Unwritten law and written law(Romans 2:12-16)

[瑤翰 김요한]

 Whether he is a Gentile, a religious person with a natural view, a cultural life of faith, or a teacher who teaches others like the Jews, Paul imprisoned all in their sins.

And Starting from Romans 4, the goal of obtaining righteousness through the ranks of faith like Abraham and David, being freed from sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, and fulfilling the requirements (righteousness) of the law by not  living according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, from Romans 1:18, you may lose interest because he see people from a negative perspective until you reach faith.

Q. Isn't it nothing to do with sin if you don't receive the law?

“For as many as have sinned without  law will also perish without the law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.” (Romans 2:12)

A. The word without law... says the law recorded in conscience.

In other words, conscience has the same meaning as unwritten law.

But to those who are in the law, the law becomes the written law.

“For not the hearers of the law are not just before God, but  the doers of the law will be justified.” (Rom 2:13)

Paul is arguing with those who are justified by the law and are trying to judge others, saying, 'Does only what you hear become righteousness? Don't you know that what you do is right?'

“For when the Gentile, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law , these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves” (Rom 2:14).

Paul is already writing the book of Romans, anticipating that the remnant of Israel will be saved when the gospel is preached to the Gentiles and the full number of the Gentiles is fulfilled (Rom 11:25).

In other words, if you fulfill the law, the law becomes your own and achieves love.

This means that the Lord fulfills the law (Matthew 5:17).

In order to complete the law, I will give you a reference.

 ‘You just have to love’ is the answer.

But how is this fulfilled? It is only when the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3-11 are fulfilled that we become the salt of the world, become the light, become a higher level of righteousness than the Pharisees and scribes, and become perfect people who conquer the law.

Originally, we had no love. Then you have to import love.

In order to do this, the Spirit of truth comes within us and a new commandment is made to become one with God who is love in Christ, and God's love must be revealed by keeping the new commandment, and Christ must appear in us in order to achieve love.

If you believe in Jesus directly as your object and also believe in God directly , that is worshipful faith, so you defy God's mercy by offering sacrifices like the Jews.

So “the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

The main ingredient of heaven is love.

Love is Heaven's passport and free passer.

The Spirit of the Lord comes into our poor spirit, and the eight blessings are fulfilled step by step, becoming a higher level of righteousness than the Pharisees and scribes.

To say that God gives us the ability to do His Word is a man's word, not a biblical principle.

Sometimes people pray like, ‘Lord, if you give me the ability, I will do this word. It probably won't happen even if they live 300 years.

Of course, if we have the power of love, it is true that we do it voluntarily, but we are not justified by receiving the power and completely keeping the law, it means that a righteousness other than the law comes into us and the law is embodied in us.

That's why the Bible says that it is the righteousness of God without the law.

Because this righteousness makes you move from faith to faith, you eventually reach the love of God, revealing a much higher level than the law, and then saying, 'Law, you have something to say'.

This is a righteousness other than the law.

When talking about black and white, gray is the scariest color.

What that is is the situation in Genesis 1:2.

‘In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). There is no ‘and’ in Korean, but there is a conjunction ‘and’ in Hebrew.

"And  the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God  moved upon the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2).

This is the situation in which a man who has sinned is under the law.

Clearly, God created man, and the heart of man is like this.

It's stuck on either side. On one side is a fig tree. This is a face tree.

On the other side is the tree of life. This state of seeing only opportunities on both sides is originally the state of the earth in the human mind, and it is the appearance of believers who demonstrate the acting power of their words and actions now.

“Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” (Romans 2:15)

It means that even though there is no law, they keep accusing them from within.

Our conscience cannot be persuaded by us. It's like a black box on an airplane.

That's why people's excuse logic is constantly evolving.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam uses Eve as an excuse and Eve uses the serpent as an excuse, but in this diversified generation, the logic of excuses has developed ingeniously and defends itself.

Q. Will a person who does not know the truth repent? can't it?

A. You cannot repent if you do not know the truth. Because he doesn't know where to go or the way back, he doesn't even know he's in the wrong place.

Therefore, if you are accused by your own conscience, you make excuses and logically continue to make excuses for yourself.

These people agree that God's word is 'all correct'.

However, those who do not know the truth say, “ God’s word is true, but...”

If this is the case, think that this person is someone who has not received the Word, and leave it alone for a while.

“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16).

What is in man is a secret known only to God.

So, the stronger he is in self-defense, the more he is a legal believer and he is in the place of sinners.

Hearing the gospel, receiving the illumination of the Holy Spirit, thinking that I was in a position where I could have been in serious trouble, holding on to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross, and through baptism to die with the Lord and live again with the Lord, repent to return to Christ.

There, they obtain God's righteousness, become peaceable with God, and rejoice to see the glory, so they become one with God through that glory, and their unity is perfected, leading to love.

Therefore, we, the Gentiles who did not receive the written law, must give thanks and praise greatly that we, the Gentiles, heard the gospel of truth, repented, obtained righteousness through faith that united us with Christ, and received the blessing of advancing to the glory of God.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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