Romans 2:12 says that “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.” A commentator says the law in this passage refers to the law of Moses, which is the law of God for all intents and purposes. But one may wonder how the law of God is to be expressed? Well, jump to Romans 13:1–2 which says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” So, wherever there are people who live under God, the laws of God is expressed through governments that are set up to do His Will.
Some may say it is ironic when a nation that calls themselves “under God,” goes to great pains not to make God a direct influence on their laws. Maybe so, but with anyone who believes in Him, the laws of that country do come about from at least some influence from God, though those laws don’t have God’s name included in their introduction, legislation and passage no matter what the jurisdiction is. In any gathering of people under God, there is a deference to the laws that are set up there.
Which comes to mind John 8:3-11. Here, a group of lovable scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who was “caught in adultery,” and they ask him if they should abide by the Law of Moses which directs that such a woman should be stoned. The Law they’re referring to is most likely the one that is found in Deuteronomy 22:22 which says, “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.” Why the man wasn’t also brought forth is a question for another day.
Regardless, Jesus in Verse 7 says to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Why Jesus tells them that is rather a mystery. At first glance it seems he’s being sarcastic, inferring ‘Forget about what the law in this province says, just let the man without sin stone her.’
We don’t know that the law in that province says, or whether the Jews had the authority to make their own laws. But what Jesus tells them, conjures up the responsibility a government has in being above board when appointing those to uphold the law. Would you appoint an unlawful person to a position in government? How long will that government last when the very doers of a crime, is rendering justice on someone else who commits the same crime? In Jesus’ perspective, absent any apparent civil law, anyone who sinned has no right to enforce God’s Law against a sinner, especially in enforcing it with extreme prejudice as putting someone to death.
Perhaps what Jesus says to them involves his way of forgiving the woman. Can anyone think of a law in any jurisdiction that says something to the effect of, ‘You shall, in your discretion, forgive someone who breaks said law’? Probably not. The Bible leaves it up to individuals, not up to a written law, to forgive someone. Jesus infers to Peter in Matthew 18:21–22 that if someone sins against Peter 77 times, Peter should forgive that person 77 times.
Perhaps in any jurisdiction under God, there is a wisdom in the law in giving a flexibility in certain matters to be resolved among the people themselves than in a court of law. To paraphrase the Sabbath being made for man as Jesus says Mark 2:27, the Law under God is made for man, instead of man being made for the Law perhaps.
Some may say it is ironic when a nation that calls themselves “under God,” goes to great pains not to make God a direct influence on their laws. Maybe so, but with anyone who believes in Him, the laws of that country do come about from at least some influence from God, though those laws don’t have God’s name included in their introduction, legislation and passage no matter what the jurisdiction is. In any gathering of people under God, there is a deference to the laws that are set up there.
Which comes to mind John 8:3-11. Here, a group of lovable scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who was “caught in adultery,” and they ask him if they should abide by the Law of Moses which directs that such a woman should be stoned. The Law they’re referring to is most likely the one that is found in Deuteronomy 22:22 which says, “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.” Why the man wasn’t also brought forth is a question for another day.
Regardless, Jesus in Verse 7 says to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Why Jesus tells them that is rather a mystery. At first glance it seems he’s being sarcastic, inferring ‘Forget about what the law in this province says, just let the man without sin stone her.’
We don’t know that the law in that province says, or whether the Jews had the authority to make their own laws. But what Jesus tells them, conjures up the responsibility a government has in being above board when appointing those to uphold the law. Would you appoint an unlawful person to a position in government? How long will that government last when the very doers of a crime, is rendering justice on someone else who commits the same crime? In Jesus’ perspective, absent any apparent civil law, anyone who sinned has no right to enforce God’s Law against a sinner, especially in enforcing it with extreme prejudice as putting someone to death.
Perhaps what Jesus says to them involves his way of forgiving the woman. Can anyone think of a law in any jurisdiction that says something to the effect of, ‘You shall, in your discretion, forgive someone who breaks said law’? Probably not. The Bible leaves it up to individuals, not up to a written law, to forgive someone. Jesus infers to Peter in Matthew 18:21–22 that if someone sins against Peter 77 times, Peter should forgive that person 77 times.
Perhaps in any jurisdiction under God, there is a wisdom in the law in giving a flexibility in certain matters to be resolved among the people themselves than in a court of law. To paraphrase the Sabbath being made for man as Jesus says Mark 2:27, the Law under God is made for man, instead of man being made for the Law perhaps.
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