12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Romans 2:12-16, ESV
13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
It was true then, as it is true today, we like to give excuses for our bad behavior. It is rare when someone stands up and owns their shortcomings. Here in Romans, Paul addresses the Jews specifically, saying that it’s not enough to have the law (God’s law of standards of right and wrong) and even religiously hear the law aloud. They must also be doers of the law.
And on the flip side, the Gentiles weren’t off the hook because they didn’t have the law as the Jews were. Yes, the Jews had privilege, but here Paul explains that even those without the law are responsible. God inserted this idea of right and wrong in the very nature of every human being. Our conscience speaks up when decisions need to be made concerning God’s law.
It’s safe to say that all who walk the earth know, on some level, what is right and wrong by God’s standards. The excuse that having the law is good enough and the other excuse of not having the law are both thrown out of the window. We want to make it about the possession of the law, but the real issue is sin.
“People will be condemned, not because they have the law or do not have the law, but because they have sinned.”
Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 123.