17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
Romans 2:12-29
Here we are dealing with the question of what to do about the people who have not heard the gospel. What about those who live where the Bible is unknown, or those who are in a different religion where there is no reference to the facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? In this passage Paul says that their problem is that they defile their consciences. These people will be judged by their own standards. God judges men, not according to what they do not know, but according to what they do know.
In Chapter 2, verses 9-10, Paul also says the judgment of God is according to light. God is not going to summon all mankind and tell them they are going to be judged on the basis of the Ten Commandments. But people will be judged according to light. That means that God will say to that individual, "What did you think was right and wrong?" When the individual answers, God's question then is, "Did you do the right, and not the wrong?" By that standard everyone fails. Paul makes that clear: "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law." The fact that such men never heard the Ten Commandments, or anything else that is in the Bible, does not mean they are going to be acceptable in God's sight. They will perish, not because they did not hear, but because what they did know was right, they did not do.
Here we have a revelation of what goes on in the primitive world. Men and women who have never heard anything about the Bible nevertheless are subject to judgment because they have truth written in their hearts. They do know what is right and wrong. They show it in their own lives. People say, "Let your conscience be your guide." That is a recipe for unhappiness. If that is all you have, it is a certain way of plunging into a life that alternates between fear and momentary peace.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you have provided a way for me to be forgiven from the sins I have committed against my own conscience. Thank you for Jesus! Open my eyes to opportunities around me to tell others about Jesus, the only way. In His name I pray, Amen.
Life Application: When we understand the cost of rejecting the light of conscience, does it deepen our gratitude for the price paid for our forgiveness? Do we realize the urgency of spreading the light of the gospel to those who have never heard the message of God's grace?
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