"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." (Romans 2: 14-16)
Hardshells, in their attempts to find verses which affirm that there are numerous "heathen" people who are "regenerated," will cite this verse. Clearly the passage is talking about the "heathen," about those who do not know the one true and living God, but who worship "gods many" and "lords many." Do the verses say that such people are nevertheless regenerated, though still pagan idolaters? If the reference to the law being written on the heart is a reference to regeneration, then the Hardshells have some weight to their position.
But, it is clear that the "work of the law" is not the "work of grace," or the work of regeneration. The law being written upon the heart is not regeneration, in this passage, although other passages speak of regeneration as involving such a writing. Paul does not say that the "Gentiles do by grace and regeneration the things contained in the law," but "do by nature," referring not to the divine nature, but to human nature.
Further, Paul does not say this is true of only some heathen Gentiles, which he would say if he had reference to regeneration and to the divine nature. Rather, he says this is true of the Gentiles, as a whole. Thus, if this is a reference to regeneration, then Paul is affirming that all Gentiles, all heathen, are "regenerated." Also, Paul does not say - "the regenerated children of God do by nature..." Rather, he says "the Gentiles do by nature."
All commentators, other than Hardshells, affirm that Paul is referring to man's moral nature, to his God-given conscience, and to the fact that human nature has God's moral laws written in it.
Wrote the old Baptist, John Gill:
"Ver. 14. For when the Gentiles which have not the law,.... The objection of the Gentiles against their condemnation, taken from their being without the law, is here obviated. The apostle owns that they had not the law, that is, the written law of Moses, and yet intimates that they had, and must have a law, against which they sinned, and so deserved punishment, and which they in part obeyed; for these men
do by nature the things contained in the law. The matter and substance of the moral law of Moses agrees with the law and light of nature; and the Gentiles in some measure, and in some sort, did these things by nature; not that men by the mere strength of nature without the grace of God, can fulfil the law, or do anything that is acceptable to God; and indeed, what these men did was merely natural and carnal, and so unacceptable to God. Some understand this of nature assisted by grace, in converted Gentiles, whether before or after the coming of Christ; others expound the phrase, by nature, freely, willingly, in opposition to the servile spirit of the Jews, in their obedience to the law; though it rather seems to design the dictates of natural reason, by which they acted: and so
these having not the law, the written law,
are a law to themselves; which they have by nature and use, and which natural reason dictates to them."
Ver. 15. Which show the work of the law written in their hearts,.... Though the Gentiles had not the law in form, written on tables, or in a book, yet they had "the work", the matter, the sum and substance of it in their minds; as appears by the practices of many of them, in their external conversation. The moral law, in its purity and perfection, was written on the heart of Adam in his first creation; was sadly obliterated by his sin and fall; upon several accounts, and to answer various purposes, a system of laws was written on tables of stone for the use of the Israelites; and in regeneration the law is reinscribed on the hearts of God's people; and even among the Gentiles, and in their hearts, there are some remains of the old law and light of nature, which as by their outward conduct appears, so by the inward motions of their minds."
To interpret Paul's words as a reference to regeneration is to completely ignore the context, for Paul is demonstrating the condemnation of the heathen Gentiles, not their salvation. Paul is not attempting to prove that some of the heathen, though ignorant of the one true and living God, and of the gospel, are nevertheless "regenerated," and the children of God, but just the opposite. He is contrasting the special revelation of the gospel with the general revelation found in nature. That general revelation is present in creation and in nature generally and includes the nature and conscience of men. This general revelation is God's witness and voice to all men in the "conscience."
Gentiles have "sinned," apart from knowledge of the written Mosaic law, and apart from God's revelation and light in scripture, but "sin is not imputed where there is no law" (5: 13), but men "sinned" before there was a written legal moral code, and so, since sin was in fact "imputed" (men died), therefore there was in existence a moral code before the giving of the "law of Moses." The only "law" that all men were under, prior to the written code of Moses, was that law which resides in the "conscience." That law is part of the nature of man. God, when he made the first man, wrote upon his nature and conscience his precepts of right and wrong. Man, though fallen, still has this written upon his nature and conscience, but, his nature and conscience have been over-written by another "law," or "code of conduct," the "law of sin." (Rom. 7: 23)
God's Witness to the Conscience
"And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst." (John 8:9)
Wrote Dr. Henry Morris:
"A conscience can be a reliable guide, however, only if it is a good conscience. The Scriptures on the other hand, speak of some who have a "weak conscience" (I Corinthians 8:7,10,12) which may become a "defiled conscience" (Titus 1:15) and eventually a "seared conscience" (I Timothy 4:2) or even an "evil conscience" (Hebrews 10:22)."
"If used properly, however, the conscience is a blessing. God has given us a conscience to help guide us. The question is, what makes a conscience "good"? There are two references in Scripture to a "pure conscience" (I Timothy 3:9; II Timothy 1:3) and six to a "good conscience" (Acts 23:1; I Timothy 1:5, 19; Hebrews 13:18; I Peter 3:16, 21), but none of these tell how such a conscience is acquired.
The answer to this vital question appears to be found in the apostle Paul's testimony before Felix: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16). The "exercise" (literally "training") which had produced such a conscience in Paul, he said, was this: "So worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets" (Acts 24:14). A lifelong study of the Scriptures, accompanied by absolute faith in their veracity and authority, had produced in Paul a strong, pure, good, reliable conscience, and it will do the same for us." ("The Witness Of Conscience" by Henry Morris, Ph.D.)
http://www.icr.org/article/witness-conscience/
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." (Gen. 6: 3)
How does God's Spirit "strive with man," with all men? Is it not by the convictions and admonitions of conscience? When a man commits an immoral act, and feels guilty for it, is that not a witness of conscience and the way in which God convicts all men of sin? Will the Hardshells deny that the witness of conscience regarding immoral acts is the "work of the law," the Spirit's "striving" with men? Will they affirm that all who experience conviction for an immoral act are "regenerated"? And, they wonder why they have had serious difficulties with the heresy of "universal salvation."
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