“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” Romans 2:13
People love to talk about the laws. Some people agree with the laws, while others will disagree. There are many heated debates about the value of different laws.
This is also true inside the church. Many believers will discuss the laws of God. People like to point out the many laws of God to other people. Some seem to be able to quote all of the laws and rules of God.
The world even knows about laws. They have many laws in place that mirror many of God’s laws: do not steal, do not lie, do not cheat, do not destroy someone else’s property, do not kill, and many more. Although many know about these laws, many do not obey them.
Knowing the laws of God is not a bad thing, but it does not make a person righteous before God. Righteousness is found in obedience to the laws of God.
The challenge with the law is that if a person breaks one law, he is guilty and deserves death. Once this guilt is in place it cannot be removed by obeying it anymore. Only Jesus can remove the guilt. It is by His blood that the guilt is removed.
Do not be the one who goes around just pointing out sin in other people’s lives or quoting all the laws of God. Put your trust in Jesus to remove the sin, and point people to Jesus. Obey the laws of God.
Knowing the law will only point out the sin. Knowing Jesus will remove the sin and help you to live obeying the laws. You will need to have the righteousness that Jesus provides. Without His perfect righteousness you will never have any, since you have already disobeyed His laws and sinned.
Seek to know God and obey Him. Seek the righteousness of Jesus.
I pray today that you will trust Jesus to remove your sins; that you will put on the righteousness of Jesus; that you will not just know the laws of God but obey them; that you will know that Jesus will declare you righteous if you believe in Him; and that you will tell others about Jesus.
You are failing to comprehend that the word law in Rom. 2:13 is not referencing the OT written code. The law has been changed, Heb. 7:12. If it is assumed that the word law in Paul’s writings are always referencing the written code the resultant soteriological conjecture based on that assumption is always an error.
Thank you for reading and your comment of concern. If it is not the written law, what other law is there? Jesus stated in Matthew 5:17-19 that He came to fulfill the law and everyone needs to follow the Law.
Jesus also stated that all the Law and the prophets hung upon two laws of loving God and your neighbor in Matthew 22:36-40. If one is loving God and loving his neighbor, he will not break any of the written laws.
The written law cannot save, it is only the way of living a righteous and holy life that is provided by Jesus atonement from sin.
When Jesus cleanses a person, He puts in him a new heart of flesh, one that will love and want to follow and obey all of God’s laws, not because he has to in order to be saved, but because he wants too.
Further in this chapter of Hebrews it states that the Law was useless in making a person righteous (verses 18-19), it does not state that it was no good. It was only set aside, not removed. Jesus fulfilled the Law by removing sins, which the Law could not do.
These are all things I stated in my post.
Please let me know what is meant by Law in this passage, if it is not the written Law. Thank you and may God bless you richly in every way.