21 January 2018 Epiphany 3. The Law Is Written on the Heart
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1 21 January 2018 Epiphany 3 The Law Is Written on the Heart Romans 2:6-16 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal Hymn: O Christ, Our True and Only Light, ELH#198 Let us pray: Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant us your Holy Spirit, who writes the preached Word into our hearts, so that we may receive and believe it, and be gladdened and comforted by it in eternity. Glorify your Word in our hearts, and make it so bright and warm that we may find pleasure in it, and through your holy inspiration think what is right, and by Your power fulfill your commands, for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen. Dear fellow redeemed, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. A comparison of world religions will quickly reveal that all religions seek somehow to find a way to get right with God, whoever that god may be. In some cases, this requires sacrifices; in other cases, it s by obeying certain principles; in other cases it s by focus and meditation. Boil it all down, every religion in the world thinks that you have to do something to get right with God. St. Paul writes about this in our Epistle today: Romans 2:6-16 God will repay each person according to what he has done eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good, but furious anger to those who out of selfish ambition are disobeying what is true and obeying what is wrong. There will be trouble and distress for the soul of every person who does what is evil for the Jew first and for the Greek but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good for the Jew first and for the Greek. For God does not show favoritism. Indeed, all people who have sinned without law will also perish without law,
2 2 Romans 2:6-16 and all the people who have sinned in connection with law will be judged by law. For it is not those who hear the law who will be righteous in God s sight, but those who do the law who will be declared righteous. In fact, whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires even though they do not have the law they are a law for themselves. They demonstrate the work of the law that is written in their hearts, since their conscience also bears witness as their thoughts go back and forth, at times accusing or at times even defending them. This will happen on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people s secrets through Jesus Christ. These are your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us in the truth. Your Word is truth. Amen. The conviction that, in order to get right with God, you have to do something he likes, is called opinio legis the opinion of the law, or the perspective of the law. The opinio legis, St. Paul writes, is written in their hearts, in the hearts of all mankind. That s why all religions believe that you have to do something to get right with God. All religions believe this, that is, except Christianity. We begin with this fact, that God is angry at sin and needs the right to take the place of the evil, but we believe that the Gospel has provided the cure that the Law cannot. Only true Christianity puts the Law in its correct place, showing guilty consciences the need for the Gospel. I. Showing Guilty Consciences the Need for the Gospel St. Paul lays out the opinio legis so that it s plain as day: God will repay each person according to what he has done. Good gets good, evil gets evil. Call it karma, call it just desserts, call it you-get-what-you-give; whatever you want to call it, it just makes sense. What goes around, comes around.
3 The Law Is Written on the Heart 3 God does not show favoritism, St. Paul warns, so those Jews who wanted to claim their heritage were out of luck. We are Abraham s descendants, the Jews objected, and we have never been slaves of anyone (John 8:33). Even Jesus said, Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34). This also put the Gentiles out of luck, those who had never heard the Law written by Moses. What about those people who live in the world s remotest jungles? What about the people who have never heard God s Word? Even if a person does not know the Ten Commandments, St. Paul says, Indeed, all people who have sinned without law will also perish without law, just as all the people who have sinned in connection with law will be judged by law. King Solomon recognized this: What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise? How the wise dies just like the fool! (Ecc. 2:15, 16, ESV). Yes, death comes to us all. That and taxes are the only two things you can be sure of in this life, say wise men. So look: the effects of sin and disobedience to God s Law comes upon even those who don t know it! But they do know it, in a sense. St. Paul writes, In fact, whenever Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires even though they do not have the law they are a law for themselves. They demonstrate the work of the law that is written in their hearts. Just look throughout the world s cultures and civilizations, even those tribes in the remotest jungles, and you ll notice some familiar things: there is a sense that no man should kill another without cause; there is a sense that one man should not take what belongs to another, whether it is his possessions, his
4 4 Romans 2:6-16 wife, his food, etc.; and there is a sense throughout the world that there is a God who provides everything man needs to live, and that such a god should be honored and obeyed and worshiped. This is not an accident, St. Paul says. This is evidence of the law that is written in their hearts. This law that is common to the whole world the law that tells you that God is angry with your sin, the law that tells you that the evil you do earns punishment and judgment is designed to convince you of your inability. St. Paul would say in just thirty-odd verses later, Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law, so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God s judgment. For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin (Rom. 3:19-20). Trace these two thoughts: St. Paul in our text says, those who do the law will be declared righteous, and then later says, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin. The law thus lays the whole world low every mouth [is] silenced. The law, written on all men s hearts, if it isn t censored, will prove to everyone that they are imperfect if for no other reason that, no matter how much good they do, they will still die. The law proves that no one can be saved by obeying it, because it proves that no one can obey it to the perfect standard that the law demands. If the Law only condemns, where can we turn? St. Paul continues: But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. This righteousness from God comes through faith in
5 The Law Is Written on the Heart 5 Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe (Rom. 3:21-22). The Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther s Small Catechism explains: The Law must be preached to all people, but especially to those who are not sorry for their sins. 1 When a person is convinced that he isn t all that bad, that he s got some good in himself, that his sin isn t really going to condemn him, he needs the Law. The Law must prepare us, it is designed to prove to us that we cannot save ourselves the seed is there in the whole world. Everyone has the law written on their hearts, but the problem is, the law in the heart is imperfect. It doesn t point directly to the cure, to the Gospel, but it is a law for themselves, isolated. Human beings cannot comprehend the idea that there is no possibility for salvation, so in the absence of the Gospel, the Law tries to fill the void. It s still commands, it s still requirements, but it will try to make it seem less bad, more attainable. This is where St. Paul speaks of those who have the law written on their hearts, their conscience also bears witness as their thoughts go back and forth, at times accusing or at times even defending them. Apart from the Word of God, however, these actions are done imperfectly. II. The Conscience Accuses or Defends, God Justifies Accusing that s the first thing the law-based conscience does. Every conscience is designed to accuse it tells you you ve done wrong. You feel guilty when you do something you know is wrong; that s the conscience accusing you. 1 #13, p. 36.
6 6 Romans 2:6-16 Defending when your conscience recognizes that you haven t done wrong, it convinces you that you are innocent. A good conscience can defend you against unjust accusations. So, see, there are two ways a conscience can go wrong: It can tell you you re guilty when you re really innocent and for such people I would share the Gospel that Jesus, by his death on the cross, took all your guilt away. Or, and more likely, a wrong conscience can tell you you re innocent when you re really guilty and for such people I would share the Law that demands perfection. Have you been perfect? Or, depending on the specific case, we can talk about all the various commandments of God. Have you ever placed anything in a higher priority than God and his Word, let anything anything take you away from where he meets you and your fellow believers? Have you ever disobeyed someone in authority over you? Have you ever harmed (or wished to harm) anyone? Have you ever committed adulterous acts (or had adulterous thoughts or impure words)? Have you ever taken or wanted to take anything from anyone? Have you ever lied, or not told the full truth? See, if you are entertaining any thought that you re good enough, or you re not that bad, remember, what counts is being perfect. This was St. Paul s purpose in writing these words to the Romans: God will repay each person according to what he has done eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good, but furious anger to those who out of selfish ambition are disobeying what is true and obeying what is wrong. He wants his readers to examine themselves. He wants you to examine yourselves.
7 The Law Is Written on the Heart 7 Have I done what is good, or what is wrong? If you re honest, you ll have to admit, I ve done a little bit of both. Well, guess what, even a little bit of wrong is enough to condemn you. St. Paul therefore also makes mention of Jews and Greeks being equally judged: For God does not show favoritism. The Jews would frequently reject Jesus words, for example, when Jesus said: Amen, Amen, I tell you: Everyone who keeps committing sin is a slave to sin. But a slave does not remain in the family forever. A son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. I know you are Abraham s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because there is no place for my word in you. I am telling you what I have seen at the side of the Father. As for you, you do what you have heard at the side of your father. Our father is Abraham! they answered. If you were Abraham s children, Jesus told them, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard at the side of God. Abraham did not do this. (John 8:34-40) These people claimed to know the Law, claimed to have a justifying heritage, but they were trying to save themselves apart from being perfect. They got mad when Jesus told them they weren t perfect. So do all men. The opinio legis does this: you realize, as all men do, because of the law written on the heart, that God demands something in order for you to be found acceptable in his sight. So, all men try, following this religion or that philosophy, trying to keep what God requires. But they quickly realize that if it were perfection that was demanded, they would be lost. So we all lower the bar. We bring down that bar to a level we can cross. Then we have convinced ourselves that we
8 8 Romans 2:6-16 have done what God demands. Really, we haven t done what he demands. We ve only done what we demand, and sometimes not even that. The law written on the heart is tainted by the sin that corrupts the heart. We realize something must be done, but we re good at convincing ourselves it s not all that difficult, that we can do it. But we can t. That s what Jesus was trying to tell these Jews. If they were listening, they would have seen that even there, while Jesus was telling them how imperfect they were, he was offering them salvation the right way: So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free (John 8:36). This is the same thing St. Paul wrote, This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe (Rom. 3:22). They tell you, you shouldn t be your own advocate in court. Defending yourself rarely works out. If only we took that advice in God s court! But mankind is all too happy to let the conscience be the lawyer. Our conscience never went to law school. Our conscience only has the basics of law written on the heart. That s not enough, because when Moses comes, that veteran attorney who has mastered the Law written in stone, he will crush you in the court. No, don t defend yourself. Your conscience will not do it right. But there is a perfect defense: St. John advises, My children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1). And who is that Advocate? Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world (2:1-2).
9 The Law Is Written on the Heart 9 St. Paul likewise writes: Who will bring an accusation against God s elect? God is the one who justifies! Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died, and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God s right hand and who is also interceding for us! (Rom. 8:33-34). It s all a cosmic courtroom, you see. Satan, the accuser, will bring your sins against you. Your own conscience, with its rudimentary understanding of the law, will bring your sins against you. As your conscience becomes better informed in the Law that God has actually written, it will bring your sins against you even more! Any defense your own conscience will try to bring is brought through the opinio legis, the thought that you need to do something to earn God s favor. But your star lawyer, Jesus Christ, comes in the first place with a perfect understanding of the Law (after all, he wrote it, being God); and in the second place with the perfect defense. Here s how your lawyer Jesus defense goes: My defendant has been guilty of all this and more, and further, will continue to sin in this life and break the perfect Law of God. (Here s where defendants usually get angry with their lawyer and get thrown out in contempt of court. But Jesus goes on.) However, the punishment for these crimes has already been meted out (and he points to his hands, the nail prints, and his side, the scar at his rib) I have paid the price for my defendant, sins committed now and forever. He will not be punished. Why try to save yourself? Give up on that dream. Instead, hear the inviting, comforting words of Christ: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and
10 10 Romans 2:6-16 humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30). Jesus provides a trade, a happy exchange: our sins are nailed into his hands, pierced into his side; his holiness and perfection rests upon our shoulders. By Baptism, the Lord s Supper, and his Gospel Word, you have received this grace. Praise the Lord who justifies us, for Jesus sake. Amen. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV ), copyright 2017 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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