant in several places, the most familiar one being
in Hebrews 8 where the old covenant is described as obsolete and ready to
vanish. In Galatians 4 the old covenant is described as earthly Jerusalem and
represents slavery while the new covenant is heavenly new Jerusalem wherein
lies liberty. We, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise, children of
the free woman. And our apostle gives us clear counsel on how to keep this law.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any
transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of
gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s
burdens, and so fulfill the law of
Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2) This is the love of God expressed in the body
of Christ – we love Him by loving one another, and this is an example of
biblical love – confronting a brother caught in sin. Not exactly what the world
presents as love, is it?
While only the redeemed truly love God, even we are unable to
love Him with all that is within us,
as the first commandment requires. In the age to come, unstained and not
tempted by sin, we will be able to fulfill this law. We can, however, love one
another because Christ first loved us. This must be a deliberate focus as our
fleshly desires will work against us. There can be no fatalistic “let go and
let God” into our lives for He tells us to work out our own salvation (here
meaning the present tense “being saved” that characterizes our daily walk) with
fear and trembling. As one preacher put it years ago, “The path of least
resistance makes both man and rivers crooked.” Seek after the Lord – He will
make your pathway straight!
You will hear simple rules such as “if it’s not repeated in the
NT it applies” and its corollary, “if it’s not repealed by the NT it applies.”
These are easy to remember but not at all accurate. Tithing is seen before the
Mosaic Covenant and required during it, including those Jews who lived in last
century of that covenant, during Paul’s time. Such activity is taken note of
the NT but not once is tithing taught by word or example as a New Covenant
rule. Without understanding the rule of covenants, one cannot comprehend what
rules apply. As Martin Luther summed it up, we follow Christ Jesus, not Moses –
and Moses stands with us, accusing those who think their feeble attempts at
keeping the Law of Moses will merit favor with YHWH (John 5:45).
The ancient preacher agrees with his New Testament brothers. He gave
this advice as the sum of all he had written: The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes
12:13-14)
Jesus said the same thing: “When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will
sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he
will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I
was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and
you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And
when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer
them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he
will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no
food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not
welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not
visit me.’ Then they also will answer,
saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or
sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them,
saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to me.’ And these will
go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)
Note these tangible actions of loving one another in Christ.
This is fulfilling the law of Christ, the law of liberty, the royal law – the
focus being on truly loving one another within the body of Christ in response
to being loved by Him. This is the same thing Paul, James, and Peter have
taught.
After feeding the five thousand, many followed after Him because
He fed them. Seek after the food that leads to eternal life, He told them. They
then asked Him What must we do to be doing the works of God? (John 6:29) Jesus answered them, “This is the work of
God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” This is the law of Christ – believe in Him,
love Him, love one another.
Many Christians are struggling to keep the Law of Moses, having
a faulty guide for interpreting Scripture. The right view of man and his need
of Christ, with the biblical record of the faithfulness and sufficiency of
Christ Jesus will provide the guardrails we need to keep from thinking the
heavy yoke of the Old Covenant is ours. Acts 15:10 has Peter rebuking Jewish
Christians who taught this: Now, therefore, why are
you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that
neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? Jesus, on the other
hand, said Come to me, all who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
There is an old covenant, and old law, and a heavy yoke that was
given on stone tablets to a people with stone hearts who worshipped in a stone
temple. There is a new covenant with an easy yoke, a spiritual law written on
tablets of flesh, given to people with hearts of flesh who worship as a spiritual temple; our Savior bids
us find our rest in Him.
All will be made plain on the day of judgment, when God brings this
age to its end.
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