 | |
Lesson Two
Romans Chapter 1
Paul’s introduction to the book and the consequences of
rejecting God.
Romans 1:1-7
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an
apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand
through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was
descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of
God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from
the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name
among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus
Christ,
7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and
called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
As Paul introduces himself to the Romans, he uses three terms to describe
who he is. He is (a) "a servant of Christ Jesus," (b) "called
to be an apostle" and (c) " set apart for the gospel of God"
(Romans 1:1). When
someone is a slave, they have no choice but to serve!
This was Paul’s attitude about his position before God. He received both grace and apostleship from Jesus Christ
"to bring about the obedience of faith" (Romans 1:5). Much of the
book of Romans is written to define faith and show how that a life of faith
leads to salvation. Paul begins by asserting that Biblical faith is
something that one can be obedient to.
The gospel is another major concept of the book of Romans. Here, it is
stated that God had promised the gospel "beforehand through his
prophets" (Romans 1:2). Paul also ends the book of Romans with an
affirmation about the prophets of God writing about Christ (Romans
16:25-26). After his crucifixion and resurrection Jesus took the time to
explain the writings of the Old Testament to his disciples so that they
would understand how that he had fulfilled what had been written (Luke
24:27, 44-46; see also I Peter 1:10-12).
In the midst of this introduction, Paul makes a profound statement about
Jesus. According to the flesh, he was a descendent of David (Romans 1:3; for
the importance of this statement see II Samuel 7:12-13,Psalm 132:10-11 and
Matthew 1:1). However, he was much more than that; he was declared to be the
"Son of God" with power over death by his resurrection. This
resurrection is credited to "the Spirit of holiness" (Romans 1:4).
Paul states that the reason that it is important that Christ was raised from
the dead is "that in everything he might be preeminent"
(Colossians 1:18; see also Hebrews 2:14-15, Acts 17:31 and Revelation 1:5).
The resurrection of Christ proved that he was who he claimed to be: The Son
of God.
|
Romans 1:8-15
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because
your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9For
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son,
that without ceasing I mention you 10always
in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed
in coming to you. 11For I long to see you,
that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that
is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours
and mine. 13I want you to know, brothers,
that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been
prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as
among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am under
obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the
foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel
to you also who are in Rome.
|
Even though Paul had never been to Rome, they were a part of his life
through thankfulness (Romans 1:8) and prayer (Romans 1:10). He wanted to come
to Rome so that they and he could be mutually encouraged (Romans 1:12) and
that he could "reap some harvest" among them (Romans 1:13). Paul
felt an obligation so that he was "eager to preach the gospel" to
them (Romans 1:15).
|
Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous
shall live by faith."
|
The theme of the book of Romans is found in 1:16-17. It is that the gospel
is the power of God for salvation to everyone. Paul lists three
characteristics of the gospel. They are:
- The gospel is the power of God for salvation
- The gospel is available to everyone who believes
- Within the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed
Over the next several chapters, Paul will explain what the gospel is. The
word "gospel" means good news. However, the first part of the good
news is really bad news. Paul will explain the bad news first. The bad news
will dominate the discussion from here through Romans 3:20. In order for man
to understand his true position before God it is important for him to
understand what has happened, that is that sin has separated him from God.
Isaiah summarizes this by saying, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2but
your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins
have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear" (Isaiah
59:1-2).
Romans 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the
truth. 19For what can be known about God is
plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For
his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in
the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For
although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to
him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts
were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they
became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals
and reptiles.
|
Even though there are unrighteous persons who suppress the truth, man is
"without excuse" because there are some things about God that are
plain. The creation itself teaches us lessons about Him and His invisible
attributes, that is His eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20). Since
these can be seen through the creation, the results of failing to acknowledge
God, as The Creator, separate from the creation are:
 | Confusion – "they became futile in their thinking" (Romans
1:21; see also Ephesians 4:17-19) |
| Callousness – "their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans
1:21; see also Ephesians 4:19) |
| Intellectualism – "claiming to be wise, they became fools"
(Romans 1:22; see also Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1; Psalm 115:4-8; I
Corinthians 1:25, 27, and 31) |
| Idolatry – "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for
images" (Romans 1:23; see also Isaiah 44:12-17 and Jeremiah 10:3-7) |
|
Romans 1:24-32
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to
the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For
their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to
nature; 27and the men likewise gave up
natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one
another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in
themselves the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave
them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They
were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness,
malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They
are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God,
insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish,
faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they
know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they
not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
|
When people fail to acknowledge God, the reaction of God is consistent and
may be summarized in the four words, "God gave them up" (Romans
1:24, 26, 28). This is how "The wrath of God is revealed" (Romans
1:18; see also Ephesians 2:12). The reason that "God gave them up"
and that "The wrath of God is revealed" against them is that they
stand guilty before God. This is not just a "feeling of guilt" as
one might hear a psychologist discuss with a client, but an actual moral guilt
because these people had broken God’s teachings. In other words, these
people are guilty of sin. The final result of sin, any sin, is separation from
God (Isaiah 59:1-2), which leads to spiritual death (Romans 6:23).
When God gave them up, the degradation of those who did not (and do not)
choose to acknowledge God follows a pattern that begins with (1) dishonor of
themselves (Romans 1:24) and (2) moves on to dishonor of others (Romans
1:26-27), finally (3) ends up doing just about everything that should not be
done (Romans 1:28-31). The resultant attitude is a total hardness toward God
and an acceptance of this lifestyle (Romans 1:32). Notice the pattern that
takes place: external (the behavior) follows internal (the thinking). The
scriptures are replete with examples of this happening (see Matthew 12:34;
Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:17-24). Once the thinking of men becomes ungodly
and unrighteous, they want to suppress the truth (Romans 1:18). The outward
sign of this kind of thinking is ungodly and unrighteous behavior. One of the
lessons that is learned in this passage is that to God, all sin is equal and
the result of it is equal. This is because God is "of purer eyes than to
see evil and cannot look at wrong" (Habakkuk 1:13). Therefore, envy,
slander and being disobedient to parents is spoken of in the same context as
murder and homosexuality. All sin in the sight of God is serious enough to
cause a separation between God and us.
Review Questions:
- In Romans 1:16-17, Paul lists three characteristics of the gospel. What
are they?
- List two of God’s invisible attributes.
- List the four results of failing to acknowledge God, The Creator, from
the creation:
- Summarize the consistent reaction of God to people’s failure to
acknowledge him:
- Review the pattern of those who choose to not acknowledge God (see
section six above and read Romans 1:24-32). How does this apply to our
life today?
Click
on the chapter buttons above to go to a different chapter or click on the up
button to view other studies that are available.
|
