Scripture and Commentary
Online Bible courtesy of Gospelcom.net
See Romans
1 in the New King James Version
See Romans
1 in the New American Standard Bible
Continuing commentary on Romans Chapter 1
Part 3
There is a time when we do need to deal with
the "catalogue" of sins upon which God is revealing his wrath.
Romans 1 (NASB)
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident
within them; for God made it evident to them.
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.
Ephesians 5:6 and Colossians 3:6 tell us that
the wrath of God is coming on "the sons of disobedience." These are
those who here suppress the truth.
Romans 5:9 tells us that being justified by
Christ's blood saves us from the wrath of God.
2 Thessalonians 2:6,7 reveals that God is
for this time restraining this from happening.
But what is really essential is that we
understand that it is the men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness
that God will judge. This is because:
Acts 14:17 stresses that God made himself
known,
and Acts 17:24-28 stresses how man even gropes
for God.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor (or
glorify) Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations,
and their
foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
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 (or reptiles).
If you are a person who has a litany of
injustices that you attribute to God, then are you not professing to be
wise? Or perhaps you don't want to say it's God's fault, so you say
that the "church" has misintepreted the scriptures. (Are you not
one who is suppressing the truth?)
If that is a description of yourself, then
please read with eyes wide open what Paul has to say in the next verses.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts
to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
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.
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.
Now this is not the only place where Paul
catalogues sins. However, lest you think that Paul is just picking on the
sexual sins, read on:
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,
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,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
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.
So then, who does not fall into the catagory
of sinner?
Is it you? I think not.
Is it me? I know better!
Then, what is the answer?
Let's go back in the chapter to find out:
Romans 1 (NASB)
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.
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."
(Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 here and in Gal 3:11, as does the writer of
Hebrews in Hebrews 10:38)
So, to make the point again, Paul makes
it clear that salvation is a life of faith, and that faith is in the power
of God, which is the good news. This good news
is not just any good news, but it is news that comes bearing power. Hallelujah!
Again, God's purpose is to bring all men
and women to a life of faith. Are you living a life or faith? Are
you seeking to please God?
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Introduction to Romans Study, and summary of today's study.
Romans is a primer on the relationship
of the Believer to The Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we are continuing our study of the
Book of Romans.
Remember, as we study, our chief concern
that we want to address:
1. How am I saved?
2. Can I lose my salvation (that is, if I
commit a sin, will I find I am no longer saved)?
3. If I keep on sinning, will I be saved?
4. Is there victory over sin?
5. If I neglect my relationship with the Lord
Jesus, what happens to my salvation?
6. Once I am saved, do I have license to keep
on sinning?
The further issues are:
7. Once I am saved, how do I keep from sinning?
8. Is it something I do, and thus it becomes
an issue of pride? Or is it a work that God does in our lives?
9. Can we ever expect to overcome sin? If
we do, how does it happen? How are we set free?
10. If a person backslides in his faith, and
doesn't come back to vibrant Christian faith, is he saved if he is in that
condition when he dies?
Certainly we have a partial answer to question 1. As Paul is pointing
out, we are saved through faith and by the power of God.
Likewise, question 6 would need to be answered in the negative; I do
not have license to keep on sinning, because God's wrath is against sin,
which is really rebellion against God himself.
Question 7 is starting to be answered. Paul has already mentioned that
Old Testament quote from Habakkuk 2:4 which states that the righteous
person lives by his faith.
Note that on different days,
the placement of the commentary on the page will vary. Sometimes,
I will use the left pane and sometimes the right pane.
Summary of Today's Study:
1. God's wrath is against those who
suppress
the truth.
2. Those who suppress the truth
profess themselves to be wise. They think they are educated!
3. One sign of such a life is sexual
impurity and immorality. Paul spotlights homosexuality here, but
all sexual sin is wrong.
4. Paul lists so many other types
of sin also, that few of us escape the catalogue unscathed.
5. Salvation is a life of faith.
So there are only two ways to go, either
a life of faith, or a life characterized by living in the lusts of our
flesh (and as we will see later on, in bondage to forces that oppress
and destroy.)
If you feel that, even though you are a
Christian, you still fall into the sins enumerated, then remember, you
have some good news coming as we study Romans.
I would encourage you to do something that
helped me greatly. Pick a version of the scriptures and start to
type it out or to write it longhand, whichever you feel more inclined to
do. As you do so, you will learn the scriptures at the tip of your
fingers!
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