Romans 2:12
12 For [gar] as many as [hosos] have sinned [hamartano]
without law [anomos] shall [apollumi] also [kai] perish [apollumi] without law [anomos]: and [kai] as many as [hosos] have
sinned [hamartano] in [en] the law [nomos] shall be
judged [krino] by [dia] the law [nomos]; KJV-Interlinear
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. ESV
Sin is a transgression of a rule of conduct. It is not merely a violation of some law or of
some social no-no, or some criminal act, but includes anything that violates
any link to God. Thus indifference
toward learning doctrine is in effect a sin, which needless to say, leads to more
sins.
God does not play favorites, but deals with everyone
based on His righteousness and His justice.
And in this verse, when addressing the issues of gentiles or those who
did not grow up with access to the Mosaic Law, and therefore had no knowledge
of it, they still are under a natural law of right and wrong.
Not knowing the ten-commandments is no excuse for
wrong behavior.
Any sin is a transgression of something that is right
and good, as defined by God.
So, a gentile or a pagan sort of person, if you will
permit the term, who has never heard of Moses or of Jews or of the Bible and
such, is still bound to proper behavior.
And improper behavior will still be judged.
They will not be saved due to ignorance of Christ,
because they did whatever they did, as a result of conscious decisions they
made. They sinned and therefore they are
condemned.
All of the world is evidence of a deity and a designer
and everyone is bound to either want to know about God, or they are
indifferent. Those who want to know,
will be brought to the gospel or the gospel will be brought to them, one way or
another. Thus missionaries bring
doctrine to them, or they in some way, perhaps through slavery or through some
other means, were brought to the gospel.
All things work together for good.
Even bad things can have a good result.
So, do not think that a bad thing is always bad and
only bad. Salvation is far better than
any human insult.
And conversely for those who are knowledgeable of the
Law, then their judgment is based on their conscious adherence to or
indifference of those same written rules.
In other words, the Law demonstrates mans inability to
keep the Law, and therefore the need of a savior.
Indifference toward that principle, while trying to
keep an otherwise unkeepable Law, gains you no favor with God. Likewise ignoring the mandate of faith for
salvation, due to obstinence or whatever attitude you have, gains you nothing
either.
In all cases, Gods righteousness and justice are the unbreakable
rule, and all are judged accordingly.
In addition, the word for judged, ‘krino,’ also means
loss.
And in that regard, when a person is a believer, but
disregards Gods spiritual process in favor of their own design, then the
resultant reward of spiritual growth is forfeit, because there is in fact no
spiritual growth, no spiritual production, nothing legitimate in the spiritual
sense.
Believers are still bound by Gods rules and cannot substitute
their own rules or beliefs simply because they are more convenient or seem
right.
Each believer is still bound to confess in order to
gain fellowship. Each believer is still bound
to a daily study through instruction.
Each believer is still bound to learning and using and understanding,
the principles that they are taught.
Each believer is still bound to apply spiritual principles to their
life, like truth, integrity, tithing, giving and so forth.
Disregard of these principles results in loss. Adherence to these principles results in
reward.
God is fair and equitable with all. God does not change when the times
change. Bible doctrine is immutable.
