Paul's Passing Thoughts

Join Paul and Susan in their discussion of Romans 7. Live video link: Friday 6.2.2017 @ 8pm

All world politics flow from the question of individualism versus collectivism. It all boils down to the ability of the individual versus the inability of the individual. This is the crux of religion as well.

Why do liberals insist on reapplying policy that is proven not to work? Well, that depends on how you define what “doesn’t work.” What doesn’t work for the individual might be great for the state. If you want to see liberalism/collectivism/socialism/et al in action, just visit any banana republic that has no middleclass.

Whether communist or Democrat, it’s the same worn-out politic: “The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.” This is what tyranny always does; it accuses its detractors of what it is guilty of; it plays the people for fools. And to the degree that their own policies bring about what they themselves decry, they blame the opposition that much more. “See, you need us now more than ever!”

The best example of this is “The People’s Republic of China.” A republic for the people and by the people? Hardly. This is the ploy: “Certainly educated leaders wouldn’t state such a blatant contradiction openly, so it must be true. Since I am a commoner, and they are destiny’s chosen, I must be misunderstanding the obvious.”

Individualism and freewill are foundational pillars of reality. This is why governments evolved with an Achilles’ heel; the people, or the “great unwashed” if you will, always greatly outnumber the government and its army. When it gets right down to it, if the people rise-up in great enough numbers and have minimal organization in doing so, governments are powerless to do anything about it. Indeed, the government could kill everyone, but that would leave the government without any supporting serfs or a purpose for being a government in the first place. And, the elitists would have to get real jobs.  

Governments are therefore in a catch-22 because collectivism, socialism, communism, and the like are contrary to the natural order of creation. The people always greatly outnumber the elitists that rule over the people, so it should be evident that governments are defined by being for the people and by the people according to the reality of the math. Therefore, governments will brainwash, threaten, and kill to maintain control over the great unwashed.

Enter gun control. The right to bear arms by the public is perhaps the greatest barrier there is against fascism. Why would any government want to disarm their populous when such is a huge deterrent to invasion from foreign powers? Because there is only one thing worse than being invaded by another country that probably shares your despotic ideology to begin with; sharing power with the great unwashed.

One reality that might perplex is anti-Americanism coming from groups that greatly prosper from capitalism. But don’t miss this: those groups see themselves as elitists that rank high in the caste pecking order; so, they stand to gain more in a socialist environment or at least they think so. Remember, most A-list people in religion, sports, or Hollywood despise the serfs that fawn over them. This comes out from time to time when these folks let their guard down. But whether religion or Hollywood, much more is to be gained by contributing to the state’s ability to control with propaganda and the promise of heaven. Sure, America may end up like those pictures depicting high-rise luxury suites overlooking massive shantytowns, but so what? They see themselves in the luxury suites while the serfs suffer what they deserve.  

This is why Donald Trump, whatever you think of him, is driving the ruling class completely out of their minds. He is an outsider that takes his case directly to the people. This one thing he has done by virtue of who he is and what he represents: he has unmasked the true mentality of socialists, and it ain’t pretty. They are now exposed according to their real life terrorist hearts. 

If not for American jurisprudence, every Protestant church would have a gallows room. Why wouldn’t they? They all did before America came along. And if not for American jurisprudence, Hollywood would endorse any and every kind of reprisal that would be inflicted upon individualists. The entertainment industry has always sought to be the obvious choice for any state’s propaganda machine. Whether church or entertainment, compelling the people to pay by force is much better than persuading them to pay via rubbing shoulders with them while holding your nose. By the way, do these people really display themselves before the great unwashed by walking on a red carpet dressed in garb that costs more than many people make in a whole year?

When people lose sight of their own self-dignity the relinquishing of their freedom is not far behind.

paul

By Paul M. Dohse, PPT Editor

The Beginning of Sin

Ezekiel 28:12 – Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  13 Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared. 14 Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee. 16 By the abundance of thy traffic they filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I have cast thee to the ground; I have laid thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 By the multitude of thine iniquities, in the unrighteousness of thy traffic, thou hast profaned thy sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of thee; it hath devoured thee, and I have turned thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee (ASV).

Isiah 14:12 – How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations! 13 And thou saidst in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit upon the mount of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home? 18 All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever. 21 Prepare ye slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities (ASV).

Sin originated in an angel created by God. Revelation 12:4 may indicate that he led a rebellion in which 1/3 of the angels followed him. We know that some indeed followed him in rebelling against God. This is the origin of sin.

The Sin Question 

Did God see sin coming, and moreover, did He create sin? Of course, the metaphysical possibilities here are endless, and what we are going to do is stick with what we know objectively, yet, I will pause here to throw a few pennies into the philosophical coin jar. Unlimited possibilities does not necessarily equal a deficiency in creation. God doesn’t know everything because the word “everything” implies there is a limit to knowledge and that limits God. Knowledge in the eternal realm can’t have a beginning and an end because that limits God’s ability to know. God for certain knows everything, but everything has no end. And knowledge in God’s creation can have no bounds because that limits God. Unforeseen results aren’t the point, eternal knowledge/possibilities with no limitations is the point.

What God creates is good, but has unlimited possibilities, and that doesn’t make it ungood. Is God able to create something with unlimited possibilities, or must he limit His creation because it could cause Him some sort of trouble? Predestination presumes God is limited. He must control everything lest His own creation becomes a metaphysical boomerang. Before God created Lucifer, did He have knowledge of evil? If so, where did that come from? Or, is God unlimited by the unlimited? If God is unlimited, why does he need predeterminism? In contrast, freewill suggests God can’t be limited in any way by His own unlimited creation. Nothing created by God is a threat to God because of His unlimited power and intellect. God is unlimited in every respect.

That’s the long version of, “We probably don’t know.” But I do know this: I was teaching a Bible study one night for a Reformed church I was a member of and suggested that Christ didn’t know some things. Where do I get that? Among other places in the Bible, Mark 13:32. I tell you, the claws came out like you wouldn’t believe. The hostility was unreal. I was thinking, “Wow, are these folks going to start getting physical with me?” Yet, Christ plainly stated that there were things He didn’t know—get over it! When God visited Abraham and told him that He only knew what was going on in Sodom because of reports brought to Him, is that what He meant or was He just sporting with Abraham?

This is where we get into a discussion of God being limited by attributes assigned to Him by men. God is omniscient; therefore, he cannot… not know something. I beg your pardon, God can choose to not know something if that’s His desire—He is not limited by so-called omniscience. Look, I didn’t write the Bible, if God says He doesn’t know something that’s good enough for me.

But this is interesting, a Reformed person, actually more than one, has protested to me that by making the assertion that Christians are functionally righteous is to attribute an attribute of God to us, in essence, making ourselves God. Let me clarify this idea: they are saying that righteousness is an attribute of God like omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. To say that we, as Christians are actually righteous in the truest sense is like saying that we are also omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. By being righteous like God our Father we make ourselves God. Interesting.

Another interesting note is this response we hear from time to time: “That Bible passage couldn’t be saying that because God is ________” (fill in an attribute assigned to God). This is eisegesis not exegesis.

Meet Sin

The primary catalyst of sin, or agent of sin, or the arms, legs, and feet of sin, is DESIRE. Take note of our first major bullet point in defining sin: it’s an unrighteous, or misplaced desire. Lucifer desired to be a coequal with God and put a plan of insurrection into place that led to a rebellion in heaven.

Genesis 3:1 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

For our purposes in this study, we want to focus on, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” Satan created a misplaced desire in her mind, and when the desire was acted upon, sin was conceived and it brought about death. Let’s now go to James 1:12ff.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Sin is a Master Who Pays Death Wages

Sin’s primary desire is to control others (Gen 4:7). Why? Because that’s what sin does. It can be argued that total inability/total depravity is just a theological/metaphysical excuse to fulfill a lust to rule over others. The condemnation playbook executes this scheme: “Since you are totally depraved and unable, you need a ruling class to take care of you and think for you, and we need to be richly rewarded for saving mankind accordingly.” This has always played well with the masses in the condemnation realm albeit with ongoing disastrous results…for the individual.

Sin’s Use of the Law

Sin uses the law to condemn people which empowers sin. The power of sin is its ability to condemn. It uses the law for this purpose. Somehow, sin is able to use the law to provoke people to sin. The primary catalyst for this is sin itself. When sin has the ability to condemn via the law, the sin master is able to create desires within the individual that are contrary to the law. When individuals obey these desires, the degree and intensity of the desires increase to the point where the individual is unable to say no to the desire; the intensity of the desire is too intense. This is also known as “lust.”

Christ died to end the law’s condemnation. When this happened, sin was stripped of its ability to enslave; sin was stripped of its power. Though sin still resides in the mortal body, its ability to create lust in the believer in a way that enslaves is eradicated. Addictions in the believer can only happen, and do happen, through ignorance, weakness, and spiritual laziness.

Romans 6:5 – For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 7:4 – Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Colossians 2:13 – And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

1Corintians 15:56 – The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

The Seven Exchanges of Salvation

In the transformation from light to darkness, there are seven radical exchanges; masters, the old us for the new us, condemnation and love, free will, wages, atonement/ending, and bodies.

Keep in mind that Protestant orthodoxy denies all Seven of these exchanges.

The first is most obvious; masters. Christ has purchased all people from the sin master with His blood; choosing to remain under the sin master is just that, a choice. Christ’s purchase has freed all men to choose. Christ died to end the law’s condemnation, and all people are born under the law’s condemnation; therefore, Christ died for everyone. Hence, Christ purchased everyone from the sin master.

Hebrews 2:9 – But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
1Corinthians 6:20 – for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The new birth is the literal spiritual death of the old us and resurrection of the new us; “ALL things are new.”

Romans 6:1 – What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We are no longer under the law’s condemnation leading only to death, but now that same law brings us more life, and life more abundantly. Nothing has changed here from the old covenant to the new; the lawful use of the law (1Tim 1:8) leads to life and the unlawful use of the law leads to death. This was the gospel of Moses that had much glory but is being replaced by the “better covenant.” Instead of condemnation, the born-again believer loves the truth and God’s law (2Thess 2:10, John 17:17, Psalm 119) as opposed to formerly being indifferent to it, and obeys it for the express purpose of loving God and others. This is the exchange of condemnation for love.

At least one biblical definition of freewill is most interesting. Those under the condemnation of the law are free to do good, but enslaved to unrighteousness leading to an overall direction of indifference to God’s law and enslavement to sinful desires that vary from person to person. Those who are born again are free to sin, but enslaved to righteousness leading to a contrary direction of life. This is a reversal of freewill. Unbelievers can do good according to the law of God written on their hearts, but unfortunately, as discussed prior, it only leads to less condemnation in the end.

Romans 6:17 – But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Apart from believers foolishly lending their bodies to unrighteousness leading to possible chastisement from God and the world, in eternal considerations, believers can only earn life wages while unbelievers can only earn death wages. These death wages cannot buy eternal life. However, though eternal life cannot be earned, the believer can earn rewards.

Hebrews 6:10 – For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

Note that God would be “unjust” to overlook the work of a believer. This is employment lingo; God would be an unjust master to not pay wages earned.

The old covenant was a covering for sin until “faith came” (see Galatians chapter 3). The new covenant is an ENDING of sin. Sin was imputed to the Old Testament law until Christ came and ended its ability to condemn. All religions other than Biblicism proffer a system for covering sin and deny a biblical new birth. Protestantism is guilty of this as well. Our sins are not merely covered—they are ended.

The new birth exchanges the use of our bodies. Previously, our bodies served the “desires of the flesh.” The “flesh” has two meanings in the Bible; it can refer to the material mortal body, and it can refer to whenever the body is used for sinful purposes, BUT, the “flesh” is not inherently evil as part of the material world. “Flesh” is a neutral term referring to the material body, but defined by purpose and use.

IN FACT, the body of the believer is a holy temple indwelled by the Spirit:

1Corinthians 6:15 – Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sine a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

A careful word study will reveal that the “temple” referred to here is actually the Holy of Holies within the temple. The purposes for the body differentiated by the two masters are exchanged. The body of the believer is sanctified and is to be used for making living sacrifices unto the Lord:

Romans 12:1 – I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

This defines sanctification; our whole lives are worship, and our bodies are the temples we use to orchestrate that worship.

NEXT: Understanding the World Through Under Law and Under Grace: Part Five; Eschatology, the Other Salvation

In regard to the law’s relationship to salvation, though the Jew was given oversight of God’s oracles, there is no advantage over the Gentile—there is no partiality. Paul begins this line of thought as follows:

Romans 2:12 – 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. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

This passage interprets and defines a lot of anthropology while refuting a vast body of bad theology. While the unregenerate man is a sinner, he is also born with the “work[s] of the law” written on his/her heart. We are all created with a conscience as well that “bears witness” to that law and invokes conflicting thoughts within us that excuse or accuse. In the soul of every person, God’s court of law is continually in session. Man is directly responsible to God, and this reality throws much controversy into spiritual caste systems and the Reformed notion of total depravity. Man is capable of doing things that agree with his God-given conscience and the “work of the law.” This will not in any way earn salvation for him, but sadly, many are deceived otherwise. Living primarily by conscience will make eternal judgment more bearable, but of course, we long that every person would choose eternal life instead. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the works of unregenerate man have merit of some sort which again brings a litany of Reformed ideas into question. The following is an excerpt from the teachings of Wayne Jackson:

On the opposite side of the equation, there is the matter of degrees of punishment. If anything, the Bible is even more decisive on this issue.

Jesus informed the citizens of certain communities in Galilee that in the day of judgment, it would be “more tolerable” for certain people of the ancient world (e.g., Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom) than for them (Mt. 11:20-24; cf. 10:15). The word “tolerable” means “bearable, endurable.” In the Greek Testament the word represents a comparative format. The difference was in the opportunities each had enjoyed. Judgment was to be balanced against this factor.

Christ told about a certain master who took a trip. While he was away, his servants, who had been charged with various responsibilities, disobeyed him. When the Lord returned, and discovered that some had knowingly been disobedient, while others had disobeyed in ignorance, he punished them according to the level of their culpability (Lk. 12:47-48). There is perhaps no clearer passage than this, that teaches degrees of punishment.
During the course of his trial, Jesus informed Pilate: “He who delivered me unto you has the greater sin” (Jn. 19:11). Does not justice require a greater punishment for a greater sin?

A man who set aside the law of God under the Mosaic regime, was executed without mercy. The writer of the book of Hebrews declares that the one who tramples on the Son of God and who treats, as a common thing, the blood by which he was sanctified, will deserve a much “worse” punishment (Heb. 10:26-31). The principle is this: there is a greater level of responsibility for those who live under the better covenant, and there will be appropriate punishment meted out for those who, through apostasy, reject that which they previously embraced.

The apostle Peter wrote regarding those who had “escaped the defilements of the world” by virtue of their knowledge of the truth, i.e., obedience to the gospel (2 Pet. 2:20-22; cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). He warned that should they become entangled again in these defilements, and overcome, their “last state” (their apostate condition) would be “worse” than the first (the pre-conversion state). Ominously, he says it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back to their former lifestyle. This, most assuredly, teaches a greater level of punishment for apostate Christians than for those who never knew the truth.

James provides a word of caution appropriate to this topic. “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (3:1 ESV). Is there any question about the implication of that warning?
“The main thought in vv. 1-12 is the greater responsibility of teachers and the extremely dangerous character of the instrument [the tongue] which they have to use? Greater responsibility brings greater judgment” (James B. Adamson, The Epistle of James, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976, p. 141).

(Wayne Jackson: The Christian Courier; Are There Degrees of Blessedness and Punishment in Eternity? Online source: http://goo.gl/wM7Rq).

Again, we need to emphasize that the Bible is God’s full philosophical statement to man regarding truthful metaphysics, sound epistemology, God’s own ethics, and wise politics. Lost people will always be better off following the Bible, and we must remember that unrighteous activity by man in general continually provokes God’s anger (Psalm 7:11). Indeed, society at large would be much more peaceful, and would provoke God a lot less if they would yield to this simple principle:

Ecclesiastes 8:11-Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Many of the same principles of anthropology, and plain common sense if you will, need to be vigorously applied to the Christian life, and the anthropology of conscience is no exception. The Bible has much to say about how the Christian is to approach the conscience and utilize it in spiritual growth. To not do so greatly waters down the gospel. When the world sees that our wisdom is effective for real life, this gives our gospel validity. If Christians do not have wisdom for the earthly, it will be rightly assumed that we have no eternal wisdom as well (Jn 3:12).

This is the great antinomian evil of our day—practical application from the Bible and common sense for living life is replaced with gospel contemplationism and a habitual revisiting of the elementary principles of salvation while opining  about “pragmatism,” “moralism,” and “therapeutic deism.” While some unbelievers will find hope in mystical ambiguity, many won’t. Salvation calls on man to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Salvation is a new “way.” The unregenerate will be little impressed if it is a way that has no more wisdom for life than their own, though crystal balls will always appeal to the mindless element of any culture. Once again, we must remember that the gospel was problem centered from the very beginning. We should at least show the gospel as a different way that supplies real-life remedies. This is the way it has always been:

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it (Isaiah 35:8).

This line of thought by Paul also answers the question regarding those who have never heard the gospel. What law will they be judged by? Answer: the law written on their heart and argued by their conscience. This introduces an extraordinary biblical principle. All those who are under the law will be judged by the law, and thereby condemned—whether the written law of God (the Scriptures) or the law written on their hearts. This is also the same law that informs them that God’s glory is revealed in creation (Romans 1:19,20).

God has always held man responsible for passing His law/gospel onto to subsequent generations, and one of the primary goals of the gospel is to show a way of escape from being “under the law.” All are born “under the law,” and will be judged by it (with poor results because the standard is perfection) unless they escape it via the gospel. The only man ever born into the world who could withstand the judgment of the law was Jesus Christ. But once one is saved from the law, they live by the law and honor God with it. It is the guide for our faith working through love (Gal 5:6).

Said another way: we are not saved by keeping the law, but we are sanctified by keeping the law. Repentance, a change of mind about one of two “ways,” justifies us and removes us from being “under the law” which guarantees that we will not “perish by the law.” This is Paul’s point in his indictment of the Jews starting in verse 17:

Romans 2:17 – But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Paul’s point is clear: the Jews had a problem with thinking that because they were the vanguards of God’s law—hearing the law was all that was necessary along with being circumcised. In other words: a ritual hearing of God’s word along with the ritual of circumcision. James, in his letter to the Jewish Christians, notes that this is self-deception. It is remaining on the road of judgment under the law as opposed to obeying the perfect law of liberty:

James 1:22 – 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.

And the message to the Romans is clear: they will condemn the Jew if they have committed to believing and obeying the law of liberty, starting with what Christ did to abolish the law for purposes of justification. Because of what Christ did, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, but yet, we are informed by the law for how we live and believe (Romans 3:21,22). Circumcision means nothing without a commitment to obey the law. That commitment frees us from the law by committing to loving our savior by keeping His commandments. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Note carefully what Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

I Corinthians 7:19 – Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts.

The law informs us as to how we escape from its condemnation. The law informs us as to how we are transformed and transferred from serving the law of condemnation to serving the law according to the Spirit’s second use of the law:

Galatians 2:19 – For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

Romans 3:21 – But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—

Romans 7:4 – 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God…6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

The old way of the written code speaks to the condemnation of the law, but that doesn’t exclude being under the “law of liberty” that we follow to love God and others. “Under grace” does not mean we are not under any law…it means we are no longer under the law’s indictment for sin or its condemnation. Moreover, we are still called on to pay attention to the law written on our hearts arbitrated by conscience. God’s law has much to say about attending to the other law written on our hearts that we were all born with (Acts 24:16, Heb 9:14, Titus 1:15, 1Pet 3:16, 1Tim 1:5).

Mankind is not totally depraved because if he was the world would be run over with demonism. The world is a halfway decent place to live because all people are born with the works of God’s law written on their hearts and mediated by the conscience. The born-again Christian utilizes both laws and our consciences are better defined as we grow in our knowledge of God’s word (Romans chapter 14).

Living by the golden rule of the conscience will not save us because people are under the condemnation of two laws; the Bible and the law of conscience. Being under the latter only will result in less condemnation, but condemnation nevertheless. As we will see, those under condemnation cannot receive a living wage, but only the “wages of death.” People who live well by the so-called golden rule will merely receive less condemnation—the judgment of God will be more tolerable for them than others.

This now brings us to Sin’s use of the law.

NEXT: Understanding the World Through Under Law and Under Grace: Part Four; Sin