Scripture: Romans 2:12-16 (ESV)
"For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."
Devotion:
In this passage, Paul is talking about something pretty intriguing – that everyone, whether they've heard about God's law or not, has a sense of right and wrong. It's like having an internal compass that sometimes points us in the right direction, even if we've never seen the map. This internal guide is what Paul refers to as the law written on our hearts. It's a reminder that deep down, we know when we're off track. Incidentally, I think this is one of the most compelling reasons to believe in God. Every human being has a shared sense of morality. Where does this come from, if not from a moral law giver. Sure - we differ on the specifics - that much is to be expected if we live in a world of sin. But the essence is the same. As CS Lewis said in Mere Christianity:
“[The Christian] does not think that all these variations of the moral law are of equal value, but he does think that they all point to something which transcends them all – to the idea of Right, a Law of Nature, governing the universe. For example, some people might prefer to have several wives instead of only one. The Christian admits that different cultures and different times have had different rules about marriage. (He himself thinks monogamy the best form of marriage.) But what he insists on is that in all these cultures and at all these times it has been agreed that you must not simply take any woman you like. There has always been some kind of Rule of Fair Play, which differed in details but always had the same moral idea at its centre.”
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