Developing his thought about the "natural Torah," Paul contrasts Jews and Gentiles not by a religious criterion, but only on the basis of the attitude of both toward the Torah. Of course, when speaking of the Torah, the apostle considers it not only as legislation, but also as a way that presupposes following the commandments and the laws based on them. For him the Torah is an objective reality; its laws are in force whether people know about them or not. But these are still spiritual laws, and their effect on a person, unlike the laws of nature, depends to a known degree on the relationship between the person and God. A Gentile may know nothing about the Torah, yet he still senses it through its effect on his soul and his heart. In this case Paul uses the expression "the work of the Torah" (v. 15), in fact placing before God Gentiles who fulfill the Torah written in their hearts on the same level as Jews to whom it is known in all its fullness (v. 14).

The "natural Torah" is in no way worse than the written one if it allows a Gentile to find the road into the Kingdom. And the apostle considers the proof that it exists and is perceived by many Gentiles as an undeniable reality of their lives to be the moral struggle that Gentiles know no less well than Jews who sincerely strive to follow the Torah (v. 15). The differences between Jews and Gentiles become relevant not in the Kingdom, and not even on the way to it, but when the issue is violation of the Torah.

Objectively, sin remains sin in every case, and therefore Gentiles who sin without knowing the Torah are threatened with destruction, while Jews who violate the Torah face judgment (v. 12). The difference, as we can see, lies in the fact that God judges those who have consciously accepted the Torah according to what they have accepted, while the rest are judged according to what they could and should have known about sin and righteousness. The Torah is not a guarantee of salvation and not a privilege. It is only an instrument that helps on the way to the Kingdom. And the one to whom it was given bears responsibility for what he received into his hands, especially since this gift is always accepted voluntarily.

It is not the existence of the law or formal adherence to it that justifies, but its fulfillment; the deeds of those under the authority of the law will be judged by that same law. But why must those who sinned without having the law perish without the law? Is the legal principle “ignorance of the law is no excuse” consistent with the highest mercy?

Paul also answers this question and another one that is constantly asked: what will happen to those who did good deeds without knowing the commandments? They did not know them intellectually, indeed, but the law of conscience lived in their hearts, intelligible to everyone who has not stifled it within themselves. In practice, such people may fulfill the unwritten law more fully than some experts in the written law. It is not said of such people that they do not come into judgment; it is those who have believed who do not come into judgment (Jn 3:18). But at the judgment they will be able to present the good deeds they performed at the prompting of conscience. We do not know what the verdict will be in each individual case, but we believe that the verdict of the One who shows no partiality cannot fail to be just.