Romans 2_14-16： The Role Of The Conscience In Salvation
Episode Stats
Words per minute
162.29001
Harmful content
Toxicity
2
sentences flagged
Hate speech
17
sentences flagged
Summary
In this episode of Real Christianity, Dale continues through Romans 2:14-16, where we examine the role of the conscience, and how people who have never heard of the moral law are still guilty before God.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
In this episode of Real Christianity, I continue through Romans chapter 2, where we examine
00:00:04.160
the purpose of the conscience and how people who have never heard of the moral law are
00:00:30.000
Welcome to Real Christianity. My name is Dale Partridge. Today's episode is titled Romans 2,
00:00:35.840
14 through 16, The Role of the Conscience in Salvation. Now, as you know, this show is an
00:00:41.420
audio and video ministry of relearn.org. If you're watching the video recording of this episode,
00:00:47.040
please be sure to subscribe or follow for more biblical content. If you're listening from Apple
00:00:51.580
Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, thank you for your faithful listenership. You can also follow
00:00:56.400
our ministry at just about every social media platform, and we'd love to have you on the
00:01:01.520
journey. Now, this is episode number 200, and I need to say something. The only reason
00:01:07.300
we can continue to produce this show is because of your faithful donations to this ministry.
00:01:12.880
Thank you guys so much for your support. As a result, we've had over 4 million downloads
00:01:18.020
of this show and tens of thousands of Christians that have come to a biblical understanding
00:01:22.560
of the gospel. However, we are still praying for God to give us more reach, but we really do need
00:01:28.880
your help. Would you guys just consider making a subscription donation, $10, $20, $40 a month?
00:01:34.580
They really are game changers for our ministry. You just go to relearn.org forward slash donate.
00:01:41.200
Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate. Also, if you haven't yet picked up a copy of
00:01:47.000
The Manliness of Christ. We've already had to do a second print of The Manliness of Christ. We've
00:01:54.580
sold thousands upon thousands of copies. If you're watching the video, you're going to get a chance
00:01:58.800
to see it right here. If you haven't picked up a copy, pick one up at relearn.org forward slash
00:02:04.480
man. You can also pick up like 10 copies and do a men's group. We have a small group or a men's
00:02:11.900
group study guide that you can buy on our store as well. It's just been a wonderful resource for
00:02:18.400
many of the guys that follow our ministry. Again, check it out at relearn.org forward slash man.
00:02:25.060
All right, guys, let's get started. Over the last couple of weeks, if you've been follow along on
00:02:30.860
the Romans 2 train here, we've been learning about the coming universal and individualized
00:02:38.520
judgment of God coming for every one of us. And so we saw Paul argue that all people, Jew and Greek,
00:02:48.840
lost and saved, will stand before God on judgment day individually. We also learned the difference
00:02:56.300
between judgment and condemnation. This was key to understand the difference between those two
00:03:03.240
realities is that there is a difference between judgment and condemnation. We will all be judged,
00:03:10.240
but we will not all be condemned. I think of Romans chapter eight, verse one, that says,
00:03:15.460
there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So all of us, yes,
00:03:21.560
we will stand before and be judged, but we will not be condemned because we will be found righteous
00:03:27.060
by the righteousness of Christ. So the distinction between judgment and condemnation
00:03:31.440
really taught us a key truth for the Christian life.
00:03:52.140
I'm not going to work and obey to help myself be justified.
00:03:59.380
And so this is really a major difference between legalism, which is trying to work to maintain their justified state, and just resting in Christ for our righteousness, but at the same time working to obey, to please God, not to actually make ourselves righteous, because we are not righteous, only Christ is righteous.
00:04:23.420
And so I think about 2 Corinthians 5, 9 through 10.
00:04:26.200
It says, so whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
00:04:34.520
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive
00:04:39.140
what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
00:04:42.960
Colossians 3, 23 through 24 says, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and
00:04:47.980
not for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward.
00:04:53.640
You are serving the Lord Christ. So our motive is not that our works would offer some additional
00:05:02.360
eternal security, but that we work because of our gratitude for redemption. That's really what
00:05:10.100
we're doing. We're working for our gratitude for the redemption that has been earned, not by us,
00:05:15.040
but by Christ alone. So Romans 2, 12 through 13, we saw just in the previous episode,
00:05:25.740
Paul moved from the grounds of God's judgment. And if we have a judgment, it has to be based
00:05:33.000
off the grounds of a law. And the law of God and the universal power of the law has really been
00:05:40.160
the focus of the past several verses. We learned that the purpose of the law was not to deliver
00:05:46.300
men, but to damn them. Now, you have to understand that the law was never intended to save men
00:05:54.880
through the law. The law was given to bring about the knowledge of sin. We're going to talk more
00:06:00.360
about that even next week. But this is all, Romans chapter two is really all about showing the power
00:06:09.800
of the law so that we will pursue and that we will turn not to works, but to the Savior. And it's why
00:06:18.580
it's such a tragedy that so many Christians and even some pastors don't use the law the same way
00:06:42.160
They skip the reality that Jesus also had to live for you.
00:06:45.900
He had to live and keep the perfect righteousness of the law
00:06:55.520
and the judgment of God, and that if you do not satisfy the justice of God through faith in Christ,
00:07:02.220
you will experience the wrath of God in hell. That is not a message that many pastors
00:07:08.720
are delivering, and it's unfortunate. And so the law in the New Testament is always presented as
00:07:15.660
this unbearable weight that no man can carry. We talked about a couple of verses that I'm going to
00:07:21.420
be repeating over and over in these episodes through Romans chapter 2, James 2.10, for whoever
00:07:27.040
keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. Again, the law is not
00:07:34.300
just an outward expression, but a totality of obedience, meaning that it's not just what you do
00:07:40.180
with your body, but it's also what you do in the heart and your internal thoughts. And so this is
00:07:45.540
a high stakes. It's not just that you don't hate somebody or don't murder someone. It's that you
00:07:53.060
don't hate somebody. It's not that you don't commit adultery. It's that you actually don't
00:07:56.400
lust after somebody. There's a totality of the law that Jesus makes clear in his message
00:08:02.000
through the gospels. Romans 3.20, again, we know that Romans 1.18 through 3.20, again,
00:08:07.620
I'm going to reiterate this several episodes in a row, is really this one big swooping message
00:08:13.920
that ends with Romans 3.20 that says, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified.
00:08:21.980
And so you will not work your way. You will not be a moralist. You will not earn your way through
00:08:27.340
religious doings. You must rest in what has been done. And so moralism, legalism, they cannot make
00:08:35.340
us righteous. You cannot contribute to your salvation or maintaining your righteous standing
00:08:40.760
through religiosity. So humanity's only hope for justification is what? It's in the righteousness
00:08:46.920
of Christ. Again, I'm going to beat that dead horse until you guys really understand it. So
00:08:50.680
Paul teaches that judgment is universal. The condemnation of the law is universal,
00:08:56.960
and he's cornering anyone, Jew or Gentile, that you cannot escape the law. You were made,
1.00
00:09:06.400
you have a maker and your maker has a right to tell you how you ought to live. You are unable
00:09:13.780
to maintain that standard by which he has put upon us and you are guilty of breaking his moral
00:09:21.000
law. And because you've sinned against an eternal God, there is eternal punishment. This is
00:09:26.940
essentially the beginnings of the presentation of the gospel. And so today we're going to be
00:09:33.380
looking at Romans 2, 14 through 16, which is a parenthetical statement. It really could be
00:09:39.400
put inside brackets. In your Bible, it might even be in parentheses. It sits under last week's text.
00:09:47.040
And so if last week's text was really the thesis that the Jews not only need to be hearers of the
0.53
00:09:54.900
law, but also doers, I mean, that is a complete doing of the law. Today's passage is related
00:10:00.700
to a different dimension in speaking to the Gentiles. The passage essentially answers the
00:10:07.900
pressing question that a Jew would be asking, which is what about the Gentiles who can't do the
0.95
00:10:15.000
law because they don't even know of the law? And so can God justly condemn Gentiles who don't even
0.96
00:10:24.240
have the law? That's the question that's really being answered here is can God justly condemn
1.00
00:10:29.600
those who've never even heard of the Ten Commandments and the moral law of God? How can God
00:10:35.800
rightly and justly put these people to justice if they've never even heard the law? You guys might
00:10:43.820
have heard in the previous episode, it doesn't matter if you know the law, you are guilty if
00:10:48.760
you're within its jurisdiction. So the reality is, is if I'm speeding here through Cottonwood or
00:10:54.160
Sedona, Arizona, and I don't realize that it's a 35 and I'm going 50. It doesn't matter if I'm
00:11:00.920
aware of the law, I'm guilty of the law. And so we're going to be talking a little bit more about
00:11:05.240
that. We're going to see Paul establishing the legal grounds by which God can bring justice
00:11:12.500
upon all people, Jew and Gentile, even if you don't have the law. So let's look back
0.98
00:11:18.600
at verses 12 and 13, for all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the
00:11:28.860
law. And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. Verse 13, for it is not the
00:11:34.780
hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
00:11:40.460
And again, that's a complete doing, not just externally, but internally. We can't talk about
00:11:46.160
that in detail right now, but that's really what's being said. Today's text is two verses later and it
00:11:52.620
says, for when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires, they are
0.95
00:11:59.540
a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is
0.99
00:12:06.860
written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts
00:12:12.420
accuse or even excuse them. On that day, when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets
00:12:18.580
of men by Jesus Christ. So let's talk about verse 14. For when Gentiles who do not have the law
00:12:26.520
by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have
1.00
00:12:32.800
the law. What is Paul saying here? Paul is ultimately implying that while the Gentiles
00:12:40.220
do not have the law that was given to them, to the Jews on Mount Sinai, on the tablets,
00:12:46.900
through Moses. They do have a conscience that's consistent with the tenets of the law.
00:12:53.640
And really, if you read chapter one of Romans, they know that God exists. They know that there
00:13:00.980
is a general difference between good and evil. Romans chapter one, verse 19 says,
00:13:06.780
quote, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For
00:13:15.540
although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. And so the people who
00:13:23.640
don't know God, they can see God in the things that are made. Again, you can go back to Romans
00:13:28.240
chapter one if you'd like to read that. But biblically and philosophically speaking,
00:13:31.540
the conscience operates primarily in a mode of condemnation, meaning that the primary function
00:13:37.780
of the conscience is more to tell you what not to do than to tell you the righteous things that
00:13:44.220
you need to do. So it's something that is in us to tell us something that's wrong. We shouldn't
00:13:49.640
do something versus the conscience role is less involved in telling us to do something that is
00:13:55.520
righteous. So while all people do not have the Ten Commandments, God has implanted within every
00:14:01.560
person the form of the law, which acts as a moral law unto themselves. So that's what the conscience
00:14:09.460
really operates as a moral law unto themselves. Now, that universal conscience, as we all know,
00:14:15.160
is violated by each and every one of us every day. We don't do the things that we want to do.
00:14:25.260
And if you don't realize that you're bad and that you're terrible and that you're a sinner,
0.99
00:14:29.500
just think about the greatest commandment, right?
00:14:32.380
It's to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
00:14:36.960
Ask yourself how many minutes of the day you failed to do that.
00:14:40.580
And you'll realize that, wow, I am in a constant state of sin.
00:14:44.460
So again, Paul is saying that this law of the conscience
00:14:47.680
and our breaking of it essentially reveals that all humanity is deserving justly of condemnation
00:14:56.840
because we have a law, even if we don't have the moral law that was given to us on Mount Sinai.
00:15:02.620
Verse 15 says, they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their
00:15:08.540
conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. So Paul goes
00:15:14.560
on to really prove his point here by providing further evidence for the conscience. And so the
00:15:20.780
conscience, it's not perfect. It's not a perfect law, but it's still a law to those who do not
00:15:27.020
have the Ten Commandments. That's what Paul is getting across here. Scripture teaches us that
00:15:31.320
we are never to actually violate our own consciences, and it's truly, really a law unto us.
00:15:38.400
um now man there's so much that we could teach on the conscience dr martin lloyd jones does an
00:15:44.940
episode on this specific episode and goes deeper on that if you'd like to go further on the
00:15:50.340
conscience there now notice he doesn't say that the law is written on their hearts in this in
00:15:55.280
verse 15 he says the work of the law is written on their hearts now what is the work of the law
00:16:24.600
For example, India is a pagan nation that is ruled by people who do not know the scriptures
0.99
00:16:32.540
and don't have the moral law of God. However, in India's Penal Code, Section 302, murder is
00:16:39.800
outlawed and is punished by, quote, death penalty or life imprisonment. In Iran, adultery is outlawed,
00:16:49.080
and we know that they have rejected the moral law of God. They've rejected Christ as Lord.
1.00
00:16:55.100
They don't follow the Bible. They follow the Quran. And adultery yet is still outlawed,
1.00
00:17:01.720
and is, quote, punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried people and death on the fourth offense.
00:17:10.240
It is punishable by death, by stoning, or by other means for married people, and in all cases of incest, end quote.
00:17:19.660
And so we think also about the aboriginal tribes of Australia or Africa, and even in these distant cultures,
00:17:27.320
they still condemn stealing and lying and dishonoring of parents. Those things are still
00:17:33.320
happening even though they don't have the moral law of God. So the moral laws among pagan people
1.00
00:17:39.700
are the evidence of the work of the law that is written on their conscience even though they don't
00:17:47.800
know God. And so further evidence for the conscience is the public discourse that goes on
00:17:53.520
around moral issues. You know, it's why Paul says at the end of this verse, and their conflicting
00:18:00.660
thoughts accuse or even excuse them. If there was no human conscience, there would be no discussion
00:18:07.280
about abortion or homosexuality or transgenderism or pornography or divorce or lying or cheating
0.82
00:18:19.240
or stealing. There would be no reference point or standard among people who don't know God,
00:18:26.620
but there is a conscience and it's evident in the public discourse about, you have people who
00:18:32.360
are arguing over these facts if they're right or wrong because their conscience
00:18:37.380
are accusing them or excusing them to do these things. So, you know, among the lost,
00:18:46.020
there are those whose consciences have been seared. We've seen this in Romans chapter one
00:18:53.100
and leading into chapter two, and God's judgment is upon them. They've actually have no conscience.
00:18:59.260
They become shameless around shameful acts. They've become essentially desensitized.
00:19:06.820
And then there are those who, by God's grace, have still a sensitive conscience that is convicted
00:19:14.100
of righteousness and by God's grace will maybe be saved. And so the public discourse again about
00:19:23.060
morality becomes evidence for the existence of a law within all of us and in turn providing just
00:19:29.480
grounds for God's judgment. So that's essentially the point that Paul's making there. But Paul closes
00:19:34.320
his point in verse 16, which is really connected to the previous verse. I want to read it with you
00:19:38.780
together here. So I'm going to read 15 and 16 together. It says, they show that the work of
00:19:43.940
the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting
00:19:49.120
thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets
00:19:55.960
of men by Christ Jesus. So Paul wraps up his point in this section of scripture by stating a few
00:20:02.500
essential facts. Number one is if there is a universal law, the conscience, there is a universal
00:20:09.820
judge to uphold justice according to that law, because to have a law without a judge would make
00:20:15.780
no sense, right? If there is a judge, then there also must be a time for judgment. If there is a
00:20:23.640
judgment, there must be a standard of righteousness by which a judgment can actually be made. And this
00:20:31.820
is the point of, again, leading people towards Christ. So Paul is stating that the judge,
00:20:38.000
which is God, will reckon humanity on judgment day according to the law of God and the righteousness
00:20:43.760
of Christ. And so there's a deep theological understanding that needs to be caught here.
00:20:51.380
And the one who sees the heart, the judge, who will see all of our hearts and will judge the
00:20:58.620
secrets of men will make correct judgments upon all of us. And so everything will be laid out
00:21:04.280
before God at that time. Acts 17, 31 says, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the
00:21:12.320
world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. So there's that standard of righteousness.
00:21:18.900
He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. And the reason that Jesus was
00:21:25.380
raised from the dead is because the wages of sin is death. And so anybody that's broken the law
00:21:31.340
must die. Now, Christ died for our sins, but had no sins of his own, therefore must be resurrected
00:21:37.640
from the dead because the wages of sin is death and Christ had no sin. Yet that means that Christ
00:21:44.140
had to be resurrected from death, which is the validation of God that he was righteous before
00:21:50.240
the law. And so again, Christ didn't just die for us. He also lived for us. He lived righteously.
00:21:56.280
And the evidence for his righteousness is that he didn't die. Yes, he died for our sins, but he
00:22:02.560
lives eternally. Anybody that, if Christ would have stayed dead and didn't have a resurrection,
00:22:08.420
it would mean that he was a sinner and he deserved death. But because he didn't deserve death,
0.80
00:22:13.020
he was resurrected. And so lots there. But what is the application? What does this mean for us
00:22:31.460
to have the law of God written upon our hearts,
00:22:43.400
and that our sins have been paid for on the cross
00:22:45.960
by Jesus's death, dying the death that we deserved.
00:22:48.960
And so Hebrews 10, 16 through 17, which is really quoting Jeremiah says,
00:22:53.000
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord.
00:22:58.000
I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds.
00:23:03.580
Then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.
00:23:11.260
So second piece of application, we must not only leverage the law in discussion, but when we
00:23:20.240
evangelize, we really need to use the law. We need to not just use the law, however, we need to also
00:23:26.620
use the conscience. And so people know when they violate their conscience. We know it, they know it.
00:23:32.880
And so leveraging this violation of the conscience, the guilt and the shame that they feel,
00:23:37.980
We live in a culture that wants to make shame feel shameless, but we need to absolutely
00:23:43.180
tell people that that shame is the conscience, it's a law unto themselves, convicting them
00:23:49.080
of the sin that they have against a God that created them, and it is a law unto themselves
00:23:57.560
And so I actually opened up one of my gospel tracks with this concept.
00:24:03.580
The reality is, is that we can't give them the ointment of the gospel or the healing
00:24:08.340
oil of the gospel until we first afflict them or wound them with the law.
00:24:13.560
That is exactly how the gospel is always preached in the New Testament.
00:24:17.620
It's this reality that we tell them the law, they're wounded with the law, it causes repentance,
00:24:23.580
and they cast themselves on Christ, who is the only one that is righteous.
00:24:27.580
But I opened up the gospel track that I wrote for mailthegospel.org, and I used this line.
00:24:33.740
I said, everyone knows they have something to be forgiven for, but not everyone knows
00:24:42.160
So again, shame is God's internal tool to bring conviction upon the lost, to bring conviction
00:24:51.900
And the world, however, is constantly looking for ways to reduce shame.
00:24:55.820
I mean, my goodness, if you think about Brene Brown or Dr. Phil or Oprah or everybody's talking and trying to figure out ways to reduce shame in our culture.
00:25:06.060
However, shame is, again, an operating element of the conscience to bring us to a place of understanding that we are violating the way that we were made and what we were made for and the God that made us.
00:25:20.880
And so as Christians, the most loving thing we can do is magnify the things that they
00:25:28.800
are doing that are sinful, that are causing shame.
00:25:34.180
We actually want them to understand that that shame is actually causing them to turn to
00:25:39.100
Christ, that they're guilty, that they are lost, that they need to repent and turn to
00:25:44.720
They're not going to be found righteous unless they trust in the righteousness of Christ,
00:25:57.940
So hopefully that episode was helpful for you guys
00:26:00.440
in really breaking down a little bit of the basics
00:26:11.820
If you guys would be willing to leave a review,
00:26:21.300
You could also, if you haven't subscribed to our YouTube channel, would you subscribe?
00:26:24.660
Would you give us a kind of a thumbs up here on YouTube?
00:26:27.280
Wherever you're listening to, those reviews and those encouragements really do help.
00:26:32.040
If you actually do write something as a review, I will read it.
00:26:35.460
Those encouragements have been so good for our ministry and really helped me continue
00:26:44.500
On that note, thank you guys for listening to this episode of Real Christianity.
00:26:47.700
My name is Dale Partridge and we'll see you next time.