Castlebar Christian Fellowship

"Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning Of The universe" C.S. Lewis

Reading: Romans 2:12-16
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Introduction:
Last week we looked at how the Jews in general felt superior to the Gentile world. They also carried a sense of immunity from God's judgment because they were the chosen people. They would applaud Paul's talk of judgment of the Gentiles because they felt it was appropriate to say such things about Gentiles. However it was unthinkable that Paul would say such things about them. And yet straight away he brings the focus in on them. They're on the hot spot too.
We ended last time with V11 For God does not show favouritism. We saw that God is described as totally fair and even-handed in his dealings with all of humanity. As Abraham said of God, Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25
Other questions are raised of course! The Jews felt secure in their heritage and knowledge of the scriptures but what will happen to those who don't know the bible or who don't know the good news of Jesus? Paul again contrasts the Jews and Gentiles, those who are, under the law with those who live apart from the law. Remember the background here in reference to the law. The Jews prided themselves on having God's Law personally given to them. It was referred to as the Torah. They knew the Ten Commandments. They thought that their knowledge and constant exposure to the scriptures guaranteed their favour with God. Remember the contemptuous words of the Pharisees regarding the people around them, No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law- there is a curse on them. John 7:49
Remember Jesus words to the Jews John 5:39-40 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.


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Remember, V11 For God does not show favouritism.
V12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, They say that the word perish pertains to destruction but not annihilation. It basically has to do with that which is ruined and is no longer usable for its intended purpose. (John MacArthur)
The unrepentant Gentiles will perish and equally so the unrepentant Jew. However there is a principle in scripture that judgment will be according to the light that a person has. Jesus once told a parable that includes these words, Luke 12:47-48. That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
It was to Israel alone that this law was given, and they were made responsible for it. (Douglas Moo)
Paul tells us that because they have been entrusted with much, the Jews, who sin under the law will be judged by the law. Those who know the law have more privileges and so have more responsibility. God spoke to his people through the prophet Amos 3:1-2. Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel- against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
2You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.


Knowing the law will not be of benefit to them before God.

V13 For it is not those who hear the law. Every Sabbath the scriptures were read aloud in the Synagogues. (People didn't have their own personal copies of the scriptures!) For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Seemingly Paul was reminding them of something that was commonly declared by the Rabbis of the day and I quote- "Not the expounding of the law is the chief thing, but the doing of it."
As I've said before I don't believe Paul is telling us an alternative way of being declared righteous before God. He declares emphatically in the next chapter.
Romans 3:20 Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
V24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.,
V28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
Here is verse 13 as somebody put it, "Paul is simply asserting the standard of God's assessment. No person ever actually meets the standard of obeying the law required for right standing with God." (Douglas Moo)
The only person that ever lived a perfectly obedient life is Jesus.
I believe that Paul is building up a case to show that everyone Jew or Gentile has sinned and can only be saved through Jesus.
Those who have the written law don't keep it and those who have an unwritten law don't keep it.
Those who don't know the written law are not let off the hook however because even though they don't have the bible they still have law hard-wired into the core of their being.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant said, "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more seriously reflection concentrates upon them: the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me."
People have something in them that reflects or echoes the law of God and yet they fail to live by the standards that are known to them.
In his book, "Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning Of The universe"
C.S. Lewis wrote about the subject of what he calls 'The law of nature' (otherwise known as the moral law - the law of right and wrong). He concludes one of his chapters in these words, "These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature; they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in."
V14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
The Gentiles do by nature (or instinct) things required by the law. He's not saying they do all the things required by he law. People who don't know the bible still know something in their 'knower'. They still know right from wrong. They still aspire to certain standards that are taught in the scripture. Generally speaking throughout the world people are not happy if you steal from them or run away with their spouse. People throughout the world still believe it's wrong to murder their fellow human beings. There is not an exact correspondence in all worlds' moralities with what the bible teaches yet as C.S. Lewis reminds us, when referring to different civilisations and ages and I quote, "There have been differences between their moralities but these have never amounted to anything like a total difference." -end quote.
Whatever part of the globe they're from, whatever their religion or lack of it, people have something deeply ingrained in the very fibre of their being that points to a better way and points the finger of accusation when we fail.
Whether people profess to be religious or atheists they have a sense of fairness, of right and wrong, that thy appeal to. And they expect others to understand what they are appealing to.

Paul is not saying that the law is written on their hearts but that
V15 they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, (lit. the work of the law, the effect of the law NJB )
their consciences also bearing witness In every human being there is this strange faculty called conscience. Literally the word means 'knowledge with' or 'co-knowledge'. Seemingly in the ancient Greek world it was usually given negative associations. It was seen as something like a hidden policeman ready to jump out on you every time you stepped across the thin blue line, nab you and make you feel guilty.
In the New Testament we can see that conscience is not always a reliable guide. No doubt because of mankind's fallen nature, conscience too has been distorted. Its weakness can lie in two extremes, it can have a hypersensitive scrupulosity that's way over the top in its attention to details (1Corinthians 10:25) or in the other extreme, it can be insensitive. (1Timothy 4:2, seared, cauterized) The conscience of itself is not always a reliable guide. It needs to be strengthened with the objective truth of scripture. In the bible its main function is seen as its role to evaluate actions or people. (1Corinthians 8:7ff and 2Corinthians 4:2; 5:11)
Here in V15 Paul remind us, their consciences also bearing witness. In this context it seems that the conscience is bearing witness with the echoes of the law in the human heart. God did say after all in the very beginning; Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, Genesis 1:26
their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) We're told that the words accusing and defending are both legal terms for bringing charges and offering a defence in court. There is an ongoing process of evaluation going on inside every human being. There is something within us that is really beyond us. There are criteria and standards of evaluation within us that we have not set and we can't get away from it no matter how hard we try. As a result we have no excuse whether we are Jew or Gentile.
God has not left himself without testimony in the world around us (Romans 1:20) or in our inner world. The Gentiles are accountable even though they have no bible, they still instinctively 'know God's righteous decree.' Romans 1:32.
Remember Paul's words to the audience in Athens, From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'
Acts 17:26-28.
There is an ongoing legal dialogue going on inside every human being and this will reach it's culmination on Judgment day.
V16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
God knows all the hidden things of our lives. The hidden motives and attitudes. And as V2 of this chapter reminds us, we know that God's judgment …is based on truth. It's 'in accordance with the facts of the case.'" (Murray)
We're reminded in scripture that God will judge us through Jesus. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. Acts 17:31
I was encouraged and challenged by the words of Leon Morris and I quote- "Our Judge will be the one who died for us, so we could not look for anyone more predisposed in our favour. All that can be done for sinners he will certainly do. But this adds a note of solemnity to the judgment. Since he has done so much for us, we cannot expect to get by with a shabby attainment, a half-hearted attitude to the duties we have shirked."


Conclusion:
"Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning Of The universe"? I believe it's a very strong clue.
This is God's world. We live in a moral universe, whither we like it or not. And more often that not it doesn't really suit us one bit!
We are accountable whether we claim to be believers or atheists.
We need salvation because we constantly fall short of Gods written and unwritten laws.

(Salvation Prayer)


Foot Notes:
(See also 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.)