The False Talisman of the Torah - Romans 2:12-16

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Benjamin Gonzalez

Heritage Christian Fellowship

Romans • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago • Presented 3 years ago • 38:42

Romans 2:12–16

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Introduction

Illustration - Houses on the Rock

In Matthew 7, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turns to address those religious Jews of his day; people who shared the same heart of those that Paul is addressing in Romans chapter 2; people who were just as self-deceived about their ability to avoid condemnation as the Jews in Rome were. He is addressing those who believe that simply by knowing God’s Word, by possessing and hearing the law, that they will have a place in God’s Kingdom. And Jesus uses an illustration to show that this belief is built on a false assumption. Listen as I read Matthew 7:24-27, “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

One must, according to Jesus hear His words, and act on them. True disciples are not those who are mere hearers . The true Christian is the one who believes in Him as Savior and obediently follows after Him as Lord. On the other hand, the one who trusts in merely possessing the law, in merely knowing about God and the gospel, will not stand in the day of judgement, but fall like a house built on sand when it is hit by a hurricane.

Context

And this is Paul’s point in our passage today in Romans. The Jew wrongly assumed that mere possession, that mere hearing, that mere knowledge of the Law of Moses a sign that they would be exempt from God’s judgement.And this was just another intrinsic means that they clung to to save them from the wrath they believed the gentiles deserved.

Last week, Paul introduced the truth that God is an impartial judge. He is a God who does not judge according the ethnic heritage but He is a judge who will render to each person according to his or her deeds. Eternal life will be granted to those who persevere in doing good and seek for glory. And wrath and indignation will be given to those who obey unrighteousness and do evil. And this week we see the same thing taught by Paul - it is the doers of the law will be justified, but those who sin against the law will perish.

Main Point and Structure

To put that simply, the main idea here is this: The Torah is not a talisman that saves its hearers, for only the doers of it will be justified.

This argument is divided into two sections. In verses 12-13, Paul will explain God’s Impartial Judgement in regard to the Law of Moses and in verses 14-16 Paul will teach us of God’s Impartial Judgement in regard to the Natural Law.

God’s Impartiality and the Torah - vs 12-13

God’s Impartiality and the Natural Law vs 14-16

With that, let’s begin by learning of God’s Impartial Judgement and the Torah.

God’s Impartiality and the Torah - vs 12-13

Exposition

Impartial Judgement - vs 12

Romans 2:12 NASB95

12 For 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;

In this first section, Paul elaborates on what he just said in Romans 2:6 “6 He will render to each one according to his deeds:” And Romans 2:11 “11 For God shows no partiality.” God will judge both the Jew and the Gentile and he will judge their deeds in proportion to what He has revealed to both the Jew and the Gentile.

Look with me at verse 12, “12 For 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;” See here that the Law was never meant to be a talisman, but a teacher, a teacher which exposes the problem of sin and points to the solution of Christ’s atonement. But what about those who didn’t have this teacher, who did not and do not have access to God’s Law? Are they free from condemnation? No for they are not free from sinning. They continue to sin without the law.

Beyond the reality of universal sin, Paul is also teaching that God is a just God even in His condemnation of sinners. His punishment is not excessive but is fair. Leon Morris comments here, “People are judged according to the light they have, not according to the light they do not have” There are degrees of punishment that the sinner will receive and it will be in proportion to what was revealed to them by God.

This is what Jesus taught in Luke 12:42-48 in his parable of the servants and the Master coming home from a journey. Luke 12:42-48 “42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” You see, the more truth that someone has been given by God the greater the judgement they will receive if they do not respond with obedience.

Gospel Application

Now, look at me for a moment, it can be said for almost if not all of us here today that we have been exposed to the light of God’s Word. We have heard the call of the Gospel. Se have witnessed the power of God at work in those around us, and hopefully in our own hearts. But dear friend, if you have not responded to the light you have received, if you have not turned from the darkness of your sins to Christ, and turned to follow the Light of the world and walked in His light of life you will be under great condemnation.

You have even more knowledge than these Jews that Paul is talking to here. So then how much greater will be your judgement if you reject Christ? This is what Jesus said to the citizens who lived in the region where He spent the most time of his ministry, Matthew 11:21-23 “21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” Oh dear friend, do not continue to remain unresponsive to the commands of Christ.

Repent of your sin and follow after Him - At this moment, He does not stand ready to condemn you for failing to come after all this time. He stands ready to save you. Come to Him.

Hearers vs Doers - vs 13

Romans 2:13 NASB95

13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

And the act of doing that Jesus emphasized in his parable is exactly where Paul goes in verse 13, “13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”

Now to understand the mind of the Jew here, it’s helpful to remember that most people did not normally read or study God’s Law for themselves. Unless you were a scribe or a pharisee, you heard the Law of God read at the Synagogue. And the Jews were actually known for their significant ability to remember, word for word a teaching that they heard from their Rabbi days or weeks after. For those of us today, that’s unthinkable, can you imagine me coming to your home tomorrow to hear you recite my sermon back to me word for word? So you can see how there was great importance and emphasis in that culture placed on hearing the Law.

But Paul is saying, that’s not enough. You don’t get a pass for just showing up and listening closely, you must hear and obey. You can’t cling to mere possession of the Law as a parachute to save you from falling into condemnation. It is only those who pull on the ripcord, who are doers of the Law, that will be justified.

And this truth should not be foreign to the Israelites. From the very beginning they were commanded to be doers of the Law by Moses himself, Deut 4:1, “1 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” See here that those who merely hear the Law of Moses and do not respond to it by being doers, are disobedient to the very law they boast about hearing.

Moreover, this is not a teaching that is foreign to the New Testament. In Luke’s account of the parable of the house on the rock, Jesus rebuked those who called Him Lord, but did not follow after Him as Lord, Luke 6:46-49 “46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” And then there’s the famous words from James to the church in Jerusalem, James 1:22-25 “22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” So not only are mere hearers disobedient to the Law, they are self-deceived. They are like those who build houses on sinking sand. They look into the mirror of God’s Law and see their sin and their need for repentance and for faith and then they walk away forgetting everything.

Gospel Application

Again look up at me for a moment. Does this describe you? As I shared last week, this was me before I was born again. I was once standing in some of your shoes. I would hear sermon after sermon every Friday night and every Sunday morning, I would listen as my parents and my teachers and my pastors taught me about the things of God. Sometimes, I’d even feel convicted. But did I truly respond? No. I was like Nicodemus, steeped in the knowledge of the Law, knowledgable to even be a teacher of some, and yet unresponsive. I was the liar that John talks about in 1 John 2:3-6 “3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

Please, please, please don’t be satisfied with mere head knowledge of God’s Word. Don’t think that you are saved because you are an active listener to our sermons. Respond! Believe in the gospel that you know, that you’ve heard a thousand times. Repent of your reliance on your knowledge of Christ, repent of your willful disobedience of what you know to be right, and turn to Christ. Trust that His righteousness alone can make you right before God. Believe that His death alone was sufficient to pay the penalty for your sins and purchase peace between you and God.. Oh friend, hear the voice of the Good Shepherd who is calling you to Himself, follow after Him by walking in His ways.

Explanation of the controversy of vs 13

Now, as I taught last week and wrote to you in the August Newsletter, Paul is not teaching a works-based salvation in verse 13 and neither am I. We are justified by faith alone. We have peace with the Holy God not because of our good deeds but because of Christ’s blood shed on our behalf.

So then, what does Paul mean when he says, “the doers of the law will be justified”? Let’s read slowly and look carefully. First, the noun translated doers is not common in the New Testament, and is only used 5 times. In fact, Paul’s only use is here in this verse. James is the only other one who uses it, most prominently in the passage we read earlier from James 1 where he instructed us not to merely be hearers of the word, but be doers. So then the doers of the Law are those who respond, who act on, who obey what they hear.

As I said earlier the law is a teacher that reveals sin and points to Christ and that’s not coming from me but from Paul. As we will soon examine, Romans 3:20b, through the law comes knowledge of sin. And also Galatians 3:24, “24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” So then we do the law by trusting in Christ to be saved from our sin - which is our justification by faith. And then we respond as saved people by following our Lord who obeyed the law - which is our sanctification. MacArthur puts it this way in his commentary on this verse, “The true doers of God’s law are those who come to Jesus Christ in faith, because the purpose of the law is to lead men to Him (Gal. 3:24). And after they have come to Him in faith, their obedient lives give evidence of their saving relationship to Him and of the fact that they will be justified”

Which brings me to that second phrase, “will be justified”. To be justified is to be declared righteous before God, if you have the ESV you can see that at the beginning of verse 13. This is a decision made by the Righteous and Holy Judge to declare someone as innocent or just or right before Him. And in this verse, Paul is looking forward to the future judgement day, He uses the future tense of the verb, “will be justified.” There is a true sense in which we our justification as Christians is a present and a future reality. This is what is taught in romans 3:24, that we are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and in Romans 4 where Paul will teach that Abraham was justified when he first believed the promises of God. But it is also a future reality as we learned last week, where on the final day, if our names are written in the Book of Life, we are declared justified by the Holy Judge and rewarding for our perseverance in doing good.

And my point is this, Paul again is not teaching that obedience to the law produces justification. If we read carefully like we just did, he does not say if you do the law you will be justified, or you are justified by doing the law. No, he says, that the doers of the law will be justified. What Paul is doing in this verse is describing the justified person as someone who is characterized by hearing and obeying the commands of Christ. They demonstrate that they are justified, by the fruit of their lives - the doing of God’s holy law.

Application Walking up Stairs with a Yo-yo

Before we move on to our second point, I just want to stop and give you some encouragement here. It’s really easy to feel discouraged by this teaching, especially if you feel like you are failing in your life to be a doer. This summer in the Union young adults group we did a study through Kevin DeYoung’s book on sanctification called Hole in my Holiness. And in this book, which I highly recommend, there is a section that stood out to a lot of us struggling with discouragement at our lack of holiness, he says this, “sanctification is like a man walking up the stairs with a yo-yo. There are a lot of ups and downs, but ultimate progress nonetheless.”

You see as Christians we readily acknowledge and understand that God demands perfect law doing every day, all the time. But we often forget that that perfect law keeping was already accomplished for us in Christ - that righteousness - that rightness before God is ours by faith. And we can’t attain to that in this life. At camp regeneration in Glorieta, MacArthur once said to some of us here that, “the Christian life is not about perfection, it’s about direction.”

We are called by God to be doers of His Word, but this is not a demand for perfection - Christ did that already - this is a call for progress. And this “progress is not only what God expects from us,” to quote DeYoung again, “but what he allows from us.” He allows us to grow, to mature, some times rapidly, and sometimes slower than we’d like. But remember the heart of God to the unbeliever - kind, patient, tolerant. Will not our Father’s heart be that much more patient with us who are His?

With that, let’s move on to our second point, God’s Impartiality and the Natural Law

God’s Impartiality and the Natural Law vs 14-16

Exposition

The Natural Law - vs 14-15

Romans 2:14 NASB95

14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,

In this section, Paul introduces the case of the lawless gentile to prove that mere possession, mere hearing of the Torah is not salvific. Verse 14, “14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,”These are the same gentiles who, in verse 12, perish eternally without the law because of their sin. And in these verses Paul is showing, in greater detail why the gentiles are without excuse before God.

In 1:18, Paul taught that the gentile suppresses the truth about God that is evident in creation. In 1:21 Paul showed that they knew God, but refused to respond to Him as God. In 1:26, Paul taught that the gentiles engage in homosexual sin by exchanging what is natural for what is against their nature. And in 1:32 Paul taught that even though they know the ordinance of God, they practice rebellion and sin.

What Paul is teaching is that we all, at bear minimum have the light of God’s truth written into our nature. We know God exists, we know what is naturally good and right, we know his ordinances of good and evil, and this is evident by the reality that, on occasion each of us follow this law. We affirm the total depravity of man in this church, but this verse flies in the face of the thought that mankind is utterly depraved. There are moments and times in which we instinctively do the things of the law.

Romans 2:15 NASB95

15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,

Paul continues to describe this reality in verse 15, “15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

God has made us in His image and part of this astounding and wonderful truth is that He has written His law in each of our hearts.. Paul here is borrowing from the greek philosophers of his day who taught that each person adheres to a natural law. The greeks taught that the reality of the natural law explained the universal condemnation of theft, of adultery, of murder, it explained that certain moral truths can be found in the law codes of every human society.

Which is why, and this is Paul’s point, someone who does not have the written Law is still accountable for sinning. They are judged for their sin because they consciously chose to disobey the law that God has naturally placed within them. The sinning Jew doesn’t get a pass and neither does the sinning gentile. They both are violators of God’s law revealed to each of them and they both deserve to perish.

There are two condemning witnesses for the gentile sinner in these verses. The first witness is the one we just studied, the law written by God on our hearts. The second witness is our conscience. God has given each of us a conscience that either approves of our obedience or accuses us for our disobedience. It is not the origin of the natural law but it is the witness within each of us who testifies to our heart when we obey or violate that law. It’s why each of us, regenerate, or unregenerate, knows what it is like to feel guilty when we sin, or feel affirmed when we do what is right.

Application - Evangelize

And this truth is as clear as day. Spend 5 minutes on social media and you will see all the slander and then malice and all the hate that make social media so dark. But in the midst of all that darkness, there is light. There are myriads of unbelievers who are filled with compassion when they look at the suffering of the Afghani people and who are filled with righteous indignation in the way that the policy of the American President created the environment where the darkest of evil could thrive. There are literally millions of people who shared and liked videos of children’s lives being saved as they were handed over the walls of the airport - demonstrating that we value the preciousness of those children, of those babies.

Not only do we see this on social media, we see it in pop culture as well. The other day there was a phrase that was trending on twitter that was said by a character in a popular TV show, “doing the right thing is never the wrong thing (repeat)” - Now that is a simple platitude but what it shows is that we as people prize goodness and honesty and virtue.

The main character of another Emmy winning show is a man who is portrayed as a faithful husband and father. He is championed for adoringly loving and serving his wife and for protecting and providing and sacrificing for his children. And when those children grow, the boys long to be the man their dad was and the girl seeks to marry a man like her father. For as much as biblical manhood and masculinity gets a bad wrap in American culture, this show demonstrates is that we all know what being a good husband and a good father and a good man looks like.

And dear saint, I share all of this to you to make you stop and realize, there is so much fertile ground in the hearts of the unbelievers around us. It is so easy for us to think that every heart around us is rocky soil. This may not be true of you, but I have certainly fallen into that false assumption in the past. And this thought just isn’t true. Stop and marvel at the reality that our children, our neighbors, our coworkers, of our classmates, our facebook friends and our real life friends have been made in by God in His image, with souls inscribed with His law by His own hand.

So then when you see your facebook friend or your real life friend showing compassion for the suffering or indignation against injustice, appeal to them. Ask them, do you know why you hate injustice? Do you know why you feel compassion?

Let me stop here and just ask those of you who do not claim to be Christians these same questions? Why is it that you hate injustice? Why is it that you long for honesty and truth and goodness in this world? Why do you feel compassion in your hearts when you look at the hundreds of faces of those afghani refugees crammed into a cargo plane? You hate injustice because the God of this universe hates injustice. You have compassion because the God of this universe is a compassionate and gracious God.

He has made you to be like Him, made in His image. He has placed within you a since of what is right and what is good, a law that teaches you not to murder or kill or rob, to be faithful, to be true, to be righteous. And the sad reality that you and I both fail to follow that law within us all the time. We know that it is wrong kill, and yet we murder with our hateful hearts. We prize kindness and graciousness and truth and yet so often we maliciously slander each other and spread ruthless gossip about those we dislike. We prize wisdom and yet we engage in folly, wasting countless time and money every day. This is what it looks like to be a sinner. We sin and our condemnation for sin is an eternal death in hell. But good news is this, Christ, in His love and His mercy and His compassion, came to this earth to live a perfectly holy life and then die on the cross and receive the wrath of God that we deserve. If believe in Him and your sins can be forgiven. His perfect righteousness can be credited to you. If you repent of your willful life of sin and instead follow after Him as your Lord, as your King as your Master, you will have eternal life. Believe and repent dear friend!

Judgement Day - vs 16

Romans 2:16 NASB95

16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Ok, let’s move on to our last verse. Start reading back up in verse 15 to get the context, “15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” So Paul is teaching that we have God’s moral law written on our hearts. We have a conscience that both accuses us when we disobey that law - producing thoughts of guilt, and defends us when we obey that law - producing thoughts of affirmation. And in the end, this conscience will be a witness against us, for on that final day of judgement, both our outward deeds and our inward motives will be judged.

Think about this reality for a moment. For each one of us there is most likely a part of our hearts that we are ashamed of, secrets and thoughts that we dread anyone knowing about. How would you feel if your internet search history was published and posted for all to see? Or if every thought you’ve ever had about anyone was written down for everyone to read. If these secret things could remain hidden for all eternity we would fair so much better on the day of judgement…and that’s the lie the devil wants you to believe. But God will judge all things, both public and private, but outward and inward.

I want you to notice two more things. First see that Paul writes that this judgement is “according to my gospel.” The gospel is the good news of salvation. But unless judgement is a reality, there is nothing from which we need to be saved. If there is no judgement day, there is no need for the gospel. John Stott comments saying that, “the good news of salvation shines forth brightly when it is seen against the dark background of divine judgment. We cheapen the gospel if we represent it as a deliverance only from unhappiness, fear, guilt and other felt needs, instead of as a rescue from the coming wrath.”

Secondly, see that it is Christ is the one who will judge us on the last day. This was a new teaching in Scripture that is introduced in the New Testament. The Messiah who saves is also the Messiah who judges. Here are the words of Jesus in John 5:22-23 “22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.” And for the Christian, this is a comforting reality. Our judge on the last day, will be our savior who died for us. The One who judges our deeds and the secrets of our hearts is the One who has clothed us in His perfect righteousness, who is even now interceding for us, who is keeping us from stumbling, who sent the Holy Spirit to help us become doers of the Law of God.

Conclusion

When I was in my last year of college, after my wife and I got married, my wife would go along with some of our friends and sit in on their classes. One of these classes was a Biblical Counseling course called Marriage and Family. I was already at the maximum amount of credits so it was not a class I could register for.

However, after the first lecture my wife talked to the professor, she thought it would be great for us newlyweds to both attend. He graciously agreed and allowed me to audit the class for free.

And what that meant was that I was able to sit in and listen to all of the lectures, I was able to participate in all the discussions, and the professor even gave my wife and I copies of the class workbook. Moreover, I did not have to do any of the homework assignments, take any of the quizzes, do a final project or take the exam. Best of both worlds. And it was a wonderful privilege to have taken that class because I have used what I learned in that both in my own marriage and in my role as a Pastor here.

However, and this is my point, after that class was over, did I get credit? Was Marriage and Family included on my college transcript when I graduated? The answer is no. I got no credit because I was merely an auditor. I did not do the work of a student, I was merely just a hearer.

Oh dear friend, if you cling to mere knowledge about Christ, to mere study of His word, to mere hearing of our sermons you will not be saved. Your hearing, and your knowledge will not be credited to you as righteousness before God. The Torah is not a talisman to ward off God’s wrath.

So then, dear friends do not merely be an auditor of the Law, but be like the man who builds His house on the Rock, who hears the command of Christ in the gospel, to repent and believe, and obeys by doing just that.

And know this, dear saints, you and Ido not need to fear that last day. For us, it will not be a day of judgment but instead a day where our salvation will be fully realized, a day where we will stand before the Holy and Righteous judge Jesus Christ, and we will here these words from our dear Savior, “well done my Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”

Let’s Pray

Prayer

Heavenly Father we come before you and we thank you for your Word to us today. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but your word oh God will stand forever.” We thank you that you have sent your Son to pay the penalty for our ever frequent failure to obey your Word. And we thank you that you have caused us to be born again and have placed your spirit within us so that we can be obedient to your commands, so that we can be holy as you are holy Oh God. Help us this week to not just be hearers of your Word but to be doers of your Word we pray, Amen.

Benediction

The Torah is not a talisman that saves its hearers, - merely possessing these pages of scripture will not save you, for it is only the Holy Spirit-empowered doers of the Word who will be justified on the last day.

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.