How the church has read Romans 2:13–15 and 2:26–29
Chrysostom read "by nature" as natural reasoning and named Melchizedek, Job, the Ninevites and Cornelius as Gentiles who kept the law of nature (Hom. Rom. 5). On 2:25–27 he distinguished a natural law, a written law and a law of works (Hom. Rom. 6).
Augustine took the Gentiles of 2:14–15 as new-covenant believers, with the law written on their hearts (Spir. et litt. 26.43–44; cf. Jer 31:33). He read 2:13 to mean that justification makes people doers of the law, not that doing earns it (26.45), and "by nature" as nature restored by grace (27.47). He also allowed a second view: unbelievers who do some things the law requires, because God's image in them is not wholly erased (28.48).
Calvin took them as Gentiles generally, whose natural sense of right and wrong leaves them without excuse (on 2:14–15). On 2:13 he reasoned that no one is justified by the law, since none fulfills it. He called 2:26 a supposed case, since no such law-keepers can be found (on 2:26).
Murray read 2:13 as stating the true standard of judgment without saying that anyone meets it. Cranfield (ICC) takes both passages as Gentile Christians, as Gathercole (JSNT 2002) does for 2:14–15. Moo takes the Gentiles of 2:14–15 as non-Christians (1996; 2018); Schreiner did in his first edition (1998) but argues for Gentile Christians in the second (2018).
Uncertain Who is meant in 2:14–15 and 2:26–29, and whether the passages describe the same group, remain open.
Claims
- UncertainWhether the Gentiles of Rom 2:14–15 and the law-keepers of 2:26–29 are Gentiles generally, Gentile Christians or a supposed case, and whether the two passages describe the same group, remain open questions.
Citations
- Chrysostom, Hom. Rom. (NPNF¹ 11) public domain NPNF¹ 11, Hom. 5 (pp. 359–368) and Hom. 6 (pp. 368–375); paraphrased, wording not displayed
- Augustine, Spir. et litt. (NPNF¹ 5) public domain Spir. et litt. 26.43–45; 27.47; 28.48 (NPNF¹ 5)
- Calvin, Romans (Owen) public domain Comm. Rom. on 2:13, 2:14–16 and 2:25–29 (Owen, 1849)
- 🔒︎ Murray, Romans (NICNT) Copyrighted on 2:13; by reference; page not checked
- 🔒︎ Cranfield, Romans (ICC) Copyrighted vol. 1, on 2:14–15 and 2:26–29 (by reference)
- 🔒︎ Gathercole, JSNT 2002 Copyrighted JSNT 24.3 (2002), on 2:14–15 (by reference)
- 🔒︎ Moo, Romans (NICNT) Copyrighted 1st ed. (1996) and 2nd ed. (Eerdmans, 2018; ISBN 978-0-8028-7121-3), on 2:14–15 (by reference; 2nd ed. view per M. F. Bird review, 2019; not checked)
- 🔒︎ Schreiner, Romans (BECNT) Copyrighted 1st ed. (1998) and 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2018), on 2:14–15 (by reference)
- BSB public domain Rom 2:13–15, 25–29; Jer 31:33
2026-10-29
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