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For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.
-- Roman 2:12 (NKJV)

What does this mean as it relates to salvation in the context of human beings that died 1000s of years before Christ? Also, as it relates to Christ's death and resurrection, because it was for ALL humanity's sins. Those who died past, present, and future, also have their sins remitted since he took them all, correct?

TODAY, all we must do is accept Him as our Lord and savior, because we acknowledge that without His sacrifice we are not able to appear blameless before God and have our sins washed away/forgiven. Christ became our "stand in/scapegoat". I know this is the case for me and all who believe in Him, but what about all of those who lived and died before Christ came? How do you think this works exactly (best guess; I acknowledge none of us is God...)?

Background for question:

Every people group on Earth has a history dating back to antiquity before Christ: Africans, Asians, Europeans, Latin Americans, Native Americans, Polynesians, etc. All have history dating back 1000s of years before Christ. Surely, all of these people are not doomed to hell?

Here are my 2 possible answers at this point:

  1. God speaks to ALL people at ALL times by the Holy Spirit through their consciences, hearts, souls, etc. and that all of those people (best estimates I've seen roughly 40+ billion people were born on earth prior to Christ's arrival) who died never "hearing" the Gospel will be judged based upon how well they "listened" to God speaking to them via the Holy Spirit, and subsequently, how they lived their lives accordingly?

  2. At least 40 billion people simply go to hell because of the fact they were born BEFORE Christ came to earth (PHYSICALLY)?

Quite frankly, I do not believe the second answer is the correct interpretation. I believe the first answer makes more sense, but I'd really like to see what others have to say.

Perhaps there are other answers I haven't considered, that might make sense to me.

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Chuck Jackson
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    Hello Chuck and welcome to the site. Unfortunately we do not ponder philosophical questions here. What we do is try to understand what particular verses are saying. We are not a religious site but more of an academic site. – Ruminator Dec 04 '17 at 20:07
  • Thank you for the response. But isn't that what I am doing here: seeking understanding for this verse (Romans 2:12)? I am trying to understand what that verse means and have given my interpretation of it but I am wondering if my interpretation is accurate or not. – Chuck Jackson Dec 04 '17 at 20:10
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    Think "interpretation", not "application" or "implications". – Ruminator Dec 05 '17 at 01:59

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For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law

The focus of Romans 2:12 is not on who specifically will be saved and who will not be saved, but rather by what standard those with and without the Law are to be judged.

Those without the Law have their conscience to guide them (see, e.g. vv.14-15), so that even though they did not have the Law to help them to discern right and wrong, they still should have been able to know right from wrong from the law written in their hearts. The Jews, on the other hand, were to be held to a higher standard - the one that God had given them explicitly in the Law.

The verse simply says that the Gentiles will be judged by one standard and the Jews by another. It does not say that Gentiles but not Jews will be condemned, unless one wants to make some point that the word "perish" (ἀπόλλυμι - apollumi) is used in the context of the Gentiles and "judge" (κρίνω - krinō) is used in the context of the Jews. I think this would be somewhat labored, however.

user33515
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  • Understood. I've read this explanation before and I get it. That is my interpretation, as well. But I guess my question does seek a further more philosophical answer; what does that judgement mean in the context of salvation? And, unfortunately, this is not the proper forum for that, if I understand the scope correctly. – Chuck Jackson Dec 04 '17 at 20:19
  • Yeah - you might post the question to Christianity StackExchange. If you do, be sure to ask for the perspective of a particular denomination (e.g. Roman Catholic, Evangelical, etc.). If you ask for the Eastern Orthodox perspective, I will do my best to answer for you from our faith. – user33515 Dec 04 '17 at 20:32
  • Thank you very much for that. I will do just that... I did not mention this earlier but the REASON I even posted here was because of a discussion I had with some friends about the subject of salvation in the Judeo Christian context for ALL people who have ever existed on the planet. I appreciate sites like this for going into some of the Biblical interpretive issues. – Chuck Jackson Dec 04 '17 at 20:53
  • I don't think there is a single Judeo-Christian concept of salvation. Jews, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants all have different notions. You would think you could find an objective discussion of the topic in a Bible Q&A forum, but even here theology underpins much of the exegesis. – user33515 Dec 04 '17 at 21:18