This is our third study of Romans chapter one.
One of the messages that really blessed me in preparing this study was from Joe Fotche (pronounced: Fo-sh). His exposition of Romans 1:18-32 is very clear and helpful. However, he uses some scientific arguments that answersingenesis.org says not to use here.
Romans 1:16-23
Text
Romans 1:16-23 ESV:
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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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. 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. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Study Notes
Verse 16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek. When it says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel," it also means, "I am proud or confident of this good news!" It is not something to hide or be ashamed about. Why not? Because it is the POWER of God! It's the power of God for what? For salvation to everyone who believes! We also understood that it is first to the Jew, because it was promised to them and it came to them first through the Lord Jesus Christ and by his apostles (Acts 3:24-26; Romans 9:4-5; Hebrews 2:1-4 ). Then, it also includes the Greek, who represents everyone that is not Jewish. Therefore it is good news for all peoples and all nations (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10; Romans 1:5 ). So this gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This good news is the power of God to save even you if you believe it.
Verse 17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." What is revealed in the gospel according to this verse? The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, because God must be right and fair and just if He is going to save anyone. Either, you have to have lived a perfect and sinless life of willing, whole-hearted obedience and love to God; or you must have a substitute who has done so for you, and who is able to pay the ultimate price to have your sins pardoned. Salvation depends on God's justice. The gospel reveals the righteousness or justice of God from faith for faith. Habakkuk 2:4 said, "the righteous shall live by his faith." It is only through faith that anyone can be in right standing with God. Those who receive the gift of God's righteousness by faith, also continue by faith, trusting in Jesus Christ. We will see in Romans 5 that this righteousness is a free gift!
Verse 18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. What is being revealed in this verse? Where is it coming from? Who is it coming against? What do these people do with the truth? Many people don't think of God as a God of wrath. I've heard some say that we should not talk about wrath, but we should only talk about the love of God. Remember what Paul intended to do for these saints at Rome? (See verses 11-12 ). Paul was praying that he might come to strengthen them spiritually and that they may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. Then in verse 16, he mentions this powerful gospel that he wants to preach because it is such good news. Now, he begins by talking about wrath! Why do you think this wonderful good news begins by talking about the wrath of God? What does knowing about the wrath of God have to do with the gospel? This word "wrath" carries the idea of divine punishment, vengeance, indignation and righteous anger against the wickedness and sinfulness of men. Justice is a very important part of the revelation of God's wrath. Because God is righteous and just, His holy wrath must fall on those who have incurred it upon themselves. Everyone in the world has an understanding of some level of fairness. Who would not agree that being just and fair is the right way to be dealt with? Therefore, this wrath is a direct result of the justice and holiness of God. And it is revealed... It is revealed from heaven... And, it is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth. The word ungodliness means they do not have a respect or reverence for God. The word for unrighteousness also means unjustness, or violating justice, they do not do what is right toward others. The just wrath of God is revealed against all those who have violated His holiness and justice. What does it mean to "suppress" something? Notice that the end of this verse says, "they suppress the truth by their unrighteousness." The word used for suppress means to hold back, detain or restrain; to hinder the progress of; to keep it down and out of the conscience. So they keep the truth down and out, and hold it back from their conscience by their unrighteousness. People actually lie to themselves all the time to keep their guilty consciences from admitting the truth. We see this very much in our world today. They suppress the truth. The next verses explain how they suppress the truth, and how God's wrath is being revealed even now.
Verse 19
For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. What is plain them? What has God done for those who suppress His truth? Not only do the ungodly and unrighteous know about God, but God has made it plain by showing things about Himself to them.
Verse 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. Why are they without excuse? What things about God have been clearly perceived? How are they clearly perceived? Notice that God is invisible. However, the ungodly and unrighteous people are without excuse for suppressing the truth about Him, because every single day they live, they can walk outside, look up into the starlit sky, feel the breeze, stand upon a hilltop, feel the warmth of sunlight, receive the blessings of rain, watch how living things move, look into the eyes of an infant and know without a doubt that there is a God who is powerful and righteous and reigns over all things. How hard do you think it is to convince an ungodly person that they will be held accountable to God? It isn't hard at all, because they already know it from creation, by providence and because of their conscience. God is invisible, eternal, powerful and sovereign. There is no excuse for denying God. His attributes have been clearly seen in creation by all people since the beginning. The Greek philosophers during the time this was written acknowledged a divine Being. Modern science has not changed this at all, but has in fact helped to make it even more clear that there is a Creator. There is perfect design to everything in creation. From the stars and galaxies to the smallest particles of atoms, everything functions with a clear testimony that it was designed, created, constructed, and fit together in its exact order by an eternal, powerful and divine intelligence - namely God Almighty. But people suppress these things by their unrighteousness.
Verse 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. What does it say they did not do? Knowing God should cause us to think of Him as awesome, magnificent, beautiful, wonderful, and we should acknowledge His dignity and worth because of what we see about Him in the things He has made. When He gives us life, blessings, food, families, houses, friends, love, laughter, success, comfort, and all the basics of life, we ought to be very thankful and grateful. Although all these things were plain to them, they acted just the opposite. How do we regard people who are always unthankful and disrespectful? What does it mean to become futile in thinking? The Greek word used here means to make empty, vain, or foolish. They became "air heads" in the way they thought about God and eternity and truth. It was no big deal to them. What is another word for foolish? How about "stupid"? Their "stupid" hearts were darkened. They had no understanding, no sense of true reality. Whatever light was in their hearts became dark. No true understanding of God. That is why modern evolution scientists often come to the final conclusion that life is meaningless, there is no reason for it, it happened by chance, no purpose, no created design, no eternal consequences. Just live for pleasure and die, and that is it. What a hopeless existence! This is what one influential scientist said about evolution after acknowledging that there appears to be design in the universe:
'Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind … . It has no mind … . It does not plan for the future … it is the blind watchmaker.’ - R. Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, W.W. Norton & Co, N.Y., p. 43, 1987.
Verses 22-23
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. What did they claim about themselves? What did they actually become? What is the trade-off described in these verses? In colleges and universities, you will hear professors (who claim to be wise), say some of the most ridiculous, biased and untrue things imaginable. Why? Because they have made an exchange. All knowledge and true information that we have can only be discovered as God makes it known (Job 12:13, 38:36; Proverbs 2:6 ). But they became fools, that is, they turned from what is right and good and true, and instead became stupid and ignorant and void of understanding. They exchanged the glory (the high honor, praise and knowledge) of the immortal God, for what? For images... they are not even the real thing! Images of what? Images resembling mortals. This means they exchanged what is eternal and cannot be corrupted or perish, for things that are corruptible and will perish. Images that resemble man, birds, animals and reptiles. Notice what people worship first when they turn from God... images of created man. Then also images of other creatures, created things, not the Creator. If this exchange does not turn your stomach, then you should probably question whether you have ever really come to know God. It is sickening to think of such a dark exchange, yet that is exactly what all of us have done. We are naturally inclined to give more honor and praise to images, ideas, things of men, created things, more than we do to God. This should make us bow our heads and hearts in utter disdain for ourselves if we understand the glory of God. When Job finally got a glimpse of who God is, he replied by saying, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." (see Job 42:1-6 ). Have you done the same?
Conclusion
We have read that the gospel (or good news) is God's power to save who? Since it is the power of God to save everyone who believes, then it is something Paul says "I am not ashamed of," or "I am proud and confident of this good news." What does the gospel reveal? What is the wrath of God against? Has it ever become evident to you that many things man claims to be right and true are not always correct? Knowing about the wrath of God and the depravity of sinful human hearts should be what motivates us to look away from ourselves to the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29 ). It is only through the death of Christ on the cross that we can be reconciled to God, and only by His life that we will be saved (Romans 5:10 ). Have you come to rest in Christ alone as your righteousness?
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