>>12067
Actually, I'm not thinking about Romans 14:23 at all. I'm thinking about Romans 1:18-20, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse," which Paul then builds upon in 2:14-16, "For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do, by nature, the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus," which is reinforced by, " as the foundation for his rebuke of the division between the Gentiles and Jews in Rome (You know why the book of Romans was written, right?) as well as his apologetic for His ministry.
To be clear, I'm saying that Romans 1:18-20 says that God is known by all enough for them to be responsible before Him and Romans 2:14-16 reinforces that all who reject God's way are rejecting their own nature, as they're made in the image of God [which is why they're also legitimately guilty, they have to choose to reject that nature] while also saying that there are /some/ (I understand this as /very few/ according to a variety of other passages) who "Live as a Law unto themselves," and it will be counted as Righteousness to them, just as with Able, Noah, and Abraham.
This is why Paul goes into that, "I did not have sin until I new the Law but then I had sin," section. He's talking about how God judges those outside of the Law according to how they followed the little bit of His nature that remains within them, but the moment you know the Law, you're now held accountable to it. Like so, the moment you have the Spirit, you're now accountable /above/ the Law, to the Inner Law of the NT (Detailed bPost too long. Click here to view the full text.
