People who have the law and those who have never heard of the law are all the same when they sin. People who don’t have the law and are sinners will be lost. And, in the same way, those who have the law and are sinners will be judged by the law. Hearing the law does not make people right with God. They will be right before him only if they always do what the law says.
Those who are not Jews don’t have the law. But when they naturally do what the law commands without even knowing the law, then they are their own law. This is true even though they don’t have the written law. They show that in their hearts they know what is right and wrong, the same as the law commands, and their consciences agree. Sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done wrong, and this makes them guilty. And sometimes their thoughts tell them that they have done right, and this makes them not guilty.
All this will happen on the day when God will judge people’s secret thoughts through Jesus Christ. This is part of the Good News that I tell everyone. (Romans 2:12-16 ERV)
How often have you heard someone say, "I'm only hurting myself"? Perhaps you've said it yourself. I know I've thought it. And though there is a ripple effect from sin, there is some truth to the idea. Ultimately, we will be held accountable for our life—what we've done, and even thought.
There will come a day, at the end of the age—the end of time on earth—when even our secret thoughts will be judged. And we will have no one else to blame but ourselves. God has built a conscience—an internal judge in our heart and mind—into every human.
This umpire of the heart can be subdued over time. This happens when we refuse to listen to the voice inside us that whispers what's right and wrong. The result is a hardened heart and cynical mind. Learned ignorance provides no escape from judgment.
The good news is that a day of reckoning will come, when Jesus Christ—God's Son—will judge even our secret thoughts. Doesn't sound like good news to you? It is when you have a restored relationship with God because of your trust in Jesus. He is the One who rescues and restores us, even when our conscience has become dull and silent. ©Word-Strong_2015