Romans: Exposition of Chapters 2:1-3:20: The Righteous Judgement of God by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Author:D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones [Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Religion, Biblical Studies, New Testament, Christianity, Catholic, Romans
ISBN: 9780310279600
Google: E10icAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0851515452
Barnesnoble: 0851515452
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 1988-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Nine

(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 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 2:13-15

We now come to a consideration of the parenthesis, which is to be found in the middle of Paul's fifth argument on the great subject of the wrath of God and justification by faith only. We have looked at this argument in general as it is stated in verses 1 r, 12 and 16 and now we must look at the words which are to be found within brackets in the Authorized Version, in verses 13, 14 and 15. Here, in this parenthesis, the Apostle does two things; he partly elaborates what he has been saying in his general statement, and at the same time he deals with certain objections which he knew many, both Jews and Gentiles, were bringing against his argument. So the object of the parenthesis is to make the truth abundantly clear and to anticipate and to deal with the objections.

Now I think that the best way of dealing with this statement is, first of all, to see the precise terms which he uses, and then to look at the whole question of the doctrine. So, with regard to the exact statement, verse 13 deals with the whole case of the Jews, who thought that the very fact that they had the law and had heard it, somehow or other put them right. They considered that they were in a special category, and that they need not have any fear about the wrath of God. They thought, furthermore, that they, already being God's people and His favourites, were in this peculiar relationship to Him, and that therefore they need not pay any attention to the preaching concerning Jesus of Nazareth as the only way of righteousness in the presence of God.

That is what he deals with in verse 13, and he just tells them quite simply that it is not the hearers of the law who are just before God, but it is the doers of the law who shall be justified. The mere fact that a man has heard it is of no value to him at all. What the law demands is that it should be obeyed. We know that in this country ignorance of the law is no plea, it is no excuse. But it is equally true to say that a knowledge of the law, in and of itself, is of no value either. It does not help a man who is arrested for crossing the traffic lights when they are red, to say that he knew very well that he should not have done that; the point is that he did it.

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