Paul begins in Romans 1:18 to 22 by pointing out what is called general or natural revelation. That is what Paul is stressing is actually suppressed by unbelievers and that all humans receive this revelation from nature. It is also called general revelation because we would not know many specifics about God without special revelation. During the reformation the material cause or the cause we see argued by Luther and others was often “Sola Fide” or the biblical doctrine that was are justified by faith alone. But the formal cause of the dispute or the underlying cause was a difference about “Sola Scriptura”. The Roman Catholic Church held that there were two sources of special revelation. Those sources for them were Scripture and tradition. So while both sides accepted the infallible authority of Scripture the Roman Catholic Church departed from the teaching of Book of Romans disallowed any teaching from Scripture that would contradict tradition. We reject that teaching (although sometimes our reaction to change in our church services makes me wonder) and although creeds such as the 1689 London Baptist Confession may be brilliant in summarizing and clearly teaching us the Gospel and while they may merit deep study and meditation … they must bow the knee to Scripture. They must be judged by their fidelity to Scripture and, if in conflict, be corrected by Scripture.
We need this high view of God’s revelation in Scripture when we move on to verses regarding the universal sinfulness of mankind. In fact, Romans will continue to teach you about yourself and your salvation and you need that high view of Scripture to understand Romans.
Paul brought conviction to the heart of the first century Roman Church by making sin personal to them and by declaring the depravity of mankind and making conviction of sin personal to us as well. We should all be weeping for our sins when we get to Romans 2:6-16. We should be weeping for our failure and sins even before we read on to Romans 3:9-18 in which our life before Christ is presented.
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is determined that the Christians in Rome (and all us who have come after) will understand that that apart from Christ they are lost and that salvation is Sola Fide or by faith alone. Paul goes right to the most significant religious person in Judaism. He uses Abraham as his example who I would guess every Jew in the audience would assume was justified by his works of obedience.
Romans 4:1-6
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
Abraham had lots of works as well as a cousin named Lot. For example, his tithe to Melchizedek is commonly thought to be an Old Testament theophany (Genesis 14:18-20; Hebrews 7) and his willingness to offer his son Isaac was another act he performed. Since Abraham had offered his son in Genesis 22 it seems odd to stress that it was his faith was counted as righteousness yet he never committed a work that gained merit for salvation. Even in the sacrifice of Isaac, Abraham figured God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).
Ask yourself how we can make up for sin. In our minds we sometimes seem to drift to the conclusion that if I stop a particular sin then God should forgive me for it if I behave pretty well from this point forward. Yet in our society if a criminal wanted to be forgiven for his crimes because he wasn’t committing one right now and he said he was sorry for those crimes previously committed we’d think he was working on an insanity defense. In the movie, “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” after Delmer’s salvation experience (in which he is standing in a grave yard with nothing except a roasted gopher for dinner when he is compelled to rush into the water and be baptized followed by his friend Pete) he claims to be completely free from the consequences of his sins and even confesses to crimes he said he didn’t commit prior to his salvation. The unbeliever Everett says, “Even if it did put you right with the Lord the state of Mississippi is a little more hard nosed.” That movie has a lot to say about salvation and the sinful heart of man. But Pete, Delmer’s friend, uses the term absolved (to set free from the consequences of guilt) …
Romans 4:7-12
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely
circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
It seems reasonable to ask if this scripture argues for believer’s baptism since many argue for a parallel between OT circumcision and NT baptism but that isn’t the point here. Here we see faith and imputed righteousness preceding the obedience to the law. Obedience to the law then was a sign of the righteousness he received by faith. Your obedience to the moral law revealed in Scripture as God’s will is then a sign of the saving faith in your heart. Faith without works is dead because a justified heart can’t be dead and will seek to please the Father. The justification we receive freely will drive our obedience as we live before the face of God empowered by the Holy Spirit. You’ve got to know that you are justified by faith alone so that you’ll run with patience the race you have before you.
After Paul shows our sins and hypocrisy then he briefly addresses the topic of religious observance.
Romans 2:25-29
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Paul foreshadows what we will hear as we move on into the epistle. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant in that the excess of the flesh was removed. The Law is good and righteous and circumcision is to be a matter of the heart and it accomplished “by the Spirit”. Approval of men is fundamental to those who seek to obey the law. Religious observance without heart obedience is not religious observance. True circumcision is a matter of the heart by the Holy Spirit.
The Gospels show the Pharisees in action seeking the approval of men. The Gospel is not about what other men think about what you do but about God who sees what you do and knows why you do it. Clearly the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
So what is the advantage of being raised in the faith? Paul is discussing the place of the Jews and the value of circumcision but you can ask the same things about baptism and growing up in the Church. However, God will use these religious acts as Means of Grace and if some are unfaithful it doesn’t mean that God is unfaithful.
Romans 3:1-4
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
Paul’s line of reasoning begs this question as to what was the advantage then of having God interact so extensively with a people? The faithlessness of the Jews is no commentary on the faithfulness of God. God has been completely faithful to the Jews and to His promises given in prophecy. The deficiency is with mankind as Paul has already shown. We don’t like to admit that we are the problem and here Paul quotes from a man that had the guts to face his sin. This is from Psalm 51 and immediately follows “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— “ David recognizes whose law he has violated.
Romans 3:5-8
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
The idea that we are by nature sinners stimulates us to look for a reason to think that God owes us a pass because we are only doing what comes naturally. Often those who draw back at the teaching of the Gospel will do so by misstating the Gospel. This is especially common among those who are religious but have drawn back from the clear teachings of Scripture. I’ll try to be very careful to indicate those points that many modern men will misstate as we move on through Romans. However, this is really a spiritual effect. Paul faced this with those who said that he was teaching that people should sin so that God’s grace may abound. A man named Finney who preached from the mid to late 1800s had a terrible impact on the modern church. We see his residual works based evangelicalism in America today. He rejected the atonement. He didn’t think he needed it. The teaching of salvation by Grace alone (Sola Gratia) causes many to stumble. They’d like to bring their works into the picture and some denominations have complex doctrines of merit from the works of men.
Romans 3:9-18
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
And all the people said “Amen” or “Oh My”? Especially since some of our testimonies feature us as the basically righteous but unsatisfied protagonist who is seeking God but really has some skills they want to use for God and then we found God. But we have to say that it didn’t “feel” the way Scripture describes it for most of us. But God tells me it was this way and therefore I am taught of how lost I was. I wasn’t just a little lost.
In classical reformed doctrine this is one of the proof Scriptures for the T in “TULIP” acrostic and the T stands for total depravity. Scripture doesn’t teach that we are as evil as we could be. I think most of us realize that is the case. That is why Paul put his finger on the Roman’s sins (and ours) and poked real hard. We justify ourselves. Total depravity isn’t the same as complete depravity. Many modern authors use the term “radical corruption”. What Paul is getting at is that we don’t seek God. Know we know that when the Holy Spirit moves on us we do seek God but God gets the glory for that and Paul will get to that in a little while. We get no glory for our salvation.
Romans 3:19-20
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
God’s revelation in the law made a specific and detailed exposition of the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God. Our sin nature, like those who don’t have the law, keeps us from fulfilling the law but the law brings a fuller and more explicit statement of our sin. Notice how clear verse 20 is. The law identifies our sin but “by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight”. No one will be justified by the law because the law shows how far we are from our Holy God.
Romans 3:21-24
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
There are some precious exceptions that God gives in scripture and this “But now” is one of them. Notice that the Law and Prophets bear witness to it. We are redeemed by Christ being justified by grace. It is unmerited and it is a gift. It is not deserved. This, in part, illustrates the U in TULIP which is unconditional election. It is a gift and we deserved nothing but judgment.
So after explaining how all of mankind is subject to judgment for their sin, Paul now begins to explain Grace. It is important to Paul and to us that even though the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law it is still explained and foreshadowed in the Law and Prophets. If you’ll remember we recently finished a study of salvation pictured for the individual in the corporate salvation of Israel. Christ is everywhere in the Old Testament. Our righteousness comes by faith in Christ as we believe. There is no distinction between Jew or barbarian. We have all come short of the glory of God and the only justification is by His Grace. Grace is unmerited favor or undeserved blessing that results in our salvation through Christ. We have some words that we simply have to learn. Justification for example; what does justification mean. Paul spent a great deal of chapters 1 and 2 explaining our liability and that we deserve judgment.
So the distinction that Paul labors in an earlier chapter is explained as no distinction since we are all found to be sinners and are all likewise justified by His Grace as a gift. Remember our 5 Solas. We are saved by faith alone (sola fide), by grace alone (sola gratia) by Christ alone (sola Christo). We know this because we establish doctrine by Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) and then by definition we know only God gets glory from our salvation (soli Deo Gloria).
Romans 3:25-26
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
For shock value some folks will say that we are ultimately saved by works. Technically this is true since we are saved by the complete and perfect work of Christ. Christ was put forward as a propitiation or payment by His blood and He kept the law perfectly from heart attitude to action. We receive this pardon by faith and God displays righteousness not because He simply forgot about our sins but because the price was paid. God is just and the justifier of those of use who have faith in Jesus. We need to remember that Grace isn’t cheap and that Christ’s works met the requirements of the law. So His perfect work saves us and we are saved by works. Not our works but His.
Romans 3:27-31
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Sola fide is the means without regard to Jewish or Gentile background. There is only one means of salvation. We really have absolutely no reason to boast since God has saved us from our condition in which we were lost, spiritually dead and, apart from a move of the Holy Spirit on your heart, we did not seek God. Remember the hymn “For He sought me and He bought me with His redeeming Blood.” We need to be amazed by Grace.
Paul leaves us in verse 5 with knowledge of our hard hearts and an awareness that apart from God we are lost. As we come to verse 6 we should come under conviction with tears in our eyes because of our failure to comply with the righteous demands of a Holy God.
Romans 2:6-8
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
Remember the context here. Paul is developing a world view and later in the epistle will deal with when and how we display patient well-doing as well as what motivates it. At this point Paul is has established that those who reject God have no excuse for rejecting him and that the evil men display is a result of rejecting the knowledge of God. So Paul is gradually building the case that will show that God’s righteous requirements place the world, apart from Christ, under judgment.
Romans 2:9-11
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.
So Paul is promising judgment and punishment for sin and indicates that both Jews and Greeks or Gentiles will all be subject to the same judgment and punishment.
Romans 2:12-13
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
This was an important distinction for a fellowship that was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews who heard the law but failed to live up to it are still condemned along with all the Gentiles who never heard it.
Romans 2:14-16
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
So even those who have never heard the Gospel still bear the guilt of violating God’s law because we have the law written on our hearts. Here Paul begins to get at the heart of our problem. God judges the secrets of men. God looks at the heart and heart obedience is what makes doing good problematic. To do a good work I need to do a work God directs, the way He directs, at the time He directs, and with no other thought but for His glory and my obedience. So as a Christian I have a hard time doing that. Some would say I mess it up every time and I’d say sometimes I might get it right as long as I don’t think about it too long and start to think what a lucky guy God is to have me. But consider the case of a non-Christian … Paul has established that they have the law in their heart and as they suppress the knowledge of God they can’t intentionally obey and have no concern for anyone’s glory but their own. They have no chance. Every once in a while you get the question of the salvation of the innocent savage in the jungle. Well of course an innocent savage would go straight to heaven but Scripture teaches that the law in the heart and the heart convicts or drives us to seek excuses for our behavior.
Romans 2:17-20
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
After Paul explains the situation of those who live without the law Paul begins to deal with the Jews who have the Law as a guide and take pride in being guides, lights, instructors, teachers, and holding the embodiment of truth and knowledge in the law.
Romans 2:21-24
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
The problem with having the law and serving God according to the flesh is that you fail miserably and fail others in the process. We fail to live what we teach. Jesus taught the high standard required for our thought life in these challenges. Covetousness is identified stealing, lust is identified as adultery, and money is shown as an idol that is served. Rather than being a light to the world the Jews failed to accurately representing God to the nations.
Paul is not saying that mankind (either Jew or Gentile) is as wicked as they can be. Paul shows that since we have the law of God on our hearts even the gentiles will set standards of behavior. This is a topic that we’ll address again but remember that Scripture doesn’t teach that we are as wicked as we could be. It may seem to be a small thing to stress but those who oppose sound doctrine will sometimes oppose the teaching that our hearts are dead or that we are dead in our trespasses and sins by pretending that those who quote that Scripture are inferring that mankind is as wicked as they could be. That is not the case and we’ll seem more of this in the Scriptures that follow these.
We normally assume that our sensitivity to the correction of God is a product of our own inherent righteousness. Normally it doesn’t even occur to us that the conviction we feel when we do something wrong is God’s law written in our hearts and we are dependent on God to keep this law sharply written in our hearts.
Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 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.
God leave us to be driven by our passions without His correction. If our passion is not for God then it will be misdirected toward the creation instead of the Creator.
Here we see homosexuality in view and the Roman culture had at least as big an issue with this as we do. Here Paul presents a radical contrast for a Roman church member. As long as the sex was an upper class male to a lower class male or female it was considered acceptable. Within a social class or any sort of homosexuality in women was considered disgusting. Here Paul is drawing equivalence between female and male homosexuality using the term “likewise” and for his Roman readers that would have been a tremendous shock. It is difficult to think of exactly what sins would cause such an extreme reaction in our day. Perhaps pedophilia presented first to provoke in us the reaction of disgust the Romans felt for lesbianism and then extramarital sex between consenting adults presented as likewise. Most individuals in our culture would protest the equivalence between pedophilia and extramarital sex. We rank our sins according out our standards and not Gods. However we serve a holy God and Paul continues to develop his presentation of the Gospel.
Dishonorable passions in the Christian life will draw God’s discipline and can rule the lives of those who don’t serve Christ. In our lives we are challenged to keep a passion for God as the driving force of our lives. There are plenty of created things that can substitute for God and all of them are sinful if they occupy that primary place that only He should have.
Romans 1:28-32
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. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 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.
All of these evil characteristics are characteristics of a mind that has set itself against God. We choose to be our own God. We think that we are able to rule (be lord of) our lives apart from Him. The way in which this is manifested is really broad. It ranges from murder to simply being boastful or foolish. It is a sign of the depth of mankind’s rejection of God that we see violence against homosexuals in our day. Both are signs of rejecting God as Lord and the authority of Scripture.
You can pray for God to keep us far from all this stuff. Pray that God would teach us to be righteous, good, sharing, kind, happy with what we have, gentle, peace loving, honest, kind, not gossipers, thinking the best of others, respectful, humble, speaking with humility, looking for ways to do good, respectful of parents, wise, faithful, tender hearted, and open. As God answers our prayer we can’t expect those who have refused to acknowledge God to think we have made wise decisions.
In addition to praying those things, remember this week to be a servant of God. Remember to make Him Lord in your life and be surrendered to him. Pray that God will use you like He used Paul to reach the lost.
Romans 2:1
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
Remember that whenever you see a “therefore” you need to consider the logic of what the apostle is saying. Paul is pointing back at all the effects of rejecting Christ as Lord and saying that all those sins uniformly condemn all outside of Christ. You can’t argue that at least you were not a murderer and therefore OK. All those sins are manifestations of abandoning Christ. I was meditating on these things and thinking that for me treason against your nation is a sin that I really find grievous. I don’t understand how someone would do that and severe penalties seem reasonable to me. However, I know a teacher who refers to sin as treason and as I thought of these things I realized that my sin against God was truly treason and of course I have been redeemed by His Grace and that makes it even more horrible. Who has committed the most evil treason me or the man who only commits treason against a human institution? I have no excuse when I judge another for in passing judgment on another I condemn myself because I practice the very same things. God’s mercy endures forever but apart from His Grace I deserve only judgement.
Romans 2:2
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Everyone is condemned by their sins and standing outside Christ and condemning those who are outside Christ is foolish since God says all are subject to the same righteous judgment.
Romans 2:4-5
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
To be outside Christ and to assume that you are righteous enough for heaven is a dangerous place to be and if you stay long enough it is eternally fatal. Generally we do assume that. We feel righteous enough and therefore we are satisfied with ourselves and don’t recognize that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. So it backfires on us. We are satisfied with our self righteousness and therefore we are storing up wrath for judgment day.
Paul’s introduction continues from last week writing to those who are loved by God and called to be saints. This was a fellowship that God was building and Paul was focused on a full presentation of the Gospel.
Romans 1:8-10
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
This is how we know that Paul had not been to visit the Church in Rome but that he wanted to visit and that they were well known as a major work of God. Paul’s faithful prayers and probably the prayer of other Apostles were answered by the work of the Holy Spirit but, as far as we know, without direct apostolic teaching by the time of the epistle.
Romans 1:11-12
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Paul had the heart of a pastor in wanting to minister to the Church in Rome. The fellowship we have in church is supposed to be an encouragement to each other. It is part of the life of the Body of Christ.
Romans 1:13-15
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. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul’s special ministry was to Gentiles so naturally he would want to visit a fellowship that was growing and well known as a work of God. Remember how Paul started this epistle? He started by telling the Romans that he was a servant of Christ. As servants we don’t decide how we will serve and we see that here with Paul. He wants to go and visit Rome but he has obligations to upscale (Greek) and literally barbarian churches and as a servant God will determine where he preaches and teaches.
Romans 1:16
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.
Paul knew that the Gospel was the power of God to people who were religious like the Jew and also to the cultured and intellectuals of the day such as the Greeks. Paul was not avoiding Rome and he really had a desire to be there ministering to the Roman church.
Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
As Paul preached the Gospel to either Jews, Greeks, or barbarians it empowered salvation and birthed faith as a Grace gift in the hearts of those who heard him. Those who Christ justified were righteous and lived their lives by faith. Keep in mind also the Means of Grace since God uses those in our lives to produce righteousness from faith for faith.
Romans 1:18-19
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.
It is striking that Scripture makes it clear that, prior to salvation, we suppressed the truth. When we lived lives that were ungodly and unrighteous we were suppressing truth and not simply ignorant of the truth. God says that even apart from the Gospel revelation in Scripture that His revelation in nature and in logic was sufficient to convict apart from our active suppression of the truth. Most unbelievers will look at you like you are nuts and argue that you are just plain wrong if you tell them Scripture says that.
Romans 1:20
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.
So Scripture teaches that God’s natural revelation is not just sufficient to prove His existence but that it also is sufficient to remove any excuse for unbelief. There are going to be some unhappy folks at the judgment throne. The proofs of God are sufficient to remove any excuse but they are not effective apart from the Holy Spirit because the blindness of our sin natures and our suppression of the truth will prevent it. For example, the ontological proof of God is true and the argument to first causes is also a true proof of God (even Aristotle found that one convincing). Prayer and the Holy Spirit are essential to evangelism.
Romans 1:21-23
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.
This process was our life process and would still be our life process except from the mercy of God. The end result is the acceptance of false gods so that we mistakenly attribute the glory of God to creation. For example, we start to think that our future is controlled by fate or that we control our lives by positive thinking. The Roman gods were like men with all the problems and sins of men. It is difficult for me to even think seriously of someone worshiping them. Our modern position is ironic in that we sometimes elevate animals and attempt to lower God to earth. So we exchange the glory of God for calling the earth our mother and animals our brothers and sisters. I once listened to a native American speaker who objected discussing our role to nature as a stewardship role because that inferred that we were superior to nature. If he had a biblical understanding of God then being given a stewardship role not only doesn’t make you superior (i.e., a husband’s stewardship role over wife and family) it subjects to you discipline from one who is superior if you do a poor job. It is the habit of our culture to give glory to things other than God such as fate, chance, or mother earth and we as Christians must not pick up bad habits. As our Piper quote says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
Romans 1:24-25
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 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.
One of God’s gifts of Grace is His gift of conviction of Sin and when we set our heart on things other than God we numb ourselves to God’s conviction. When God withdraws His Holy Spirit we are lost and head into error. When we see others in sin then we can’t feel superior and we also realize that the sin they are manifesting is symptomatic of rejecting God. We will be called to love sinners and hate sin. One of the first steps is to realize that God’s work of Grace is alive in your life and now you can pray for that to operate in other’s lives.
