Romans 1
Romans 1
Greeting
Longing to Go to Rome
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For 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.21 For 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
28 And 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. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Paul, the Servant of Christ Jesus
Who is Paul, the author of the book of Romans? Understanding the author, will give us a better insight into why the letter was written and what it meant for the Roman church then, and us today.
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – Paul, The Servant of Jesus Christ
Sermon (Lowertown) – Paul the Apostle
Sermon (Heights) – Paul’s Encounter With Jesus
Sermon (Downtown) – Who is Paul and What’s His Deal?
1-3
Paul makes the statement that the gospel of God was “promised beforehand.” Where? When? How do the books of the Old Testament (the prophets) point forward to Jesus? Where was it promised that he would be from the line of David?
Sermon – The Whole Bible
Sermon – The Genealogy of Jesus, The Messiah
Sermon – Israel’s Messiah: Acceptance, Rejection, & Doubt
Sermon – The Gospel Promised Beforehand
Sermon – Gospel Beforehand
4-6
Paul argues that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is central to his work on earth and Christianity as a whole. It isn’t “non-essential” or even “not-important”, because it is in that resurrection we know that God’s plan to redeem sinners worked!
Sermon – Common Objections to the Resurrection
Sermon – The Reality of the Resurrection
Sermon – Living in the Reality of Your Adoptive Story
Sermon – Loved and Called
Related Topics
Church History
Identity
New Creation
Church Planting
Biblical Theology
Law
Purpose
Ancient Rome
Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome, which was quite possibly several house-churches rather than a large congregation with a single building as we think about it today. Understanding more about the context of the Roman church & how the church was founded, helps to deepen our understanding of the letter.
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – Ancient Rome
Sermon (Downtown) – To All Those in Rome (and Hope!) Who are Loved by God
Sermon (Heights) – All Those in Rome (Heights)
Sermon (Lowertown) – Grasp the Text in Their Town
Questions for Reflection
Do you consider yourself part of the “all” that Paul is referencing?
Do you trust—and can you rest in—the truth that you are loved by God?
Related Topics
Paul’s Love for the Romans
In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he wrote that he was “affectionately desirous” of the believers there and was ready to share not only the gospel of God, but him very self because of how much he loved them (1 Thess. 2:8). In this passage, it seems that sentiment was not reserved for only the Thessalonians.
Paul’s gratefulness for the believers in Rome is a reflection of the longing and love that God has for his people (Christians) today. Through Christ and his community, we are encouraged, established, and blessed.
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – Paul’s Love for the Romans
Sermon (Lowertown) – Thankful for All of You
Sermon (Downtown) – God’s Longing for His People
Sermon (Heights) – We Gather Around the Gospel
8-10
Rather than Paul feeling that he has to pray for the Roman church because “it’s the right thing to do”, regular prayer is a natural expression his love for the Romans.
Sermon – Pray Without Ceasing
Small Group Study – Prayer
11-15
Paul would eventually make it to Rome, but it may not have been in the way he originally had imagined.
Sermon – Paul Appeals to Caesar
Paul says that he desires to have mutual encouragement between himself and the believers in Rome. Below are some resources both on why we need community and what that can look like practically in our lives today.
Sermon – Gospel Friends
Sermon – The Fellowship: The Transformed Life – Part 3
Article – Why Small Groups?
Questions for Reflection
Do you see how Paul’s longing for the church in Rome is a picture for us of how much God longs for us?
Are you a part of Hope Community Church—not to perform but—to live as a people known and loved by God and by others?
Related Topics
The Thesis of Romans
If you were asked, “What’s Romans all about?”, you would find no more succinct way to answer that than simply reading these two verses.
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – The Theme of Romans
The Righteousness of God
Martin Luther once said that he longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans “and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, ”the justice of God’, because [he] took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust.”1 Being very aware of his own status as a sinner, this was simply not good news to Luther.
So, what does this phrase, “the righteousness of God”, mean? There are four possible ways to understand this phrase:
1) The Justice of God – God’s justice against sinners is being revealed.
2) The Faithfulness of God
3) Being made to be in “rightness” with God; – a) imputation – Given this rightness from God or b) impartation – Given a change in their lives that they are good people.
4) God’s act of putting people in the right
This phrase will be discussed in more detail in Romans 3, but it is addressed in the sermons below:
Sermon (Heights) – Good News for All People
Sermon (Downtown) – The Theme of Romans
Sermon (Lowertown) – The Thesis of Romans
Sermon – The 95 Theses, What Started it All
The Righteousness Shall Live by Faith
This phrase, quoted from Habakkuk, is used by Paul used as a central theme to the book of Romans. For Luther, he understood this phrase to mean that “life must be derived from faith”, as opposed to true life being derived from good works to either gain or maintain rightness before God.2 This understanding was so massive that he felt “the entire Holy Scripture because clear to [him]”.
So, how did he arrive at that conclusion? By studying carefully Habakkuk, the book from where that verse is quoted.
Sermon Series – Majoring on a Minor: Habakkuk
Small Group Study – Habakkuk
Related Topics
1 Martin Luther in Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (2013)
2 Martin Luther in What Luther Says, A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian
The Revealed Wrath of God
When we think of “wrath”, it’s quite possible we only think of a “strong, vengeful anger or indignation”. As a matter of fact, this is the first definition for Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. However, this unrestrained and potentially unmotivated anger is not the what Paul means by the wrath of God. The second definition of “retributory punishment for an offense or a crime” is much closer to Paul’s meaning here.
Here’s a succinct definition:
God’s wrath is both fueled & funded by his love and is his consistent opposition to evil.
God’s wrath, is a just response to sin. As an infinitely good & holy God, it would actually be unjust for him to overlook even the smallest infraction. This understanding helps us to ask, as Paul does, not “How can a loving God send anyone to hell?” and instead ask, “How can just God allow anyone into heaven?”
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – The Revealed Wrath of God
Sermon (Lowertown) – The Wrath of God
Sermon (Downtown) – The Revealed Wrath of God
Sermon (Heights) – The Revealed Wrath of God
Article – What is the Gospel?
Questions for Reflection
The good news becomes a lot more good in light of the darkness. How does this concept increase the “good news” of the gospel?
Related Topics
Sin – The Great Exchange
Paul has just said that people “suppress the truth”, which is a conscious, active, & willful decision. These verses define the nature of that suppression as an exchange, namely the giving up of “the truth about God for a lie” (25) and in return being given up to impurity by God (24, 26, 28) and receiving the wrath of God (18).
In a word, this exchange is sin. Even though God’s “eternal power” and “divine nature have been clearly perceived since the creation of the world…” (20) people have chosen to not worship the God that created all things, but the creation itself (cf. Isa. 44:9-20). This is misplaced worship (i.e. idolatry).
Sermon – The Great Exchange (Lowertown)
Sermon – The Great Exchange (Downtown)
Sermon – The Good News of the Great Exchange (Heights)
Sermon – The Raw Gospel Part 2 – Us
Podcast (Romans Untangled – The Great Exchange
Questions to Consider
What idols have you pursued? Do you feel the futility of those idols?
Will you turn to God through faith in the Gospel and receive Christ’s exchange of your sin for his righteousness?
Related Topics
Natural for Unnatural?
Paul, in verse 21, has said that “…although they (people) knew God, they did not honor him or give thanks to him…” As previously mentioned, sin is an exchange. Since humans did not give honor to God, God therefore “gave them (people) up to dishonorable passions” (v. 26). Namely, passions that dishonor God instead of honoring God (i.e. giving our worship to something other than God).
God created humans to be his image-bearers and in all things give God honor and worship (Gen. 1:27-28). Therefore honoring God in worship is natural, and exchanging the object of our honor for something else is unnatural.
The verses that follow describe multiple ways people have pursued unnatural desires instead of natural ones. Paul’s intention is not to create a hierarchy of sin, but to demonstrate the unnatural consequences of worshipping something other than God—”exchanging the truth about God for a lie and [worshipping] and [serving] the creature rather than the creator” (Rom. 1:25).
Sermon – Something is Terribly Wrong (Downtown)
Sermon – Natural for Unnatural (Lowertown)
Sermon – Natural for Unnatural (Heights)
Questions to Consider
Do you believe that something is terribly wrong and needs to be set right? If so, will you raise your eyes up to that Blessed Hope, the One who gives redemption by his perfect love?
What do I worship that isn’t God? In what ways do I think that thing will satisfy me? How can I repent of that idol and be truly satisfied in my Creator, God?
Romans One & Sexual Sin
Why does Paul talk about sexual issues right away in this passage? Below are some resources that go into further detail on both this passage and the topic of sexuality.
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – Romans 1 & Sexual Sin
Podcast (Romans Untangled) – Truth, Humility, and Homosexuality
Resource Page – Made for God: Identity, Gender, Sex
Sermon Series – Made for God: Identity, Gender & Sex
Sermon – Jesus, the Church, & Same-Sex Attraction
Sermon – Respect, Honesty, Truth, and Love for Those Experiencing Gender Dysphoria
Related Topics
Approving of Sin
Paul ends his list of vices with one final condemnation, namely that not only have people exchanged the truth about God for a lie, committed all manner of sin and, experienced the consequences, they have also redefined evil as good. It is giving into the temptation to be like God and judge what is good and evil (cf. Gen. 3:1-4). In short, it is refusing to be human—created to enjoy and worship God—and instead attempt to be God (which is, in a word, a lie).
God’s Little “L” Law
What’s the “righteous decree” that Paul talks about? In the following sermons, we define that “righteous decree” as God’s little “L” law, as opposed to the capital “L” law (i.e. Mosaic Law).
Sermon – God’s Little “L” Law (Downtown)
Sermon – God’s Little “L” Law (Lowertown)
Sermon – Good News for Deathly People (Heights)
Who’s the “they”?
Two questions arise from this verse:
1) Who’s the “they” that Paul says know God’s righteous decree?
2) How do “they”, who have never heard of the Bible, still know “God’s righteous decree” and why are they accountable for breaking it?
These two questions are addressed in much more detail in the following episode of Roman’s Untangled:
Podast (Romans Untangled) – God’s Righteous Decree
Questions to Consider
Do we approve of other’s sins?
Where is God replacing the law’s many accusations with his better, personal word of Good news for you?
Related Topics
Resources
Resources will appear here either by selecting a section of scripture or one of the links below.
Sections on this Page
Romans 1:1-6
Romans 1:7
Romans 1:8-15
Romans 1:16-17
Romans 1:18
Romans 1:21-25
Romans 1:26-31
Romans 1:32