in this absurd real Christianity I continue to Romans Chapter 2 or we examine the purpose of the conscience and how people who have never heard of the moral law or still guilty before God all that and more coming right now
 welcome to real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge today's episode is Tyler Romans to 14 through 16 the role of the conscience in Salvation now as you know the show is an audio and video ministry of relearn at work if you're watching the video recording of this episode please be sure to subscribe or follow for more biblical content if you're listening from Apple podcast Google play Spotify thank you for your faithful listenership you can also follow our ministry of just about every social media platform and we'd love to have you on the journey now this is episode number 219 to say something the only reason we can continue to produce this show is because of your faithful donations to this ministry thank you guys so much for your support as a result we've had over 4 million downloads of the show in tens of thousands of Christians that have come to a Biblical understanding of the Gospel however we are still praying for God to give us more reach but we really do need your help would you guys just consider
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 to train here we've been learning about the coming Universal and individualized Judgment of God coming for everyone of us and so we saw Paul argue that all people Jew and Greek lost and saved will stand before God on Judgment Day individually we also learn the difference between judgment and condemnation this is key to understanding the difference between those two realities is that there is a difference between judgment and condemnation we will all be judged but we will not all be condemned I think of Romans 8:1 that says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus all of us yes we will stand before and be judged but we will not be condemned because we will be found righteous by the righteousness of Christ of the distinction between judgment and condemnation really taught us
 psychetruth for the Christian Life we need to learn and pay attention here we need to learn how to rest in Christ for our justification while we work in Christ for our reward and are pleasing of God and so this is a balance of I'm not going to work and Obey to help myself be justified I'm going to work and Obey to please God and so this is really a major difference between legalism which is trying to work to maintain their Justified State and just resting in Christ for our righteousness but at the same time working to obey to please God not to actually make ourselves a righteous cuz we are not righteous only Christ is righteous and so I think about 2nd Corinthians 5 9 through 10 it says so whether we are at home or away we make it our aim to please him
 for we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil Colossians 3 2324 says whatever you do work heartily as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward you are serving the lord Christ so our motive is not that our works would offer some additional eternal security but that we work because of our gratitude for Redemption that that's really what we're doing we're working for our gratitude for the Redemption that is an earned not by us but by Christ alone so Romans to 12 to 13 we saw in the previous episode Paul moved from the grounds of God's judgment and if we have a judgement has to be based off the grounds of a law and the law of God and the universe
 power of the law has really been the focus of the past several versus we learned that the purpose of the law was not to deliver men but too damn them now you have to understand that the law was never intended to save men through the law the law was given to bring about the knowledge of sin we're going to talk more about that even next week but this is all Roman chapter 2 is really all about showing the power of the law so that we will pursue and that we will turn not to works but to the Savior and it's why it's such a tragedy that so many Christians and even some pastors don't use the law the same way that the Apostle uses the law here in Romans he opens up his presentation of the Gospel with the law with the power and the the universal condemnation of the law if for some reason
 pastors today just go straight to Jesus died for you they skipped the reality that Jesus also had to live for you he had to live and keep the perfect righteousness of the loss of that he can impute his righteousness to you through faith we don't talk about the laws condemning power and the Judgment of God and then if you do not satisfy the justice of God through faith in Christ you will experience the wrath of God in hell that is not a message that many pastors are delivering and it's unfortunate and so the law in the New Testament is always presented as this unbearable weight that no man can carry we talked about a couple verses that I'm going to be repeating over and over in these episodes through Romans Chapter 2 James 210 for whoever keeps the whole lobster tails in one point has become guilty of all of it again the law is not just an outward expression but a totality of obedience meaning that is not
 it's what you do with your body but it's also what you do in the heart and your internal thoughts and so this is this is a high-stakes it's not just that you don't murder someone is that you don't hate somebody is not that you don't commit adultery it that you actually don't lust after somebody there's a totality of the law that Jesus makes clear in his message for the gospels Romans 3:20 again we know that Romans 1:18 through 320 again I'm going to reiterate that several episodes in a row is really this one big swooping message that ends with Roman 3:20 that says for by works of the law no human being will be justified and so you will not work your way you will not be a moralist you will not earn your way to religious doings you must rest in what has been done and so moralism legalism they cannot make us righteous you cannot contribute to your salvation or maintaining Your Righteous standing through religion
 Cassidy so Humanity's Only Hope for justification is what it's in the righteousness of Christ again I'm going to beat that horse until you guys really understand it so Paul teaches that judgment is universal the condemnation of the law is universal and he's cornering anyone Jew or Gentile that you cannot escape the law you were made you have a maker and your maker has a right to tell you how you ought to live you are unable to maintain that standard by which he has put upon us and you are guilty of breaking his moral off because you sinned against an eternal God there is eternal punishment this is essentially the beginnings of the presentation of the gospel and so today we're going to be looking at Romans 2 14 through 16 which is a parenthetical statement it's really could be put inside brackets in your Bible and might even be
 and freta sees it's just under last week's text and so if last week's text was really the thesis that the Jews not only need to be seers of the law but also doors I mean that is a complete doing at the law today's passage is related to a different dimension and speaking to the Gentiles the passage essentially answers the pressing question that a Jew would be asking which is what about the Gentiles who can't do the law because they don't even know of the law and so can God justly condemned Gentiles who don't even have the law that's the question is really being answered here is can God justly condemned those who've never even heard of The Ten Commandments and the moral law of God how can God rightly and justly put these people to Justice if they've never even heard the Loft you guys might have
 in the previous episode it doesn't matter if you know the law if you are guilty if you're within its jurisdiction so the reality is is if I'm speeding here through Cottonwood or Sedona Arizona and I don't realize that it's a 35 and I'm going 50 it doesn't matter if I'm aware of the law I'm guilty of the Loft and so we're going to be talking a little bit more about that we're going to see Paul establishing the legal grounds by which God can bring Justice upon all people Jew and Gentile even if you don't have the locked so let's look back at vs 12 and 13 we're just going to read it here first is 12 to 13 2 chapter 2 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 13th for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God but the doors of the law who will be justified and again that's a complete doing
 not just externally but internally we can talk about that in detail right now but that's really what's being said today's text is to versus later and it says for when the Gentiles who do not have the law by Nature do what the law requires they are a lot of themselves even though they do not have the law they show that the work of the law is written on their heart 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 Jesus Christ so let's talk about verse 14 for when Gentiles who do not have the law by Nature do with the law requires they are a lot of themselves even though they do not have the law what is Paul saying here Paul is ultimately implying that while the Gentiles do not have the law that was given to them to the Jews on
 Sinai on the tablets through Moses they do have a conscience that's consistent with the tenants of the law and really if you read chapter 1 of Romans they know that God exists they know that there is a general difference between good and evil Romans chapter 1 verse 19 says quote for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him and so the people who don't know God they can see God in the things that are made and then you can go back to Romans chapter 1 if you'd like to read that but physically or philosophically speaking
 the conscience operates primarily in the mode of condemnation meaning that the primary function of the conscience is more to tell you what not to do than to tell you the righteous things that you need to do so it's it's something that is in us a tell us something wrong we shouldn't do something versus the contents roll is less involved in telling us to do something that is righteous so what all people do not have the Ten Commandments God has implanted with an every person the form of the law which acts as a moral law unto themselves so that's what the conscience really operate that the moral law unto themselves now that Universal conscience as we all know is violated by each and everyone of us every day we don't do the things that we want to do we don't do the things that we should do we do things that we know we shouldn't do and if you don't realize that you're bad and that you're terrible and that you're a sinner I just think about the the greatest commandment right is to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all
 remind me to love your neighbor as yourself ask yourself how many minutes of the day you failed to do that and you'll realize that while I am in a constant state of sin so again Paul is saying that this law of the conscience and are breaking of it essentially reveals that all humanity is deserving justly of condemnation because we have a law even if we don't have the moral law that was given to us on Mount cyanide a verse 15 says they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also Bears witness in their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them so Paul goes on to really prove his point here by providing further evidence for the conscience and so the conscience it's not perfect is not a perfect Loft but it's still a law to those who do not have the Ten Commandment that's what Paul is going to get across to your scripture teaches us that we are never to actually violate our own consciences and
 truly really a law unto us now and there's so much that we could teach on the conscience Doctor Martin Lee Jones does an episode on this specific episode and goes deeper on that if you'd like to go further on the conscience there no notice he doesn't say that the law is written on their heart and verse 15 he says the work of the law is written on their hearts now what is the work of the lot essentially it's the results of the law if the results of the lot and what are the results of the law that their God is acknowledged they are life is protected marriage is honored parents are honored that this is the result of the law for example India is a pagan nation that is ruled by people who do not know the scriptures and don't have the moral law of God however and India's penal code section 302 murder is outlawed and is punished by quote
 death penalty or life imprisonment in or on adultery is outlawed and we know that they have rejected the moral law of God that rejected Christ as Lord they don't follow the Bible they follow the Koran and adultery yet is still outlawed and is quote punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried people and Death on the 4th offense it is punishable by death by stoning or by other means for married people and in all cases of incest and quote and so we think also about the Aboriginal tribes of Australia or Africa and even in these distant cultures they still condemn stealing and lying and dishonoring of parents those things are still happening even though they don't have the moral law of God so the moral laws among pagan people are the evidence of the work of the law that is written on their car
 even though they don't know God and so further evidence for the conscience is the public discourse that goes on around moral issues you know it's why Paul says at the end of this first and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them if there was a human conscience there would be no discussion about abortion or homosexuality or transgenderism or pornography or divorce or lying or cheating or stealing would be no reference point or standard among people who don't know God but there is a conscience and it's evident in the public discourse about you have people who are arguing over these facts if they're right or wrong because their conscience are accusing them or excusing them to do these things so among the Lost there are those whose consciences have been seared
 Anderson Romans chapter 1 and leading the chapter 2 and God's judgment is upon them that actually have no conscience that they become Shameless around shameful acts they become essentially desensitized and then there are those who by God's grace have still a sensitive conscience that is convicted of righteousness and by God's grace will maybe be saved and so the public discourse again about morality becomes evidence for the existence of a law within all of us and in turn providing just grounds for God's judgment so this is essentially the point of policy-making there but Paul closes his verse 16 which is really connected to the previous verse I want to read it with you together here so I'm going to read 15 and 16 together it says they showed that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also Bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuser of an excuse then on that day went according to my gospel God judges
 the secrets of men by Christ Jesus so Paul wraps up his point in the section of scripture by stating a few essential fax number one is if there is a universal law the conscience there is a universal judge to uphold Justice according to that law because they have a law without a judge would make no sense right if there is a judge then there also must be a time for judgment if there is a judgment there must be a standard of righteousness by which a judgment can actually be made and this is the point of again leading people towards Chrysler Paula stating that the judge which is God will reckon Humanity on Judgment Day according to the law of God and the righteousness of Christ and so there's there's a deep theological understanding that needs to be caught here in the one who sees the heart the judge will see all of our hearts and will judge the secrets of men will make
 correct judgement upon all of us and so everything will be laid out before God at that time acts 17:30 one says because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained so there's that standard of righteousness he has given Assurance of this to All by raising him from the dead and the reason that Jesus was raised from the dead is because the wages of sin is death and so anybody that's broken the law must die know Christ died for our sins but had no sins of his own and therefore must be resurrected from the dead because the wages of sin is death in Christ have no sin yet that means that Christ had to be resurrected from death which is the validation of God that he was righteous before the law and so again Christ and just died for us he also lived for us he live righteously and the evidence for his righteousness is that he didn't die
 yes he died for our sins but he was he lives eternally if Christ would have stayed dead and didn't have a resurreccion it would mean that he was a sinner and he deserve death but because you didn't deserve death he was resurrected and so lots of their what is the application what it what is this mean for us how can we apply this to our lives first we must thank God that as Christians we have more than a conscience what a blessing to have the Holy Spirit to have the law of God written Upon Our Hearts to have the righteousness of Christ so that while we will stand before judgement we will not be condemned because we have the righteousness of Christ imputed To Us by faith and that our sins have been paid for on the cross by Jesus's death dying to death that we deserved and so Hebrews 10 16 through 17 which is really quoting Jeremiah says this is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days declares the Lord I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds then he
 I will remember their sins and their Lawless Deeds no more what an amazing passage of scripture so second piece of application we must not only leverage the law in discussion but when we evangelize we really need to use the law we need to not just use the law however we need to also use the conscience and so people know when they violate their conscience we know it they know it until leveraging this violation of the conscience the guilt and the shame that they feel we live in a culture that wants to make shame feel Shameless but we need to absolutely tell people that that shame is the conscience it's a lot of themselves convicting them of the sin that they have against a God that created them and it is a lot of themselves and it will condemn them to hell and so I actually open up one of my gospel tracks with this concept the reality is that we can't give them the ointment of the Gospel or the healing oil of the Gospel
 we first afflict them or wound them with the law that is exactly how the gospel is always preached in the New Testament is this reality that we we we tell them the law their wounded with the lot causes repentance and they cast themselves on Christ who was the only one that is righteous but I opened up the gospel tract that I wrote for male the gospel. Org and I use this line I said everyone knows they have something to be forgiven for but not everyone knows who they must be forgiven by so against shame is God's internal tool to bring conviction upon the loss to bring conviction upon those he's going to save in the world however is constantly looking for ways to reduce shame I mean my goodness if you think about brene Brown dr. Phil or Oprah are Everybody's Talkin and trying to figure out ways to reduce shame and our culture however shame is again an operating element of the conscience to bring
 us to a place of understanding that we are violating the way that we were made and what we were made for and the god that made us and so as Christians the most loving thing we can do is a magnify the things that there are doing that are sinful that are causing shame but we don't want to suppress that shame we actually want them to understand that shame is actually causing them to turn to Christ they're guilty that they are lost that they need to repent and turn to Christ they're not going to be found righteous unless they trust in the righteousness of Christ that they need to be forgiven and that they shouldn't suppress that feeling of conviction so hopefully that episode was helpful for you guys and really breaking down the blood of the basics of what the purpose of the consciences and how to understand the difference between the law and the conscience if your regular listener to this podcast thank you guys so much if you guys would be willing to leave
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