Romans 2:14 (ESV)
[14] 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. [15] 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
Where does the concept of right and wrong come from? There
are three possible sources of that innate consciousness of right and wrong. Evolution
says that the survival of the fittest is the driving force of all life.
Therefore, any sense of right and wrong developed over millennia based on whatever
was useful for survival. But that fails to explain many of the basic concepts
of right and wrong that prevail. For example, how does dying for the sake of
others evolve as ethical behavior? It is difficult to explain a concept of
right and wrong from an evolutionary base. The second source of right and wrong
would be the god or gods who demand certain behavior. However, many of the gods
fail to live by the code of ethics that people inherently sense. The third
source is not a code imposed on people, but the fact that people are created in
the image of God. That explains why there is a built in sense of right and
wrong. It explains why people have such a strong sense of justice. It explains
why even children quickly learn to say, “That’s not fair” when they sense an
injustice.
The Law of God does not impose ethics on mankind. The Law of
God simply exposes our failure to live up to that ethic we naturally sense. So
when God judges, he judges those under the Law by the Law and those not under
the Law by the law they intuitively know to be right. Yet knowing what is
right, we fail to live by that code written on our hearts.
That raises the question of how one defines sin. The answer
to that question lies in the next chapter of Romans. Romans 3:23 “for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The word “sin” means to miss the mark,
but what is the mark? This verse explains that the mark is the glory of God. Which
raises another question: What is the glory of God? The simple answer to that is
that the glory of God is the external expression of the nature, character, and
purpose of God. Therefore sin means to fall short of the nature, character, and
purpose of God.
We sometimes think of sin as an external code of behavior that is too hard to attain to, but to which God insists that we attain. That is hardly the case. Again, the Law does not define right and wrong. It simply exposes our failure to live rightly. Sin means that as ones created in the image of God, we fail to live out the nature, character, and purpose of God. In that, we all stand guilty, which is what makes the gospel of grace so unique and so incredible.
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