In the verses just before this, Paul described two audiences - one that had been given the law and one that had not. In these two verses, he focuses on the group of people that have not been given the law. In his day, they were described as Gentiles, any person other than the Jews that had not been handed the law of Moses. Today, this audience is any group of people, or person, who has limited or no access to God's Word.
A quick review of what "the law" does - both the Old Testament law of Moses and the moral law of God laid out in the New Testament reveal God's perfect and holy character.
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
Here, Paul explains that the reason those who do not have the written law in front of them still have knowledge of the law is because it has been written on their hearts at some point.
He has already touched on this in Chapter 1, verses 19 and 20:
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Now, Paul takes it a step further.what is "good"
God is the reference point of what is "good" and what is not. Whatever is "good" is of God, whatever is not of God is not "good." True good is holy and selfless, pointing to God for His glory, anything that we do that is good is always God working through us.
What we, as fallen creatures, have done is changed the reference point of what is good. We make ourselves the reference point instead of God, and the result is that "good" becomes relative to what each individual thinks. Now, "good" is not a solid truth, but something that is influenced by a person's surroundings, the way they were brought up, who they are in relationships with, etc. When we as individuals try to decide what is good and what isn't, everything points away from God to us.
The point that Paul drives home here is that, even as we try to force the idea of "good" to fit what we believe, we still do things that the law requires.
why is this?
God has imprinted on each individual's heart His moral law at the point of that persons creation. This moral law points to God, reveals who He is, and proves His existence. This is seen when those who are lost still try to teach their children moral behavior. There are things that, in society, are considered to be "wrong": theft, murder, abuse - these things are considered wrong ultimately based on who God is - but as a lost people this things are considered wrong without any thought of the reference point.
while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.
Here, Paul explains the role of the conscience in our inner knowledge of God. The conscience is our inner compass that convicts us of right and wrong. Without our influence, the conscience will reveal what God has imprinted on our heart - His moral law.
This should reveal to us our inability to live up to this law and our need for our Savior.
Instead, we do influence our conscience. We train our conscience to guide us in what is right and wrong based on us as the reference point. This is how the conscience goes from accusing and convicting us to excusing us as we justify our own actions.
Yet, God is so powerful, and His imprint on our heart at our creation carries power as well. This is why, even in our lost state, we normally attempt to cling to some type of good to feel better about ourselves. We pick a few things that satisfy our inner desire to be good, and the rest we conform or remove so that we can live with ourselves.
This inner desire to be "good" indicates what God has imprinted on our hearts, while the failure to actually live accordingly is evidence of our lost and condemned state.
To sum these two verses up: all of us have an inner knowledge of God's moral law, it has been imprinted on our hearts. In our lost state, we attempt to satisfy some of this in order to justify who we are without God. We even go so far that we redirect our inner compass, our conscience, so that it no longer uses God as a reference point, but us. As a result, our conscience no longer accuses us but instead excuses us.
The fact that we can train our conscience to justify our actions must be recognized by us as Christians as well. We are so blessed to have the Holy Spirit, who uses our conscience to convict us of right and wrong with God as the reference point. Through these convictions, God reveals sin in our lives so that we can deal with it and draw closer to Him.
However, while the Holy Spirit will never leave us (...were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13,14 ESV), it is possible to dampen or quiet the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Th 5:19 ESV).
Instead, as Christians, we need to continually fuel the Holy Spirit by talking with God and being in His word constantly. We need to open ourselves up to Him, allow Him to work and mold us into the image of His Son by dealing with anything that hinders our relationship with Him!
Next Post: 1:16:13
Wow, and we see this over and over again. -Yes history continues to repeat its self. From one empire to another the 'law unto themselves' is slightly redefined by those who are in power, but always to serve their lost and evil desires. (Or, as you put it Andrew, their definitions of good revolve(d) around themselves.) From Rwanda to the USSR to Germany to North Korea and China. It's a little wonder God warned the children of Israel that if they were to receive their desire of a king, the king would require of them their animals, sons, daughters, possessions, and money (1 Sam 8). The inner moral law and conscious are such a wonderful thing! And it is a fearfully neat thing that the conscious can be trained and changed. The more time we spend with God, in his Word, communing with him, and meditating upon what he has revealed, we become more and more like him. One thought I read once said it's similar to ferromagnetics. Christ is a permanent magnet which draws people to himself, and when in his presence we also become magnetic. Only we are temporarily magnetic because if we distance ourselves from Him, grieving the Spirit, our magnetism becomes less -but his never diminishes.
ReplyDeleteA question though, when you say, "it is possible to dampen or quiet the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives," did you mean to reference Eph 4:30? I looked up 'quench,' from 1 Th 5:19, in a couple of dictionaries and they all say, to extinguish. Thanks for the clarification.
Calvin
Calvin-
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input.Regarding the reference to Eph 4:30 and 1 Th 5:19, I believe those are similar warnings. In Eph 4:30, we are warned not to "grieve" or "sadden" the Holy Spirit by doing the things that we have just been commanded not to do in the previous verses (anger, theft, gossip, etc). Doing these things is in opposition to who God is, and will cause the Holy Spirit to grieve, be saddened over our actions.
In 1 Th 5:19, we are warned not to "quench" the Holy Spirit. You are correct in the definition - quench meaning to extinguish, (literally or figuratively). We are encouraged in the verses before this to encourage others, do good to others, rejoice, pray without ceasing, thank God for His Son, etc. All of these things draw us closer to God, increasing the influence that the Holy Spirit has in our lives (how we act, talk, think).
When we make moves away from God (and, in the context of the Romans study, train our conscience not to convict us of these things), we limit the influence that the Holy Spirit has on our lives. This can begin with small steps that dampen or quiet the Holy Spirit, leading to periods in our life where we may ignore the Holy Spirit completely, quenching or extinguishing His influence on our life altogether.
I did mean to reference 1 Th 5:19, however I believe that Eph 4:30 fits the point I was making as well. Thank you for asking for clarification, I don't want make the Truths that are laid out so clearly in the Bible to appear confusing!
What are your thoughts on these two verses?
Very much the same. -meaning to literally quench the Spirit.
ReplyDeleteEach of the gospels record the Holy Ghost descending upon Christ, at his baptism, as a dove. (John 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.)
A dove easily offended. A dove who will take flight and leave us to ourselves (not from one fleeting thought). He actively warns us that the thoughts, actions, and distrust in His precious promises are not to be pursued or dwelt upon; if we do pursue or dwell upon them (perpetually ignoring His warning): he leaves us to pursue those ungodly thoughts, desires, actions.
Part III in the following typed sermon could explain further.
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0278.htm
Although I would say, His ways are higher than my ways: and His thoughts higher than mine; therefore I will not pretend to have a corner on understanding all of God's inner workings. I think this lines up with scripture, but if some scripture is forgotten or overlooked: please inform me so that I may consider and go to the Lord in prayer.
Calvin