Bible Study - Romans Chapter 1
Bible Study - Romans Chapter 1
| 1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, |
Paul identified himself as a bond-servant of Jesus the Christ. Christ is Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah. Bond-servant is doulos in Greek. A bond-servant was a slave who chose to remain a slave. Slavery in Israel under the law of Moses was limited to seven years. There was no social-safety net or bankruptcy. So someone who got into financial trouble or had trouble supporting themselves could sell themselves into slavery and use the money to pay their debts. After the term was up the slave could choose to stay under their master by becoming a bond-servant. This was to voluntarily become a permanent slave to their master. This is the relationship Paul had with Jesus. Next Paul identifies that he was called by Jesus to be an apostle. Literally, a called apostle. To be an apostle one has to have seen the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes and have been taught directly by Jesus. There were only 14 that were called apostles. Paul did not regard his encounter on the road to Damascus as a conversion from Judaism to Christianity. He always referred to it as being called. He viewed accepting Jesus as the Messiah as the culmination of Judaism that it was, not a conversion away from it. It should be noted that Paul refers to the gospel as being of God. This affirms that Jesus was God as well as that the origin of the gospel is God. |
| 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, | Here Paul was referencing that the coming of Jesus the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament centuries before He came to earth. The main reason people who knew the scriptures well didn't see it is they ignored the prophecies of the suffering Messiah and only focused on the prophecies of the conquering Messiah. This was because they wanted the Messiah to throw off the yoke of Rome, so they focused on the parts of scripture that supported their desire and ignored the parts that contradicted what they wanted. They were picking and choosing scripture to fit their view instead of humbly studying scripture to see what it says. And when reality didn't conform to their wrong view they rejected it. Looking for what you want in scripture instead of seeing what is there is a sure way to error and even heresy. |
| 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, | This identified Jesus as being the Son of God. That he was born of a descendant of David fulfilled the prophecies that the Messiah would be born from the line of David. |
| 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, |
That Jesus raised others from the dead showed tremendous power. But it was still someone here making this happen. That Jesus was able to come back from the dead on His own showed He was the Son of God. That Jesus had the Spirit of holiness refers to the fact that he led a sinless life despite being tempted in the flesh just as we are. That he is Jesus the Christ and is Lord refers to the fact that it was Jesus who created everything and will be the judge of everyone. |
| 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, |
The most notable part of this verse is that Paul does not say his apostleship is to bring about the belief in Gentiles. It is to bring about obedience. This does not mean that obedience does anything for salvation as Paul is more than clear and specific that only grace through faith does that. But it is a rejection of the notion that all you need to do is believe. As stated in James 2:19, even the demons believe and tremble. Paul's switch to a plural pronoun does not refer to all Christians being apostles. While it is highly likely someone else was with him as he wrote this, it is very improbable that it was another apostle. The use of the plural was almost certainly a humble recognition that there were other apostles besides himself, especially as Paul next differentiated his office from the other apostles by referring to his mission being to take the gospel to the Gentiles. He identified his specific apostolic calling this way repeatedly. We all have received grace, the undeserved and unearned forgiveness of our sins. But Paul could not have meant that we all receive Apostleship, or even the people of the Roman church at that time. It is not possible that we or they could meet the requirements. Apostles must be an eyewitness of the resurrected Jesus, be called to that office by Jesus Himself, and have been taught by Jesus Himself. Paul was taught the gospel and the theology of Christianity by Jesus when Paul went away to Arabia. Thus there were only 14 apostles ever. Their purpose was to ensure that the gospel was kept from distortion and corruption. They did this by teaching in person, traveling from church to church, and by writing down the teachings of Jesus to guard future generations from sin and error after they were gone. |
| 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; | This verse is not talking about a calling in the sense of a church office. It is the calling from Jesus to be one of His disciples, a.k.a. a Christian. All of humanity is called to be His disciple. But only those that choose to answer of their own free will are His disciples. |
| 7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. | This is the end of Paul's greeting and address of this letter. It is addressed to all who are beloved of God in Rome. God loves all humanity. But beloved is agapetos in Greek, which means one in a special relationship. Thus this is addressed to those in a relationship with God. Saints in scripture is interchangeable with the word Christian. It doesn't mean a special class of Christian. Some denominations make it a special class of Christian. But that is unbiblical. |
| 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. | It is certain that Paul was thankful that they had become Christians. But the fact that their faith is being a witness far and wide was what was most notable to Paul. The euphemism "the whole world" usually referred to it being throughout the Roman Empire. It is possible Paul meant even further than that. |
| 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, | In other words, Paul bragged about the Roman church when he preached the gospel. He did not found this church as he had never been to Rome. But that such a faithful church had built up in the sin-city of the time was a testimony to the power of the gospel. Roman debauchery was infamous, and there were even more temples to false gods than in Corinth. There was great pressure to conform to Roman ways of pantheism and sinful behavior as a way of life. |
| 10 always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. | Paul had desired to go to Rome to preach for some time. He even hoped to be able to share the gospel with the Emperor himself. And after Rome he hoped to go on to Spain. However he had been prevented from going. He continued to pray that he would be able to go. Yet he held God's will to be more important than his own desires, even if those desires were for the gospel to spread further. |
| 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; | Paul's desire to see the Roman church in person was for the purpose of edifying them. Passing on the word of God was his greatest joy in life. The purpose of Paul's desire to go to Rome is stated to be for their establishment, which is sterizo in Greek. This would be better translated as strengthened rather than established. The church in Rome was already established. What Paul was trying to convey was that he wanted to make sure they were firmly planted in the true gospel and thus protected from being uprooted or transplanted into false doctrines. |
| 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. | Here Paul qualified his statement in verse 11. While Paul was the greatest teacher and apologist for the gospel at the time, and certainly the best at correcting false and destructive doctrines. Yet he maintained humility and understood that even he could not go it alone. We need to operate in fellowship with others. Paul acknowledged that being with them in person would encourage each other's faith. And both Paul and the Roman church would mutually benefit from the theological discussions that would occur. |
| 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. |
Every time Paul had planned to go to Rome something stood in his way. The source is not specified. However, Paul sometimes received directives from the Holy Spirit, with some of those telling him where to go. More often the Spirit told him where he shouldn't go. Most of his travels were due to his own wisdom and discernment. That Paul wanted to obtain some fruit among the Roman church does not mean he was looking for personal support or gain. It was that his teaching there would yield good spiritual fruit among the congregation. That knowledge, understanding and wisdom would increase was what he was hoping for as it had been in the Gentile churches of Greece and Asia. |
| 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. | The phrase Greeks and barbarians had its origins as a derogatory way of referring to non-Greeks. Greek culture was dominant even over their Roman conquerors, and the Greek language was the common language in the world. However, at the time Paul wrote it had become an idiom meaning the whole world without the derogatory connotation. The phrase "the wise and the foolish" is another idiom meaning everyone. Thus Paul was saying he is obligated to the whole world and the whole human race. |
| 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. | Thus Paul's reason for wanting to go to Rome is the same reason he goes anywhere, to preach the gospel to any who will listen and win some for Christ. This includes those who already believe. There are always those who have an incomplete or incorrect knowledge of the gospel that need to be educated as Apollos was corrected by Priscilla and her husband Aquila. Those with incomplete knowledge are more easily misled. |
| 16 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. |
To speak without shame is an idiom meaning to proclaim without reservation. In other words, Paul spoke about the gospel whenever he had the chance. It should be noted that he did not randomly walk up to people and talk to them cold. He would use his knowledge and wisdom to search for an approach the people at that place could relate to. For example, in Acts 17:22-31 Paul used the idol to an unknown god to relate the real God to the people of Athens. Paul's reason for sharing the gospel was because it brings salvation to everyone who really believes. Jews and Greeks is a euphemism for Jews and non-Jews. Greek was the most common language, especially between cultures. That it was to the Jew first reflected that the Jews were God's chosen people to make ready for the first coming of Jesus. And it was the covenant with Abraham that started it. We are adopted into that covenant by the new covenant made possible by the work of Jesus. Thus Paul thought it was proper to start with the Jews in every new town or city, then to reach the Gentiles there. What usually happened was the Jews rejected the gospel when Paul's preaching got to the part where gentiles could be saved. |
| 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." |
In sharing the gospel we reveal the righteousness of God, which is that He is by nature good, loving and just without compromise. He is good in that He cannot do evil nor tempt people to evil. He is just in that He punishes sin without fail and rewards righteousness. And He is loving in that he took the punishment we earned on Himself. The most significant point of this verse is that the way God's righteousness is revealed is from faith to faith. That is, our faith connects with another person one on one and inspires faith in another. In 3:10 Paul wrote that no one is righteous, not even one. That is not a contradiction of the end of this verse. On our own we are all unrighteous. Only Jesus lived a righteous and sinless life on His own. We are justified by faith in Jesus. Thus we are given grace and made righteous by our faith in Him. It is living by that faith that we are righteous. The two verses are in harmony. |
| 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, | There is a very important qualifier in this verse that is the subject of the rest of this chapter. The important qualifier is those who suppress the truth. We are all unrighteous by our nature and inability to be righteous without help. But those who have faith, real faith in Jesus are made righteous despite our sin and ungodliness. However, this requires that we acknowledge our sin, admit it is sin, and accept that we are utterly dependent on Jesus. Those who do not are those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. We all are ungodly and unrighteous. But those who deny sin is sin, who deny the need for grace, who deny Jesus, those who invent a false Jesus, these will have God's wrath revealed against them. Those who put real faith in the real Jesus are spared God's wrath. Jesus took it upon himself at the cross. |
| 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. |
Those who follow their own way instead of Jesus will not have the excuse that they didn't know. God put the knowledge of His own existence and of right and wrong in everyone. Even the tiniest fraction of a fraction of humanity that actually doesn't have a conscience due to a birth defect can still see the difference between right and wrong, like Dr. David Wood. Those that choose their own way know there is a God and choose to reject Him. Atheists who fight against God demonstrate they really do believe in God. Otherwise they wouldn't fight but would ignore it all. I don't think the Pharaohs were gods. But that doesn't make me want to erase them from the history books and tear down the pyramids. In most countries there is no national church with a government forcing money be taken out of the wages of everyone to support it. In countries where that is the case a militant atheist would be understandable. But in most countries like the U.S. there is no point to their protest. If they really didn't believe in God they wouldn't waste time, effort and money on it. |
| 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. |
This is the second reason those that rebel against God have no excuse and can't say they didn't know. Psalm 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Creation itself is proof of God's existence, power, and majesty. The more we study God's creation the more we see God. DNA is the work of genius beyond genius and proclaims there must be a creator. A symphony cannot write the composer. The complexity of even those parts of creation that do not involve life declare that God exists. There is no excuse for those who rebel against God. When Albert Einstein was doing measurements and calculations to prove his theories, he was fudging his numbers to make them come out "right". This was because they were showing the universe was expanding from a single point. He "knew" the universe always existed. A beginning to the universe would support the creationists. Eventually, with the help of others pointing it out, he came to the inescapable conclusion the universe had a beginning. He realized Georges Lemaître's Big Bang Theory was right. And Einstein had proven that time, space, and matter were interconnected. Thus they all must have a beginning. Academia rejected Lemaître and Einstein's work because they knew what it meant. The Kalam Cosmological Argument states that everything that begins must have a cause. And since time, space and matter have a common beginning, the cause must be outside time, space, and matter. Therefore, there must be a God. But humans are so good at self-deception they can say the most illogical things with nothing to back them up outside their own imagination and tell themselves they are being logical and following the science. |
| 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. |
Those that claim they didn't know are liars. They knew. They rejected God. They judged God to not be up to "their standard", "their morality". It is much worse and more foolish than a person judging the Rocky Mountains for being unfair to humanity. The end of this verse describes not just those who openly disbelieve. It describes the majority of those who claim they are Christians. Instead of meditating on Jesus, His commands, and scripture they turn to futile speculations. It's not just that they are wasting their time on these things. It's that they base their lives on silly thoughts, putting way too much stock in their own ability to reason. They say foolish things like, "God must do this or He is not..." fill in the blank with loving, just, kind, or whatever. They put themselves as judges of God, which is a special kind of stupid. They oppose the clear teaching of God in scripture. And this darkens their foolish heart. Turning away from the truth to their own way is to be in open rebellion against God. That never turns out well for the rebel. |
| 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, |
In trying to explain what scripture says on a subject to someone who has gone down a rabbit hole with their futile speculations, I've had people who were professing some quite idiotic things tell me if I was smarter, had a higher IQ, or were better educated I would agree with them. A couple of them actually were better educated than I was, but the majority were not. Education does not prevent one from doing, saying, believing, or following stupid things. Neither does a high IQ. One can foolishly reject the truth and believe a lie regardless of their intellect. In fact, it seems that the higher educated people are more accomplished at self-deception. I've known people who barely finished high school who were more knowledgeable about God and Christianity than at least 90% of the PhD professors at seminary. They came to this better knowledge by humbly reading scripture, believing it, and connecting the dots between the different passages to come to a true understanding of God and Christianity. In academic circles this is called systematic theology. Whereas I've had PhD seminary professors present some of the dumbest anti-scriptural, anti-Christian nonsense. The key is humility. Those who accept they are imperfect humans and approach their faith and scripture with humility find the truth. Those who arrogantly think too much of themselves, their own thoughts and ideas become foolish and weird. For the record, my IQ was tested and it's 132. I have four college degrees, including a masters in theology. But I know all that means nothing. I know in my heart and mind that I have less than the brains of a gnat compared to God. I humbly seek to know Him and follow His teachings. And I find I got some things wrong the more I study with humility. I am still peeling off assumptions I've built up over the years back when I thought I knew more than I did. Because I know and accept that I am not right about everything I am still teachable, especially by scripture. And when I find I was wrong I change things here at Michael's Abbey. I try to use the talents God gave me to help others. But that is because of God, not me. |
| 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. | What Paul was describing in this verse is idolatry. He used the imagery of physical statues people would foolishly worship, but it doesn't have to be a statue to be an idol. Rejecting the real God for anything else is idolatry. Money is the idol most people think of today. But the most common idol is the self. We think way too highly of our thoughts, ideas, reasoning, and morality. We build our lives around fluff and nonsense in our own heads and reject the truth of God. |
| 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. |
That God gave them over does not mean God tempted them. God cannot do that as it is against his nature. This means that since they rejected God, He withdrew from them. The Holy Spirit helps us live out our faith by encouraging us and strengthening us against temptation. But those who reject God He lets go. Without the influence of God people destroy themselves. To be clear, lust does not necessarily mean sexual desire. From the context it clear that Paul at least partly or even mostly meant sexual lust. However, we can lust after food, either a specific kind of food, expensive food, or too great a quantity. We can lust after power and influence. We can lust after a relationship. Lust leads to addiction that is a dishonor. |
| 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. |
This verse applies to any who reject God for anything else. Rejecting the truth of scripture is to reject God for a lie. The creature being worshiped and served is ourselves. Self-worship is the most common idolatry. Even in worshipping another idol there is still the element of self-worship as we are choosing to worship and identify with something other than God based on our own thoughts and desires. That God is blessed forever is a truism about God. The implication of stating it here is that those who reject God are not blessed, but are self-cursed. Amen is a Greek word that means true or truly. When we say it after someone says something or says a prayer we are affirming what they said. |
| 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. |
Those who falsely claim scripture does not mention homosexuality are denying verses 26-27 and many others. The term was not even coined until the late 19th century by Karoly Benkert. So an argument based on that specific modern word that was only recently invented not being in scripture is world-class ignorance. It wasn't in any text of any kind before it was invented. Before such terms were created these practices were identified by description. And usually the description used a lot of euphemisms rather than be explicit. However, verses 26-27 make it clear what is meant. To be clear, like in every passage that mentions homosexuality as a sin this passage is not singling it out. Verses 29-30 list a bunch of sins that are just as much a sin. In many mentions of homosexuality in scripture it is in the same sentence with adultery, theft, being a drunkard and many more sins. Thus those who claim a special status for homosexuality on either the condemnation side or the permissive side are wrong. Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed only because of homosexuality. It is because they engaged in all sorts of evil including assault, rape, murder, and so on. Those cities were destroyed because the entire population deliberately gave themselves over to evil and debauchery, and even with Lot and his family living there were not even ten righteous people there. It is not that a person sins, or sins in any particular way that was or is the issue. It is the rejection of God for sin that is the problem. A person who commits any sin, acknowledges it is a sin, and turns back to God for forgiveness and grace is saved no matter how many times this happens. The one who says it isn't a sin or it's their identity is rejecting the need for God's grace and is doomed. The natural function is a heterosexual union. Women rejecting it is implied that they seek other women rather than men. With men Paul was explicit as he could be without drawing a picture. |
| 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, |
This verse is about the entire passage from 18-32, not just verses 26-27. This is why most translations put a paragraph break between them and 28. To not acknowledge God is like walking past someone you know well as if they were invisible. It's a deliberate insult. Because they rejected God, God pulled back from them. Without the influence of God we go off the deep end into depravity faster than a speeding bullet. |
| 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, |
Here Paul gave a list of sinful behavior that people who reject God fall into. The sins of verses 26-27 got a separate mention, but are just as much a part of this list as the other sins. We do not understand just how bad our sin really is. In fact, many probably don't even think of some of these as sins. People who claim to be Christians think nothing of gossiping all day or slandering another person. Yet here those sins are among murder, hating God, and inventing evil. How messed up is a person who isn't satisfied with existing evil but comes up with their own additions? That arrogance, insolence, and boasting are listed here along with murder is almost certain to surprise most people who claim to be Christians. It shouldn't. It was arrogance that was behind Lucifer's rebellion against God. He was the Archangel and the most beautiful angel of them all. Now he is Satan, but is still the most beautiful contrary to the messed up culture's portrayal. And arrogance is the root cause of humanity's rebellion against God as well. If we were humble and acknowledged that God is above us in knowledge, wisdom, morality, and in every other way we wouldn't rebel and wouldn't fall into sin. It is arrogantly thinking we know better than God that is the root of all sin. It should be noted that being disobedient to parents only applies while living under their financial support. Scripture is clear that when a person supports themselves they are no longer obligated to obey their parents. However, they should treat them with respect. On the other hand, honor your father and mother is not a commandment for children but is for adults. Honor means to financially support one's parents in their old age. The overriding factor in a relationship with a parent is obedience to God and His commandments. If the parents oppose that then obeying God comes first. Even then the parents should be treated with respect. Being a jerk about it will drive them further away from God, which is the opposite of our ultimate goal. |
| 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; |
In this verse are the characteristics of those who rebel against God. This the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the fruit of rebellion. Just like people who show the fruit of the Spirit show they have the Spirit in them, those that have the fruit of rebellion show they reject God. It should be noted that the first being "without understanding" is significant. If they had any understanding at all they wouldn't rebel against God. But the secular/pagan world has a loud voice to those who listen to it. This is why demonic forces try to mess up or prevent understanding. It makes humans much easier to mislead and pervert. A person filled with the Holy Spirit is trustworthy because the Spirit is trustworthy. A person who is untrustworthy shows they are against God. Failure to keep promises, not doing the duties of their job, blaming others for their failings and mistakes, being lazy, and so on are evidence of being untrustworthy. To be clear, this doesn't mean a person who has the occasional lapse is necessarily in rebellion. But when it's more than a couple or is a consistent pattern, this is not a Christian and we should be wary of them. Unloving means by God's standards and morality. What the world calls loving God calls hating. The secular-pagan world says if we do not just blindly accept what another person does we aren't loving. No matter how destructive it is to themselves or others, the world says we must accept it. God says no. When a person is headed to destruction the loving thing is to try to turn them away from it. Unfortunately almost every church in the west either has adopted the world's sick and twisted definition of love or they won't contradict the world with the truth. Unmerciful is like unloving. The world has perverted the meaning of mercy to be the opposite of what it really means. For example, if there is a person with a mental illness that makes them try to set themselves on fire, real mercy would be to prevent them from harming themselves and get them treatment to help them become a functioning person. The sick secular-pagan world says we should accept their identity and celebrate as they light themselves on fire. |
| 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. |
It is in the heart of humanity to know right and wrong, good and evil. We even know that death is the proper penalty for sin. When standing before the bema seat of Jesus on Judgement Day, "I didn't know" will not be a valid excuse. While someone may not have the knowledge of the gospel, they know what is good and what is evil. And they had the free will to choose which way to go. The end of this verse perfectly describes the sick and twisted secular-pagan culture today. They not only do horrifically bad things, they give their hearty approval by celebrating when others do horrible things as well. |
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.