Today's Passage - Romans 2:12-16

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english 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. 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. (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. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares." Many people like to ask: "Will God still judge him if someone never gets to hear the gospel?" This passage seems to have responded to this question. Firstly, Paul said: "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law." That means God is fair. For those who have never heard the gospel, they are not under the law of God. When they sin, they will be judged apart from the law of God. Thus they will perish apart from the law. But will those people be saved after all? Secondly, 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. Although those people have never heard the gospel, that doesn't mean that they are not living under the law. In fact, we have a natural conscience in our hearts as our law. Where does this conscience come from?      Thirdly, they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness. Conscience is the result of God's revealing His law to our hearts. When God created the mankind, He already put conscience inside us, so that throughout the history and all over the world, there is conscience inside everyone, which is something common among the human beings. How conscience plays its role in our life is that when someone apart from the law perishes apart from the judgment by the law, God will judge him by his conscience inside. Let's be honest to ourselves. How many people can triumph over the constant judgment by their consciences? None. We are in fact sinners by our consciences. Why a non-believer perishes is because he does so not by the law, but by his own conscience.    We don't need to worry about whether God is fair or not, simply because God Himself is the standard for fairness. What we need to worry about is whether we are righteous enough to stand before Him one day. May God help us humble ourselves before Him and ask Him to cover us with His precious blood, so that we can be spared from God's judgment of sins.                                                                        Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, help me see the darkness inside me, and realize I cannot triumph over judgment without you. May the Lord cleanse us with Your precious blood and to make us the receivers of your grace. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!