Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest (Male): The alliance of confessing evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: In the day in which the epistle was written, it was the Jewish nation that had the advantages of God. Today it is for the most part the Protestant churches which have had the advantage of the open Bible. The priority of implacable judgment will lie against all who have sinned against the open truth. Just as the richest favor shall be reserved for those who have been willing to go to the heights of triumph that are possible when the godly walk and live in the way which he has opened before us.

Guest (Male): Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, then pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio outreach which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we will be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled God's Standard Manifest. Plato said, what is indeed right is a moral law.

Without realizing it, he was supporting Paul's case against Gentiles as set forth in the book of Romans. Even though the ancient Greeks did not have God's written revelation, Plato's quote demonstrates that Gentiles do retain some knowledge of God's perfect righteous standards written on their hearts. Can anyone get to heaven by simply following his conscience and living a good moral life? That's one of the questions Dr. Barnhouse answers today as he takes us to Romans chapter two and verses 14 and 15. Here again is Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse with the message entitled God's Standard Manifest.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto the our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. We pray thee for all who listen in this hour that the hearing may be mixed with faith so that the teaching of the word shall be profitable to them. If there are those who listen who have not faith, help them to realize that listening to the proclamation of the gospel without submitting to it makes their case all the more terrifying before thee. So give to men this day faith to believe and power to perform that which thou dost show us to be righteousness.

And these things we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake. Amen. The Holy Spirit has shown us in our study in the second chapter of Romans that men will be judged by God according to a predetermined set of standards. The judgment will be according to truth. It will be a certain and inescapable judgment in proportion to the stored-up guilt which man, miser-like, hoards up against the day of wrath. It will be a judgment according to righteousness, the righteousness of God. It will be a judgment according to works, but not according to any human standard of works.

It will be a judgment that cannot be shaken since God is no respecter of persons. In our last study, I insisted on the fact that not the hearers of the law are justified before God but the doers and pointed out that the golden strand of righteousness and true holiness is everywhere presented in the scriptures, not only as the character of our God, but also of the life that he must of necessity demand of us. The righteousness of God is that righteousness which his holy nature demands that he require of you above all. And since no man could have such righteousness in himself, God in his infinite grace provided it for us as a gift through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The vilest wretch may come freely to the fountain of the love and grace of God. And if he will submit himself to the method that God has set forth, the Lord will remove the guilt of his sin and put it on the Lord Jesus as the lamb of God and will enter in the books of heaven, the righteousness of God to be credited as a gift to the account of the one who was formerly looked upon as a lost and guilty sinner. The vileness of the wretch may consist in the filth of iniquity or in the greater moral vileness of high pride in one's own ethics.

Greater because the wallower can taste the mud he is wallowing in and see its effects, while the ethical man wallows in his cursed goodness without knowing the poison of his condition and having perfumed its stench with the fallacies of his human logic that denies the truth of God. The 14th and 15th verses of Romans two now set forth that the judgment of God will be according to a process that will manifest the truth of God's standards and will destroy all of human standards. We read, for when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.

It is strange that this text has been taken in the past as a justification of human righteousness and as extending some hope to men who do not acknowledge the finality of the law of God, but think that they have the right to choose the examination questions, to set their own passing mark and correct their own papers. As a matter of biblical fact, the text is one that shuts the mouth of man so that he will not have a thing to say in the presence of God. It's fundamental teaching is that the nations that do not acknowledge the true God nevertheless recognize that they must have some laws to govern themselves so that they have set up standards which they do not keep themselves either nationally or individually.

In order to bring out the meaning of the passage, let us define some of the words. The subject of the text is Gentiles. What does this mean? The Greek word for Gentiles is from which we get our words ethnic and ethnology. It means simply the nations. That is the nations that are not Israelites. It is God who has drawn this division line. In the Hebrew Old Testament, the nations were called Goy. All the uncircumcised tribes of earth were included. They were the peoples who did not have access through the Hebrew priesthood which had been established by God in Aaron to the Hebrew altar which had been commanded by God to receive the blood sacrifice that was to prefigure the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

It is true that most Christians come from a Gentile background, though it is interesting to note from the statistics that there are more Hebrew Christians in proportion to the number of Hebrews in the world than there are from any similar number well mixed of the rest of the world. Perhaps the most light on the subject can be shed by a verse from the epistle to the Ephesians describing the background of these Christians who were not Jews, as were the first tens of thousands of the early church and as were the 12 disciples. The Holy Spirit says, wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, that is without the Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

The Gentiles then were the non-Jews marked off because they did not have the revelation of God which had been given in the Old Testament and who therefore were alien to the divine righteousness. Now just here is the place to go back to the ninth and 10th verses. There is the setting forth of wrath versus glory, indignation versus honor, and anguish versus peace. In both cases, the sentence concludes to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. Here is expressed a priority in judgment against the Jew and a priority in blessing in favor of the Jew.

How is this to be explained? I think it can be set forth in the following illustration. If I were a judge trying the case of two young men who had been arrested and convicted of banditry, I might well speak to them individually in the moment of passing sentence. I would say to one of them, this court will sentence you to five years in the penitentiary. We give you such a light sentence because we take into account your background. Your father had a prison record. Your mother was a woman of ill repute. As a child, you were allowed to drift in the streets and your schooling finished early and your source of livelihood was always precarious.

Five years may well teach you that you should reform and take your place in society as a good citizen. Now to the other young man, I might well address myself saying, this court however sentences you to 10 years in prison. It is not that you are more guilty in this particular offense than is your companion, but you have committed a greater crime than he has because you have sinned also against your background. Your parents were estimable and honored members of this community. You led a sheltered life and were educated in our finest schools. You have chosen to abandon your family, your culture, your education, in short, all of your privileges and opportunities.

The wound in you is deeper and it may well take 10 years to bring you to your senses and determine you to lead a life that is consonant with our society. Now everyone can understand such language and the justice of such a sentence. And so it is that God sets forth that those of great spiritual background who have sinned against their spiritual privileges will have the priority in his display of indignation and wrath. But he will also display his greatest manifestations of love and honor toward them if they accept the obligations of their position and live for him.

Now another word that needs definition in our text is the word law. The Oxford English Dictionary lists 23 definitions of the word law. Interestingly enough, it divides them into definitions of human law, divine law, and then various combinations of the word with other terms. Under the definitions of divine law, there is given first the general meaning of divine law, namely the body of commandments which express the will of God with regard to the conduct of his intelligent creatures. Another definition has to do with the first five books of the Bible, the law of Moses, the system of moral and ceremonial precepts contained in the Pentateuch.

And then we note that the word law has been used for either half of the principles in the Pentateuch. At times, the law means the moral law, the Ten Commandments, and at times it means the ceremonial law, the priesthood and its sacrifices considered separately. So we have enough in limiting ourselves to these definitions to understand the text that we are considering today. When we come to the eighth chapter of Romans, we will add at least two definitions which concern the rule of righteousness or the rule of sin in the life of the Christian. But we now return to our text and paraphrase it in the light of the words we have defined.

As we have said, the text is one that exhibits the folly of those who think they are permitted to walk before God's judgment throne, to dictate the code and the procedure, and finally to get up on the bench to declare their own innocence and to sentence themselves to a cozy place in God's heaven. But no man has such a right. Our text destroys forever such pretense. The true law of God was given to the Jews. We now read that when the non-Jews or today, whatever individuals who do not accept the finality of God's revelation in the Bible, when any of these persons after a fashion perform any of the commandments of God, they are not thereby justified before God but become a law unto themselves.

That is, they are to be considered in another category. But as the context shows, it is a category of condemnation. I have noted in the course of our study that many commentators expressed the idea that these paragraphs are among the most difficult in the whole Bible to explain. I believe however that most of the difficulties vanish when we understand that there is no question of justification in this chapter, but only a setting forth of the principles of condemnation. Even when we read that not the hearers of the law are just before God but the doers of the law shall be justified, there is no thought that there is even one individual who has ever been a doer of the law, but rather the passage is teaching us that there could be no doer of the law because God is so perfect and his righteousness so great that his passing mark must of necessity be perfection.

A sinner in the Bible definition is any being who is less perfect than God. And since we are all less perfect than God, we are all sinners. And since we are all sinners, we are all under condemnation. And since we are under condemnation, we must either suffer the wrath of God or find someone to pay our fine for us. And when we look across the universe, we discover that God himself provided his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to pay our fine for us. There was none other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in.

We may not know, we cannot tell what pains he had to bear, but we believe it was for us. He hung and suffered there. Oh dearly, dearly has he loved and we must love him too and trust in his redeeming blood and try his works to do. But now what of the moral man who refuses to trust in this redeeming blood? He is judged for his unbelief. He has heard the commands of God and has refused to obey. Well then what of the moral man who has never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ? He shows by his conduct that he bears in his heart the traces of the original writing of the law of God on the hearts of men.

Adam was made in the image of God. When man sinned, that divine image was broken. The moral and intellectual likeness no more remains dominant in man. But there are vestigial remnants of the original creation to be found within the human species. A Marcus Aurelius can write his great book on morals. A Confucius can set forth eminent precepts. There can be among the pagans one who may be described as the noblest Roman of them all. Epictetus writes, whatsoever seems best, let it be to thee a perpetual law. Plato in the same vein says, what is indeed right is a moral law.

But are such men saved? The text which we have before us shows that ignorance of the final law of God will never be accepted as an excuse for having broken it. They prove by their Platos and their other moralists that they have a rule of righteousness ingrained by nature on their very hearts. But they have never never kept that rule. There are three proofs set forth now in the Bible to demonstrate that a fine moral man can never be accepted by God. The first proof of his condemnation is that the fine moral acts which he practices, the high code of his personal ethics while not perfect, demonstrates that on his heart is written the general knowledge of divine law.

Never did any man bow before a God without thereby acknowledging in some way the law on his heart which tells of the true God. It makes no difference how depraved or debased is his concept of a God. The fact that it is there shows that the truth was once written on his heart and that the knowledge cannot be eradicated. All of the rights and ceremonies of any religion whatsoever, even the heathenish practices of fiendish sacrifices, bear their witness of the primitive knowledge of God that was there. The counterfeit presupposes the real. And when the heathens make laws to punish adultery, murder, and theft, and when they approve uprightness of character and the keeping of a contract, they thereby confess that they started from a high eminence and that the thunderings of moral law that went forth in the garden of Eden in creation still linger as whispers echoing in the porches of their ears.

The second proof of the moralist's condemnation is that his conscience joins in bearing witness to his conduct. I can illustrate this action of conscience by recounting a conversation that I once had with an eminent jurist. We spoke of the fact that some witnesses are called upon to testify of things that happened years before and to recall conversations which they have had in the far past. We discussed the fact that the memory is a faulty instrument and that a witness might make an honest mistake in testimony about something that he might have said or not said five years before.

The judge reflected a moment, leaned back in his chair and said, a fundamentally dishonest man might make an honest mistake about the truth or falsity of a statement he had made five years before. But a fundamentally honest man could never make such a mistake. A fundamentally dishonest man is constantly dealing with lies. He distorts facts as he sees fit and when it is in his interest, he will tell a barefaced lie. Such a man five years afterwards has nothing to rely upon except his memory to tell whether he told the truth or a lie in any given circumstances.

His memory is subject to error. For this reason, a dishonest man cannot bring accurate testimony because of the very nature of his life. He lives in a tangle of lies, truths, and half truths and will never be able to sort them out correctly. A fundamentally honest man lives with the truth. He abhors the lie and abominates the mixture of truth and lie. His speech is accurate. If ever he should be tempted to tell a lie, the conscience would come to life like a sentinel warned of the approach of an enemy. If under some great stress he should fall before the temptation and tell the lie, he would have had to strike his conscience with such a bludgeon in order to silence it that the memory of the occurrence would constitute an indelible wound and an indelible record.

When he came to testify five years later, his conscience would show its wound and his memory would join with the conscience as the second accuser. The good memory of the honest man is what is described in our text as the thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. This is the third proof of the condemnation of the moral man without Christ. All three join together, the conduct, the conscience, and the memory all witness to the existence of a high moral code and are forced to acknowledge that even it has not been lived up to perfectly.

Your conduct, your conscience, and your thoughts are like the three men in the famous picture of the Spirit of '76. The drummer, the color bearer, and the fifer step briskly down the road to judgment. Your conduct, your conscience, and your memory parade your condemnation even before the judgment bar of God. Your conduct beats the drum that declares by your resounding good works that you know there is a divine law. Your conscience waves the flag that reminds you that often you have trampled your principles in the dust as you rushed past it on your way to complete the desires of your own will.

And the fife of your memory shrieks its refrain to remind you that you have sinned. The excuses and the accusations of your thought run like a shrill arpeggio in the counterpoint of your guilt. And the trio, conduct, conscience, and mind are all in step in a perfect unison of condemnation because you have followed the road of your own will, refusing the road that forks at the cross of Jesus Christ that will lead you if you will follow it even into eternal life. And what is true individually is true of all the nations of the world by the fact that laws are made to restrain evil doers and that custom honors the virtuous, there is stamped across the face of our civilization the innate knowledge of good and evil which is the proof of our divine origin as well as the proof of our far fall.

And if the word of God in our text says that such discrimination shows the works of the law written on the hearts of men, it does not mean that men thereby pursue the good above all else. Rather does it show that the law engraven on the hearts of men is in the field of knowledge and not in the field of will. Truth has been so strong for them that they have been forced to manifest an approval of the truth even when they have been unable and unwilling to pursue it for its own sake. There is only one way to escape your natural inheritance of the knowledge of right and wrong.

There is only one way to silence the witness of your conscience and to still the excuses and the accusations of your logical mind. Into your black hours of loneliness, let the light of God's word shine. You will find that the word of God can become a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. It will lead you first of all to the cross of Calvary. And when you have turned there to behold God's answer for the problem of human sin, it will lead you through that cross to the glorious and holy presence of God forever more.

And we pray thee our Father and our God that thou shalt speak to hearts in this day. We pray thee for those souls, so fine, so morally tall that they can see many things within the land of truth but who do not realize that their feet are on the judgment side of the abyss. Help them to see that if they are so ethically high, that they can see across the abyss that their condemnation is all the greater if they will not take the bridge of faith that leads from death to life. Give them no rest nor peace until they rest in Christ.

But upon all thy redeemed own, may thy grace, thy mercy, and thy peace abide both now until the Lord Jesus come again and forever. Amen.

Guest (Male): God's perfect and righteous standards written on our hearts and in the Bible reveal our hopeless condition. But God offers eternal life as a free gift to all who trust in the saving work of Christ. We hope you've benefited from today's message by Dr. Barnhouse entitled God's Standard Manifest. You can listen to additional Bible teaching by the late Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse anytime, anywhere around the globe via the internet by visiting the alliance of confessing evangelicals website at www.alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free at 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled God's Standard Manifest or simply request message number R 2-9.

We would also like to make available to you a free copy of Dr. Barnhouse's booklet entitled Secure in Christ. The world is full of difficulties, dangers, and uncertainty and we long for a true sense of peace and security. This free booklet will point you to the true and lasting security that is ours in Christ. Dr. Barnhouse reveals the glorious truth of the gospel that Jesus is willing and able to keep you eternally, powerfully, and unshakably secure in him. Are you discouraged by your sin and failure and are you struggling in your faith? Ask for your free copy of Secure in Christ when you call or write.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the alliance of confessing evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The alliance of confessing evangelicals exists to promote a biblical understanding and worldview, drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by. We seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching materials which will equip all believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of our listeners. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help keep this ministry on the air.

For more information or to make a contribution to support and further our work, please contact us by writing alliance of confessing evangelicals, box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Call toll-free 1-800-488-1888 or visit us online at www.alliancenet.org. Be sure and ask for a free updated resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, daily devotionals, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reform teachers and theologians including Donald Gray Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Michael Horton, and Martin Lloyd-Jones. Then join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.