In Romans 2:14-15, Paul speaks of law written on hearts:
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them …
In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, Paul uses this term to refer to believers, seemingly referring to the work of the Spirit in regeneration:
You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
In Jeremiah 31:33, similar terminology is used to refer to the recipients of the New Covenant:
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
In light of these latter mentioned verses, when Paul writes in Romans about gentiles having the Law of God written on their hearts, is he referring to gentiles who are regenerate (perhaps before Jesus died and rose), or is he double using the expression of the Law written on hearts, once for conscience and elsewhere for regeration. Or something else. Please comment freely.
