GENERAL CONFERENCE.
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., 1891.
BIBLE STUDY.
LETTER TO THE ROMANS
BY ELDER E. J. WAGGONER
Compare 2 Tim. 3:1-7 with the latter part of Rom. 1. They are almost identical.
It means that men in the last days shall be open heathen—giving themselves up to the works of the flesh.
Q: Who are the heathen?
A: Rom. 2:1. "Thou that judgest doest the same things."
The first part of Romans 2 may be summed up in: God is no respecter of persons.
He will render to every man according to his deeds. In the judgment nothing is taken into account but a man's works. "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27
The character of the works shows the amount of faith in Christ.
"As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." Verse 12. This with the verses following shows that the law is the standard by which every man in the world will be judged.
Q: But what is it to keep the law? A: It is to keep all
its precepts; our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, which
was only an outward form.
If we hate, it is murder (Matt. 5:22); if we
have impure thoughts it is adultery (Matt. 5:25); if we have an impure
heart, we violate all the rest of the law.
For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified. Vs.13
We may be ever so strict in
outward Sabbath observance and adhere closely to the outward obligations
of all the rest of the law, but an impure heart renders every act
sinful.