Written on our Hearts

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

Why do most human beings believe that murder is wrong?

Why, with a few historically insignificant exceptions, have all societies structured their calendars around a 7-day week?

Why is theft of property routinely condemned in every human culture and tribe?

The answer, says the apostle Paul, is that while the Law of Moses (summarised in the Ten Commandments) was written on stone tablets, the essence of this law has also been written on the hearts of men and women everywhere.

Think for a minute about this fact. How do you explain it? In every culture of the world, including those who have had no possible interaction or contact, and in every era of human history, human beings have possessed a basic and very similar moral code.

In Papua New Guinea among pre-industrial tribes, among Inuit peoples, in rain forests, cities, deserts and farming communities, people everywhere share a common belief that it is wrong to lie about another person in order to harm them. These values are shared by the religious and irreligious. Even those who violate them often accept that they are valid.

Some have argued that these common human values are the logical result of animal instincts that seek the survival of the family or tribe. Maybe.

Or maybe there is another explanation. If God is great enough to create DNA, imagination, creativity and self-awareness within men and women, he is surely great enough to also create within us an awareness of his moral requirements.

Paul puts it like this: the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

Knowing this law, however, is not enough. Paul’s key point is that it is not the knowledge of the law that makes a person right with God. The Law, which was so important to the Jews in Paul’s day, is actually of no value, says the apostle, unless it is obeyed. In that regard, all human beings – Jews or gentiles – have failed. We have all failed to live up to this awareness of God’s requirements.

To put it another way – all of us have sinned and are under God’s wrath. This is the problem Paul is patiently explaining in these chapters and which the gospel so gloriously solves.

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)