https://youtu.be/Wrh_91jujNg
In our verse-by-verse study of Romans last time we finished Rom 2:13; with the expanded translation "For the hearers of the law are not just before the God, in fact the doers of the law will not be justified."
We noted the English translations do not make it clear to the English reader that the Mosaic law cannot ever save anyone because they do not extend the "not" from the first phrase into the second phrase.
This verse completely refutes the false assumption of hard-core self-righteous people who believe that learning and doing the Mosaic law will result in justification before God.
By "keeping the law" they produce human good that they use to compare themselves and their self-righteous deeds with the sins and failures of others in this case those who do not even have the law as a guide.
They establish a false system of comparative righteousness and allege that God must accept it but that is a false assumption because God's integrity rejects every form of self-righteousness.
Complete delusion by trying to do the law and the resultant self-righteousness that is not only used as a standard to compare one's self favorably with the amoral person, like a Gentile without the law, but also with God's righteousness.
Rationalized self-justification is erroneously assumed to be adjustment to God's justice or acceptable to God's integrity. In this verse being a student of the law and being a doer of the law are both used for self-justification or self-righteousness.
Verses 14 & 15 make the case that Gentiles who are neither students of the law nor doers of the law can produce an equivalent righteousness to the Jews who have the law since the Jews have developed their self-righteousness by comparing themselves with the Gentiles.
If the Gentile can produce an equivalent self-righteousness apart from the law then obviously the self-righteousness of the Jew under the law is neutralized as far as adjustment to God's justice.
In this case the Gentile production of human good neutralizes the Jewish production of human good because the Gentile produces it apart from the law. So this eliminates the law as a source of justification.
The attempt to use the law as an instrument of salvation or an instrument of justification converts the law into an instrument of condemnation.
Rom 2:14; "For every time that Gentiles" the conjunctive particle "gar" plus the particle "ho (an" used with the present subjunctive when the action of the subordinate clause is contemporaneous with the main clause. So the translation should be translated "every time that" not when.
"Gentiles" from "ethnos," is the subject in the nominative singular referring to the Gentiles. This is another anartharous construction emphasizing the quality of these Gentiles. They have quality because they didn't have the law but they were as good as the Jews were with the law.
"who have not" from the present active participle of "echo" plus the negative "me." The definite article is used as a relative pronoun to amplify the status of these Gentiles and therefore we use the relative pronoun "who" for the translation.
"the law might do" from the accusative singular direct object from "nomos;" "do" is the present active subjunctive of "poieo." The present tense is retroactive progressive describing something that might happen and in this case did happen in the past and continues into the present.
The active voice: Gentiles without the law produce the action. They have never heard of or seen the Mosaic law but they have an equivalent righteousness. The subjunctive mood is a potential subjunctive with an element of contingency.
"instinctively" the instrumental singular of manner from "phusis." The instrumental is often used in translation like an adverb, and "phusis" means natural condition or natural characteristic, and it also means instinct so "instinctively" is a good translation.
"the things" the accusative neuter plural of "houtos" used as a demonstrative pronoun referring to the functions of the law or more specifically it could be translated "those things."
"from the law" This is the ablative of source singular from "nomos" that should be translated "from the law." They didn't have the law, but they did something equivalent to it so we have the ablative of source of "nomos" plus the definite article "tou."
"these not having the law" is the nominative masculine plural subject from the immediate demonstrative pronoun "houtos," again emphasizing the greatness of many Gentiles. Plus the present active participle "echo" plus the negative "me" translated "not."
This is a historical present. The active voice: the moral Gentile without the law produces the action by instinctively doing those things that are right.
The accusative singular direct object of "nomos" minus the definite article is anartharous emphasizing that the law is perfect. Just because people distort and misuse it doesn't detract from its perfection.
"These ones not having the law" is the phrase, literally. The emphasis is on the fact that the Gentiles minus the Mosaic law can accomplish the same righteousness as the Jews with the law do. So the Law is not an issue. It is only an issue to arrogant self-righteous people.
"are" is the present active indicative of "eimi." The present tense is a perfective present; it is used to describe the continuation of existing results. It is a reference to the fact that has come to be in the past that has to be emphasized as a present reality.
This has been true in the past, so it must be a reality right now. The Gentiles never had the law but there have always been some Gentiles who had an equivalent righteousness without the law. The active voice states that the Gentiles without the law produce the action.
"a law" the predicate nominative from "nomos," again this is an anartharous construction. In other words, without the law they were a law "unto themselves." The dative plural indirect object of the reflexive pronoun "heautou."
The dative of indirect object from the reflexive pronoun indicates that the action of the verb is referred back to the subject as a blessing because they are a law to themselves.
Expanded Translation Rom 2:14; "For every time that Gentiles, who do not have the law, do instinctively those things from the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves."
This refutes the false assumption that doing the law justifies or adjusts anyone to God's justice because the Gentiles produce an equivalent self-righteousness totally apart from the law.
Some Gentiles in each generation achieve the same standards of morality and righteousness, as the Jews do with the law. The difference is that Gentiles apart from the law achieve what the Jews achieve with the law.
God is impartial; both Jew and Gentile are equally guilty before the judge of the supreme court of heaven. There is neither partiality nor discrimination in any of the judgments from God's integrity.
Neither the Gentiles works that are produced apart from the law nor the Jew's works that are produced by keeping the law can attain salvation adjustment to God's justice.
This means that law keeping is not necessary for justification because no one, Jew or Gentile, can acquire justification by learning or keeping the Mosaic law. Law keeping has never resulted in justification.
Justification is only acquired and has only ever been acquired at any time of human history by grace through faith alone. Gal 3:6; Gen 15:6;