With or Without

DEVOTION

ROMANS

WITH OR WITHOUT

Rom 2:12-16

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

I have to go back to 1:18 and grab a hold of that truth telling me all men are without excuse in order to make sense of this passage. It does not matter if people are saved or not, and if saved, living by a certain law and if not saved living by another law, both are without excuse. So what does this all mean to me? Why does it matter, I am saved, I have accepted Christ as my Savior. But these passages do more then divide those who have the divine influence and those who don’t. Here I get a picture of the divine procedure of God. He will judge all, those who know his divine influence and his law and those who have a law of there own, and he will judge them both by that which they live. He does not show favoritism. Because I and those who have been exposed to the divine influence of God, we have heard and responded to the Gospel message, we are responsible to God for living in accordance to the law of the Gospel. Those who have never heard the Gospel message or have heard and not responded have a law by which they are also responsible to God for. This law is their own law, the civil and moral law they live by, it is still a law or code of conduct by which they expect all to abide by and God will judge them on that law. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. This whole section is an oratory of how sinful all men are and how guilty all men are and how in need of Jesus Christ are all men.

And it is without question I need Jesus Christ each and every day I live for the divine influence upon my heart and my mind in order that I may live to please him.
Lord, give me that influence!