ACC ~ Romans 2 v12 - 16

OVERVIEW:

Jews and Gentiles will be judged differently: Jews according to the law of Moses and Gentiles according to the law of nature. But the result will be the same: All who refuse to believe in Christ will be condemned. “Practice what you preach” is the same law for everyone. The Jews were privileged to have the law of Moses, which made God’s will clear to them. But Gentiles could discover something of that will for themselves by reading the law of nature and obeying it. The conscience acts as the judge of those who have not received the law of Moses. Those who will be accused here are the heretics and schismatics, who have broken with the faith of the church. Those who will be excused are those who keep the communion of the church intact. The Fathers did not hesitate to evoke the fear of the law when they described the last judgment. On that day there will be perfect confession of the truth and perfect justice, because the imperfections of human courts will be overcome in heaven.

2:12 | Two Kinds of Law

WHICH LAW? ORIGEN: When the apostle says that those who are without the law will perish without the law, the question arises as to whether this should be understood only of the law of Moses or whether it should be extended to cover the law of Christ or even some other law under which mortal men may live. Will such a person be judged according to the law under which he has sinned, or will he perish as if he were outside the law because he is outside the law of Moses, even if he lives under some other law? For the apostle Paul himself, when he speaks to those who are outside the law, says that he too is virtually outside the law but adds: “I am not without law, but I am in the law of Christ,” thus showing that although he may not be under the law of Moses he is nevertheless still under law. But whether human laws also belong to this category remains to be seen. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE LAW OF NATURE. AMBROSIASTER: How can someone sin without the law, when Paul says that everyone is subject to the law of nature? By “law” he means the law of Moses, to which the Jews are bound although they do not believe. The Gentiles are also under the judgment of the natural law, but only insofar as they have chosen not to attach themselves to it. Thus the Gentile unbelievers are doubly in trouble, because they have neither assented to the law given through Moses, nor have they received the grace of Christ. Therefore it is quite right that they should perish. So just as the person who sins without the law will perish, so also the one who has kept the law without knowing it will be justified. For the keeper of the law maintains his righteousness by nature. For if the law is given not for the righteous but for the unrighteous, whoever does not sin is a friend of the law. For him faith alone is the way by which he is made perfect. For others mere avoidance of evil will not gain them any advantage with God unless they also believe in God, so that they may be righteous on both counts. For the one righteousness is temporal; the other is eternal.

The Gentiles even if they keep the natural law will perish if they do not accept the faith of Christ. For it is a greater thing to confess faith in the one Lord, since God is one, than it is to avoid sinning (for the first of these has to do with God, the second with us). The Jews who live under the law will be accused and judged by the law, insofar as they have not accepted the Christ promised to them in the law. And if you wonder about this, the fate of the Jews will be worse than that of the Gentiles, for it is worse to lose what was promised than not to receive what was not hoped for in the first place. The unbelieving Gentile has not entered the kingdom of God, but the unbelieving Jew has been removed from it. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE NEED FOR GRACE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says that the Jews have a much greater need of grace than the Gentiles. Because the Jews said that they were justified by the law and therefore did not need grace, Paul shows that they need it even more than the Gentiles, given that they are liable to be punished more severely. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

THE LAW INCREASES PENALTIES. CHRYSOSTOM: Those who lived before the giving of the law will not receive the same sentence as those after the law. Those sinning after the giving of the law will undergo heavier penalties. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 18.2.

PERISHING WITHOUT THE LAW. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: So as not to appear to be con-demning them out of hatred Paul has repeated himself here, saying that those who have sinned without the law will perish without the law and that those under the law will be judged by the law. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

MOSAIC LAW AND NATURAL LAW. [PSEUDO-] CONSTANTIUS: This whole section [from verse 6] is addressed to everyone who is bound by natural law, in which the Jews are equally included. But the Jew is given priority over the Greek because in addition to the natural law, he has the law of Moses as well. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

BELIEVERS WHO SIN UNDER THE LAW. JEROME: The ungodly without the law shall perish forever. But the sinner under the law who comes to faith in God will not perish. The Dialogue AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 1.28.

MEANING OF JUDGMENT. AUGUSTINE: It is generally agreed that judgment is the usual expression for eternal damnation. FAITH AND WORKS 23.43.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN JEWS AND GENTILES. AUGUSTINE: The apostle did not mean to say that those who sin in ignorance will suffer worse punishment than those who know the law. It seems that it is worse to perish than to be judged. Rather the apostle here was merely distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles. GRACE AND FREE WILL 3.5.

PERISHING WITH AND WITHOUT THE LAW. PELAGIUS: “Will perish” means the same thing as “will be judged,” for the man who perishes perishes by God’s judgment, and the man who is judged a sinner perishes. Paul puts Jews and Gentiles on the same level when he says that doers rather than hearers of the law are righteous and then adds that the Gentiles will be judged on the day of the Lord. For does anyone doubt that those under the law will perish just as those who lived without the law, unless they have believed in Christ? PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

2:13 | Hearers and Doers of the Law

BELIEF IN CHRIST. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this because those who hear the law are not justified unless they believe in Christ, whom the law itself has promised. This is what it means to keep the law. For how does someone who does not believe the law keep it, when he does not receive the One to whom the law bears witness? But the one who appears not to be under the law because he is uncircumcised in his flesh, if he believes in Christ, may be said to have kept the law. And he who says he is in the law, i.e., the Jew, because what is said in the law does not penetrate to his mind, is not a doer of the law but a hearer only, for he does not believe in the Christ who is written about in the law, as Philip said to Nathanael: “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.” COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HEARING AND DOING. CHRYSOSTOM: Well does Paul say “before God,” because if they may appear before men to be dignified and to boast of great things, before God it is quite different: only the doers of the law are justified before him. … But how is it possible for someone who has not heard to be a doer of the law? Paul insists not only that it is possible but that those who have heard it might not be doers of it. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

PRACTICING WHAT IS HEARD. CHRYSOSTOM: What benefit is it if, while listening each day, we neglect to practice what we hear? Hence I be-seech you, let us be zealous in practicing those very deeds (by no other way, in fact, is it possible to be saved) so that we may also wash away our sins and be granted the Lord’s lovingkindness at his own hands, thanks to the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. HOMILIES ON GENESIS 47.18.

IMPERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: This is not the perfect righteousness according to Christ. About that, Paul says: “By works of the law shall no one be justified.” PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

JUSTIFICATION AND BELIEF. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: God the Father will justify any be-liever in Christ who has truly obeyed the law. For the reward of his life is justification, which he would have been less able to obtain by the works of the law. Therefore, as I have said, justification is a reward for the believer in Christ. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Paul explains why the Jews are not better than the Gentiles. We too should be afraid, in case after hearing the law but not doing it we perish along with the Gentiles. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: The law was given not to tickle our ears but to lead us to good works. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

2:14 | Doing What the Law Requires

LETTER AND SPIRIT. ORIGEN: The Gentiles need not keep the sabbaths or the new moons or the sacrifices which are written down in the law. For this law is not what is written on the hearts of the Gentiles. Rather it is that which can be discerned naturally, e.g., that they should not kill or commit adultery, that they should not steal nor bear false witness, that they should honor father and mother, etc. It may well be that since God is the one Creator of all, these things are written on the hearts of the Gentiles. … For the natural law may agree with the law of Moses in the spirit, if not in the letter. For how would anyone understand by nature that a child should be circumcised on the eighth day? … But we who feel that such things must be understood in a spiritual sense believe that we are not merely hearers of the law but doers of it also, being justified not according to the letter of the law, which in any case is so difficult that nobody could ever do it correctly, but according to the Spirit, which is the only way the law can ever be kept. This then is the work of the law which the apostle says even the Gentiles can fulfill. So when they do what the law says, it seems that they have the law written on their hearts by God, “not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE NATURAL LAW. AMBROSE: The Gentiles show the work of the law written in their hearts. There is therefore something like the law of God which exists in the hearts of men. PARADISE 8.39.

KEEPING THE NATURAL LAW. AMBROSE: If men had been able to keep the natural law which God the Creator planted in the breast of each one, there would have been no need of that law which, written on stone tablets, enmeshed and entangled the weakness of human nature rather than freed and liberated it. LETTER 83.

NATURE ACKNOWLEDGING ITS OWN CREATOR. AMBROSIASTER: Paul calls the Gentiles Christians because he is the teacher of the Gentiles, as he says elsewhere: “For I speak to you Gentiles.” These people are uncircumcised and do not keep new moons or the sabbath or the law of foods, yet under the guidance of nature they believe in God and in Christ, i.e., in the Father and the Son. To keep the law is to acknowledge the God who gives the law. This is the first part of wisdom: to stand in awe of God the Father, from whom all things come, and the Lord Jesus his Son, through whom all things come. Therefore nature itself acknowledges its Creator by its own judgment, not by the law but by reason, for the creature recognizes its Maker in itself. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE REASONING OF NATURE. CHRYSOSTOM: When Paul is challenging the pride of Judaism, he is careful not to appear to be condemning the law as such. On the contrary, by extolling the law and showing its greatness he makes good his whole position. When he says “by nature” he means “by the reasoning of nature.” He shows that the Gentiles are on better footing than the Jews. They have not received the law and therefore do not have what seems to give the Jews an advantage over them. For this reason Paul says the Gentiles are to be admired, because they did not need a law, but did all the things which were written in the law, having its works but not its letters engraved on their minds. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

NOT WITHOUT ANY LAW. PELAGIUS: Paul is referring either to those who were righteous before the law or to those who even now are doing some good. He shows that the Gentiles are not without any kind of law in order to leave them with no excuse and to take away the glory which the Jews had by their possession of the law. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

2:15 | Conscience Bears Witness

WHAT IS WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS? ORIGEN: “Written on their hearts” should not be taken too literally. What Paul calls the heart is the rational faculty of the soul.

It is also necessary to discuss what Paul means by the word conscience. Is it something distinguishable from the heart or from the soul? … Conscience is the spirit which the apostle says is with the soul, according to which we have been instructed in the higher things. This spirit or conscience is linked to the soul as a teacher and guide to point out what things are best and to reprove and condemn faults. The apostle was speaking of it when he said: “What person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?” COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE DEFENSE OF CONSCIENCE IN FINAL JUDGMENT. AMBROSIASTER: The meaning here is that those who believe under the guidance of nature do the work of the law not through the letter but through their conscience. For the work of the law is faith, which, although it is fully revealed in the Word of God, also shows itself to be a law for the natural judgment. Faith goes beyond what the law commands. Faith trusts in Christ. These people believe because of the inner witness of their conscience, because they know in their conscience that what they believe is right. It is not disjunctive for the creature to believe and worship his Creator, nor is it absurd for the servant to recognize his Lord.

Unbelieving Gentiles will be judged first of all by other believing Gentiles, just as the Lord said that his disciples would judge the unbelieving Jews: “They themselves will be your judges.” The unbelief of the Jews will be judged by the faith of the apostles who, although Jews themselves, believed in Christ while the rest of their people rejected him. Similarly the Gentiles will be accused by their own thoughts if, touched by the faith and power of the Creator, they refuse to believe. But if because of some foolishness a man does not think to believe the words or deeds of the Lord, his conscience will defend him on the day of judgment, because he did not think that he was obliged to believe. He will be judged not as an intentional malefactor but as one who was merely ignorant. … It is Christians to whom Paul is referring when he speaks of accusing and excusing on the day of judgment. Those who differ from the true church, either because they think differently about Christ or because they disagree about the meaning of the Bible in the tradition of the church (e.g., Montanists, Novatianists, Donatists and other heretics) will be accused by their own thoughts on the day of judgment. Likewise one who recognizes that the Christian faith is true but refuses to follow it so as not to appear that he has been corrected and who is ashamed to depart from what he has so long held will be accused by his own thoughts on the day of judgment. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE CARE OF PROVIDENCE. CHRYSOSTOM: Conscience and reason take the place of the law. By saying this, Paul showed that God made persons independent, giving them the freedom to choose virtue and avoid vice. Do not be surprised that he proves this point, not once or twice but several times. He had to do this in order to counter those who said: “Why did Christ delay his coming so long? Where was this great scheme of providence before Christ came?” … But even before the law was given the human race enjoyed the care of providence.

Why does Paul insert the words accuse or perhaps excuse?If they have a written law and do what it says, how can their thoughts still accuse them? Paul is not speaking here of the righteous only but of all mankind. For then our thoughts do pass judgment, some excusing us and others accusing. And at that tribunal, one needs no other accuser. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

OUR CONSCIENCE. AUGUSTINE: Compare this with 1 John [3:20]: “Dearly beloved, if our own hearts condemn us, God is greater than our conscience.” AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 10.

THE WITNESS OF CONSCIENCE. PELAGIUS: Nature produces a law in their hearts through the witness of their conscience. Or it may mean that the conscience testifies to the fact that it has its own law, because even if the sinner is afraid of no one the conscience is worried when he sins and rejoices when that sin is overcome. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

2:16 | God Judges Our Secrets

JUDGMENT ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL. TERTULLIAN: If God will judge the secrets of men … surely the God who will judge is he to whom belong both the law and that nature which is the rule for those who do not know the law. But how will he conduct this judgment? “According to my gospel,” says the apostle, “by Christ Jesus.” The law and nature are vindicated by the gospel and Christ. AGAINST MARCION 5.13.

ACCUSING AND DEFENDING. ORIGEN: Who can doubt that a trial is properly conducted when there are accusers and defenders and witnesses all present? … See therefore how on that day, when God will judge the secrets of men, our thoughts will either accuse or defend our soul—not the thoughts which we will have then but the ones which we have now. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

CLOTHED IN SINS OR JUST DEEDS. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: The awe-inspiring countenance of the Judge will compel you to speak the truth. Even if you are silent, it will convict you. You will rise clothed either in your sins or in your just deeds. The Judge himself declared this. CATECHESIS 15.25.

GOD LOOKS INTO THE HEART. APOLLINARIS OF LAODICEA: Men sit as judges of the external things only. It is God who judges things hidden. For Scripture says: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart.” When Christ judges, then God is the judge. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

DUAL ACCUSERS. AMBROSIASTER: There are two thoughts inside a man which will accuse each other—the good and the evil. The good accuses the evil because it has denied the truth. The evil accuses the good because it has not done what it knows to be right. One who knows that the church is good and true but persists in heresy or schism will be judged guilty. Other thoughts will excuse, insofar as one has done what is expedient to do. He will say inwardly: “In my mind I have always thought it expedient to do what I have done. This was my faith.” He will have a better case, even though he will still have to be corrected, because his conscience will not accuse him on the day of judgment. This is how the secret things of men will be judged by Jesus Christ our Lord on the day of judgment. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE SECRETS OF MEN. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says the “secrets of men” and not the sins of men, in order to add to their fear. … For men sit in judgment on overt acts alone.

If a secret deed of any one of us were brought into the open right now, in the midst of the church, what would we do except pray for death and have the earth swallow us up, rather than have so many witnesses of wickedness? HOMILIES ON ROMANS 5.

BELIEF IN CHRIST NECESSARY TO ESCAPE PUNISHMENT. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul continually preached that there will be a day of judgment and that it will be necessary to have believed in Christ in order to escape punishment. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

CONSCIENCE AND THOUGHTS. PELAGIUS: Paul says that there is a mental debate when we decide after long deliberation what we should and should not do. On the day of the Lord we shall be judged by this. This proves that we were not ignorant of good and evil. Or perhaps it means that on the day of judgment our conscience and our thoughts will appear before our eyes like history lessons to be learned; they will either accuse us or excuse us. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.