What's in Your Heart

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART

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.

NIV

This passage seems somewhat convoluted at first, but then if we consider what Paul just said about God does not show favoritism, or in other words, God is not a respecter of persons as he judges all just and righteously according to their deeds. Paul is therefore making the point that God will judge the Jews according to the Law because they try to find righteousness through the law. God will judge the pagans, or Gentiles according to how they think they should live according to their own brand of law. However, there are those who live as though the law is written on their hearts and live accordingly and will be judged accordingly. It is right to think that law had but one purpose and that was and still is to show mankind that no one can find righteousness apart from Jesus Christ. In essence, all who live in unforgiven sin will perish. However, there is no reason to live in unforgiven sin, as first, the Jews had the law to show them their need for the Messiah, who came to them as Jesus, whom they also rejected and thus will be judged guilty by the law. But the Gentiles never had the law of God, yet some lived as though they had a law unto themselves, doing by nature good things, however, they are without the knowledge of the grace of God and will be judged by the knowledge they have and will still perish because they are apart from Jesus Christ. This all goes back to the fact that God will judge everyone equally and fairly according to the deeds they do in the flesh. Apart from God man will perish and Paul has already told us that no man, not a single human who has ever lived upon this creation of God, the earth that is within the whole of the universe, has any excuse not to know God, for through creation it is plain to all men, that God is real, and therefore a search for and of God will reveal the declaration of the gospel, the salvation is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Any man who insists on living according to his own ways, seeking not after God, will be judged according to his ways. Those who see the creation of God as just that and seek after God will find Jesus Christ and will be judged holy and blameless in the sight of God, thus living for God and receiving the reward of eternal life. However, the twist to all this comes down to the secret within a person’s heart. This would make it clear it is not by our actions or good works that we will be judged, for none of those deeds, nor good works that we do, matters in comparison to what is within our heart. In order words, we can put on a good show for the benefit of other men, thus we might even receive some praise from men, but if our heart is not completely dedicated to God and we are fully assured our salvation is totally dependent on our faith in Jesus Christ, then we will be judged according to our good works, and that will result in perishing. So, we live with the same words of David, when he asked the Lord to search him and know his heart, test him and know his anxious thoughts and see within the heart if there is any offensive way in him. But he also asked that God lead him in the way everlasting.  This is the man that God testified about saying of David, that he found a man after his own heart. A credit card company asks, “what is in your wallet”, but God need not ask, for he knows what is in our hearts. So we must ask ourselves, “What’s in my heart?”