All who sin apart from God will also perish apart from God, and all who sin under God will be judged by God. For it is not those who hear God who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey God who will be declared righteous.
As I was struggling with this passage, I tried to pray it back to God, and I found that I replaced "the law" with "God", since the law comes from God, and ultimately is a manifestation of God's holiness. In the end, I'm not sure which is more horrible: to perish apart from God, or to be judged by God. I'm not sure what the implications are for today, with believers/non-believers, but Paul was talking about Jews and Gentiles -- Jews who will be judged for having the law, and Gentiles who will perish for being apart from the law. As Christians, we too will be judged, but Jesus will step forward and show that we are His. It kind of brings me back to Felix's sharing on Friday: if Jesus was coming back in 2012 -- or even tomorrow -- and were to demand an accounting of my life, what would I say?
For it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Now I know that grace is greater than the law, and Jesus fulfilled the law in His death and resurrection, but as James says "faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26), and Peter, in his first two sermons, says "REPENT and be baptized" (Acts 2:38 and 3:19). There are so many things I could repent for, but I go back to the cardinal sin -- not glorifying God as God. Even now, as I write this, I have mixed feelings, because there's a part of me which is so against reading the Bible. I'm not sure where the voice is coming from (whether it's Satan tempting me, or my own flesh), but to be completely honest, the reason is because I'm afraid of God telling me to change. But if I don't let God do His good work in me, how can I glorify Him? The sad thing is, I'm not even as terrified as I should be.
My Bible has a handy little dictionary in the back. It's of dubious academic value, but I looked up righteous just out of curiosity. It says "being 'in the right' in a relationship to God". I think the most vivid description I could imagine of is me standing before the great white throne of God (Rev. 20:11). In my mind I see that everything is white -- the throne, of course, the huge hall (and by huge I mean HUGE), and the floor. God Himself is simply a beam of bright light with a booming voice. There is no one else but Him and me. No lawyer to defend me. God is the Judge, the Prosecutor, the Jury and the Executioner. And I'm standing in front of Him like an ant before an elephant. My knees aren't knocking, and I'm not quivering in fear, but I'm definitely holding my breath. And suddenly I hear "well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your Master's happiness!" And I just smile. I'm happy, of course, but it's not an exuberant kind of happy. It's just contentment, that my old life, with its struggles, is over, and I can begin a new one beside my Creator. I am filled with more peace than I could ever imagine.
That's kind of what righteousness looks like to me. And to tie this in with the previous part about obedience to God's law: I would rather have this happen to me, than to see my work burned up before me and entering God's presence with charred clothes, like one escaping from a fire (1 Cor. 3:12-15), and then only because Jesus steps forward with a raised eyebrow and says "weeellll... I did save him, soooo...."
The final thing I want to say about this passage is the part about Gentiles: Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have God, do by nature things required by God, they are proving God for themselves, even though they do not have God, since they show that the requirements of God are written on their hearts. This passage doesn't strike me as personally as the last, but I think, tying it in with Romans 1:20, this is the Bible's teaching on universal moral standard. It brings me yet again to the Last Days, when God will give humans over to sin even more than He does now. I think its almost universally accepted that in the Last Days, Hitler and Stalin will pale in comparison to the evil the humanity unleashes upon itself. Combine this with the judgement scene I imagined above, I'm not sure whether to be more excited or terrified of the return of the King.
In conclusion, I pray for God's saving grace to change me, no matter how much a part of me is against it (more on that in chapter 7!). I hope He doesn't mind having to drag me, kicking and screaming, into heaven.
Matthew
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