14for,
when Gentiles, not having the Law do by nature the things of the Law, these, not
having law are a law to themselves, 15these are showing the work of
the Law written in the hearts of them, the conscience of them defending and the
thoughts accusing and/or defending between each other.
As I have been studying these two verses, I have noted quite
a few of what I would consider to be significant exegetical issues. I want to
record them, if for no other reason, so I’ll be reminded of them if I should
ever be back in this book.
Not necessarily in any order, I find it interesting that
suddenly the word “law” becomes articular where it has been up to this point
anarthrous. You can see in my translation above where I have tried to reflect
these differences. Where the Greek is articular (includes the word “the”), I
have taken the liberty to translate it as “the Law.” I am presuming that is the
point – to distinguish between “the Law” and “law” in the general sense. The
Gentiles don’t have “the Law,” but they still have “law.”
Then in verse 14, there is a grammatical peculiarity where I
have translated it as “when Gentiles, not having the Law…” What is strange is that the Greek article is here a
neuter plural, while the word for law is masculine singular. It doesn’t seem correct
to jam them together and translate it as “the Law,” but I am clueless what else
to do with it. In the references I have consulted, no one else seems to even
notice the peculiarity and apparently across the board everyone translates it
as “the Law.” It bothers me that translation isn’t addressing the difference in
gender.
There is a question amongst expositors whether the “by
nature” should be attached as “not having the Law do by nature the things of the Law” or “not having the Law by nature.”
In this case, I acknowledge there is some ambiguity given the position of the dative
word we’re translating “by nature.” However, I think the former makes more
sense in the logic of the section, and then again, I’m not so sure it makes a
lot of difference. But it is there and it is debatable which way to go.
There are a couple of other exegetical matters but I think I’ll
identify them as I discuss their portions of the verses.
Basically, what I am seeing is that we are still on the main
subject of God’s judgment and Paul is on his way to proving that “all have sinned
and come short…” (3:23). I believe the traditional understanding is correct,
that Paul is basically addressing the question of whether the Gentiles are
accountable since obviously they didn’t have “the Law.” This whole discussion
started with 1:18,19: “The wrath of God is being revealed against all the godlessness
and wickedness of men…since what may be known about God is plain to them…” He
there stated the principle of universal guilt but now is specifically
addressing this question of whether people without “the Law” are off the hook.
Is ignorance an excuse?
The very clear and emphatic answer is “No.” The fact is they
all have a conscience, a sense of right and wrong. Even without “the Law,” they
are aware there is law and the implication is they don’t even live up to that. That’s
the big point, I think.
Others have written extensively on these verses, but what I’d
like to comment on is this subject of “conscience.” I’ve never really looked at
it specifically in the Bible, but having worked through a number of references
and thinking about it, I believe it is a part of our original creation. God
created us to be moral beings. He created us with the power of choice. In a
perfect world, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a conscience that worked perfectly,
that always guided us to the right thing to do?
I personally do not doubt that, in eternity, that is exactly
what the Lord will restore in us. I’ve thought for a long time, what it will be
like to be what we call “confirmed in holiness” – by which we mean when the
Lord will make us so we don’t sin anymore, so that we always do the right
thing. What I could never quite reconcile in my mind was the fact that the
freedom to choose is part of the fabric of our being. What if we will continue
to be people who choose, but then we will have that perfect conscience that
always guides us to do the right thing? It’s already true that I choose to be
confirmed in holiness. I want the Lord to take away my sin nature. I want
to be a person who always does the right thing. For Him to give me a perfect
conscience would be something I will welcome with open arms.
I believe the problem for us today is that our conscience was
corrupted by the Fall just like everything else about us. Although it is there
and still functional, it is a broken machine. We know our conscience can be
seared so that in certain ways, it doesn’t work at all. It can also be
misguided to where we actually call good evil and evil good. That is part of
the place of the Bible for us believers – that its truth can expose and correct
our misunderstandings of what is and is not right.
People say, “Let your conscience be your guide,” but in this
world I think we all know that is not always good advice. I need to let the
Bible be my guide. If my “conscience” is asserting an understanding of right
and wrong contrary to the Bible, I need to do what the Bible says. When Peter
was having the vision in Acts 10, the heavenly voice said, “Get up, Peter. Kill
and eat.” Peter’s response (based on his conscience) was, “Surely not, Lord!”
And what was the answer? “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
You see, Peter’s “conscience” needed some re-training.
Once again, that is one of the benefits of reading and
studying our Bibles. Our broken consciences have been filled with all kinds of
standards and “rights and wrongs” that have no support at all in the Bible.
Each one needs to be exposed and replaced with truth. I feel like my whole
adult life, the Bible has been doing exactly that. One “truth” after another
has been challenged and I’ve had to re-align my understanding of what God
actually thinks is right and wrong.
Of course, God’s “rights and wrongs” are wonderfully
liberating. Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free,” and I always find that to be the case. My “rights and wrongs” always
incur some kind of slavery, some kind of hardness in my heart. God’s “rights
and wrongs” always come with a freedom I’ve never known before, a real heart
freedom, a freedom to love I didn’t know before.
It’s interesting to note in verse 15 the words I translated “between
each other.” I think the most immediately obvious understanding is he’s talking
about our thoughts which we all are very aware do exactly what he’s saying – “excusing
and condemning” – at the same time. It has also been suggested the “between
each other” is the idea that, even among the “lawless” Gentiles, they constantly
judge each other’s behavior as well. How evident is that today? The politicians
play this game incessantly. Even the godless liberals jump up and condemn as “wrong”
anything they don’t like, and then of course defend their own people who do
exactly the same and worse. Perhaps that is the “between each other,” some
expositors suggest.
Interesting that people who deny that there even is truth or
any standard of right and wrong, are very quick to call things “wrong” when they
don’t like them. As much as they may want to live in a world without God, they do
exactly what it is saying in Romans 2:15 – display the “work of the Law”
written in their hearts. Their consciences are enormously corrupted, so that
they really do call good evil and evil good, and as it said at the end of
chapter 1, they not only do evil, but applaud anyone else who does it too – but
they daily display that in fact they do have a conscience, corrupted as it may
be.
And so, in even the worst case, it’s evident that Paul is
right. They do have a sense of right and wrong. And again, if they ever got
honest, they’d have to admit, they haven’t lived up to even their own
(perverted) standards.
Ignorance is no excuse. Our good God has given everyone every
possible chance, every possible warning.
May we be thankful for our conscience. Realizing its work,
may we be all the more determined to know our Bibles and let the Lord “fix”
that conscience here on earth until finally that day when “This robe of flesh I’ll
drop and rise to gain the everlasting prize!”
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