Paul declares God will Judge every Person Part 4
Romans
2:12-16 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law,
and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the
hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the
law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do
the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to
themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts
accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. NKJV
People are often disposed to wondering or thinking
what will God’s judgment be upon the person who lives somewhere in a remote
part of our earth that has never heard the Name of Jesus or the gospel of His
death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. What will happen to their soul
after they die? Often this question is asked by insincere sinners who do not
desire or want to give up their love of their own sins and therefore, try to
calculate a God who will be OK with their sin and rebellion by comparing
themselves to the man or woman living in a remote jungle somewhere. The proper
response to such an inquiry is to assure the person that God will not ask you
about any other soul that has ever lived, but only what did you do with Jesus
Christ and His gospel message of grace, forgiveness of sin, and reconciliation.
But first let us go to the Scripture in the book of
Acts where another Apostle (Peter) was confronted with a message from our Lord
Jesus that at first glance to him appeared strange and he did not understand
the will of God initially. To summarize the whole scene, first a Gentile man
named Cornelius was a man who feared God and prayed to God always (however he
did not know Jesus Christ). This man was not a Jew and knew nothing of the Ten
Commandments or the Law of Moses given to the Jews by the One True God.
Cornelius represents every man or woman everywhere on the earth that has never
heard the Name of Jesus or the gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection from
the dead. But the One True God who knows every heart fully and completely (as
we said in Part 3) knew that this man Cornelius wanted to know Him and the
truth, so an angel was sent to this man Cornelius advising him to send men to
Joppa to get Simon Peter to come to him and preach the gospel to him. The very
next day our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Simon Peter in a vision preparing his heart
for the men who were coming on behalf of Cornelius. Peter had not been up to
this point witnessing to any Gentiles but only Jews about the death, burial,
and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, so initially he was perplexed by the
vision and the things our Lord showed him. But Peter being obedient to our Lord
(remembering what his disobedience cost him the night our Lord was betrayed) went
with the men to Cornelius’s house and preached the gospel. God the Holy Spirit
fell upon Cornelius and everyone in his house and they were all born again and
filled with the Holy Spirit just as Peter (read the entire account in Acts 10).
This true story of Cornelius proves beyond a shadow
of a doubt that God judges everyman in truth alone. Every soul anywhere in our
world that is being convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11) by God the Holy Spirit
will hear the gospel of Christ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead through
a gospel tract, a human witness, a preacher on TV, an Evangelistic message like
Unshackled on the radio, or any true gospel message on the internet, or like
the Voice of the Martyrs who drop gospel tracts and bibles from planes or hot
air balloons over countries that ban the gospel and Bibles, and countless other
ways our Lord Jesus is instructing His people to give out the message of hope
found only in Him. Paul is now addressing this very same question that surely
came to him on many occasions for us here in verse 12 of Romans Chapter 2. Paul
wants all to know that there will be no excuses before God of not having the
law or of not even having the law and not understanding it. Having the law of
God or living without the outward knowledge or word of that law will be no
cover for the sinner on the Day of Judgment.
God has furnished every man with a conscience. The
first half of that word conscience con (means with) and the second half of the
word science (means knowledge). Therefore, every man anywhere in the world
knows when he or she does wrong by virtue of their conscience. This is what
brought knowledge of his sinfulness to the heart of Cornelius (who was not a
Jew and did not have the Law) and moved him to fear God (though he did not even
know who God was at the time). God sees the heart of every soul wherever they
may live upon His earth and the heart that desires to know Him will receive the
message of salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ brought to them in some
way that they would hear, believe, and be saved or born again. The conscience of
every person will testify to them the condition of their souls before God.
The Bible speaks of men having a good conscience (Acts 23:1 & 1 Timothy 1:5 & 1
Timothy 1:19). The Bible also speaks of people having a weak conscience (1 Corinthians 8:12). The Bible speaks
of a pure conscience (1 Timothy 3:9
& 2 Timothy 1:3). The Bible also speaks of a seared conscience (1 Timothy 4:2). The Bible speaks of a defiled
conscience (Titus 1:15). The Bible
speaks of an evil conscience (Hebrews
10:22). The weak, good, and pure conscience all speak of a man or woman
washed by the Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. The seared, defiled, and evil
conscience speak of the unregenerate heart still dead in trespasses and sins with
a futile mind having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the
life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to
lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness (Ephesians 4:17-19). The Apostles use the word conscience in one of
these forms 31 times in the New Testament clearly highlighting its important
role in the life of the true believer and the non-believer. The One the Only
True God Jesus Christ my Lord sees the secrets of every man, woman, boy, and
girl and all who are found still in their sins on that Day of Judgment whether
they lived during the days of Noah and Nimrod minus the outward law or after
God gave the Law written on tablets of stone to Moses, every man will be judged
by the condition or final state of being of their hearts/inner man (Psalm 44:21 & Ecclesiastes 12:14 &
1 Corinthians 4:5).
Galatians
2:15-16 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by
faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no
flesh shall be justified. NKJV
“God knows it all and is keeping a record even of
those secrets we have
repressed.” Dr. Adrian Rogers
“Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake
up on the Day of Judgment condemned
to worse fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because, having a Bible, they
were bored with it - while these never heard of such a thing as writing.” Jim
Elliot
“That is what preaching (the Bible) is meant to do.
It addresses us in such a manner as to bring us under judgment; and it deals with us in such
a way that we feel our whole life is involved, and we go out saying, ‘I can
never go back and live just as I did before. This has done something to me; it
has made a difference to me. I am a different person as the result of listening
to this.’” Martyn Lloyd- Jones
“In a trial there are the plaintiff, the defendant,
and the witnesses. Conscience and sin itself are witnesses against the
heathens. Their thoughts sometimes excuse, sometimes condemn, them. Among
themselves - Alternately, like plaintiff and defendant. Accusing or even
defending them - The very manner of speaking shows that they have far more room
to accuse than to defend.” John Wesley
“At the Day of Judgment we shall not be asked what we have read but what we
have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holy we have lived. He who
loveth God with all his heart feareth not death, nor punishment, nor judgment, nor hell , because perfect
love giveth sure access to God. But he who still delighteth in sin, no marvel
if he is afraid of death and judgment.”
Thomas a Kempis
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I
Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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