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A Law unto Themselves: The Gentiles in Romans 2.14-15 Revisited

Department of Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen

This article challenges the prevailing consensus that Rom. 2.14-15 refers to non-Christian Gentiles, whom Paul introduces into his argument to show that they too have knowledge of a law within themselves, and so are guilty. In fact, Paul is no longer concerned with the responsibility of Gentiles, which he had established in Rom. 1.18-32. Rather, these verses further shame the Jewish interlocutor by showing that God is fulfilling his new covenant promises in Gentiles, while he remains unrepentant. This is shown by the connection between the doers of the law being justified (2.13) and the comprehensive doing of the law (which is not by nature) by the Gentiles (2.14), by Paul’s reference to Jer. 31 in 2.15, and the stark contrast between the heart and thoughts in Rom. 1.18-32 and 2.14-15.

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