12 For as many as sinned without the law, will perish without the law; and as many as sinned under the law, will be judged through the law.
13 For not the hearers of the law (are) righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
14 For whenever Gentiles who do not have the law may do by nature the things of the law, those not having the law are the law to themselves.
15 They show the work of the law written in their hearts, with their conscience witnessing and among each other (their) thoughts accusing or defending,
16 on the day God judges the secrets of men according to my gospel by Christ Jesus.
My translation
Submitted by andrew on Fri, 20/04/2007 - 14:43.
Paul develops the argument about the impartiality of divine judgment: both
Jews and Gentiles will be judged according to what they have done. But
the real thrust of the passage is probably against the Jewish presumption that
possession of the law makes them immune to judgment. Possession of the law will
make no difference on the day of judgment because it is action and behaviour
that will decide whether or not a person, Jew or Gentile, is justified before
God.
In order to make sense of Paul’s thought here we need to keep in mind that
the day when God judges the secrets of men… by Christ Jesus is
conceived concretely and historically as the destruction of a nation or culture
because of idolatry and the immoral and unrighteous behaviour that ensue from
it. It is as true for Gentiles as for Jews that if they do not do what the law
requires, they will perish on the day of wrath. Likewise, it is as true
for Gentiles as for Jews that if they do what the law requires, they will be
justified on the day of wrath. Whether or not he imagines at this point
that some Jews or Gentiles might actually be justified in this sense on the day
of wrath, the argument has to do with how these two groups will fare when their
world collapses under the weight of eschatological judgment. Paul is not setting
out the grounds of membership of the people of God. We will come back to this
issue later.
12 For as many as sinned without the law, will perish without the law; and as many as sinned under the law, will be judged through the law.
13 For not the hearers of the law (are) righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
14 For whenever Gentiles who do not have the law may do by nature the things of the law, those not having the law are the law to themselves.
15 They show the work of the law written in their hearts, with their conscience witnessing and among each other (their) thoughts accusing or defending,
16 on the day God judges the secrets of men according to my gospel by Christ Jesus.
Paul develops the argument about the impartiality of divine judgment: both Jews and Gentiles will be judged according to what they have done. But the real thrust of the passage is probably against the Jewish presumption that possession of the law makes them immune to judgment. Possession of the law will make no difference on the day of judgment because it is action and behaviour that will decide whether or not a person, Jew or Gentile, is justified before God.
In order to make sense of Paul’s thought here we need to keep in mind that the day when God judges the secrets of men… by Christ Jesus is conceived concretely and historically as the destruction of a nation or culture because of idolatry and the immoral and unrighteous behaviour that ensue from it. It is as true for Gentiles as for Jews that if they do not do what the law requires, they will perish on the day of wrath. Likewise, it is as true for Gentiles as for Jews that if they do what the law requires, they will be justified on the day of wrath. Whether or not he imagines at this point that some Jews or Gentiles might actually be justified in this sense on the day of wrath, the argument has to do with how these two groups will fare when their world collapses under the weight of eschatological judgment. Paul is not setting out the grounds of membership of the people of God. We will come back to this issue later.