Romans 2:14
Romans 2:1414Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
JWs accept that Gentiles outside the Mosaic law may "do by nature the things of the law" — but the lesson is rarely applied to non- Witness neighbours and colleagues, who are primarily framed as members of a "system of things" controlled by Satan rather than as people in whom God's law is written.
Paul anticipates exactly the situation a JW encounters every day — non-Witnesses showing love, integrity, honesty, conscience, self- sacrifice. The categorical "worldly people are corrupt company" framing cannot survive contact with Romans 2. When a JW has been shown genuine kindness by a non-Witness colleague or neighbour, Paul names that experience: it is the work of the law written on their heart, the Spirit's common-grace inscription. Use this verse as the lived-experience falsifier of read categorically. Bad associations exist — stands — but the test is character, not organisational membership.