Bird's-eye view
In this crucial section of his argument, the Apostle Paul is dismantling every possible hiding place for human self-righteousness. Having demonstrated in chapter one that the pagan world is inexcusably guilty before God on the basis of natural revelation, he now turns his attention to the moralist, and particularly the Jewish moralist, who prides himself on having the written law of God. Paul's logic is relentless: mere possession or knowledge of the law saves no one. God's standard is, and has always been, perfect obedience. Paul establishes a universal principle of judgment, God judges according to truth, not according to ethnic privilege or external religious affiliation. He shows that both the Gentile without the Torah and the Jew with the Torah are accountable to the same divine standard of righteousness. The Gentiles have the work of the law written on their hearts, testified to by their own consciences, while the Jews have it written on tablets of stone. The problem for both is sin. This passage is not opening a back door to salvation through good works; it is bolting every door shut, showing that whether judged by the light of nature or the light of Scripture, all men are found wanting. This lays the necessary groundwork for the gospel of justification by faith alone, which Paul will fully unveil in chapter three.
The central thrust is that God's judgment is not arbitrary. It is based on a righteous standard that all men, in some measure, know. For the pagan, this knowledge comes through creation and conscience. For the Jew, it comes through the specific revelation of the Mosaic Law. But in either case, the standard is performance, not profession. It is doing, not just hearing. And since, as Paul will shortly conclude, "none is righteous, no, not one," this principle of judgment by works serves to condemn every single person. It levels the playing field at the foot of the cross, showing that Jew and Gentile alike are desperately in need of a righteousness that comes from outside themselves.
Outline
- 1. The Universal Standard of Judgment (Rom 2:12-16)
- a. Two Categories, One Condemnation (Rom 2:12)
- b. The Principle: Doers, Not Hearers, Are Justified (Rom 2:13)
- c. The Gentile's Inner Law (Rom 2:14-15)
- i. Lawful Actions Apart from the Law (Rom 2:14)
- ii. The Law's Work Written on the Heart (Rom 2:15a)
- iii. The Conscience as Witness (Rom 2:15b)
- d. The Day of Final Reckoning (Rom 2:16)
Context In Romans
Romans 2:12-16 is a critical link in the logical chain Paul is forging in the opening chapters of this epistle. In Romans 1:18-32, he has already demonstrated the guilt of the pagan world. They knew God through the created order but suppressed that truth in unrighteousness, leading to idolatry and gross immorality. They are, as he says, "without excuse." Now, in chapter 2, he anticipates the objection of the self-righteous observer, particularly the Jew, who would heartily agree with the condemnation of the pagans while considering himself exempt due to his covenant status and possession of the Law. Paul begins the chapter by warning this moralist that in judging others, he condemns himself, because he practices the same things (Rom 2:1-3). This section (vv. 12-16) provides the theological foundation for that claim. It establishes that God's judgment is impartial and based on works, whether a person has the written law or not. This argument is designed to strip the Jew of his false confidence in the Torah as a kind of talisman. The entire section from 1:18 to 3:20 is one long courtroom speech, proving the universal guilt of all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike, in order to show why the gospel of justification by faith in Christ (3:21ff.) is the only possible way of salvation.
Key Issues
- The Relationship between Law and Sin
- The Meaning of "Justified" in this Context
- The Doctrine of Natural Law
- The Function of the Human Conscience
- The Impartiality of God's Judgment
- The Role of Works in Final Judgment
The Law on the Heart and on the Stone
One of the foundational truths undergirding all of Scripture is that God has spoken, and what He has spoken is authoritative. He has spoken in the vast cathedral of the created order, what we call general or natural revelation. And He has spoken in the specific, propositional words of Scripture, which we call special revelation. What Paul is doing here is showing that both forms of revelation carry with them a moral demand. The pagan looking at the stars and the Jew looking at the Torah are both confronted with the reality of a holy God to whom they are accountable.
The pagan is not in a state of innocent ignorance. God has not left him without a witness. The "work of the Law" is written on his heart. This is not to say he has the whole Mosaic code inscribed on his inward parts, but rather that the fundamental demands of God's moral character, do not murder, do not steal, honor your parents, are inescapably known to him. His own conscience acts as a prosecuting attorney, confirming this internal standard. The Jew, on the other hand, has this law codified, expanded, and clarified in the Torah. He has the external, objective standard. Paul's point is that the standard is the same righteous character of God. The mode of delivery differs, but the obligation to obey does not. And the failure to obey, whether against the law of the heart or the law of the stone, brings condemnation.
Verse by Verse Commentary
12 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.
Paul lays down a foundational principle of divine justice. God's judgment is perfectly suited to the amount of light a person has received. He divides humanity into two groups: those "without the Law" (anomōs, lawlessly) and those "under the Law" (en nomō, in law). The first group refers to the Gentiles, who did not have the Mosaic code. The second refers to the Jews, who did. Notice the outcome for the first group: they "will also perish." Their lack of a written code is no excuse. They have sinned against the light of nature and conscience, and they will be judged and condemned on that basis. The second group, the Jews, "will be judged by the Law." They have a higher standard of revelation, and so their judgment will be conducted according to that explicit standard. The point here is not to contrast the outcomes, both groups are condemned, but to show the equity of God's process. No one can claim God is being unfair. You will be judged by the standard you had, and since all have sinned, all are condemned.
13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
This verse is the hammer blow to any Jew who thought that mere possession of the Torah was a get-out-of-jail-free card. Paul states a principle that would have been familiar from the Old Testament itself: God requires obedience, not just religious knowledge. To be "just before God" is to be in right standing with Him. The Jews were diligent "hearers." They read the Law in the synagogues every Sabbath. But this hearing, this academic knowledge, does not make anyone righteous. It is the "doers of the Law" who will be justified. Now, we must be careful here. Paul is not contradicting his later argument that justification is by faith apart from works of the law. He is stating the absolute principle of divine justice. If anyone were to be justified by the law, it would have to be on the basis of perfect, consistent, whole-hearted obedience. It is the doers who are justified, not the hearers. The force of Paul's larger argument is that there are no such doers (Rom 3:10-12). This verse sets up the impossibly high standard of the law in order to show that no one can meet it. It functions as a condemnation, not a way of salvation. If you want to be judged on the basis of law, this is the standard: perfect performance.
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
Paul now explains how the Gentiles, who are "without the Law," are nevertheless accountable. He points to an observable reality: sometimes pagans, who have never read Exodus 20, behave in ways that align with it. They might care for their parents, condemn murder, or value honesty. When they do this "naturally", that is, by the inward disposition God has placed in them through creation, not by reference to a written code, they demonstrate that they are "a law to themselves." This does not mean they get to make up their own rules. It means the law of God is functioning within them as a standard. They are their own law in the sense that they carry the standard inside them, rather than reading it from an external scroll. This is Paul's doctrine of natural law in a nutshell.
15 in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
He elaborates on how this internal law functions. What these Gentiles demonstrate by their moral actions is "the work of the Law written in their hearts." This echoes Jeremiah's new covenant promise (Jer 31:33), but Paul applies the concept more broadly here to the innate moral constitution of all men as image-bearers of God. The "work" of the law, its requirements and moral substance, is present. Two pieces of evidence support this. First, "their conscience bearing witness." The conscience is that God-given internal faculty that acts as a moral referee, confirming that there is a standard and that we are accountable to it. Second, their "thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them." This refers to the internal moral dialogue that all people experience. When a pagan feels guilt for cowardice or pride for acting honorably, that internal courtroom drama is proof that he knows a moral law exists. The "defending" here does not imply they can successfully defend themselves before God at the final judgment, but rather that in their own internal reasoning, they appeal to a moral standard to justify their actions. The very fact that they make moral arguments proves they know the law.
16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Paul brings his point to its ultimate conclusion: the final judgment. This whole process of accountability will culminate "on the day." This is the day of the Lord, the final reckoning. And what will be judged? Not just the outward actions that everyone can see, but "the secrets of men." God's judgment penetrates past the whitewashed exterior to the tomb within. He sees the hidden motives, the secret lusts, the concealed bitterness. This is a terrifying thought for any man trusting in his own righteousness. And how will this judgment be conducted? "Through Christ Jesus." Jesus, the crucified and risen one, is the Father's appointed judge of all the earth (Acts 17:31). Paul adds a crucial phrase: "according to my gospel." Why is this "good news"? Because the gospel is the only answer to this terrifying reality of judgment. The gospel announces that the Judge Himself has stood in the place of the guilty, bearing their sins, so that all who are in Him by faith need not fear the judgment of their secret sins. For the unbeliever, this day is a day of utter dread. For the believer, it is the day when the righteousness of Christ, which has been his only plea, is publicly vindicated.
Application
This passage should serve as a powerful antidote to any form of religious pride. The first and most obvious application is to demolish any notion that we can be saved by our own moral performance. Paul sets the bar for justification by law at "doing," at perfect obedience. If you are honest with yourself for thirty seconds, you know you are disqualified. This should drive us, with great gratitude, to the foot of the cross. Our only hope is not in our doing, but in Christ's doing. Our righteousness is an alien righteousness, gifted to us by grace and received by faith alone.
Second, this passage teaches us about the nature of our evangelism. We do not approach the unbeliever as someone who knows nothing of God or His law. We approach him as a rebel who is actively suppressing what he already knows to be true. The law written on his heart and the testimony of his conscience are our allies in the work of the gospel. Our task is not to create a sense of right and wrong from scratch, but to appeal to the one that God has already installed, to show the unbeliever how his own conscience condemns him, and then to point him to the only one who can silence that condemnation.
Finally, for the believer, this passage is a summons to integrity. While we are not justified by our doing, our doing matters. We who have not just the law on our hearts but also the Spirit in our hearts should be the preeminent "doers" of the law. Not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved. The world sees our actions. Our lives are to be a demonstration that the gospel is true, that it not only forgives sin but also breaks its power. God will judge the secrets of men. As Christians, we should live in such a way that we have nothing to hide, knowing that our secret life and our public life are both lived before the face of a holy and gracious God.