01.6.7. All Secrets Revealed In Gods Judgment
Chapter 6vii - All Secrets Revealed In God’s Judgment
God’s judgment reveals all secrets: “For as many as without law sinned, shall also without law perish; and as many as sinned in the sphere of the law shall be judged by means of the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For whenever non-Jews who do not have law do by nature things of the law, these having not the law are a law to themselves; who are showing the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness with their reasonings accusing or even excusing among themselves, on the day when God judges the hidden things of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:12-16 -translation). The truth that God’s sovereignty does not eliminate man’s responsibility is taught in Romans 2:12-14. Our studies in Romans 1:1-32 have proved that to be true. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility have been called one of the antinomies of Scripture. This word is frequently used, especially when a person comes face to face with two things that are difficult to harmonize. Theologians of the past used it with reference to many passages of Scripture. In theology, it is applied to apparently conflicting doctrines concerning the same subject. There is no Greek word for antinomy. It is an English word that has been incorporated to try to explain some things that human beings do not have the ability to comprehend. Since the limitations of the human mind render it impossible to approach the truth of two apparently contradictory ideas, some say the truth of both is capable of equal demonstration. However, two diametrically opposed opinions cannot be equally demonstrated. Man does not have a free will. His will is enslaved. Therefore, free will and free grace cannot be equally demonstrated.
Antinomy is described in a dictionary as a contradiction between two equally logical conclusions. It is defined in another dictionary as opposition between one law, principle, rule, etc., and another law, principle, or rule. In philosophy, it is said to be a contradiction between two statements, both attained by seemingly correct reasoning. Antinomy and paradox are distinct. Antinomy is incomprehensible, whereas paradox is comprehensible. The following are some so-called contradictions appearing in Scripture:
(1) God is absolutely sovereign, and man is a responsible being.
(2) The Divine and the human are in both the living Word and the written word. In the Divine logos, the Son of God, are the human and Divine natures; and in the giving of Scripture, are the human element and Divine inspiration.
(3) Fallible men were inspired to write the infallible word.
(4) There is the regular function of natural laws, the laws of nature, and the occasional occurrence of miraculous events in nature’s ordered system.
(5) Temporal sin committed in time will result in eternal punishment.
(6) Election is Divine, and elected sinners exercise individual faith. The difference between centrifugal and centripetal forces, two opposing things, illustrates an antinomy as far as our understanding is concerned. They appear contradictory. Centrifugal force directs power from the center, but centripetal force directs power toward the center. The supposed contradiction between them keeps the planets, including the earth, in space in their proper orbits. Therefore, the forces are complimentary and contribute to harmonious operation of the universe itself. This is God’s doing. Who will argue about so-called contrarieties? Only our lack of understanding would cause us to call them antinomies. Laziness in the study of God’s word prompts some Christians to label certain truths as antinomies as an alibi. They claim some subjects are so deep they cannot understand them, and they do not consider what God has said. One who desires to know truth will search to find the truth. An unsaved person does not seek to know more about God. The only person who seeks God is one who has been sought and found by God and given grace. We must not learn the term antinomy as an excuse for lack of studying God’s word and doing His will.
There is an element of truth in the statement that antinomies of Scripture enable children of God to guard against disturbance over our inability to reconcile all the doctrines of Holy Scripture with one another. But we need to use it with caution. There is no disharmony between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility; but in order to understand them, we must realize that God is in control of everything. We must also know that God created man upright, but man fell; nevertheless, God is not responsible for his fall. Furthermore, God has the right to command man to do what he is unable to do. Hence, there is no contradiction. The Creator is not restricted to limitations. God does not answer all questions that curious minds might raise. We are limited in our ability to fully comprehend God’s infinite mind, but we can understand what He wants us to know. Perhaps He never intended that we understand the things we do not understand, but we lay hold of or apprehend what we do not comprehend. Christians are taught to humbly trust God’s veracity. If we could explain everything, we would not trust God’s veracity. We understand by faith things that cannot be understood apart from God-given faith. The Creator is unrestricted by the creatures’ limitations. Creatures must wait for the solution to many mysteries in Scripture and providence. “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). God has revealed all to which He intends that we be subjected. If He revealed more, we could not know anything about it. The things of His will that are revealed belong to us. If you say the assembly is local and it is also universal, you speak of two hemispheres of the sphere. Man should avoid philosophical system’s explanation of the things of God. They cannot be explained by carnal minds. Therefore, one must rely on the Spirit of God to interpret Scripture. A consideration of God’s absolute sovereignty and man’s responsibility leads Christians to vital interest in God’s eternal purpose-singular. Technically, God has a purpose, a decree; but there are many facets to God’s decree. God has a plan for the ages, and He causes all things to move toward one goal. He governs the actions of men and they subserve His purpose in that goal. Therefore, God is sovereign. Nothing takes Him by surprise. Although the Lord’s temporary dispensations are sometimes altered, His eternal purpose never changes. It is fulfilled according to His design. God alone has the right to determine individuals and nations (Acts 17:26). God’s right to impose law on mankind rises from His absolute sovereignty. Man’s duty to observe that law flows from his responsibility as a creature created by the sovereign God. Creatures owe their allegiance and honor to God. Every knee shall bow in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ to acknowledge His Lordship (Php 2:5-11). With God’s purpose in view, adversity and prosperity, which are apparently contradictory, exist side by side. “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider...” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). Both are required. God also has set the one over against the other to the end that man should find nothing after him. God’s purpose is executed in all adverse and prosperous things. Spiritual minds alone can comprehend God’s turning men’s sin to His glory. Men sin; but God overrules sin, even the sins of men, for His own glory. He makes the wrath of man to praise Him. God overruled Joseph’s brethren’s intended evil for their own personal good. He overruled in the death of Jesus Christ for the good of His people. Man’s wrongdoing is not allowed to hinder God’s purpose. God overrules the wickedness of men. God’s temporary dispensations, many of which are recorded in Scripture, are sometimes altered. His promised blessings or punishments are withheld suitable to the attitude of those with whom He deals in His providence. The people of Ninevah repented (Jonah 3:10). God gives the spirit of penitence, which is godly sorrow, and man repents. Repentance is the gift of God. The word for repentance in the Old Testament is return. God first turns us, and then we return. In God’s act of saving us, we are passive. God acts and we react.
Old Testament history demonstrates God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. The heart of Pharaoh, who held the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage, was hardened. God hardened his heart, and he hardened his own heart. God hardened his heart by exposing him to the truth and forcing him to an issue. God did not infuse hardness in Pharaoh’s heart. He only lifted His restraint and allowed him do what his hard heart desired. Therefore, he hardened his own heart. God hardens men’s hearts today by providentially subjecting them to the word of God. As men hear and fail to obey, they harden their own hearts. God does not infuse the hardness. He simply leaves men to the depravity of their own human hearts. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are revealed in the introduction of sin into the human race. God is not the author of sin, but one cannot possibly imagine sin out of all relation to God. God could have prevented sin’s appearance had He chosen to do so, but He did not purpose to do so.
Great controversy exists over free will and free grace, which is another so-called antinomy. Free will, as it is believed by the majority, will drive people to methods. For this reason most so-called worship services are designed to affect the emotional part of man. Religionists go from one method to another. Denominationally trained men today are concerned about what they can use and what they can do to get the most people. They believe salvation is dependent on the free will of man, so they must do something to persuade him to exercise his will. If one gimmick does not work, they try another. In contrast to free will, which drives people from one method to another, free grace drives people to the word of God; and they are satisfied, knowing that God has the answer. The Divine order has always been and always will be the mind, the emotions, and then the will. Anyone who tries to reach only the will or only the emotional nature is in error. The true method is to give an exposition of Scripture to reach through the declaration of truth the people God has regenerated.
God is always the overflowing fountain. Man is always needy and must wait to drink of God’s fountain. Between man’s natural ability and his spiritual inability rests his responsibility. That is a good statement, but it deserves explanation. Man’s natural ability is that with which he comes into the world. As a result of the fall, man is spiritually unable to do anything of a spiritual nature. Therefore, between his natural ability and his spiritual inability, he is still a responsible individual. A man chained in a prison cell is physically unable to walk. However, his inability is attributable to the one who chained him. Nevertheless, his will is not changed. The body but not the will may be chained. His will, as far as he is concerned, remains free. Hence, man is spiritually incapable of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. He has neither ability nor will to exercise faith in Christ. He does not have the will to believe because he does not have grace. Since his will is depraved, he acts according to his corrupt nature. He cannot naturally obey the gospel, which is required for salvation. He does not naturally act from foreign but from inward influence. Man still has his faculties, but they are depraved. They are motivated by iniquitous things. Only the grace of God can change that motivation. He is natural and has natural ability, but he has no spiritual ability to do spiritual things. Nevertheless, he is responsible because God is the author of neither his fall nor his sin. God created man upright (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
There is no contradiction between the first and last parts of John 6:63, which many claim is another antinomy: “The Spirit is the one making alive, the flesh profits nothing; the words [hrema, which refers more to the spoken message than just to the written message] which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (translation). Those who believe this is an antinomy say the spoken word is spirit and life. Does the word itself give life? Those who believe in gospel regeneration answer in the affirmative. When Jesus Christ was here, He spoke. Was everyone who heard Him speak made alive? Only the ones who understand Christ’s words in a spiritual sense will find them living in operation. This was demonstrated by the Thessalonian Christians. When the gospel came to them, it did not come in word only but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, which is a living operation (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Efficacious grace is taught in John 6:63. The first part of the text affirms that the Spirit is the One making alive. In giving us life, He gives us ability to hear the words given. Hence, the Holy Spirit having made one alive in Jesus Christ also makes him sensitive to the living and continuing word of God (1 Peter 1:18-23). The latter part of the text in John 6:63 is not discussing regeneration. This word becomes the instrument of the assurance of salvation; it does not quicken.
There is a realm of truth beyond the comprehension of man’s natural powers. We could not understand these things apart from the Holy Spirit. But this reality is never at the expense of the grammatical, historical account of Holy Scripture. As the artist can see and the musician can hear things many could never see or hear, Christians understand things that non-Christians can never see or understand. The Spirit of God does more than work through the sanctified eye and ear gate. He operates through the gift of faith.
God’s judgment reveals all hidden things: “...all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). God knows the thoughts of every person, not only of the Jews but also of humanity in general. He will bring to light all things of saints and sinners among Jews and Gentiles. Both saved and lost will be judged, but not at the same time. In Romans 2:12-16, the apostle divided mankind into two classes-Jews and non-Jews. In 1 Corinthians 10:32, He divided them into three classes-Jews, non-Jews, and the assembly Jesus Christ is continuing to build in the world today.
Neither the law within nor the law without was given for the purpose of justification. However, both do condemn men. That is the purpose of the law. The law was given that men might measure themselves thereby. It measures men but never provides the means of justification before God. God’s judgment, which is without partiality (Romans 2:11), pronounces the verdict of guilty: “For as many as without law sinned, shall also without law perish; and as many as sinned in the sphere of the law shall be judged by means of the law”
(Romans 2:12 -translation). Those without law who do not heed their internal witness shall perish. Those within the sphere of the law who do not respect the external witness of the written law shall be condemned. This verse teaches the way men shall be judged, not the way they shall be saved. Paul was not discussing deliverance by the grace of God in this portion of Scripture. Gentiles who are without an external standard shall perish without law, and Jews who have the external standard of the law shall be condemned by that standard. But all are condemned. All men will be judged according to the light to which they have been exposed, whether they sin within or without the sphere of the law: “For this reason through one man sin entered into the world [world of mankind], and death by sin, so also death passed on all men, inasmuch as all sinned; for until law sin was in the world, but sin is not charged to one’s account when there is no law; but death reigned from Adam to Moses even on the ones not having sinned in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a type of the One coming” (Romans 5:12-14 -translation).
Although men lived, sinned, and died before Moses, their dying proved they were responsible individuals. The inner law judged every man from Adam to Moses. Although non-Jews are without the written form of the law, they are responsible for their sins: “Because that which is known of God is evident in them; for God manifested it to them. For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are being clearly seen being understood by the things made, both his eternal power and deity, with the result that they are without excuse”
(Romans 1:19-20 -translation). Law within acquaints men with the knowledge that there is a Creator. Since the Godhead of God is revealed in creation, every man is without excuse before God.
“In the sphere of the law” (Romans 2:12) refers to the Jews who had the external law. They heard it read but made no application of it: “for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Romans 2:13 -translation). The law’s function is to judge, not justify. It was given for the purpose of judging. Since the Jews were subjected to the reading of the law but failed to practice what they heard, they were condemned by the law. The law was given to expose us and show us what we must have in order to pass out of death into everlasting life. It reveals to us our need of deliverance by grace. Regeneration alone can impart the principle of life to an individual.
Neither possession of the law nor having heard it read or taught will give safety in the day of God’s judgment. There are three kinds of hearers:
(1) Some hear the word but do not understand it. The law is spiritual, holy, and good (Romans 7:12). It is the expression of the holy character of God. That is why we are condemned when we look at ourselves in the light of God’s law which cannot deliver. Men cannot understand the law when it is heard because it is spiritual and must be spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).
(2) Some hear but do not put into practice what they hear.
(3) Others hear and do the things they hear. Hence, there are three types of people. The law shows the need of salvation but does not provide it. The law was never given as a means of the new birth. It is the means by which man must measure himself before God. It condemns and shows man that his need is deliverance by God’s grace. The Jews were measured by law and were taught enough to know their need, but they were saved by sacrifice. Their salvation by sacrifice was before the law was given to them. This Biblical order is revealed in the book of Exodus. Although Jesus Christ had not yet offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin, His sacrifice was typified by all the Old Testament sacrifices on the altar. The Jews were not saved by those sacrifices but by the anticipated sacrifice-singular-of Jesus Christ to which all the sacrifices pointed (Hebrews 10:1-14). Hence, they were saved by faith in the coming Christ, the one perfect sacrifice for sin.
Since the theme of Romans is grace-righteousness, not law- righteousness, the statement, “for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified” (Romans 2:13), should not be confusing. The thesis of Romans is righteousness provided by God. It is first imputed and then imparted. Imputation is legal. Impartation is when the imputed righteousness is actually imparted in the individual. Paul distinguished grace-righteousness from law-righteousness. The Jews professed righteousness but did not possess righteousness. They misconstrued the purpose of the law (Galatians 3:1-29). Grace- righteousness was imparted in Paul by the Lord; and in grace-righteousness, he counted all he had gained under law for righteousness as nothing but refuse that he might stand in Christ, not having his own righteousness but the righteousness that was first imputed to him and then imparted in him by God’s grace in time (Php 3:4-10). Grace-righteousness produces practical holiness-faith, love, obedience, and all dispositions of the nature of grace. Law demands obedience, but no one can obey until he has the life by which he can obey. The non-Jews “are showing the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness with their reasonings accusing or even excusing among themselves” (Romans 2:15 -translation). The Greek word for conscience (v. 15) is a present active participle of the compound word summartureo. It refers to moral consciousness. The noun for conscience, suneidesis, comes from the compound verb sunoido. The prefix means with or together; and oida means to see, be sure, or understand. In Romans 2:15, the verb martureo, which means to testify or bear witness, is prefixed by sun (which is sum, in this instance) and means with. Hence, the noun “conscience” and the verb “bear witness” show that both bear a joint witness. The indwelling work of the law and conscience bear the same testimony, whether it is a written or an unwritten law. The reciprocal pronoun “their,” allelon (Romans 2:15), meaning one another or each other, reveals the interaction of two witnesses-the law written in the heart, or the external law, and the conscience-that either accuse or defend. Their reasonings (logismon, genitive plural of logismos, reasoning or argument) accuse (present active participle of kategoreo, made up of kata, down, and goreo, a verbal attack; it means to speak against) or defend (present middle participle of apologeomai, made up of apo, from, and logos, defend oneself against a charge or make a defense) each other (Romans 2:15).
Conscience performs partnership action with the instruction an individual has received. No man discerns rightness and wrongness by conscience alone. His intellect sees agreement or disagreement of conduct with the rule of life either written or unwritten. Information fed into the computer of the mind is processed, and the process either accuses or defends. Conscience experiences pain or pleasure in itself disagreeably or agreeably. Agreement of conscience with the mind produces pleasure. Disagreement of conscience with the mind causes pain, unless the conscience is seared.
Before an act is committed, conscience serves as a tutor to advise and teach according to the light that is possessed. This is the reason Paul lived in good conscience before God even before he was regenerated. He was living according to the light he possessed. Properly instructed conscience leads one to consider before he acts. Subsequent to the act, conscience is a judge. There is no escape from it. A fundamentally dishonest man might make a mistake about the truth or falsity of a statement made several years before, but a fundamentally honest man would not make such a mistake. A dishonest man distorts facts and shapes them to his own purpose. He has nothing but memory on which to rely, and his memory is faulty. Dishonest persons distort and pervert things for personal advantage. However, an honest man relies on truth which is always the same. The Christian loves truth. He seeks to live and speak truth. Although he may tell a lie, an indelible impression is made on his conscience so that he cannot forget. His memory will remind him of it as long as he lives. The memory of one who dies in his sins will go with him throughout eternity. People in heathen countries where they have never been exposed to the written law of God intuitively know that murder, adultery, theft, etc., are evil. After an act of sin is committed, the conscience that tutored and advised becomes the source of condemnation to the one without a seared conscience. Conscience becomes one’s judge, and one cannot perjure his conscience.
Human conscience is not a member of the body which will return with the members of the body to the dust of the earth. It is a member of the soul which will never return to dust. As the conscience is now an accuser or a defender within, so it will be throughout eternity. Cain killed Abel, and his conscience was affected so that he never forgot that he murdered his brother. Abel’s blood cried out to him. Judas’ guilty conscience caused him to hang himself. Felix’s guilty conscience caused him to tremble before Paul’s preaching. The Bible abounds with such illustrations. Man’s condemning conscience will condemn him throughout eternity if he dies in his sins.
All secrets shall be revealed: “For nothing is hidden, except that it may be revealed; nor became concealed, but that it may come into light” (Mark 4:22 -translation). Men may hide things from one another, but nothing is hidden from God. The time in which men sin is the hour of darkness. When the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders came to take Jesus Christ for crucifixion, He said, “this is your hour [hora], and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53 b). The word hora in this verse means the time when something took place, is taking place, or shall take place. As there is an hour for sinning, there shall be a day for judging (Romans 2:16). “I am telling you that it shall be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:15 -translation). As heinous as the sin of sodomy is, it is not as heinous as the rejection of the word of the living God. Homosexuality is a sin against God’s moral law. Rejection of God’s message is commensurate with rejection of the Person of Jesus Christ Himself, and there is nothing worse.
Since the best have the worst of it now in this world, there will be a judgment that will set things right in order that the best may enjoy the best throughout eternity. This judgment does not presently take place because God is longsuffering, not willing that any of His own should perish but that they come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Hidden things are the best evidences of what man is either positionally or conditionally. What we are publicly is not what we are, but what we are when we are alone evidences what we are. God’s knowing what we are thinking is the best evidence of what we really are. That is true of the Christian conditionally, and it is true of the nonbeliever positionally. What we cannot be absolutely sure about is our thoughts, but God knows. Should someone ask you to give a brief history of your life, would you give a true history, or would it be one that would manifest two different persons. Would you tell it like it is, or would you embellish it to sound like you want to be heard. We are what we are before God, and we should want to be before others what we are before God.