The Law In Your Heart
In the Book of Romans, Paul describes the Roman saints’ exemplary faith and the Roman society’s debauchery. These seeming extremes are not surprising considering the highly liberal nature of the leaders and the prosperity enjoyed by the empire. When societies become affluent, people have more time to pursue other interests and pleasures. Paul also goes to great lengths to explain how outward expressions of a person’s beliefs are somewhat meaningless and that the heart is the place that holds the law that we live by.
In our society, we enjoy many of the same blessings of prosperity and sadly suffer from the curses that come with having too much time to explore the hedonistic practices described by Paul. This condition makes the warnings and doctrine taught by Paul relevant to us. I will attempt to make some comparisons between us and Ancient Rome.
In doing some quick study, many of the leaders of Rome corrupted themselves with riotous living and deviant sexual practices. Rome was tolerant of same-sex marriage, and prostitution was legal but regulated by the state. So it is not surprising that Paul took a good portion of the first chapter of Romans to decry and lament these practices and warn the saints that what was happening was not okay, even though they were accepted socially. Paul explains how the descent into depravity happened; they replaced the God of creation with the gods they created or, stated another way, replaced the true God with false ones.
The many sins of Roman society were not limited to sexual immorality. Here is the list Paul mentioned, “… changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator… Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
If you take a few moments to think about the sins of our day, the parallels are unmistakable. However, we do not abandon the sinner, but we must not accept the sin. Paul said, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” There is a fine line we must walk if we have any chance of convincing people and societies to change course. A phrase that comes to mind when I think about combating wickedness; is “righteous indignation”, and I think of angry street preachers or television evangelists. I do not believe we can be righteously indignant because, if we did, we would condemn ourselves. Furthermore, we cannot be contentious and angry if we want to convince anyone of errant behavior.
The secret to making these changes was also part of Paul’s admonition; we must not be “ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” The most potent testimony or witness we can bear is our actions. The gospel of Jesus Christ is transformative, meaning that it changes us from what we are to what we can become. Christlike individuals have an aura about them that others can see. But we can’t just let actions do all the talking. When the time is right, we must open our mouths and speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.
The suffering of sin comes when we betray the truth written in our hearts. However, everyone has varying amounts of truth embedded in their being. Because we don’t know what is in a person’s heart, we cannot judge their actions, but we can live and speak the truth so that our light will help them discover and desire a better way of life. The way to end the suffering of sin is to repent; to change in fundamental ways. The idea of repentance has always brought feelings of guilt, which sometimes causes us to avoid it. However, the process of repentance is joyful if we allow it to be. Guilt is a shadow on our minds and spirits. To have guilt lifted is a feeling like no other. Acting on the truth written in our hearts will remove the shadow of guilt and sin.
Paul also talks at great length about outward signs of righteousness. In his time, the sign was the circumcision of males. In our time, it may be religious clothing or jewelry. These outward signs do not always reflect the inner commitment of the individual who wears them, but we have no way of knowing that. It is more likely is that these signs help the individual who wears them remember the Savior and remind them to be accountable for their actions. I have also seen people who use religious symbols to their advantage, either to manipulate or convince others that they can be trusted. These are wolves in sheep’s clothing and amount to modern-day Pharisees. We see too much of this deception in all walks of life, and it is not limited to religion. Politicians and the media have become some of the worst offenders.
Paul uses the word Jew as a synonym for a believer when he states, “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Inward commitment to God leads us to serve others. Anonymous service yields blessings from a loving Father in Heaven.
The last thing I want to touch on is Paul’s emphasis on works and grace. He explained how these two work together for salvation through Christ. Using Abraham as an example, he implies that even though Abraham’s works were great, it was not the works that saved him, but it was his beliefs that were counted for righteousness. He added, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Paul goes on at great length to convince the reader that it is not the law that saves, but Christ’s atoning sacrifice and resurrection as the grace that saves us. He then says, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” The words “obeyed” and “servants” in these verses imply the concept of work. Grace is not something we earn but is a reward for righteous belief.
All that matters is where the devotions of our hearts are and what is written in them. Paul explained that a person who had the law written in their heart is more of a believer than those who bore the outward signs and lived the letter of the law. I hope that each of us will strive to write the law in our hearts and believe in Christ, that our works may be counted for righteousness.