Romans Chapter One - Study Notes

1. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
   Paul introduces himself with three designations that respectively identify: His Master- slave of Jesus, his office- Apostle (11:13; Gal. 1:1), and his purpose- set apart for the Gospel (Aphorizo - literally Pharisee for the Gospel) “Gospel”- God's intervention in Christ
   “Paul is claiming that his life is totally dedicated to God's act of salvation in Christ.” -Moo-
   

2. which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

Paul is showing the connection between what God has promised in the past and declared

through the prophets to what He is now doing through Christ.

3. concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

“concerning his Son” - What or Who is the Gospel about? God's Son, Jesus!

“descended from David” - Here we see the humanity of Christ displayed and His qualifications for messiah-ship, His relation to David.

“God's Son” - messianic title Psalm 2:7

4. and 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,

“Declared” - Appointed (by virtue of His resurrection)

The pre-existent Son, who entered into human experience as the promised Messiah, was appointed on the basis of the resurrection to a new (and more powerful) position in relation to the world. (Philippians 2:6-11)

Before He was the Son of God in weakness and lowliness; (2 Corinthians 13:4) through the

resurrection He becomes the Son of God in power!

“The transition from v. 3-4 then, is not a transition from a human messiah to a divine Son of

God but from the Son as messiah to the Son as both Messiah and powerful, reigning Lord.”

-Moo-

“according to the flesh” / “according to the Spirit of Holiness”- It is possible that this is

referring to Christ's humanity and divinity or to the two eras or realities that he (Paul) will be

exploring in this letter.

“Spirit of holiness” - Romans 8:11; Acts 2:32-33

5. through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

Paul has received the special gift (grace) of apostleship from Jesus Christ for the purpose of

bringing men and women to the obedience of faith (submission to the Gospel). Faith in Jesus

must include submission to His lordship. (John 3:36)

“among all the nations” - Paul was set aside by God especially as an apostle to the Gentiles

(Acts 9:15)

“for the sake of his name” - The supreme goal of the Gospel is to bring God the glory that is due to Him. This leaves no room for distinction between races or classes (castes). (Gal. 3:28)

“For the sake of His name.”

“The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission

(important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that

incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God), but rather zeal – burning

and passionate zeal – for the glory of Jesus Christ.” -Stott-

6. including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

The Romans are included among these “all nations”. Paul is their Apostle. Paul was called to

be an Apostle and the Roman church has been called to faith in Christ. Not an invitational

call but a powerful and irresistible reaching out of God in grace to bring people into His

kingdom. (John 6:44)

7. To 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.

“Grace and peace” - (Numbers 6:25) This is an Old Testament blessing to the Jewish people

being given to a church composed primarily of Gentiles.

They are loved of God and called to be saints (an Old Testament term for God's people). Who

they are depends on God's love and call.

They are “saints”. Christians are those who have been sanctified. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

Summary of the importance of who Jesus is in relation to the Gospel:

• He is the promised messiah of Israel (2)
• He is the Son of God, the Lord (3-4)
• He came to the earth as messiah (3)
• He was exalted through resurrection (4)
• Through His exaltation He has shared all of these things with us pertaining to salvation(5-6)

8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

This is not a statement on the degree of their faith, but just an acknowledgment of the fact that

their faith had gone out to the Christian world. Just as we could say that believers back home in

the US have heard of the faith of the believers in Nepal and give thanks to God for a witness in

this country.

9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10. always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

Paul did not personally know most of the Roman Christians. He had not had a part in their

founding and had never been to Rome, but that did not keep him from consistently praying for them. He even calls on God as witness, showing that this was not just kind speech. He also lets them know of his desire to come to visit them.

“with my spirit” - his deepest being

“in the gospel of His Son” - Paul's main purpose: The Gospel

11. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you -

Paul gives three reasons for his wishing to visit Rome: to share some spiritual gift (11), to have

a harvest among them (13), and to preach the Gospel (15)

We don't know what exactly Paul is hoping to share with them or what kind of gift, but we do

know that it is intended to strengthen them. This is the purpose of all gifts in the church: to

build up, to edify, to strengthen the church. (1 Corinthians 14:1-5;26)

12. that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each others faith, both yours and mine.

Paul sincerely expects that he also has much to gain from his fellowship with the believers in

Rome, but he is also being diplomatic with them; not wanting them to get the idea that this

Apostle, who they do not know, is going to come and bless them with his gifts and wisdom.

He is attempting to establish his credentials with them as the Apostle to the Gentiles (as we

will see all through this letter), but he does not want to come off too heavy handed at the

beginning.

13. I 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.

Paul had been busy spreading the Gospel around the Greek world but had now run out of

areas to preach the Gospel without over stepping another person's work. (Romans 15:20-24)

This harvest that he intends to reap is most likely evangelistic. He hopes to win converts and

help further build the church in Rome, as well as strengthen the present church. (11)

“as among the rest of the Gentiles” - Paul, here again, identifies the church in Rome as

predominantly Gentile.

14. I am under obligation both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Here is the reason for Paul's desire to come to Rome and make converts: He feels compelled

that it is his duty! (1 Corinthians 9:16) It is his obligation to them (Gentiles) before God.

(Ephesians 3:8) He had been entrusted with “the gospel of God concerning His Son”, and he

was, therefore, obligated to bring that Gospel to the whole Gentile world. Not just the Greeks

and the Romans, but to the far reaches of the Empire (barbarians and foolish).

15. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

This “preaching of the gospel” is not just evangelism but refers to the ongoing work of

teaching and discipleship in the church which goes with evangelism. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Theme of Romans

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.

In verse 14 Paul had said that he was “obligated” to preach the Gospel, in 15 he is “eager”, and

now in 16 he declares that he is “not ashamed”.

Even though to the world the cross may seem foolish, (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) Paul is not

ashamed! Why? Because it is the power of God for salvation! Without the cross, without

the Gospel we are lost. We are still under God's wrath and awaiting hell and punishment. But

because of the Gospel, because of what God has done through Christ we can be delivered!

How? By believing! Who is this for? To the Jew first and then us! (Acts 13:46) But, Jew or Gentile, we must come by faith in Christ.

17. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Here is the power of the Gospel: the righteousness of God! Paul will later explain that what

the Law couldn't do (because we were not capable of keeping it) God has done in Christ!

“the righteousness of God” - This speaks both to His personal character and to His actions in

our salvation and something that He bestows upon us through Christ.

“from faith for faith” - In other words, it is all by faith from beginning to end.

“The righteous shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) Literally: “He who through faith is

righteous – he shall live.”

“He who through faith is righteous shall live.” RSV

“He shall gain life who is justified through faith.” NEB

“Every person is 'without excuse' because every person – whether a first-century pagan or

a twenty-first century materialist – has been given a knowledge of God and has spurned that

knowledge in favor of idolatry, in all its varied manifestations. All therefore stand under the

awful reality of the wrath of God, and all are in desperate need of the justifying power of the

Gospel of Christ.” -Moo-

18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Why is the righteousness of God being revealed in the Gospel? Why is it necessary? Why is

it so important? Because of the wrath of God! Who is this wrath against? Whoever or

whatever is under heaven and yet not under the Gospel is under His wrath! (John 3:36)

Paul sandwiches this indictment against all mankind between these two great declarations

of the gracious righteousness of God: Romans 1:17 and 3:21-22.

What then is God's wrath? It is His deeply personal abhorrence of evil; His holy hostility to

evil. “sustained anger against sin because of His holiness for the failure of man to honor Him

as God.” -Moo-

Against what is God's wrath revealed? Against all ungodliness and wickedness of men.

“The essence of sin is godlessness. It is the attempt to get rid of God and, since that is

impossible, the determination to live as though one had succeeded in doing so.” -Stott-

The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:

36-40) It is by this very sin, the not doing of this commandment, this injustice, unrighteous-

ness that they “suppress the truth”. They have made up their minds to live for themselves and

ignore any evidence of God around them.

What truth are they suppressing?

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 that they are without excuse.

The invisible God has made Himself visible in His creation. He has made Himself known

through what He has made. (Psalm 19:1; Isaiah 6:3)

General Revelation - made to everybody, everywhere

It is:

Natural – because made through natural means

Continuous – since creation it has gone on day and night (Psalm 19:2)

Creational – revealing God's glory through creation

Special Revelation - made to particular people in particular places

It is:

Supernatural – ie. Incarnation, inspiration of Scriptures

Final – finished in Christ and in Scripture

Salvific – revealing God's grace in Christ

This is natural revelation not natural religion. Paul ends these verses with, “So they are

without excuse”. Through natural revelation you can know God's power, deity, and glory

but not His saving grace through Christ. This knowledge is only enough to condemn because

they could not live up to even that . Instead, they suppress the truth about God by their

unrighteousness. (18)  They are guilty!  They have seen the truth about God around them but

have rejected Him and rejected those evidences to follow their own self-centered paths.

“Natural revelation leads not to salvation but to the demonstration that God's condemnation

is just: people are 'without excuse'.” -Moo-

“God has given mankind an adequate revelation of Himself (i.e. of His eternal power and

deity – His invisible nature and attributes) through the things which He created. But men,

because of their sinfulness, suppress the truth about Him.” -Steele & Thomas-

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.

“They knew God” - That is, they knew His eternal power and divine nature as revealed in

creation. But this knowledge did not lead to worship, but rather, they took His blessings and

“did not thank him as God” (Matthew 5:45) They, thereby, perverted their knowledge

concerning God and sank further into either idolatry or atheism. (Acts 14:14-18)

“At the very center of every person, where the knowledge of God, if it is to have any positive

effects, must be embraced, there has settled a darkness – a darkness that only the light of the

Gospel can penetrate.” -Moo-

22. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

False religions, philosophies, ungodly scientific theories, and every other attempt by man to

divert worship from the One True God and instead worship idols, wisdom, ourselves, or

material goods is an example of this foolishness masquerading as wisdom.

23. and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Given the opportunity to bask in the glory of the immortal God, people have rather chosen, in

their folly, to worship the images of mortal human beings and beasts. This is a poor exchange

and shows the absurd nature of their reason.

24. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

“Therefore” - since they have rejected the knowledge of God available to them and have,

instead, given their worship to other things.

“God gave them up” - suggests that God has an active rather than a passive role in handing

the sinner over to the terrible cycle of ever-increasing sin.

Exchanging and Giving up

There are in these passages three exchanges of men and three giving ups or giving over of God:

v 23 – They exchange the glory of God for images

v 24 – God gives them up to impurity

v 25 – They exchange the truth of God for a lie

v 26a – God gives them up to dishonorable passions

v 26b-27 – They exchange natural relations (men and women) for unnatural ones

v 28 – God gave them up to a debased mind

“God often punishes one sin by abandoning the sinner to the commission of others, …

This judicial abandonment is consistent with the holiness of God and the free agency of man.

God does not impel or entice to evil. He ceases to restrain.” -Hodge-

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.

What truth are they exchanging for a lie? The truth, the reality, the fact of God as He has

revealed Himself. (The Thessalonians had reversed this exchange: 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

What is the lie? Worshiping and serving the creation INSTEAD of the Creator!

The Creator who is blessed forever! The Creator who deserves all worship and service.

The Creator who has sustained them, shown His loving kindness to them in providing for

them and in not destroying them instantly for their sinfulness. This Creator they have

ignored and rejected to, instead, follow their sinful passions and worship and serve His

creation. Calling it wisdom, they have become mad!

26. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
27. and 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.

Natural means: God's created order, “To act against or contrary to nature means to violate the

order which God has established.” -Stott-

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.

This time God gives them up, not to immorality, but to an unfit mind.

“People who have refused to acknowledge God end up with minds that are 'disqualified' from

being able to understand and acknowledge the will of God.” -Moo-

And this “depraved” mind leads to a whole variety of antisocial practices:

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.

This list begins with four general sins: all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and

malice. Then goes into a more specific list of sins which lead to broken relationships: pride, and all inventions of evil and even the sometimes overlooked “disobedient to parents” or think of any authority which God has placed over you.

One translation lists the last four as, “Without brains, honor, love, or pity.” (This list is not

exhaustive but is meant to complete Paul's picture of the world without Christ and the Gospel.)

32. Though 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.

“The function of this concluding verse is to bring out even more fully the willful rebellion

against God that permeates humanity.” -Moo-

People generally, Paul claims, have some degree of awareness that the moral outrages they

commit are wrong and therefore deserve to be punished.

Conclusion:

Who are these people Paul is describing in this passage? This is a vivid picture of what we were before the intervention of God in Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 2:

1-10; Colossians 3:5-8)