Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study #20 of Romans 2, and we are reading Romans 2:12-16:

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 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.

From verse 13 through 15, it is a parenthetical thought, so when we get to verse 16, just read it with verse 12: “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law… in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” So, again, we are reading this because the Law is the Word, and the Bible has told us, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” Here, God is affirming that as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the law in the day that God shall judge the secrets of men. The Law will judge in the Day of Judgment, and that is what we are seeing.

So let us go back to Romans 2:12:

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law…

The word translated as “without law” is “anomōs,” and it is the alpha prefix which negates what follows, and “nomōs,” means “law,” so “anomōs,” means “no law.” So those that have sinned with no law shall also perish with no law. The two references to “without law,” or “anomōs” is Strong’s #460, and this is the only two places this word is found in the New Testament. But it comes from #459 in Strong’s Concordance, which is very similar, and that is found 10 times. It is translated some interesting ways. Let us go to Mark 15:28:

And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

The word “transgressors” is a word that means “no law” or “without law,” just as our word in Romans 2 means that same thing. So Christ was numbered with those that were without law.

Then in 2Thessalonians 2, it is also translated in an interesting way, in 2Thessalonians 2:8:

And then shall that Wicked be revealed…

It literally means to be “lawless” or “without law,” and this is referring to Satan who at the time of the end was revealed as the “antichrist” and “the son of perdition.” So we could say, “And then shall that one without law be revealed.” And this has to do with the fact that Satan is hostile toward and completely set against the Law of God in every way, so he is “without law.”

We see in 2Peter 2:8:

(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

The word “unlawful” is the same word translated as “transgressors” and “wicked.” It has to do with the fact the people of Sodom of Gomorrah vexed Lot’s righteous soul on a daily basis with their unlawful deeds – their transgressions and sins. The way they lived their lives was in complete opposition to the Law of God, so they were “unlawful works” that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were performing.

We find this word, again, in 1Timothy 1:8-9:

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

And then it continues to list more ugly sins. The point here is that the Law is not made for the righteous man, but for the lawless.

One more place we find this word is in 1Corinthians 9:18-21:

What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

This is the related word, #459, that is translated as “without law.” All four times it is the same word. Here, we can see that the Jews were identified as those that were under the law, even though it is not stated. It is implied because it says that those “without law” are identified with the Gentiles. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. So I think we can understand that, and it fits with what we have been reading in Romans 2, if we go back to verse 10 (and even before that), when the Lord was referring to “the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” So when we get to verse 12, it says, “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law,” it refers to the Gentile. And when it says, “and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,” it is referring to the Jew, which typifies the church person, the professed Christian and those in the churches throughout the church age (and beyond).

So it is continuing with the theme of “Jew and Gentile,” and we know that is the case because it says in Romans 2:14: “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.” Then the Lord gets into the matter of the Law written in their hearts, but that is a different matter than being “without law.” He is referring to the commandments of God, the Scriptures, and the Gentiles were without that, as they were out in the world, and in the Old Testament, God had entrusted His Oracles to the Jews. In the New Testament era, He entrusted His Word to the Christians in the New Testament churches. But without, they lived their lives according to however they lived them; they were not consulting the Word of God. So that is the point. “For as many as have sinned without law,” the Gentiles or persons of the world, shall also perish without law. “And as many as have sinned in the law,” the Old Testament Jew or the New Testament professed Christian (not a true Christian), shall be judged by the law. So, again, it is just reiterating that it is Jew and Gentile alike.

Then we read in Romans 2:13:

(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

And that makes sense, does it not? It is fine if you have heard the Law, but hearing it is not enough. Just look at the world today. People have heard the law. If you kill someone, it is murder, and you could be executed or go to jail. If you steal something, you have broken the law, and you can go to jail. People hear the law, but that does not make them a good person or a law-abiding person, but only those people that hear and do. They keep the law of the land, to use that example. They are not a criminal, in that sense. They abide by the law, and they do not kill others or steal from others, or whatever else the law says. They try to keep the law by doing it. But there are some that hear and, yet they break the law. They transgress. They do not keep the law.

So it is a very simple point, but an important point: “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” When we apply this point to society and to secular laws in the world, we very clearly see it. It is obvious. But when it applies to the people of God, like the Jews within the nation of Israel of old, or the Christians in the corporate church, somehow it gets lost in the minds of many people. They think, “It is enough that I go to church. It is enough for me to listen to the pastor, and to hear the message or the Law. I spend my hour once a week, and then I go out, and I do as I want. I do as I please.”

Of course, today nobody should go to a church to hear anything from a pastor, but during the church age, this is what God intended for us to do, and people were correct to go to church. In church, they would hear the Bible taught, and the Bible is the Law of God, including the Ten Commandments and all else the Bible says. The Law tells us what to do. We are to love our neighbor. We are not to commit adultery: “That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” There are all kinds of Laws. When we hear the Scripture, people often do not realize that they are hearing the Law of God, and God is commanding them, “This is what you are to do.” Remove your foot from my holy day. “Husbands, love your wives.” And then the husbands go home and fail to love their wives. “Wives, submit to your husbands.” The wives go home and fail to submit to their husbands. “Children, obey your parents.” The children hear, and they go home, and they do not do it.

Nobody “sees” the transgression because they do not recognize they are a lawbreaker. Out in the world, they can see and recognize the lawbreakers, and they often condemn them. The same people that break the Law of God, the Bible, point their finger at the lawbreakers in society: “Look at that terrible person! Can you believe he did that? He did that evil thing.” Basically, they are saying, “Why did he not keep the law? Why did he hate and harm his neighbor? Why did he not love his neighbor?” So people are very good at looking “out there” at others, and noting and recognizing lawbreakers, but they are not so good when they have to look inward and compare themselves to what they are hearing in the Word of God. So God is making an extremely important point that He brings up in the book of James a couple of different times. We read in James 1:2:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Again, this shows that the Word and the Law are synonymous, and Romans 2 is saying the same thing. It goes on to say in James 1:23-25:

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

It is fitting that God uses the picture of a man looking in a mirror or looking glass. He likens someone who is a hearer, but not a doer, to a man…you know, we might substitute a woman, in our minds, but a man can be just as vain as a woman. But this man looks at his image in the glass, and he checks himself out. Is his hair parted right? Does everything look okay today? Then he is satisfied, and he leaves the mirror, and he goes off to work, and he does forget. Have you ever tried to remember your appearance? You can look at yourself for a minute in the mirror, and then you go out, and you really forget your own image. I think that is true in many cases, and that may be the reason why a woman might pull down the mirror on the visor in her car, and she is checking herself. But she was just checking herself as she put her makeup on for a half hour, but she forgets, and she is checking it out, and she is trying to assure herself, “Yes, you look good.” But she is checking herself because she is forgetful in that area regarding what she looks like.

It is just like someone who is a hearer of the Word. They have heard the Word of God for their whole life or for many years, and they may have even heard the truth as they listened to Family Radio and Mr. Camping’s faithful teaching. Maybe they have been listening to EBible Fellowship now for many years, and they have heard the truths of the Word of God proclaimed. They hear, and they must agree, or they would not listen, so they acknowledge, “Yes, that is true. That is also true, and that is right.” But if someone is in that case, but they are not a doer…Let us use an example that may apply to all of us. The Word is now teaching, “Feed my sheep.” God has made known and emphasized that the task given to His people in the Day of Judgment is to feed His sheep. We are to share the truths concerning Judgment Day and everything else we have learned with other people, because that is the only way they can be spiritually fed. So we can hand out tracts or go on tract trips, or we can support that work with our resources, both time and money, or through prayer. All of us should be doing that work. And yet, it is possible that some are not. We are hearing it. We are agreeing that it is true and right, and then we get caught up in our lives and things of the world for another week. Then week follows week, and month follows month. And we can look back, and we did very little to feed sheep.

That is just an example, but there are many times that God is speaking to us in His Word concerning what we are to do. He gives us commandments. He directs our path in multitudes of ways, and it is very possible for us to hear, but not do, in many things, so it says in James 1:25:

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

This is a theme we hear often in the Bible regarding “doing,” rather than just hearing.

Let us look at one more verse in James 4:11:

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Here, again, God is putting us in our place. We are not the judge. We are not to point the finger and pass judgment on our fellow human beings. God will handle that. There is one Lawgiver, and that is God. Our responsibility is to personally be a “doer” of the Law, and God has equipped His people – through giving us a new heart and spirit and through indwelling us with His own Spirit – to obey and keep the Law, or to do the Law. So we do have that ability after salvation, and it should be evident in our lives, more and more.

The word “doer” used in Romans 2:13 is used three times in James 1 and once here in James 4, so that is five times. This word is used only six times in the New Testament. I was not going to mention the sixth time because it is like an outlier. It is kind of odd. And we find that sometimes in regard to how God uses a word in the Bible, but I think it is interesting. So let us go to Acts 17 where we will find this word translated as “doer,” but it is translated in a strange way, in Acts 17. The context is that the Apostle Paul is at Mars Hill in Athens, Greece, and he noticed some kind of a statue or altar that had the inscription, “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD,” and we read in Acts 17:27-28:

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

The word “poets” is a translation of this Greek word, Strong’s #4163, which was translated as “doer” in all these other places. It just struck me as very strange. Maybe it does not seem strange to anyone else, but it seemed odd to me, and I thought, “Why would God do that?” Let us substitute the word “doer” here: “as certain also of your own doers have said, For we are also his offspring.” One possible solution is that this Greek word translated mainly as “doer” is related to another word, Strong’s #4160, translated as “do,” “make,” or “work.” The word #4163 is a word I would pronounce as “poy-ay-tace’,” and the word #4160 as “poy-eh’-o,” and you can hear the similarity to our English word “poet.” So a poet is someone that is a “maker,” and that is, perhaps, the reason why. Anyway, I like to make note of these kind of things in case it ever comes up that someone asks, “What does this word ‘poet’ mean here?” Now we know.

But we have to stop here. Lord willing, we will pick up in our study in Romans 2 when we get together in our next Bible study.