Romans 2:12, commentary and pictures

Those outside the written law who do wrong will be lost apart from that law, while those under the written law who do wrong will be judged by that law. God shows no favoritism but gives to every person according to deeds, eternal life with glory, honor and peace to those who persist in doing good and seek glory, honor and immortality, and wrath, distress and anguish to those who do evil and obey unrighteousness. His law, the Ten Commandments, is the holy moral standard of character and government by which all will be judged, condemning the disobedient and rewarding the obedient. It is not those who merely hear the law who stand right before Him, but those who do it and by faith conform to its claims who will be justified. Each person is judged by the light allowed to reach him, whether through reason, tradition, or the written word, so greater privilege brings greater responsibility to obey.

Judgment Without Partiality

Those who have sinned apart from law will also perish apart from law, and those who have sinned under law will be judged by law. In that judgment the law is the standard of character as God judges the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, and not the hearers of the law but the doers are justified, a keeping that requires faith. This reckoning belongs with the duty to worship God and obey His law. No one can read the heart, so human beings must not presume to judge their brothers by outward measures, for God judges the secrets of the heart through Jesus Christ.
God renders to every person according to deeds with no respect of persons, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. To those who by patient continuance in well doing seek glory and honor and immortality He gives eternal life, with glory, honor and peace to everyone who works good. But indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish come upon everyone who does evil and obeys unrighteousness, for not the hearers of the law are just before God but the doers of the law shall be justified.
No outward nearness to God will shield from divine wrath those who trample the law of Jehovah. God does not judge by position occupied, possessions, or color, but by the character formed, deciding each case according to works and according to light. No man is given the work of numbering Israel or putting human measurement upon ministering brethren, for the one found fault with may be more righteous in the sight of God. The verse forbids an irritable, hasty, oppressive spirit that excludes brethren, claims to be holier, presumes to judge character by outward measures, and limits God in the judicial working of His grace. The punishment of those who had abundant opportunity to know the truth yet in blindness and unbelief contended against God and His messengers will be proportionate to the light they rejected, to the peculiar advantages and gifts they misused, to the good they might have done but did not, and to leading others astray by turning from God's way to their own way and turning His truth into a lie.
All are accountable and will be judged according to the light they had, whether it came through reason, tradition, or the written word, and the whole world is judged by the moral law. Greater light and privileges bring greater responsibility to obey. The judgment takes account of the light God has allowed to reach each person, judging each according to that light and not by a simple answer detached from circumstances.

Law as Moral Standard

Those who have sinned under the law are judged by the law, for the law is the standard of character in the judgment. It is the only standard of character, and all will be judged by it, with the disobedient condemned and the obedient rewarded. Those who have this holy law in the last great day of reckoning are therefore to examine the course pursued and the influence exercised over one another.

The holy law is the Ten Commandments, the great moral standard of righteousness, truth and strict equity for every action and every business transaction small or great. It is the foundation of God's government and the standard of righteousness by which all will be judged, the obedient and the disobedient alike. In the last great day it will appear before all, and all the wicked will be convicted by it and will see that their actions came from depraved character and carried on the rebellion begun in the heavenly courts. They will see that all cruelty and wickedness dishonoring the Creator and filling the world with wretchedness came from disobeying it.

Not the hearers of the law are just before God but the doers shall be justified. Keeping the law so as to be prepared to stand before God and to be justified in the judgment requires faith and understanding its sacred claims and conforming to them. Sin is transgression of God's holy law, hateful in His sight, and He marks even the smallest acts of disobedience against the sinner. It is not a small matter, though Satan glosses over its heinousness and leads sinners to feel pleasure and attraction in it and to think God does not count it against them, and those who have long treated it lightly are deceived about what it is and how God views it; when sinners sincerely return to the Lord with full contrition, God speaks pardon.

Human destiny is determined in relation to sin and God's law, toward which people are inclined to sin and to transgress. Obedience to God's law and commandments is required in order to fear God and give glory to Him and worship Him as Creator of heaven and earth, and without such obedience no worship can be pleasing to Him. In the judgment human beings will stand before God ashamed and condemned because they did not obey His law, though He gave them intellect and reason and power of speech. The law they disobeyed was their life, and obedience to it would have made their characters as fine gold and their principles as the golden wedge of Ophir, keeping them in happiness and peace and bearing fruit in sanctified love and beauty of character, filling the world with holiness and purity.

Accountability in Daily Life

Punishment is measured by the light that was rejected, by the special advantages and gifts that were misused, by the good that could have been done but was left undone, and by leading others astray through turning from God's way to one's own way and turning truth into a lie. No outward nearness shields from wrath when the law is trampled, for each case is decided according to works and according to light. Every soul is judged by the knowledge that has come to him. Sinners do not perish for lack of opportunities and privileges or for lack of means of knowing God's will, but for unwillingness to come out from the world and be separate from selfish practices and to deal with justice and mercy.

Those who turn from presented truth and righteousness to take their own way will reap as they have sown, and professed Christians who do not do Christian works will have no excuse when the line between the obedient and the disobedient, between those who serve God and those who serve Him not, stands clear and distinct. Each person is judged according to faithfulness to the light he has. Many Catholics live up to the light they have far better than many who claim present truth, and God will test and prove them according to their willingness to stand the testing, of whatever character it may be. A great number among them will be saved, so unnecessary barriers and prejudice must not be built against them as if they were avowed enemies.

Those who have not seen the greater light are not judged by it, and many standing aloof from Seventh-day Adventists are living more fully by the light they have than many Seventh-day Adventists are living by their greater light. For those with great light to judge those without it exposes the foolishness of human wisdom. No man is given the work of numbering Israel or putting human measurement upon ministering brethren, for no one can read the heart and the one found fault with may be more righteous before God. An irritable, hasty, oppressive spirit that excludes brethren, claims to be holier, presumes to judge character by outward measures, and limits God in the judicial working of His grace is forbidden, since God has no respect of persons and judges the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, with not the hearers of the law just before God but the doers justified.

Every action and every business transaction small or great will be judged by the law given to control business as the great moral standard of righteousness, truth, and strict equity. Sharp dealing, injustice, oppression, selfish dealing, or taking unfair advantage of saint or sinner even to advance a religious institution transgresses that law, reveals an unsanctified heart ignorant of God's character, and stands condemned, with the greatness of the sin measured by the sacredness of the work handled and every deviation even in jot or tittle registered in heaven's books and weighed in the sanctuary's balances. Those who have God's holy law as the standard of character and the standard by which they will be judged in the last great day must therefore examine what course they pursue, what influence they exercise over one another, whether they uplift and build character or sow pure seed in the heart, and whether their associations lead to purity and to recognizing and obeying the law, making a decided change at once where they fail. Every person will be judged by whether truth is practiced in life, words, and actions, with all commandments strictly obeyed, and no soul continuing in transgression and sin will be vindicated.

Although the gospel has been published to much of mankind, the law has been clouded by human superstitions and inventions. Priests and false shepherds declare it has no claims and educate the world by tradition to make it void at the very time obedience matters most, though understanding its sacred claims and conforming to them is essential in order to be justified in the judgment by which all will be judged.