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Romans 2:12 "All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law."

 

This section of Paul’s letter to the Romans is generally warning believers not to judge nor think of themselves as superior to others, for “God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:11); He "will render to every man according to his works" (Romans 2:6). That is certainly reinforced by today's verse, which tells of the similar end of both the sinning Gentile and the sinning believer. But I am also seeing a subtle distinction being made between the people who choose sin without ever learning of God's law, and will perish without the law, and those who know the law, and choose sin, who will be judged by the law. I notice that Paul makes no mention of judgment for the first group, they merely "perish", it is only the second group for whom Paul mentions judgment. Later, he talks about judgment for the Gentiles who, without knowing the law, do good anyway, and states that they have the law, to some degree, even if it is just their innate understanding of it (they are "a law to themselves" (Romans 2:14)). What I am getting from this distinction is the importance of teaching others the law, so that they may have the hope of judgment. 

 

Paul talks about "Gentiles who have not the law [but] do by nature what the law requires ... They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when ... God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." (Romans 2:14-16). These Gentiles who do not know the law are feeling the pull of it nonetheless. When they do good, they are acting in accordance with what they know innately to be right. And, in keeping with God's impartiality, they experience God's just judgment, where their consciences and conflicting thoughts are laid bare before God, their Creator who loves them and wants to judge them mercifully. These Gentiles show by their behavior that we all have an innate knowledge of good and evil, something that those who are not taught the law and choose sin anyway are choosing to ignore, and thus essentially robbing themselves of the hope of judgment. The "sin-choosing Gentiles" will still face God at their death, but they will have so denied His law as written in their hearts that they will not recognize Him, they will have no basis on which to expect nor receive His mercy. 

 

In the verse for today, Paul compares the sin-choosing Gentiles to those who know the law and yet still choose sin. It would seem this group is in the same boat, as they have also chosen sin, and that is the main point being made by Paul as he warns believers not to think they are better than the Gentiles. But there is a very subtle difference: Paul says the believers will be judged according to the law, while the sin-choosing Gentiles will just perish. Not only was the law written on the believers' hearts, as it is for all, but they had been taught it, so rather than simply perishing, Paul says they will be judged according to the law that they knew and denied. Now, Paul is casting the net of this verse over non-repentant sinners, Gentile and believer alike, and it is true they will suffer the same fate. But because they knew the law, the "bad" believers at least know who they are facing when they come before God, they at least knew who they were rejecting when they chose sin in this life. But what if the Gentiles had been told? Would they have chosen differently, even once or twice, and thus opened themselves to the possibility of God's mercy in His judgment? 

 

I think Paul is making a very subtle distinction here, but one that impresses the importance of trying to teach as many as possible of God's law and His mercy, as Paul himself did. Paul implies the "sin-choosing Gentiles" simply perish without having any hope of a merciful judgment. Perhaps if they had been taught the law, even slightly, it would have connected with what was written in their hearts, and opened the door to some different choices in their lives, or at least some "conflicting thoughts" that would have made them more open to God. This is the power of evangelization. If we tell those who don't know it of God's law, and also of His mercy, we may be giving them just enough knowledge to awaken their conscience, andand obtain the hope of His mercy at their moment of judgment.