In his sermon titled 'Sinners Perish,' Jason Dohm explores the teachings of Romans 2:12-16, emphasizing that all people, regardless of whether they have access to the written law, will face God's judgment. He highlights that possessing the law or hearing it is insufficient; righteousness requires obedience to the law. Dohm explains the distinction Paul makes between Jews, who have the written law, and Gentiles, who do not, yet both will be judged according to their deeds and the inborn sense of right and wrong instilled by God. The sermon underscores the futility of self-righteousness and the need for Christ's salvation, as human efforts cannot meet God's perfect standards. Dohm stresses the importance of conscience as a witness to one's actions and thoughts, and the ultimate judgment by Jesus Christ. The message drives home the necessity of fleeing to Christ for mercy and redemption, as no one has lived up to the light they possess.

Good morning. The sermon for today will be from Romans chapter 2 verses 12 to 16, but for context I'll back up to the beginning of the chapter. Romans chapter 2 Therefore you are inexcusable O man, whoever you are who judge. For in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you Think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. For not the hearers of the law are justified in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law.

These, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them, in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Let's pray. God thank you for the privilege of being able to come to sit among your people and to hear your word preach to us. Thank you that your word comes in power, Lord, by your spirit. We pray that would be true today that you would speak through Jason.

Lord, we pray that you would help us to see, Lord, in this text that we fit this description Lord, apart from Christ, that we are without excuse in our sin Lord we know what to do Lord we have sinned against you and our guilty Lord would be totally deserving of wrath we're totally deserving of wrath that you have paid that by the work of your son. Lord I pray for those who are still clinging to their self-righteousness for salvation or have not seen the depth of their sin. God would you not allow self-righteousness to survive this time? That you would put it to death, that you would show the utter hopelessness of resting in our works, and that you would drive many to Christ for those who do not know you, and for those who do Lord, that you would show us more of our sin that still resides, show us more of the depth of our guilt that was there before it was cleansed by Christ that we would praise you with a loud voice. Lord help us now to listen and pray that you would speak through Jason.

In Jesus name, amen. The title this morning is very simple. Two words, sinners perish. That is the message of our text. So for those of us who just love getting to the bottom line, there you have it.

Paul is teaching that sinners perish. Paul acknowledges the distinction between those who have the blessing and the privilege of the written law, what God says is good and not good, good and evil in black and white, and those who don't have that blessing and privilege. But in the end, Paul teaches that God will justly condemn all people who stand on their own merits, regardless of whether they had the written law in hand or not. So that really is the bottom line. This is where Paul is taking us, that God will justly condemn anyone who stands on their own merit because no one has their own merit that could be acceptable in the sight of this perfectly good God.

Let's ask God to help us. God in some ways our preaching is foolish. We have a multimedia world now. A hundred other ways to communicate truth, but you've given us a very plain and simple way, and called us to give ourselves to it. So I do thank you for preaching.

I thank you just for A plain explaining and applying of your Word which is truth. And I pray that you would give us the gift of that today. A plain, unadorned, nothing Fancy, just an explanation and application of your word would satisfy us today. Look for anything more than that. May it be so in Jesus' name, Amen.

We'll be subdividing our text, so hopefully you still have your Bibles open to Romans chapter 2. And I want to re-read verses 12 and 13 and then speak about just those two verses. So please follow along as I re-read Romans chapter 2 verses 12 and 13. Paul writes, For as many as have sinned without law, will also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.

For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified." Here in these two verses Paul speaks of those who sin without law and those who sin in the law. So if you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks without and sin fill in the two blanks. Those who sin without law and those who sin in the law. As we are seeing so often, Paul begins a new section with the word for or we could say because. Because of what?

Paul has just used a phrase again twice that he introduced even in chapter one and the phrase was this to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He's speaking of the special privilege of being part of God's special people, of being a Jew, and the direct revelation from God that came from that. The Jews had a book that the other nations on the earth didn't have. That was a special privilege of being a part of God's special people, the Jews. Paul has been teaching and is continuing to teach that that puts the Jews at the front of both lines.

The front of what lines? The front of the blessing line, the promises of God sending a Savior to rescue His people. Those promises were by and large, not exclusively, but primarily, overwhelmingly, made to his own special people, the Jews. They were at the front of that line of blessing and salvation because God had made those promises to Abraham and his physical descendants. But that's not the only line that they're at the front of.

Paul is also teaching that they are at the front of the line for judgment. That the privilege of being given the written law, direct revelation came with a corresponding, unbreakable responsibility that comes with the privilege. So you know that the Bible teaches this. God gives blessings but there is an expectation as a result of being a recipient of the blessing that it actually increases your responsibility as well. Now in today's text, Paul is essentially continuing to talk of Jews and Gentiles, although in our text he doesn't actually say the words Jew or Gentile.

This time he describes them by a key distinction. So he is talking about Jews and Gentiles but he isn't using those words. He's describing the state that they are in. Look at verse 12. For as many as have sinned without law.

Law here is meaning written law. Without the direct revelation of God's law given to the Jews in the scriptures. And so when he says without law, he's meaning predominantly Gentiles, people outside the Jewish nation, because the Jewish nation had the book of God's law. So they were not without law. He's speaking of Gentiles as being those who have sinned without law or the written law.

And then he says, as many as have sinned in the law, or if you have another translation it might say under the law, meaning you sinned with Bible in hand. You sinned with scriptures and the written law of God in your possession. He's predominantly speaking of the Jews, although this would obviously be true of a few Gentiles who also had access to the law of God. You bump into some of those throughout the Bible. They're not Jews, but they do have an awareness of the law of God.

There aren't many, but there are some. What happens to all those who sin without the written law? Each and every one of them will perish." This word that we translate perish is from a Greek word and the root meaning is to destroy. So there's no doubt what this word means. It means a destruction of people who sin without the written law.

Paul just got done speaking about this. Look back in verses 8 and 9. So we're in chapter 2. We're just backing up a couple of verses to verses 8 and 9. This was last week's text.

Paul wrote, but to those who are self-seeking and who do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first, and also of the Greek. So in our text when Paul says perish, it's really clear the immediate context is the judgment of God on people who live with their sins clinging to them. For clarity, Paul is teaching that anyone and everyone who lives and dies without access to the scriptures and sins and stands before God on his or her own merit to give an account of his or her life will perish, will be destroyed, will be subjected to the outpouring of God's indignation and wrath and tribulation and anguish on every soul who sins for the Jew first, also for the Gentile. Sin without the written law, perish without the written law. This is why the Great Commission makes sense.

This is why we engage in missions because there are people without the written law standing as an immovable standard to convince them that they must have mercy from heaven or be lost forever. And yet Jesus Christ has come from heaven to save sinners. This is why we go to the ends of the earth because people are perishing without the written law standing against them to convince them that they must flee to God for mercy, the mercy that is provided through Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. And what happens to all those who sin in or under the written law, and then stand on His own merit or Her own merit? Paul says he or she will be judged by the law.

Now here's a question for you. So if you sin without the law you'll perish, but if you sin in the law or under the law, you'll be judged by the law. Is that better for you or worse? It doesn't say that you'll perish, so you might think that it's better. But in terms of bearing responsibility, in terms of actual judgment, it is unequivocally worse.

Because the privilege of having the written law equals the greater responsibility for having more light to walk by. So if you don't walk by that light, it actually, if you do nothing with the privilege, it actually ends up worse for you even though you had greater advantages or because you had greater advantages. I want to reread a text from last week's sermon just to remind you of the contents and how it relates to this. It's Luke chapter 12 verses 47 and 48. Just listen to Luke 12, 47 and 48.

Jesus says, And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself to do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given from Him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed of Him they will ask the more." This has everything to do with the privilege of having the direct revelation of Scripture, which the Jews had, and so then they will be judged by that standard. They will bear the responsibility of the privileges that God gave to them as His own special people. Then verse 13 makes a very important clarification about this privilege of having the written law.

What is that very important clarification? The benefit comes from obeying it, not just hearing it. The benefit comes from obeying it, not just having it or hearing it. Listen again to verse 13. Listen again to verse 13.

For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. What is Paul saying? Paul is saying that righteousness consists in doing the law, not just hearing it. Let me give you two quotes from my studies this week. The first is from Martin Lloyd-Jones.

He was a wonderful preacher in London who died in 1973. So not so far removed from us. Lloyd-Jones says this, The mere fact that a man has heard it is of no value to him at all. What the law demands is that it should be obeyed. The law doesn't demand that it should be heard, the law demands that it should be obeyed.

Now if you read what Lloyd-Jones says before and what he says after this quote, he gives the proper explanation for this sentence, the mere fact that a man has heard it is of no value to him at all. There is value to having the written law, and Paul is actually going to develop that. But the point is that if you take this value of having the written law and you do nothing with it, you've received no benefit. That's what Lloyd-Jones is saying. If you take the privilege that you've been given in having the written direct revelation of God, but then you do nothing with it.

There is zero value for you. It actually is worse than getting nothing at all because you've increased your responsibility and then done nothing with what has been entrusted to you. What the law demands is not that it should be heard, but that it should be obeyed. Here's what the Expositors Bible commentary says. A quote from the Expositors Bible commentary.

Paul is not raising false hopes here. On the contrary, he is dashing them. Paul is dashing false hopes with what he's teaching in our text. In keeping with the progress of the argument, Only after the flimsy edifice of humanly contrived righteousness has been leveled, will the apostle be ready to put in its place the sturdy foundation of the justification provided by God in Christ." Wow, that's a lot of words. What is he saying?

The Expositor's Bible commentary is saying, Paul isn't raising false hopes here as if you could justify yourself through law keeping. No, no, no. He's doing exactly the opposite of that. He's dashing that as a false hope. He's saying there is this, the expositors' Bible commentary calls it a flimsy edifice, a rickety old framework that will not bear the weight.

And Paul has to tear down this rickety old framework of man's self-righteousness before he can bring you to Jesus in his work. Because while you still think that this rickety old framework can bear the weight of God's justice, you'll never go to Jesus. You'll never feel that sense of desperation that sends a sinner to Christ knowing that there's nowhere else to go. This is what Paul is doing. He's not raising false hopes as if you could be justified through law keeping.

He's actually dashing those hopes by saying, tear down that rickety old framework. It won't bear the weight of God's justice, perfect justice. The point Paul is making isn't that the law is your path to being declared righteous, but that the law is a perfect and immovable standard of righteousness for judgment. That's what Paul is teaching. The law is a perfect and immovable standard of God's judgment.

And if you have it in hand, you are responsible to do it. As many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law, will be held up against this perfect and immovable standard of righteousness and then it will be seen whether you match up to the perfect immovable standard of righteousness or you don't. Now Paul advances his argument. So let's look at the rest of our text. We're now in Romans chapter 2 verses 14-16.

Please follow along as I reread Romans 2, 14-16. 4. When Gentiles who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." These three verses, Paul speaks of the law for those without law. If you're taking notes, filling in blanks, law fills in the blank. Paul speaks of the law for those without law.

Meaning up to this point he's been speaking of the law as the written law. And Paul says, if you don't have the written law, it doesn't mean that you're completely without law. Paul is actually arguing that those without the written law are not without all law. That there is an internal sense of right and wrong given to us by God. How does God know that?

Because God made us. Because that's how God made us with an internal sense of right and wrong, true and false. You came with it, your neighbor came with it, your family members came with it, people who have never seen a Bible came with it. God made us that way. Question.

Throughout human history, including today, Are there people with no Bible knowledge who help the needy? Honor their parents? Tell the truth? Even sacrificially love their spouses? And the answer is, of course!

In doing those things, they are doing the things the written law says do. So they didn't have the written law, but they're helping the needy, honoring their parents, telling the truth, even sacrificially loving their spouses. They are doing the things in the written law. Question. Throughout human history, including today, are there people with no Bible knowledge who aren't violent, don't cheat on their spouses, don't exploit the vulnerable, don't take things that aren't theirs?

The answer is, of course! In not doing those things, they are refraining from things that the written law says, don't do that, that he didn't have the written law, but they are refraining from those things. Paul explains why those things are so. God has given his image bearers, mankind, God has given his image bearers Mankind God has given his image bearers a natural sense of morality of right and wrong of true and false So we do by nature some things that are good. And we shrink back by nature from some things that are bad.

When we do that, we're showing that the work of the law is written on our hearts. Now, what is the work of the law? It doesn't say the law is written on their hearts. It says the work of the law is written on their hearts. What's the difference?

The work of the law is written on their hearts. What's the difference? The work of the law is to show what is good and acceptable to God. And what is bad and unacceptable to God. They have that work written on their hearts, an inborn sense of what is good, not good, true, not true, acceptable, not acceptable.

Now we should take a minute to say what this is and what it isn't. This inborn sense. It is an inborn sense of right and wrong, true and false. Our minds know, shows up in our thinking, and we know that we know. We're aware that there is this thing in us that calls things right and calls things wrong.

And what the difference is, it is an intellectual grasp that some things are good, some things are bad, some things are true, some things are false. And the difference, It isn't what Jeremiah is speaking of in Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 is a chapter about the New Covenant and the blessings of the New Covenant. The time of the fulfillment of the Messiah, we're living in that time, and the blessings that flow from that. Listen to Jeremiah 31 verse 33, God says, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

This is a result of the new covenant of all the promises being fulfilled that were made about the Messiah and His coming and doing His work. So it isn't that, because that comes from the Messiah. That's something different. Don't confuse these things. It is an inborn sense of right and wrong that God gives to everyone.

But what is promised to be the result of the new covenant of life in Christ is actually something that is spiritual that is not being described here. It's a love and affection for God and His things is what the promise of Jeremiah 31 is. That's not this. All unbelievers have what Paul is describing in our text. But all unbelievers, no unbeliever has what is described in Jeremiah 31 as resulting from the new covenant, this affection for God and His things.

That's not what's being described. What's being described in Jeremiah 31 is delight in the inner man for God and his things. Paul is going to develop that in Romans chapter 7, so placeholder for Romans chapter 7. We'll be there in a year or something. This is what Paul teaches.

Your conscience works on the basis of this inborn standard of right and wrong. And it does bear witness, and it will bear witness. What does that mean? Sometimes your thoughts accuse you. Sometimes you need no external accuser.

Your own thoughts accuse you. That is conscience at work. That is this inborn standard of right and wrong that God made you with at work. Sometimes your thoughts excuse you, or if you're using another translation it might say your thoughts defend you against accusation. That also is conscience.

Let me give you two more quotes from my studies this week. The first is John Calvin John Calvin says He could not have more forcibly urged them than by the testimony of their own conscience, which is equal to a thousand witnesses." Let me read that again. He could not have more forcibly urged them than by the testimony of their own conscience, which is equal to a thousand witnesses. Calvin is saying you can make a lot of arguments about this, but the most forcible one is to say you know in your heart of hearts this is true. I call your own conscience as a witness and it's worth a thousand external witnesses.

Paul is bringing the force of the argument not from outside you but from inside you and you know it's true. You know Paul's right and he knows that you know he is right. Here's a dumb question. Let me ask the dumb question. You ever felt guilty?

Do you think that's because you own a Bible? You wouldn't have felt guilty if you didn't own a Bible. But now you read the thing and know. The people who didn't know there was a Bible could tell you they felt guilty. What is that?

That is this inborn sense that God makes every human being with, because they bear the image of God. We bear the image of God. You cannot escape it, because we bear the image of God. The second quote is again from Expositors Bible Commentary. I think they, Expositors Bible Commentary won the commentary war this week.

So, thankful for that one this week. Expositors Bible Commentary says this, Many an act that seems entirely praise worthy to those who observe it may actually be wrongly motivated. And contrary wise, some things which seem to merit stern Disapproval may pass muster in this Supreme Court because the intention Behind the deed was praiseworthy Expositors Bible commentary is pointing out What we know which is that? Only what you can see from the outside doesn't always tell the tale. There are some things that we're onlookers from the outside and we say, oh that is praise worthy in the sight of God but God sees behind the shield, sees what's going on in the mind, and says that's actually worthy of condemnation.

And some of the things that we see from the outside, we say, I don't know about that one. But inside, There was a heart desiring to honor the Lord, and there were good intentions behind that. And it will actually be praiseworthy, be found to be praiseworthy on the day when God rewards things that are praiseworthy in his people. Now that does not mean that motive is all that matters. But it does mean that motive does matter.

It's not all that matters, but it does matter. And that sometimes motive is the difference between acceptable to God and not acceptable to God. Sometimes that is true. Oh friends, just think what a witness your thoughts will be on the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to Paul's Gospel. Think of what a witness your thoughts will be.

The Father has committed all judgment to the Son. That's what Jesus says of Himself in John 5 verse 22. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son. That's what Jesus says of himself in John 5 verse 22. The Father has committed all judgment to the Son.

And no secret is safe. We find so much comfort in the things that other people don't know. You know what? It's false comfort. Paul is teaching us here, it's false comfort.

You shouldn't find solace in the fact that people don't know because God knows it all. And a day is coming when all the secrets will be laid bare. No secret is safe. What a troubling thought that I would be outside of Christ, outside of the mercy purchased by Him on the cross, and that my thoughts would bear witness time after time after time, he knew that was wrong. But he did it anyway.

He knew that was right. But he wouldn't do it. Over and over and over and over again, my own thoughts telling the truth about all that I knew I shouldn't do, but I pressed right on through that and did it anyway, and then all those things that I knew I ought to do that, It's good that I ought to do, I'm not doing it. And your thoughts coming, witnessing, bearing witness, testifying against you. Paul isn't teaching that all humans should live up to the light that they have.

Although we should live up to the light that we have, but understand, Paul isn't teaching that all humans should live up to the light that they have. He's moved beyond that to declare that no human has lived up to the light that he or she has. Do you understand? That's the argument. It's not an argument, do the best you can with what you have.

Is that true? That you should do the best you can with what you have? Of course it's true. But that's not what Paul is teaching. What Paul is teaching is, no one's done that.

No one's done the best they can with the light that they have. That's the whole point of our text. And this was and is part of Paul's gospel. When Paul says my gospel, he's not suggesting that there are multiple gospels. This gospel has been entrusted to him and it's the gospel that he's preaching.

If you go to Galatians chapter 1 he says, if anyone preaches another gospel let them be damned. It's Not my gospel, your gospel. It is the gospel and it was committed to Paul to preach and that's what he preached. Listen to Acts 17 verse 31. This is Paul preaching to the ruling council at Athens.

So he's preaching to a bunch of pagan philosophers in Athens. How would you like to preach to that crowd? Here he is preaching to pagan philosophers, like the best, the ruling class in Athens. And this is the end of his preaching. This is the very end of his sermon.

He says, because God has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given us assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. This is how Paul ends his gospel preaching. God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. Know this.

I preached Christ to you. Know this. God has appointed a day. It won't be one day sooner and it won't be one day later. That day will come exactly as He has appointed it, before the foundation of the earth.

And he has appointed his son to judge and he's given us assurance of this by raising Jesus from the dead. Or listen to Acts 24 verse 25. This is Paul preaching again, this time to the Roman governor Felix. Acts 24 verse 25, now as Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, And the judgment to come, Felix was afraid. And answered, go away for now, when I have a convenient time I will call for you.

Felix had had enough of Paul's gospel and his preaching. Paul was reasoning with him about righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come and it made Felix afraid. It made a Roman governor afraid. Oh man, That's fire and brimstone stuff. Preachers could do that a hundred years ago.

Nobody will listen to that now. Oh man, that's a scare tactic. You draw people in with honey, not vinegar. Actually, that's Paul's gospel. And if we want to preach the gospel, he preached.

Part of that preaching of the gospel will include the certainty of a judgment where we'll give an account and our thoughts will be brought before this tribunal to give testimony. That we knew there were things that we should do, but we just wouldn't do them. And we knew there were things we shouldn't do, and we pushed right past that and did them anyway. For what it's worth, I'll say, it is possible to make that too much of your gospel preaching so that it sounds to the hearers like that's all you're saying. That's true.

But if our gospel preaching is absent of that, just understand you're not preaching Paul's gospel. Paul's gospel warns people that there's a day appointed and it'll come on that day. Not any sooner, not any later. It will not fail to come and Jesus will judge with perfect, all-knowing judgment, even into the thoughts. In conclusion, sinners perish.

Some have the written law, and so they have it with particular fullness and precision, and they'll be judged by that perfect immovable standard. Some never had the fullness, never had the precision, but they will be found to have sinned against what they did know. I'll leave you with two final quotes from my studies this week. They came in couplets this week. I don't know why.

Again the Expositors Bible commentary says, Gentiles do not perish for the reason that they lack the laws that the Jews possess, but because they sin against the law that they do have. Think about that. Gentiles do not perish for the reason that they lack the laws that the Jews possess, but because they sin against the law, They do have. God's not holding it against them that they don't have this when He didn't give them that. But He did give them an inborn sense of right and wrong, and they sinned against that, and he'll hold them to that.

In speaking of the Jews, Paul says they will be judged by the law, but this does not imply exoneration. What is exoneration? An innocent verdict. But Paul saying the Jews will be judged by the law isn't implying that there will be an innocent verdict at all. The opposite is the point of what Paul is saying.

For no Jew has succeeded in keeping the law." You can't think, I've kept some of the laws for part of a day, and think you've kept the law. Does that sound right to you? I've kept some of the law for part of a day. I'm a law keeper that deserves to be counted righteous by this perfectly holy God. You know that makes no sense.

We'll give Matthew Henry the last word. They cannot plead ignorance, and therefore they are likely to perish if they do not have something else to plead. You cannot plead innocent, because you're not innocent. You cannot plead ignorance, because you're not ignorant. Then what will you plead?

Will you go to that tribunal to stand on your own merits? What a terrifying thought. But you can plead the blood of Jesus Christ. You can plead the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses and washes away every stain, every stain, leaving not a single stain. Nothing for your thoughts to come and accuse you of because those things have been dealt with on the cross.

You plead guilty. You plead the blood. God, I thank you. I do pray that this rickety old framework of human righteousness that could never bear any of the weight of your perfect judgment would come crashing down. We would see it for what it is and this would cause us to flee for the only hope for refuge, this person and work of your son Jesus Christ.

May it be so. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.