Romans 2:16

"in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)"

Key Reflection

In Romans 2:16, Paul is addressing the Gentiles who had not received the formal law of Moses but still exhibited behaviors and practices that aligned with God's moral standards. To the original audience—primarily Jewish converts to Christianity—the idea that non-Jews could inherently understand and follow divine laws written in their hearts would have been both surprising and challenging, emphasizing that the knowledge of right and wrong is not confined to the written law but is accessible through natural conscience and reason.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 16. In the day. This verse is doubtless to be connected with Ro 2:12, and the intermediate verses are a parenthesis, and it implies that the heathen world, as well as the Jews, will be arraigned at the bar of judgment. At that time God will judge all in righteousness, the Jew by the law which he had, and the heathen by the law which he had. When God shall judge. God is often represented as the judge of mankind, De 32:36; Ps 1:4; 1 Sa 2:10; Ec 3:17; Ro 3:6; Heb 13:4. But this does not militate against the fact that he will do it by Jesus Christ. God has appointed his Son to administer judgment; and it will be not by God directly, but by Jesus Christ that it will be administered.

Related Verses

More from Romans 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Go deeper with Bible.talk - your AI Bible study companion