Romans 2:12-13 - Is Possessing the Law Enough?

Romans 2:12-13 - 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; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

Message: Every person has a standard and so every person is accountable. No one gets a free pass to escape judgment.

Time: Romans was probably written during Paul’s third missionary journey from Corinth to a Jewish/Gentile church in Rome (around 56-57 AD).

What the Lord is Saying:

Reviewing Paul's message thus far
Just to review a little now. Up to this point in Chapter 2, the focus has been on the wrath of God and God's judgment on man, based upon his desire at the end of chapter 1 to exchange the truth of God for a lie and serve the creature (himself often) rather than creator. The turning away from God all began by man deciding to not give God thanks for everything He had done in creation and for man. And so man carried to his devices turns from God and though he thinks there is nothing wrong with his life, the reality is he is engaging in evil because anything that is not with God is against God and man is thinking his good deeds will be enough.

Paul also is reminding the Jews that they are not somehow above the judgment of God because of their role as Jews. God will judge them just the same and they are under the same standard. There are a few verses which seem to be kind of a play on words regarding doing good, meaning they give the idea that a person can receive eternal life by doing good deeds, but those are in a way utopian thoughts and they are really there to show us that the only way to God is through repentance and there is no way to be completely perfect or even completely imperfect. But, again, the standard is not man and his righteous acts because man can never be completely righteous, but we must yield to the power of God (1:16) for that is salvation. We must have the righteousness of God and God is the only supplier of that.

One thing that is so clear from Paul thus far is how he hammers points. He wants to make sure people understand and there is no ambiguity.

Verse 12
Verse 12 is interesting. And the writing here also reminds me of CS Lewis. The message of verse 11 was God is not partial, meaning no one has a free pass when it comes to judgment or how God treats them. Paul continues to clarify that point by saying that whether a person subscribes to the Law (Jew) or not (Gentile), their outcomes are no different. In verse 13, he then mentions that justification is not found by simply hearing what you should do, but true and complete justification can be found by complete obedience to the Law (yet no one can achieve this).

Misunderstanding this text - not about salvation, but about our need for it
I guess for me I can see how a religious group or person would make the inference that a person could achieve something like eternal life or a reward through the good deeds of a person because there are several verses which do say this. And yet these verse are speaking of the standard it would seem because the Bible states that eternal life is found by being righteous.

Thus, as scripture is read, many verses can't simply be pulled out in order to build a case upon some sort of ideology. For example, we have read that:

• God will render to each man according to his deeds (verse 6)
• Those who persevere and do good will receive eternal life (verse 7)
• Those who are selfish and do not obey will receive wrath (verse 8)
• Tribulation for those that do evil (verse 9)
• Glory, Honor, Peace for those that do good (verse 10)
• Doers of the Law will be justified (verse 12)

Again, in a way in these messages is the admonition to do good and get good results, do bad and get bad results. As I have shared with people at the mall and other places, I often mention that this is the way the world trains us. The ways of the world are of the notion that you get what you deserve-- meaning our good deeds should merit a good result and if we do bad consistently we should also get what we deserve on the inverse.

But, we can't use the above verses alone. We must put them in context and within the context of all scripture. We can't simply say that good words merits eternal life because this then contradicts other scripture. I think we must continue to run back to Romans 1 and what he stated in the beginning, that the Gospel of God is Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-17 makes this distinction.

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As I turn back to verse 12 and think about the meaning of this verse, Paul seems to be making a proclamation in this verse that God will judge man based upon the light or type of light or type of information the person has in their life. The Gentile did not receive the Law directly, but the Gentile still has a conscience or a recognition of right and wrong written on his heart (Romans 1:20) and the Jew, who has been given the Law, both will be judged. So once again, Paul is getting the point across that no one is exempt. The Gentile may have not been given the Law, but they still have their own standards and so they are still accountable to those standards. When the Gentile sins, the Gentile will perish. And then the Jew is given the Law, so the Jew needs to be prepared to be shown the Law and have adhered to it completely at judgment.

Note: Definition of Law by Joseph Beet: a prescription of conduct by an authority claiming to determine what men are to do or not to do.

I still have a question about this verse that, at the moment, I don't have a clear explanation. As I think of verses 12 and 13, I think of the non-Christian, the person questioning God, or the person wanting to know what is meant by the Gentile who doesn't have the Law and yet will be judged according to what that person has received. I know in the next set of verses, it will speak of the fact that man has a conscience, knowing good and evil. Man knows the right way and when man doesn't do the right way, then man has broken his own law (though it may not be The Law). 

Verse 13 states that it is not enough to hear the Law. I think you could say also it is not enough for a church attender to listen in church. The standard isn't how well one has listened, but the standard is doing. Who is justified? Not the hearer, but the doer. 

I think what I quickly lose in this chapter is that God is not explaining the way of salvation. The focus of this chapter is on the judgment and wrath of God and therefore, man's need for salvation. The gospel message has already been clearly put forth in chapter 1. There is no question that it is all about Jesus and nothing about man and his deeds. The point of these verses is then to say that there are no free passes, but every man has a need for salvation. 

The phrase: "doers of the Law will be justified" must be really understood. It is not saying that simply doing the Law, whether some or all will merit justification. Someone may think this, but the idea of justification in Scripture is that a person is justified and made right with God when all the requirements of God are met. When a person is justified that person is made fully righteous. These verses are not about the way of salvation, but the need for it.

The other compelling thing of verse 13 is it is, either/or. It isn't a combination of doing the law and being justified. Always. 

The Problem with Man's Thinking
I think the problem that man has is in life we only receive a penalty when we are caught doing something we shouldn't be doing. And when we are not caught, we have gotten away with it and escaped judgment, and I think inside since we haven't been caught, we don't necessarily think at times we have done anything wrong. Man must be very careful here. Everything man does that is against the standard (right or wrong, the Law) is accountable before God.

I think this is the danger that has resulted over the many centuries of mankind. I enjoy the show Dragnet and Adam 12 and what is fun about those shows sometimes is to see the type of calls that the detectives or police officers performed. For instance, to see them show up somewhere in which there was simply arguing and yelling and bursts of anger going on. Or to see them show up when a fight was going on between two people.

Police officers today are not showing up to houses because of these situations, but normally just when a big theft has occurred or a murder. Gone are the days when the fire department shows up to get a cat out of a tree.

It seems that when man can easily get away with something, it stops being a sin. This takes me back to chapter 1 again, because what we see there is the Gentile man that over time repeats his bad habits and suddenly what man has called bad is no longer wrong to him.

How can we ever look at prostitution or pornography and think it is okay. And yet when the act is repeated over and over, does the person start to think it is okay?

Promise: God is fair.