¹⁴ For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, ¹⁶ on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Is it possible for Gentiles to do the works of the Law and be saved? What about those who have never heard of Christ; are they without any hope? Do they not get a chance? Our passage today could be construed by some interpreters that Gentiles have the possibility of salvation apart from knowing Christ. However, that goes against the thrust of Paul’s train of thought in general, and that is not what this passage is saying at all.

Paul is building on verse 12, where he wrote, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law …” Having the Law of Moses (for that is what “the Law” refers to), which specifies in detail God’s expectations, does not exempt from God’s judgment those who do not have the Law. Follow the thought carefully. When it says that Gentiles do the Law instinctively (or naturally), this is connected with “the work of the Law written in their hearts.” It is not the Law that is written on their hearts, but “the work of the Law.” They are not aware of the specific commands in the Law of Moses, but the effect of the Law is still present with them. In other words, non-Jews have a sense of right or wrong, as is evident in “their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternatively accusing or else defending them.” By their own estimation, they can distinguish, for example, that it is wrong to lie, to steal, etc.

God has built into every human being a sense of conscience so that when the moral law has been broken, he knows something is wrong. People may argue about the extent of that knowledge, but it is there. One only has to look into oneself for the evidence.

This is not the same as what God says through the prophet Jeremiah, which is much more specific and refers to a future time: “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days … I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer 31:33). There, the promise is that one day Israel will follow God, not ritualistically or legalistically, but as a heart response to do what is right according to the Law of God. But short of becoming a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), no one is able to keep God’s law, and therefore all are guilty.

Lord, thank You for giving me a new heart to follow Your Law.