There is a principle which says that, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Suppose a man is arrested for cutting down a tree in a public park, for firewood. Will the judge let him off if he says, “I’m sorry your Honor, but I did not know it was against the law to cut firewood from public parks.”? Of course not! Whether the man genuinely did not know the law is not even the issue. It was his responsibility to find out whether it was permissible before he ever applied his ax to the tree.
Someone will argue, “It is not fair for the judge to fine the man. It was not his intent to break the law.” True, the man’s action might be less reprehensible than that of someone who broke the law deliberately. Nevertheless, he still showed contempt, or at least carelessness, for the law because he made no effort to find out what it was before acting. He could have known the law, therefore he deserves his fine regardless of whether he intended to break the law or not.
In chapter 2 of his inspired letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul points out that God gave the Law of Moses to the Jewish people. Because they had the Law, it was their responsibility to know it and to act according to it. Ignorance was no excuse. If they broke the Law, they came under God’s judgment regardless of whether they broke it willfully, or through neglect. In either case, they demonstrated contempt for it.
But this raises another question. How can God judge those who have genuinely never had an opportunity to know what He expects? God gave the Law to the Jewish people. He did not give it to those who are not Jews. Since this is so, is it not unjust for God to judge non-Jewish people by a standard they were never given?
Paul answers this dilemma in chapter 2, verses 12 through 16. He writes, “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among
themselves accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.”
In this passage, Paul affirms God’s justice. Yes, He will judge all of mankind. However, He will not judge them by an impossible standard. God acknowledges that some people do not have the Law. Their ignorance is genuine. It is not merely a matter of neglect or indifference. Therefore, God will not judge them by a standard they never had, and had no possibility of knowing. Those who did not have the Law will not be held accountable to it.
What Paul writes agrees with other Scripture. In another place God talks about our responsibility and our reaction to it. He says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Proverbs 24:11-12 NIV) From this we see that God does not hold us accountable for what we honestly did not know.
On the other hand, Paul makes it clear that those who do know God’s Law will be judged by it. It is not enough to merely have the Law, it is necessary for a person to obey it before God declares him righteous. If he doesn’t keep it, he is judged a sinner.
What standard, then, will God use to judge those who do not have the Law? Paul writes that they are a law to themselves. This means that God will judge them by what they did with what they knew. Did they live according to whatever information about God they had? Then God will acquit them. Did they violate what they knew about God’s standards? Then, God will hold them accountable as sinners.
In a sense, it is wrong to say that non-Jewish people did not have God’s Law. The truth is that God has put within each one of us an awareness of right and wrong. We call this awareness our conscience. We generally know when we are doing wrong, because our conscience protests and our heart accuses us. Similarly, when we do right, our conscience approves and our heart commends us.
Our consciences are not a perfect guide. The Bible tells us that we need training. For example, it uses food to illustrate the difference between levels of spiritual maturity. It says, “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:13-14 NIV).
Our consciences can also be mistaken. In another place Paul writes, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:4 NIV) Nevertheless, Paul indicates that God judges those who have not had the opportunity to know His standards on the basis of their conscience. Did they do what is right as far as they knew right from wrong, or did they ignore the protests of their conscience and do what their own hearts told them is wrong? Have they listened to the promptings of their conscience, or have they corrupted it so that it no longer warns them when they do what is wrong?
In chapter 1, verse 16 Paul wrote that the gospel is God’s power for salvation. However, here in chapter 2, verse 16 Paul shows the other side of the gospel. It would be meaningless to promise salvation if there were no judgment. The day is coming when God will judge everyone according to what he has done. Paul writes that the judgment will not be according to appearances. Instead, God will judge us by our secret thoughts. Were our intentions pure when we acted?