What could God not do with the wickedness of people before the Flood?
God could not impute the wickedness of people before the Flood, nor put it to their account, because they were not breaking any written Law. Since no Law had been given, their sin could not be charged as transgression of a known standard. The Law later made the whole world guilty.
Les explains that God could not impute the wickedness of people before the Flood because they were not breaking any written Law. He could not put it to their account, since no Law existed to transgress. Les notes that people often think the Law was given to help people do right, but its purpose was to show mankind how far they fell short, convicting them of sin. Before the Law, God could not charge them with Law-breaking; they will still face the Great White Throne and be consigned to judgment, but God will not say, 'Look at all the Law-breaking you did,' because they had no Law. You cannot break a Law if there isn't one. As soon as the Law was given, the whole world became responsible and guilty, with no excuse.