(for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
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Romans 2:14-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
Parallel Translations
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(for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,
in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
-
For if the gentyls which have no lawe do of nature the thynges contayned in the lawe: then they havynge no lawe are a lawe vnto them selves
which shewe the dede of the lawe wrytten in their hertes: whyll their conscience beareth witnes vnto them and also their thoughtes accusynge one another or excusynge
at the daye when god shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ accordinge to my Gospell.
Show all 3 translations
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For when the Gentiles which haue not the Lawe, doe by nature, the things conteined in the Lawe, they hauing not the Lawe, are a Lawe vnto themselues,
Which shew the effect of the Lawe written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witnes, and their thoughts accusing one another, or excusing,)
At the day when God shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ, according to my Gospel.
Cross-references (59)
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 (v16) For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 (v16) Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the…
- Romans 1:19-20 (v14) because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of…
- Romans 2:12 (v14) For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 (v15) Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and I hope that we are revealed also in your…
Show all 59 cross-references
- Acts 17:31 (v16) because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given…
- Romans 2:27 (v14) Won’t the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of…
- Luke 8:17 (v16) For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed; nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.
- Acts 10:42 (v16) He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
- Acts 17:30 (v14) The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,
- Romans 1:18-19 (v15) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,…
- 2 Corinthians 1:12 (v15) For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of…
- Titus 1:15 (v15) To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience…
- Job 27:6 (v15) I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart will not reproach me so long as I live.
- Psalms 147:19-20 (v14) He shows his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done this for just any nation. They don’t know his…
- John 5:22-29 (v16) For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who…
- Acts 10:35 (v14) but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
- Romans 9:1 (v15) I tell the truth in Christ. I am not lying, my conscience testifying with me in the Holy Spirit
- Romans 14:10-12 (v16) But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of…
- Ephesians 2:12 (v14) that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the…
- 1 Timothy 4:2 (v15) through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron,
- 1 John 3:19-21 (v15) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our…
- Romans 3:6 (v16) May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
- 1 Peter 4:5 (v16) They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
- Genesis 3:8-11 (v15) They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of…
- Genesis 20:5 (v15) Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and…
- Genesis 42:21-22 (v15) They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and…
- Deuteronomy 4:7 (v14) For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
- 1 Kings 2:44 (v15) The king said moreover to Shimei, “You know in your heart all the wickedness that you did to David my father. Therefore Yahweh will return…
- Psalms 98:9 (v16) Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Ecclesiastes 7:22 (v15) for often your own heart knows that you yourself have likewise cursed others.
- Matthew 25:31-46 (v16) “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all…
- John 12:48 (v16) He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day.
- Acts 24:16 (v15) In this I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.
- Romans 1:32 (v14) who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those…
- Romans 3:1-2 (v14) Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted…
- Romans 16:25 (v16)
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 (v16) For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has…
- 1 Timothy 1:11 (v16) according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
- 2 Timothy 2:8 (v16) Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the offspring of David, according to my Good News,
- 2 Timothy 4:1 (v16) I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom:
- 2 Peter 2:9 (v16) the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
- Revelation 20:11-15 (v16) I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I…
- Psalms 9:7-8 (v16) But Yahweh reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment…
- Psalms 50:6 (v16) The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.
- Psalms 96:13 (v16) before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 (v16) I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 (v16) Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the…
- Matthew 16:27 (v16) For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
- John 8:9 (v15) They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was…
- Acts 23:1 (v15) Paul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, “Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until today.”
- Romans 2:5 (v16) But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the…
- 2 Timothy 4:8 (v16) From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to…
- Hebrews 9:27 (v16) Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
- Genesis 18:25 (v16) May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May…
- Acts 14:16 (v14) who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
- 1 Corinthians 11:14 (v14) Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
- Galatians 1:11 (v16) But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.
- Philippians 4:8 (v14) Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. For when the Gentiles, etc. He now states…
14. For when the Gentiles, etc. He now states what proves the former clause; for he did not think it enough to condemn us by mere assertion, and only to pronounce on us the just judgment of God; but he proceeds to prove this by reasons, in order to excite us to a greater desire for Christ, and to a greater love towards him. He indeed shows that ignorance is in vain pretended as an excuse by the Gentiles, since they prove by their own deeds that they have some rule of righteousness: for there is no nation so lost to every thing human, that it does not keep within the limits of some laws. Since then all nations, of themselves and without a monitor, are disposed to make laws for themselves, it is beyond all question evident that they have some notions of justice and rectitude, which the Greeks call preconceptions προληψεις, and which are implanted by nature in the hearts of men. They have then a law, though they are without law: for though they have not a written law, they are yet by no means wholly destitute of the knowledge of what is right and just; as they could not otherwise distinguish between vice and virtue; the first of which they restrain by punishment, and the latter they commend, and manifest their approbation of it by honoring it with rewards. He sets nature in opposition to a written law, meaning that the Gentiles had the natural light of righteousness, which supplied the place of that law by which the Jews were instructed, so that they were a law to themselves.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Command honest things, and forbid dishonest.
Command honest things, and forbid dishonest.
He preventeth an objection which might be made by the Gentiles, who although they have not the Law of Moses, yet they have no reason whereby they may excuse their wickedness in that they have somewhat written in their hearts instead of a Law, as men that forbid, and punish some things as wicked, and command and commend other some as good.
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Not simply, but in comparison of the Jews.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the…
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Ver. 14. Do by nature, &c.] Velleius saith that Cato was Homo virtuti simillimus, cui id solum visum est rationem habere, quod haberet iustiam, omnibus humanis vitiis immunis, &c. Aristides, Phocion, and Socrates were famous for their integrity. (Plin. vii. 31.)
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Are a law to themselves] The Thracians gloried that they were αυτονομοι living laws, walking statutes.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Here he preoccupates the Gentiles’ plea. They might object,…
Here he preoccupates the Gentiles’ plea. They might object, that having not the law, they could not transgress, nor be culpable in judgment: see Rom 4:15. To this he says, that though they had not the law written in tables of stone, as the Jews had, yet they had a law written in their hearts, which was a copy or counterpart of the other, and had in a manner the effects of it; for thereby they were instructed to do well, and debarred from doing evil, which are the two properties of all laws.
Do by nature; nature is opposed to Scripture and special revelation: by the direction of the law, and light of nature, they did many things which the law of Moses commanded, and forbore many things which it forbade.
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Are a law unto themselves; i.e. they have in themselves such principles of reason and rules of equity, as are to them instead of a law, prescribing what they ought to do and avoid.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 The sense is, that the Gentiles, which have not…
The sense is, that the Gentiles, which have not the law of Moses promulged, are yet not without a law ingrafted in their consciences; and although they have not a written law; yet are they a law, that is a rule of living to themselves; doing those things which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their consciences bearing witness to it, and their natural reason either accusing or defending of them from it.
Learn, 1. That there is a law of nature ingrafted and written by God in the hearts of men, whereby the common notions of good and evil are found with them.
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Learn, 2. That this law of nature serveth for the instigation and provocation of men to many good actions and duties towards God and man.
3. That to rebel against, and not walk in conformity unto this ingrafted law of nature, is a God-provoking and wrath procuring sin.
4. That although many of the Gentiles gave themselves over to all manner of uncleanness, yet others shewed the works of the law written in their hearts: They shewed it two ways.
1. By their temperance, righeousness, and moral honesty; wherein (to our shame) they excelled many of us who are called Christians.
2. In the efficiacy of their conscience; which, as it cleared and comforted them for things well done, so it witnessed against them, yea judged and condemned them for doing evil: And these evidences of a law written on the heart, are everywhere to be found, wherever man are found: The Gentiles having not a written law, are a law unto themselves, and shew the work of the law written in their hearts.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–16 In the day when God shall judge,.... These words…
In the day when God shall judge,.... These words are to be read in connection with Rom 2:13, and express the time when both Jews and Gentiles will be judged, called a "day", both because of the clearness and evidence of the judgment that will be made, and because a certain time is fixed, though not known, which will surely come; also the matter of the judgment, which will be,
the secrets of men: whether good or bad, which are only known to God and themselves, and which may have been done ignorantly by them; "for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil", Ecc 12:14, which is so interpreted by the Jews (t),
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"when R. Jochanan came to that Scripture, he wept; "for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing";''
upon which the gloss says, yea, for those things which are hidden from him, which he has committed through ignorance, will he bring him into judgment; everything, even the least thing in a literal sense, but not for such silly trifling things they mention in the same place; doubtless the Holy Ghost means the secrets of men's hearts and actions, and the hidden things of darkness which are contrary to the holy law of God. The person by whom this awful judgment will be carried on is,
Jesus Christ; to whom all judgment is committed, who is ordained Judge of quick and dead, and is every way fit for that office, being God as well as man, and so both omniscient and omnipotent: and this the apostle says will be,
according to my Gospel; his meaning is not that the Gospel will be the, rule of judgment, because he speaking of the judgment of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, who never heard of the Gospel; but that what he had said concerning a day of judgment, of Christ's being the Judge, and of God's judging by him the secrets of men, were as true and as certain as the Gospel which he preached was; and was "conformable", or agreeable to it, as the Arabic version reads it, and might be learned and proved from it. This he calls, "my Gospel"; not because the author or subject of it; but because it was committed to his trust and was preached by him; and in opposition to, and to distinguish it from the Gospel of the false apostles. Eusebius says (u), that the Apostle Paul had used to call the Gospel according to Luke his Gospel, and that it is said, that whenever he makes mention of his Gospel, he designs that.
(t) T. Bab. Chagigah, fol. 5. 1. (u) Eccles. Hist. l. 3. c. 4. p. 73.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–16 For when the gentiles - That is, any of…
For when the gentiles - That is, any of them. St. Paul, having refuted the perverse judgment of the Jews concerning the heathens, proceeds to show the just judgment of God against them. He now speaks directly of the heathens, in order to convince the heathens. Yet the concession he makes to these serves more strongly to convince the Jews. Do by nature - That is, without an outward rule; though this also, strictly speaking, is by preventing grace. The things contained in the law - The ten commandments being only the substance of the law of nature. These, not having the written law, are a law unto themselves - That is, what the law is to the Jews, they are, by the grace of God, to themselves; namely, a rule of life.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–16 Verse 14. For when the Gentiles, which have not…
Verse 14. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, c.] Nor does it follow that the Gentiles who have not had a Divine revelation, shall either perish, because they had it not or their unrighteous conduct pass unpunished, because not having this revelation might be considered as an excuse for their sins.
Do by nature the things contained in the law] Do, without this Divine revelation, through that light which God imparts to every man, the things contained in the law - act according to justice, mercy, temperance and truth, the practice of which the revealed law so powerfully enjoins; these are a law unto themselves - they are not accountable to any other law, and are not to be judged by any dispensation different from that under which they live.
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Rabbi Tanchum brings in the Supreme Being as saying: When I decreed any thing against the Gentiles, to whom I have not given laws and statutes, and they know what I have decreed; immediately they repent; but the Israelites do not so. Tanchum, fol. 43. 2.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Rom 2:14-15. For when the Gentiles — That is,…
Rom 2:14-15. For when the Gentiles — That is, any of them who have not the law — Not a written revelation of the divine will; do by nature — That is, by the light of nature, without an outward rule, or by the untaught dictates of their own minds, influenced, however, by the preventing grace of God, which hath appeared to all men, Tit 2:11; or, the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world: the things contained in the law — The moral duties required by the precepts of the law, the ten commandments being only the substance of the law of nature. These, not having the written law, are a law unto themselves — That is, what the law was to the Jews, they are by the light and grace of God to themselves, namely, a rule of life. All the ancient Greek commentators, as Whitby has shown, interpreted this passage not of the Gentiles who had been converted to Christianity, but of those Gentiles who had not been favoured with a revealed law, and therefore were neither proselytes to Judaism nor Christianity. Who show — To themselves and others, and, in a sense, to God himself, the work of the law — In its most important moral precepts, in the substance, though not in the letter of them; written in their hearts — By the same divine hand which wrote the commandments on the tables of stone; their conscience also bearing witness — For or against them, or testifying how far they have complied with their light or law. There is not one of all its faculties which the soul has less in its power than this. And their thoughts — Or their reasonings or reflections upon their own conduct; the meanwhile — Or, as the expression, μεταξυ αλληλων, is translated in the margin, between themselves, or by turns, according as they do well or ill; accusing — Checking and condemning them when they have acted contrary to their light; or else excusing — Approving and justifying them when they have conformed to it. Hence the apostle meant it to be inferred, that it was not the having, or knowing the law, (Rom 2:13,) nor the condemning others for the transgression of it, could avail a man, but the doing of it, or walking according to it. We may observe further on this verse, that, as the law in this context signifies divine revelation, the work of the law must be men’s duty, which revelation discovers by its precepts, which is also in part discovered by men’s natural reason and conscience, influenced by the light and grace of God; on which account it is said to be written on their hearts. Thus, in the compass of two verses, the apostle hath explained what the light of nature is, and demonstrated that there is such a light existing. It is a revelation from God written originally on the heart or mind of man; consequently is a revelation common to all nations; and, so far as it goes, it agrees with the things written in the external revelation which God hath made to some nations. We are compelled, however, when we come to consider matters of fact, to acknowledge that this light of nature has been dreadfully obscured and corrupted, even in the most learned and civilized heathen nations upon earth, as the apostle has proved at large in the latter part of the preceding chapter. And long before the ages referred to by him, All flesh had corrupted its way, Gen 6:5; Gen 6:11; darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people, Isa 60:2; there was none that understood, (Rom 3:11;) and all were alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that was in them, Eph 4:18, &c.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–16 For when - The apostle, in Rom 2:13, had…
For when - The apostle, in Rom 2:13, had stated a general principle, that the doers of the Law only can be justified, if justification is attempted by the Law. In this verse and the next, he proceeds to show that the same principle is applicable to the pagan; that though they have not the written Law of God, yet that they have sufficient knowledge of his will to take away every excuse for sin, and consequently that the course of reasoning by which he had come to the conclusion that they were guilty, is well founded. This verse is not to be understood as affirming, as an historical fact, that any of the pagan ever did perfectly obey the Law which they had, any more than the previous verse affirms it of the Jews, The main point in the argument is, that if people are justified by the Law, their obedience must be entire and perfect; that this is not to be external only, or to consist in hearing or in acknowledging the justice of the Law; and that the Gentiles had an opportunity of illustrating this principle as well as the Jews, since they also had a law among themselves. The word “when” ὅταν hotan does not imply that the thing shall certainly take place, but is one form of introducing a supposition; or of stating the connection of one thing with another, Mat 5:11; Mat 6:2, Mat 6:5-6, Mat 6:16; Mat 10:19. It is, however, true that the main things contained in this verse, and the next, actually occurred, that the Gentiles did many things which the Law of God required.
The Gentiles - All who were not Jews.
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Which have not the law - Who have net a revelation, or the written word of God. In the Greek the article is omitted, “who have not law,” that is, any revealed law.
By nature - By some, this phrase has been supposed to belong to the previous member of the sentence, “who have not the law by nature.” But our translation is the more natural and usual construction. The expression means clearly by the light of conscience and reason, and whatever other helps they may have without revelation. It denotes simply, in that state which is without the revealed will of God. In that condition they had many helps of tradition, conscience, reason, and the observation of the dealings of divine Providence, so that to a considerable extent they knew what was right and what was wrong.
Do the things - Should they not merely understand and approve, but actually perform the things required in the Law.
Contained in the law - Literally, the things of the Law, that is, the things which the Law requires. Many of those things might be done by the pagan, as, e. g., respect to parents. truth, justice, honesty, chastity. So far as they did any of those things, so far they showed that they had a law among themselves. And wherein they failed in these things they showed that they were justly condemned. “Are a law unto themselves.” This is explained in the following verse. It means that their own reason and conscience constituted, in these things, a law, or prescribed that for them which the revealed law did to the Jews.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 When the Gentiles...do by nature, or naturally, that is,…
When the Gentiles...do by nature, or naturally, that is, without having received any written law, these men are a law to themselves, and have it written in their hearts, as to the existence of a God, and their reason tells them, that many sins are unlawful: they may also do some actions that are morally good, as by giving alms to relieve the poor, honouring their parents, &c. not that these actions, morally good, will suffice for their justification of themselves, or make them deserve a supernatural reward in the kingdom of heaven; but God, out of his infinite mercy, will give them some supernatural graces, by which they come to know, and believe, that he will reward their souls for eternity. Such, says St. John Chrysostom, were the dispositions of Melchisedech, Job, Cornelius the Centurion, &c. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–16 their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing--that is,…
their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing--that is, perhaps by turns doing both.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. By nature—By natural conscience. Yet even in heathen…
14. By nature—By natural conscience. Yet even in heathen dispensations nature is not alone and unaided. Paul’s own doctrine is, that the glorious headship of Christ is as wide as the inglorious headship of Adam. Through a universal though unknown Saviour is dispensed a universal Spirit, a universal drawing of the Father. Do…
things… in the law—The apostle does not affirm but assume the fact that the law is sometimes truly fulfilled by the Gentiles.
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A law unto themselves—They are their own regulators. That law may not perfectly coincide with the written law nor with the absolute law; but it is a law to them, and available in their behalf. Nor under a heathen dispensation any more than under a Jewish, must an obedience be absolute in order to be accepted. As we have shown above, there may be a virtual Christian faith and acceptance where there is no known Christ—a faith that secures pardon for shortcomings in keeping the law. Aristotle is quoted by Wetstein as saying (Nic. Rom_4:14) that the enlightened man will “so carry himself as being a law unto himself.” Another Greek writer says: “So will I be a law to the multitude, not the majority to me.” Philo says of Moses that he was “a living and rational law.” (Notes on Luk_12:47-48; Luk_12:57.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. For when the Gentiles, &c.] The connexion marked…
14. For when the Gentiles, &c.] The connexion marked by “for” is not easy to state. We take it to refer (over Rom_2:13, which is an explanation of the previous words) to Rom_2:12, and to be connected with the words “shall perish without law.” How this shall be St Paul now suggestively states, by explaining that Conscience is to the heathen a substitute for Revelation, in regard of responsibility. Q. d., “Heathen sinners shall be justly condemned; for though without the law, they have a substitute for it:”
by nature] This phrase here has to do with a contrast not of nature and grace, but of nature and law. “Nature” here means impulses which, however produced, are not due to known Revelation, or indeed to any precept ab extra. Cp. 1Co_11:14.
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the things contained in the law] Lit. the things of the law. It is just possible to explain this as “things both commanded and forbidden by the law.” But far more naturally it means the “principles of the law,” i.e. the grand Difference of right and wrong; and thus the whole phrase = “to act on the principles of the law.” Nothing is here stated as to perception, or love, of holiness by heathen; but it is certainly stated that they had conscience, and could, up to a certain point, act upon it. It is scarcely needful to say that this is fully illustrated by ancient literature, while the same literature illustrates fully the mysterious limits of conscience and tremendous force of evil. See Appendix E.
having not the law] i.e. “though not having it.” Their lack of the law gives special importance to the fact of conscience.
a law unto themselves] This may mean “each to himself,” or “each and all to the community.” As to facts, both explanations would hold. Without individual conscience, there could be no public moral code. But we believe the main reference here to be to the public code; to the general consciousness and opinion of heathens that right and wrong are eternally different, and that judgment is to be accordingly hereafter. This consciousness and opinion St Paul regards as influencing heathen minds mutually; as “shewn” in intercourse of thought and speech; as “witnessed to” by individual consciences; as coming out in “reasonings” philosophic or popular, concerning right and wrong; and as all pointing to a great manifestation of the truth of the principle at the Last Day.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–16 (14) A sort of parenthesis begins here. Rom_2:16 refers…
(14) A sort of parenthesis begins here. Rom_2:16 refers back to the main subject of the paragraph, and not to the particular point on which the Apostle digresses in Rom_2:14-15, the virtual operation of law among the Gentiles as well as Jews.
By nature.—Spontaneously; of their own motion; not acting under the coercion of any external rule, but simply by the promptings of their own conscience left to itself.
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The things contained in the law.—Literally, the things of the law. In this one instance the article is used, meaning, however, not “the law of Moses,” but “of this law,” or “of such law”—i.e., the ideal law spoken of just before.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 Vers. 14, 15. For when Gentiles, which have not…
Vers. 14, 15. For when Gentiles, which have not law, do by nature (or, having not law by nature, do; cf. ver. 27, h ek fusewv akrobustia) the things of the Law (i.e. the Mosaic Law), these, not having law, are law unto themselves; which (oitinev , with its usual significance of quippequi) show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness (or, bearing witness therewith), and their thoughts betwixt each other accusing or else excusing (not, as in the Authorized Version, meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another, metaxu being used as a preposition, governing allhlwn). The "for" at the beginning of ver. 14 connects it with the preceding one thus: "Not hearers but doers of law will be justified." The Jew, therefore, has no advantage in the way of justification over the Gentile from being in a peculiar sense a hearer. For Gentiles also may be doers, though not of a positive revealed law, yet of the law of conscience. It is not, of course, implied that on the ground of any such doing they "shall be justified;" only that, so far as they do, they will, equally with the Jews, be rewarded. Nor is it said that any, in fact, do all that law enjoins. We observe the hypothetical form of expression, otan poih , and also, ta tou nomou , i.e. any of the Law"s requirements. The Law, for instance, says, "Thou shalt not steal;" and if a Gentile, though knowing nothing of the ten commandments, on principle refrains from stealing, his conscientious honesty will have its own reward as much as that of the Jew who refrains in obedience to the revealed commandment. A few of the expressions in these verses call for consideration.
(1) What is meant by to ergon tou nomou , said to be "written in their hearts"? To ergon cannot be pleonastic, as supposed by Tholuck. One view is that it is equivalent to ta erga tou nomou , which is an expression frequently used elsewhere; (Rom_3:27, 28 9:32 Gal_2:16 Gal_3:2, Gal_3:5, Gal_3:10) and the singular number has been explained as collective, as in 1Co_3:13 Gal_6:4, and ver. 7 above (so Meyer), or as applying to each of the particular cases supposed in the otan ... poiwsin" (so Alford). The objection to this view is that it is not the works of the Law that can be said to be written, but rather the Law itself from which the works proceed. Seeing that grapton implies evident reference to the tables of the Law, it seems best to take ergon as denoting the efficacy of the Law, as opposed to the letter, which alone was written on the tables. So in effect Bengel: "Legem ipsam cum sua activitate. Opponitur literae, quae est accidens.
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(2) How do they show (endeiknuntai) this ergon nomou ? Evidently, from the context of ver. 14, by doing ta tou nomou ; i.e. doing them (as is, of course, implied) as being the right things to do, and approving them. The very possibility of their doing this is evidence of an innate moral sense in the human heart, which, however it may often be obscured or perverted, remains as a characteristic of humanity, and is more or less operative in all communities. "Nulls enim gens unquam sic ab humanitate abhorruit ut non se intra leges aliquas contineret. Constat absque dubio quasdam justitiae et rectitudinis conceptiones, quas Graeci prolhqeiv recant, hominum animis esse naturaliter ingenitas" (Calvin).
(3) What is exactly meant by the conscience witnessing, and the thoughts accusing or else excusing? Suneidhsiv is not the Law in the heart, but rather our consciousness, whereby wittingly, in accordance with that Law, we approve or condemn. The compound verb summarturoushv seems to denote a joint witness of conscience. In Rom_8:16 and Rom_9:1, where alone the word occurs elsewhere, it is followed by a dative, and means certainly concurrent witness. But, if so here, with what? Probably with the endeixiv already spoken of. Right conduct on principle, and conscience approving, witness together to the inward law; or, conduct and conscience together witness to a man"s merits or demerits in accordance with that law. Then, what is added about the logismoi shows how conscience operates. Reason comes into play, evoked by conscience, to reflect on its witness, and definitely condemn or approve what has been done. A kind of court of judicature is supposed. Man calls himself to the bar of his own moral judgment; his conscience adduces witness to the character of his deeds, or rather, with his deeds bears witness for or against himself; his thoughts are as advocates on both sides, arguing for condemnation or acquittal. "Observa quam erudite describat conscientiam, quum dicit nobis venire in mentem rationes, quibus quod recte factum est defendimus; rursum quae nos flagitiorum accusent et redarguant" (Calvin).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14–16 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,…
Rom_2:14-15
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these … are a law unto themselves.
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Man without the Bible
Law means Gods special revelation through the Bible. This contains the moral code of Moses, exhibited in prophetic teaching, inculcated in the instructions, illustrated in the life and death of Christ: It is here suggested that man without the Bible--
I. Has Bible morality written on his spiritual nature.
1. The law written in their hearts. The great cardinal principles of morality are in every mans soul, and the ethics of the Bible are but a transcript of them. Christ, who was the living exemplar of the moral code of the universe, reduced it to supreme love for the great Father of all and unselfish love for all His children; and in every heart these two elements are found--moral reasoning and conduct. Socrates speaks of the unwritten laws which were held in every country, and mentions as samples honour to parents and the prohibition of incest. He says that since these laws are universally held, and are evidently not the result of human legislation, they must have been made by the gods. Sophocles speaks of the unwritted and indelible laws of the gods in the hearts of man, and Plutarch of a law which is not outwardly written in books, but implanted in the heart of man. The moral Governor of the universe, then, has written in the constitution of all the subjects of His empire the eternal laws that should govern them.
II. Can put into practice in his daily life the Bible morality that is written on his nature. For when the Gentiles, etc., are a law unto themselves. Do by nature, i.e., by the outworking of those moral elements within them--not by written directions, but by moral intuitions. The bee that constructs her cells and lays up honey proves thereby the existence within her of architectural principles. She works out the laws which her Maker imprinted upon her constitution. Thus, heathens who have no Bible can work out the moral principles of their nature, and often do to an extent that may well out to blush the conduct of those who possess a written revelation. In estimating their responsibility it is well to remember both I and
II. They are rather the objects, therefore, of honest denunciation than of sentimental pity if they pursue an immoral or ungodly life.
III. Will be inwardly happy or miserable as he puts in practice or otherwise the Bible morality written on his nature. Their conscience also bearing witness, etc.
1. Psychologists supply different and conflicting definitions of conscience. Is it a distinct faculty of the soul, or its substratum--that in which all the faculties inhere? Whatever it is, it is that within us which concerns itself, not with the truth or falsehood of propositions or the expediency or inexpediency of actions, but with the right and wrong of conduct. If a heathen acts up to his ideas of right, it blesses him with peace; if he does not, it scourges him with anguish.
2. The accusing power of conscience was seen in the Pharisees who brought to Jesus the woman taken in adultery (Joh_8:9); in Felix, when he trembled before Paul the prisoner; in Pilate, when he called for a basin of water to wash his hands.
3. Conscience can excuse, i.e., make righteous allowances; she vindicates as well as condemns. Who can tell the sacred calm which fills the soul when Conscience, sitting on her great white throne, pronounces the sentence of approval of any one single act or thought, and assures the misunderstood, or misrepresented, or calumniated, or even self-doubting servant of God, Herein you are free from blame?
Conclusion: Several things may be deduced from this subject.
1. The identity in authorship of human souls and Divine revelation. The grand rudimental subjects of the Bible are love, retribution, God; and these are written in ineffaceable characters on the tables of the human heart everywhere.
2. The impossibility of atheism ever being established in the world. The human soul is essentially theistic and religious.
3. The responsibility of man wherever he is found.
4. The duty of missionaries in propagating the gospel. Let those who go forth to the heathen not ignore the good in the human heart on all shores and under all suns, but let them--
(1) Recognise it;
(2) honour it;
(3) appeal to it; and
(4) develop it. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Gentile obedience to the law
They do (literally) the things which are of the law, i.e., which are agreeable to its prescriptions. They do not observe the precept as such, for they have it not, but they fulfil its contents; e.g., Neoptolimus in Philoctetes, when he refuses to save Greece at the expense of a lie; or Antigone, when she does not hesitate to violate the temporary law of the city to fulfil the law of fraternal love; or Socrates, when he refuses to save his life by escaping from prison, in order to remain subject to the magistrates. Sophocles speaks of these eternal laws, and contrasts this internal and Divine legislation with the ever-changing laws of man. (Prof. Godet.)
The natural feeling of right and wrong: its analysis
These verses reveal that feeling in three states or stages.
1. The unconscious stage, in which the Gentiles not having the law show its real though latent existence in their own hearts, of which--
2. They have a faint though instinctive perception in the witness of conscience, which--
3. Grows by reflection into distinct approval or disapproval of their own acts and those of others. (Prof. Jowett.)
Natural morality
1. It is a common impression that we are dependent for all our knowledge of moral duty upon the Bible, or at least that there are no motives to moral goodness worth speaking of apart from it: But just think what the latter means. It means that unless a man has faith in God, reverence for His authority, dread of His anger and desire of His approval, there is no strong motive to prevent him from being a liar and a villain. The former lands us in still more startling results, viz., that a man who has not, or disbelieves in, the Bible cannot see that lying, etc., are bad things, and that truthfulness, etc., are good things, i.e., that he can see no difference between vice and virtue. But you know that among your own acquaintances there are nonreligious men who abhor lying, etc., as much as you do, and in the old heathen world there were illustrious examples of lofty virtue.
2. Christ has ennobled our conception of morality and brought new motives and aids to right-doing, but He always assumed that man had a knowledge of duty and recognised its authority. The gospel itself assumes this, for it is a declaration that God is willing to forgive sin; but it could have no meaning for men who did not know that they had done wrong. If the natural conscience were murdered, and men lost the distinction between right and wrong, the gospel would have nothing to take hold of.
3. Some say that religions faith is the foundation of morals: it would be nearer the truth to speak of morals as the foundation of religion; for the grounds of our trust in God are not His infinite power, which, if not governed by justice and goodness, would fill us with terror, nor His infinite knowledge, which might fill us with wonder but could not command affection and confidence--we trust and reverence Him because of His righteousness, truth, and love--his moral perfections, which we see are admirable in themselves. We cannot trust God until we know that He is trustworthy.
4. St. Paul believed that heathens not only knew many of their duties, but discharged them. The subject is not a speculative one merely. One great defeat of the Evangelical revival was that it failed to afford its converts a lofty ideal of practical righteousness and a vigorous moral training, with the result that Evangelical Christians have the poorest conceptions of moral duty and the weakest moral strength. To remedy this defect we must think more about Christian ethics, which we cannot do to any good purpose unless we begin with St. Paul by recognising the power which belongs to man to distinguish between right and wrong.
5. This power is one of the noblest of our prerogatives, but it is forgotten that, like every other faculty, it needs training. Many suffer from colour blindness, but experiments have proved that this arises, not from any disease or malformation of the eye, but from want of education; and it has been cured by teaching the colour alphabet. Skeins of wool of different colours have been displayed and their differences slowly learnt. Most of us learn this without systematic instruction, but drapers and milliners, who have to notice the finer gradations of tints, obtain the power of discriminating the difference between shades of blue and scarlet which seem to ordinary eyes alike. Their eyes are not better than ours, but they have been better taught. And so most of us, if we have lived among good people, learn without regular teaching to distinguish in a rough way between right and wrong. But if the conscience is to have a keen vision, and if its discrimination between right and wrong is to be unaffected by the cross lights of interest and passion, it must be more perfectly trained, and surely it is worth it; and if you are careful to train your childs memory and voice, why not its conscience, which is infinitely more deserving of your care?
6. There is a bad way of teaching morals as there is of teaching arithmetic. In a bad school the rule is given and the child works his sum blindly, accepting the rule on the authority of the teacher. If his mind is sharp, he may puzzle out its reason; if not, he is left to mark it in the dark. So some people teach morality. They give the child Gods rules of conduct, and happily the conscience may discover for itself their nobleness; but if it does, no thanks to the teacher. Having been told the rule, the child is warned that God will punish disobedience; but if from this motive only the rule is obeyed, it is not obedience, but servile superstition. The appeal to Gods authority should only be occasional, or the moral sense will be disabled or checked in its growth by so tremendous a conception. When we follow a guide who never leaves us we are likely to take no notice of the path, and our knowledge of it will be no greater at the end than at the beginning.
7. For the education of the conscience we need teaching that is really moral, and not religious, that trains the mind to recognise for itself the obligation to do right because it is right. The vessel of human nature, when exposed to storms of temptation, needs more than one strong cable. Religious faith is the great security; but all the anchors are sometimes wanted, and we have no right to refuse the aid of such guarantees of safety as a genuine love of righteousness for its own sake, a deep hatred of wrong, a dread of moral shame. It is, however, alleged that apart from the Divine authority it is impossible to enforce the obligations of virtue. The objection is put in this form: You say to a boy that he ought to tell the truth; suppose he asks, Why? what can you answer except that God commands it? But suppose the boy asks, Why should I do what God commands? will you say that because if he does not he will be punished?--a very mean and sandy foundation for morals, for it is no mans duty to do anything simply because he will suffer for not doing it. A rule must be right in itself, or else it is a crime to punish men for disobeying it, If a child asks, Why ought I to obey God or to tell the truth? you must answer, Because you ought. But neither question will be asked if we have done our duty by our children. If they have learnt from us who God is, if they have heard us speak of Him with reverence and trust and love, they will know that they ought to obey Him; and if we are truthful at the impulse of a hearty love and admiration for truth, and put in their way stories about heroic truthfulness, they will know for themselves that lying is wrong and shameful.
8. I have pleaded for the education of the conscience in the interest of morality; I also plead for it in the interest of religion. Why should I trust, obey, and worship God? Because I ought. And wherever that answer is not given by the human soul, no appeal to hope or fear or gratitude will be effective. Mere terror is not without its uses. It may break the strong cords of immoral habits and paralyse for a time the baser passions, and may so give the conscience which has been trampled under the brutal hoofs of insolent vice the chance of asserting its authority. But I believe that as a general rule the nobler power has been in alliance with the terror from the very first. However this may be, I do not believe that religious faith can have any secure hold of man except it is confederate with conscience; and a man who has learned to revere his minister is most likely to revere God Himself. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)
The moral constitution of man
The question which the apostle was obliged to argue was largely the condition of the heathen world. He argues both sides of it; and in chap. 1 that they were to be condemned on substantially moral grounds, and that yet they must be condemned in much less measure than the Jews--a peculiarly offensive turn to the argument, because the Jew held that he had a right to superiority before God, no matter how he lived. The fact that men were now Jews, though they might be virtuous and devout, was enough. The apostle, therefore, is obliged to go against this stupid bigotry: It is not they that hear the law that are the safest, but they that do it. Ah! but the Gentiles never had it, and of course they did not do it. But, says Paul, nevertheless, if they do those things under the light of nature which the law commands, that shall suffice. If you, with the law, sin, and they sin without it, they will stand, for that very reason, higher than you do. This question, historically considered, was local, but the apostle settles it upon a ground which makes it universal; for he here takes ground with the moral constitution of man--that man has in himself, not as a full revelation, but in a rudimentary form, an interpreting nature, by which he knows what is right and wrong, by which he accuses or excuses his conduct. He declares that men receive a revelation, not for the sake of creating a moral sense, but for the sake of guiding a moral sense already created; that religion is not a thing superinduced upon the moral constitution of man, but the right unfolding of that constitution. Let us follow this line out.
1. The essential truths of religion are natural, constitutional, organic. They were not first created when declared by inspired men. Mental philosophy does not create mind, and the law of conscience did not create conscience. All those great Bible truths which involve the nature of right and wrong, of inferiority and superiority, of submission, of obligation--all that goes to constitute what we call moral sense--has a foundation in the nature of things; and if man only had the wisdom to know what he was and how to unfold his moral constitution, every man would work from his own moral consciousness to substantially the same ground which is open to him in Scripture. So that, when I preach the gospel, particularly in its relations to duty and obligation, I feel strong, not only because I believe the Word of God, but because, tracing the Word back, I find it written again in you. Studying man as I do, and studying the Word of God, I find the two are respectively witnesses of each other, and both together are stronger than either alone; and all the way through the Word of God appeals to this consciousness of men to bear witness to its essential truth.
2. On the other hand, a right-minded man, if he had no revelation, but had power to keep his mind clear and sensitive and his conduct in harmony with his higher nature, would go up on to the plane of the gospel. Hence, the gospel is not a super addition to nature. It is the opening of nature, the blossom of that which belongs to the race; nature being understood to mean, for the most part, that condition which God first intended.
3. From this fundamental view, it will appear right and wrong in human conduct, in the main, are not conventional, not things of mere custom. There are a thousand things in life which may be changed, and which are different in different nations. But the great fundamental principles of right and wrong--truth, justice, purity, and love--these are the same in every age and everywhere. It makes no difference how much men may philosophise about them. A man may have any theory he pleases of digestion, but digestion does what it pleases. A man may believe that there is a brain in his head, or that there is nothing in it; but his belief makes no difference with the facts. And so with moral theories: they touch not moral facts in the least degree.
4. Men are not released from obligations to virtue and religion simply by keeping away from the church, etc. There are many who think that if they shut out disturbing truths they will have rest. No. The Word of God comes as your friend to help you, by giving you the state of facts; but if you throw the facts away, you simply throw the help away. A man lies sick, and sends for his physician. The physician prescribes such and such remedies, and forbids the use of such and such articles of food, etc., etc. But after the physician has gone the man says to his attendant, Go, tell him not to come again--to keep his advice and his medicines away. And then he says, There! I have dismissed my doctor. If you could only dismiss your disease as easily as you can your doctor, it would be all very well; but to dismiss your doctor and keep your disease is not wise. The fever is a fact, and does not depend on quarrelling schools of medicine. A man says, The Churches are all by the ears, and I am going to take my own way. I will manage my case myself. You may in that way get rid of Churches and of a thousand disagreeable circumstances; but will any men get rid of that nature in which the law is written, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, etc., and thy neighbour as thyself? Go out, now, into the world to get gain, to be happy. Wind yourself up with the key of selfishness. Try to make your own powers serve you faithfully in harmony with each other. They are at a jangle with themselves. And you are not any better off because you have put the Church away from you; for the obligations rest not on the Church, but on you. Not they alone who have made a profession of religion are bound by its duties: they are binding upon every man. A man does not see any better for being in an oculists establishment. The necessity or the desirableness of his seeing does not arise from the fact that he is there, but from the nature of things. And if a man has ophthalmia the necessities of his eye and the laws of sight are just the same as though he were under medical treatment and care. And yet there are people who seem to think that of course a man ought to do certain things because he is a member of the Church. No, the obligations came long before the Church could have imposed them upon him. You say, I am not a member of the Church, and you ought not to expect that of me. But are you not born? Have you not that law of God written in you? I preach right, purity, holiness to you, because you are men. If you had never seen a Bible, these obligations would have rested on you by the very primal conditions of your creation.
5. There is an impression among many that freedom is gained by going out of the sphere of religious teaching into infidelity; and they laugh and say, I used to feel guilty if I broke the Sabbath, but I do not now; I used to think that I ought to pray, but prayer is a superstition. And so men go on setting aside point after point of fundamental religious belief; and they think they are becoming more and more free, and they ridicule Christians, whom they think to be bound hand and foot. Now, I do not say that the Churches have the perfect view of religion; but I do affirm that the faith which is held by all Christians is in the main a guide and a light. You and another man are walking in a troublous path. There are precipices on the right and left, and deep morasses below. Your companion is walking with a little lantern, containing only a tallow candle, and, taking one step at a time, manages to pick his way, though with some difficulty. You, who are so bold as to venture without any light, say to him, Your tallow candle makes a miserable pretence of giving light; of all absurd things, the greatest is the attempt to make ones way through the world with such a light as that; and you knock it into the mud. It may be that the lantern could have been improved; but is it improved by darkness? Now the man has nothing to guide himself with. The light he had was feeble, but it was enough to guide him safely; and now he makes a misstep, and plunges headlong down the precipice and perishes. Suppose all is true that you say of Churches: after all, are they not better than nothing? Do not they attempt to take hold of those fundamental instincts which belong to men, and which must be cared for and satisfied? And do not they go a certain way toward satisfying them? And does not infidelity bring men into bondage and darkness instead of into liberty and light?
6. By throwing off religious faith and the restraint of the Church men do not escape conviction of sin, nor a sense of guilt, nor unhappiness (Rom_1:20). If there were not a Church, nor a Bible, nor a teacher; if there were nothing but the sun and the stars and the rolling seasons; and if there were but a single man living, he would be without excuse; for God has made the heavens and the glimmering light of nature, and these are enough to hold a man responsible for his character and conduct. And then in the text he says, When the Gentiles which have not the law, etc. There is no man of any degree of reflectiveness or sensibility who is not made unhappy in himself by the way in which he is living. In the excitement of a career of business, in the intoxication of pleasure, men drown their unhappiness; but the moment there comes a leisure moment there comes a time for thought. A mans reason looks over his life, and he says, I have toiled fifty years, and I have built my house and furnished it, and I have a place among men; but, after all, what am I profited? If I might live again, would I live over the same life? Have I satisfied my early aspirations, realised my own ideal? Or, if he looks more closely at himself, he says, Am I selfish, or am I not? I have learned to wield the pen; I know how to paint; I can carve; I am able to build a house; I can handle the sword; I have power to manage anything in this world almost; but myself I cannot manage. My conscience jangles with my feelings; I am often carried away by temptation. Everything is wrong. There is nothing that I make such poor business in dealing with as myself. A man reads this, not out of the Bible, but out of his own soul. And if a mans faculties do not live in harmony, then his own thoughts accuse him, and his judgment judges him, and his moral sense brings him under condemnation. It is in such cases that the gospel way is shown to men; and though they may set aside the revelation of mercy, they cannot set aside this judgment that is perpetually going on in their consciences.
7. The gradation in condemnation is a matter for thought. Those who have been taught the truth, and who then sin, are condemned in the greatest measure. But let no man say, I was born of ignorant parents, remote from instruction, and I cannot be condemned. According to your measure you will be condemned; but the lowest grade of condemnation will be more than you can bear. No one can afford to be sick. All the contrivances of nature have never made anybody attempt to be sick. You can make the body love odious things, you can modify the digestive powers, but no sort of treatment ever made sickness an agreeable thing. And by no means can a soul that is out of order be happy. There is a condemnation that rests upon it just so long as it is in that state. And now comes the declaration of the gospel, Except a man be born again, etc. It rests not alone upon those that have been instructed, but upon everybody.
8. This moral constitution is not a mere thing of time. It is not an arrangement for a special occasion, not for a transitory scene. The testimony of the Saviour and the New Testament all through is that right and wrong are eternal; that the moral constitution which divided men in this world divides them in the other. As on the one hand he that in this world loves, seeks, and so far as in him lies does the right, goes on forever with increasing blessedness, so, on the other hand, he who in this world perverts his body and soul grows worse and worse; and the evil effects of his misspent life do not drop off from him when he dies, but go on with him. You are not sinful, then, because you have been preached to or because the Bible says so and so, but on account of the perversion of that nature which God gave you. But when an offer is made to you of pardon for the past, and God in His infinite mercy through Jesus Christ gives you a remedy for your sins thus far if you will forsake that which is evil, if you turn away from Him you are destroyed. Men are very much like lunatics in hospitals. All their wants are provided for, and yet they set fire to the institution and burn it up. They are not made well by this deed. It is simply a part of their insanity to do it. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv14–16 14. When Gentiles, which have no law. No revelation,…
14. When Gentiles, which have no law. No revelation, such as the Jews had. They had a law of nature (1:18, 32). Do by nature the things of the law. Paul has shown how the general principle that God “will render to every man according to his works” applies to the Jews; they will be judged by law, and only law-doers will be justified. He now shows that the same principle applies to the Gentiles. They have no revealed and written law like the Jews, but in case Gentiles, without it, should keep the things contained in the law, the moral principles of the law of Moses, they are a law unto themselves. Their consciences and moral sense are a law. The apostle does not say that this was the rule among the Gentiles, but applies the principle to the very rare instances of Gentiles of pure character.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v14 14. “For when the heathens, not having the law,…
14. “For when the heathens, not having the law, do by nature the things of the law, they not having the law, are a law unto themselves.” This confirms the gracious possibility for the heathens, through the light of nature, conscience and the Holy Spirit, actually to do the things of the divine law and be saved, as doubtless millions have done who are now in heaven. Gentile in E. V. is the very same word translated heathen. Hence, remember they are synonymous.
14, 15. The Holy Spirit is everywhere substantially revealing the will of God.
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“He is the true Light, who lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh 1:9).
Here is a beautiful allusion to heathen conscience, “their conscience bearing them witness, their thoughts accusing or excusing either with other.” How wonderfully the Holy Spirit, through human conscience in all the earth, is constantly speaking to every immortal soul, saying, “This is right, that is wrong,” et cetera. Where Paul speaks of the seared conscience (1Ti 4:2) it does not mean the conscience of men, but of devils. That is a reason why the demons can not be saved. When a human soul passes the dead line and is abandoned by the Holy Ghost, having committed the unpardonable sin, so that He ceases to strive, then that soul becomes demonized, the conscience being cauterized. As the Holy Spirit deals with every human spirit, whether heathen or Christian, speaking through His telephone, the conscience, He will witness to the condemnation or acquittal in the Judgment Day.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv14–16 (for when Gentiles that have not the law do…
(for when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves ;
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 By this they show
By this they show
"By naturally obeying the law they show"
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that the actions required by the law are written in their hearts
Here "hearts" is a metonym for the person's thoughts or inner person. The phrase "written in their hearts" is a metaphor for knowing something in their mind. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "that God has written on their hearts what the law requires them to do" or "that they know the actions that God wants them to do according to his law" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor and Active or Passive)
bears witness to them, and their own thoughts either accuse or defend them to themselves
Here "bears witness" refers to the knowledge they gain from the law that God has written in their hearts. AT: "tells them if they are disobeying or obeying God's law" (See: Idiom)
on the day when God will judge
This finishes Paul's thought from Romans 2:13. "This will happen when God judges"
translationWords
law
written
heart
conscience
testimony
judge
good news
Jesus
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16 2:14-15 The Gentiles who know his law when they…
2:14-15 The Gentiles who know his law when they instinctively obey it may be Gentile Christians, especially since written in their hearts (2:15) alludes to the prophecy of the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34). Or they could be non-Christian Gentiles who know God’s general moral law through their consciences. In this case, Paul would be using the notion of natural law to show how all people could be held accountable for certain basic moral requirements.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.