THE BOOK OF ROMANS....
CHAPTER 1....OPENS WITH THE HUMAN RACE GUILTY BEFORE GOD
The HISTORICAL TRUTH AND IMPACT of Paul's Letter to the Romans, down through time.
* In the SUMMER OF 386, A YOUNG MAN wept in the backyard of a friend. He knew that his life of sin and rebellion against God was killing him, leaving him empty; but he just couldn't find the strength to make a final, real decision for Jesus Christ. As he sat, he heard some children playing a game and they called out to each other these words: "Take up and read! Take up and read!" Thinking God had a message to him through the words of the children, he picked up a scroll laying nearby opened it and began to read: "Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."...Romans 13:13b-14. He didn't read any further; he didn't have to. Through the power of God's word, this young man, AUGUSTINE had the faith to entrust his whole life to Jesus Christ at that moment.
* In AUGUEST OF 1513, A MONK lectured on the book of Psalms in a seminary, but his inner life was nothing but turmoil. In his studies, he came across Psalm 31:1: "In Thy righteousness deliver me." The passage confused him; how could God's righteousness do anything but condemn him to Hell as a righteous punishment for his sins? THIS MONK, NAMED MARTIN LUTHER...kept thinking about Romans 1:17, which says that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live" (Habakkuk 2:4). The monk went on to say: "Night and day I pondered until … I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Therefore I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise … This passage of Paul became to me a gateway into heaven." Martin Luther was born again, and the reformation began in his heart.
* In MAY OF 1738, a FAILED MINISTER & MISSIONARY went unwillingly to small Bible study where someone read aloud from Martin Luther's commentary on Romans. As the failed missionary said later: "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken my sins away, even mine." JOHN WESLEY was saved that night in London.
**Consider THE RECORDED PERSONAL TESTIMONY of these men regarding Romans:
MARTIN LUTHER praised the Book of Romans: "It is the chief part of the New Testament and the perfect gospel … the absolute epitome of the gospel."
PHILIP MELANCHTHON called Romans, "The compendium of Christian doctrine."
JOHN CALVIN said of Romans, "When any one understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture."
SAMUEL COLERIDGE, English poet and literary critic said Paul's letter to the Romans is "The most profound work in existence."
FREDERICK GODET, 19th Century Swiss theologian called the Book of Romans "The cathedral of the Christian faith."
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN said Romans was "The most pessimistic page of literature upon which your eyes ever rested" and at the same time, "the most optimistic poem to which your ears ever listened."
RICHARD LENSKI wrote Romans is "Beyond question the most dynamic of all New Testament letters even as it was written at the climax of Paul's career."
THE APOSTLE PETER stated in 2 Peter 3:15-16, "Also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles … in which are some things hard to understand."
The Book of Romans has LIFE CHANGING TRUTH but it must be approached with effort and determination to understand what the Holy Spirit said through the Apostle Paul.
Verse 1 tells us Paul introduces himself to the Romans.
"Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God."
Paul...
The life and ministry of Paul (also known as Saul of Tarsus) is well documented in Acts chapters 8 through 28, as well as Galatians 1 and 2, and 2 Corinthians 11 and 12.
Paul wrote Romans from the city of Corinth as he wintered there on his THIRD missionary journey as described in Acts 20:2-3. This is based on Romans 16:1 and 16:23 along with 1 Corinthians 1:14. A variety of commentators pick the date of writing anywhere from 53 to 58 A.D.
AND DID YOU KNOW...By the time Paul wrote Romans, he had been a Christian preacher for some 20 years. In Corinth, on his way to Jerusalem, he had three months without any pressing duties. He perhaps thought this was a good time to write ahead to Rome, a church he planned to visit after Jerusalem.
As Paul endeavored to go to Rome, the Holy Spirit WARNED him about the PERIL awaiting him in Jerusalem, told to us in Acts 21:10-14. What if he were unable to make it to Rome? Then he must write them a letter so comprehensive that the Christians in Rome had the gospel Paul preached, even if Paul himself were not able to visit them.
Because of all this, Romans is VERY DIFFERENT than other letters Paul wrote to New Testament churches. Other New Testament letters FOCUS more on the church and its challenges and problems. The letter to the Romans focuses more ON GOD and His great plan of redemption.
We know the letter to the Romans was prized by the Christians in Rome; Clement of Rome's letter in 96 A.D. shows great familiarity with Paul's letter. It may be that he had memorized it, and that the reading of it became a part of virtually EVERY meeting of the Roman church.
As well, many scholars (Bruce and Barclay among them) believe that an edited version of Romans - without the personal references in Romans 16 - was distributed WIDELY among early churches, as a summary of apostolic doctrine.
A bondservant … an apostle...
DID YOU KNOW THE CORRECT GREEK WORD AND MEANING FOR SERVANT & BONDSERVANT IS SLAVE.
THE WRITERS OF THE KING JAMES AND DOWN THROUGH TIME KNEW THE WORD SLAVE HAD NOTHING BUT ((NEGATIVE)) CONNOTATIONS...SO THEY CHOOSE A WORD THAT WOULD ((NOT)) OFFEND...SO THEY CHOSE BONDSERVANT AND SERVANT..INSTEAD OF...SLAVE.
Paul's self-identification is important. He is first a WILLING SLAVE of Jesus Christ, and second called to be an apostle.
AND MORRIS explains the Greek word DOULOS..."There were several Greek words used to designate A SLAVE, but the idea behind the word for slave (doulos) is "complete and utter devotion, total willing surrender, total dependence upon for all things, and living only for the will and the way of the Master, not the world's abjectness which was the normal condition of the slave."
POOLE, says it well, "A slave of Jesus Christ, is a higher title than monarch of the world."
Separated to the gospel of God...
The idea of being an apostle is that you are a special ambassador or messenger. Paul's message is the gospel (good news) of God. It is the gospel of God in the sense that it belongs to God in heaven. This isn't a gospel Paul made up; he simply is a messenger of God's gospel.
The gospel of God...
MORRIS says, "God is the most important word in this epistle. Romans is a book about God. No topic is treated with anything like the frequency of God. Everything Paul touches in this letter he relates to God. In our concern to understand what the apostle is saying about righteousness, justification, and the like we ought not to overlook his tremendous concentration on God."
DID YOU KNOW...The word "God" occurs 153 times in the book; an average of once every 46 words - this is more frequently than in ANY OTHER New Testament book. In comparison, note the frequency of other words used in Romans: law(72), Christ (65), sin (48), Lord (43), and faith(40). Romans deals with many different themes, but as much as a book can be, it is a book about God.
Verses 2-6 tells us Paul introduces his gospel to the Romans.
"Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;"
He promised before through His prophets...
This gospel is NOT something new, and it is NOT a clever invention of man. Paul's world was much like ours today, with people who liked "NEW" teachings and NEW doctrines. Nevertheless, Paul didn't bring something new, but something VERY OLD in the plan of God.
Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord...
This is the CENTER of Paul's gospel, the "sun" that everything this else orbits around. The center of Christianity is NOT a teaching and NOT a moral system, it is A PERSON: Jesus Christ.
THIS JESUS has both a HUMAN origin (born of the seed of David according to the flesh), and an ETERNAL existence (declared to be the Son of God). The EVIDENCE of Jesus' humanity is His human birth; the EVIDENCE of His deity is His resurrection from the dead.
The resurrection of Jesus shows JESUS' DIVINE POWER because He rose by His OWN power: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again", John 2:19 confirms.
Declared...
DID YOU KNOW...This ancient Greek word (horizo) comes from the idea "to bound, define, determine, or limit, and hence our word horizon, the line that determines the farthest visible part of the earth in reference to the heavens.
Jesus Christ our Lord...
It means something that the Apostle Paul called Jesus "Lord"....The really significant background, though, is its use in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to render the divine name, Yahweh.
Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith...
Paul's gospel impacts individual lives. It isn't interesting theory or philosophy, it is life-changing good news.
The gospel is BIG enough and GREAT enough for the whole world; it must go out to impact ALL NATIONS.
The gospel had reached the Roman Christians, demonstrating that they are the called of Jesus Christ.
Verses 7-15 tells us Paul's DESIRE to come to Rome.
"To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also."
To all who are in Rome...
DID YOU KNOW...At this point in time, Paul had NEVER been to Rome, and did NOT found the Christian Roman church. This makes the Book of Romans different because most of Paul's letters were to churches HE FOUNDED.
It seems the church in Rome began somewhat spontaneously as Christians came to the great city of the Empire and settled there. There is NO Biblical and NO historical evidence that the Apostle Peter FOUNDED the church in Rome either.
THE ONLY BIBLICAL TRUTH is found in Acts 2:10 describes how there WERE people FROM ROME among the Jews present at the Day of Pentecost, so when they returned home that was ITS START.
Beyond that, the MAN-CREATED TEACHINGS of the ORIGINS of the church in Rome, WERE CATHOLIC AND THAT PETER WAS THEIR FOUNDER & THEIR FIRST POPE are pure hyperbole (fiction).
Even so, through MUTUAL acquaintances or THROUGH his travels, Paul MET AND CAME TO KNOW many of the Christians in Rome BY NAME because he mentions them in Romans 16. Even if Paul only knew many of the Roman Christians by acquaintance, he knew two things about them and every true Christian. He knew they were beloved of God and that they BELIEVED ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Called to be saints: "You notice that the words 'to be' are put in by the translators; but though they are supplied, they are not really necessary to the sense. These believers in Rome were 'called.'
SPURGEON says it well, "They were not called because they were saints; but they became saints through that calling."
Grace to you and peace from God...
Paul formally addresses his readers with his familiar greeting, combining the Greek greeting of GRACE with the Jewish greeting of PEACE. This grace and peace is not the kind wish of a man; they are gifts, coming from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world...
Paul was thankful for the good reputation of the church in Rome. Because of its location, this church had a special visibility and opportunity to glorify Jesus throughout the empire.
These Christians had to be strong.
BRUCE tells us of that time in Roman history..."The Christians of Rome were unpopular - reputed to be 'enemies of the human race' and wrongly credited with such vices as incest and cannibalism. In large numbers, then, they became the victims of the imperial malevolence - and it is this persecution of Christians under Nero and his ROMANISTS RELIGION that traditionally forms the setting for Paul's martyrdom."
POOLE says further, "The Romanists urge this place to prove Rome the mother church; but without reason: the church of Thessalonica had as high a eulogy: see 1 Thessalonians 1:8."
Without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers...
Paul wanted the Roman Christians to know he was praying for them, and praying for an opportunity to visit them (I may find a way in the will of God to come to you).
For God is my witness is perhaps Paul's acknowledgment of how easy it is to say you will pray for someone, and then fail to do it. He wanted them to know that he was REALLY praying.
I may impart to you … that I may be encouraged...
Paul's desire to visit the church in Rome is not merely to give to them, but to receive as well, because Paul realized that in their mutual faith, they have something to give to him.
I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now)...
For a long time, Paul wanted to visit Rome and was only hindered by external circumstances. Perhaps some enemies of Paul implied he was afraid to go to Rome and preach the gospel in the "major leagues," in the Empire's leading city.
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise...
Paul recognized he had something of a debt to Rome.
WHY?
The Roman Empire brought THEIR OWN IDEA OF world peace and order, they brought a common cultural, and an excellent transportation system to the world. Paul used all these in spreading the gospel, so he can best repay this debt by giving Rome the good news of Jesus Christ.
Paul was such a tireless evangelist, working all over the world because he believed he had a debt to pay, and he owed it to the whole world.
I am ready...
SPURGEON SAYS, "I wonder if Paul didn't use the words "I am ready" as his motto. Almost the first words out of his mouth when he was saved were, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" (Acts 9:6)"
- Paul was ready to preach and to serve (Romans 1:15)
- Paul was ready to suffer (Acts 21:13)
- Paul was ready to do unpleasant work (2 Corinthians 10:6)
- Paul was ready to die (2 Timothy 4:6)
SPURGEON says of this, "A Moravian was about to be sent by Zinzendorf to preach in Greenland. He had never heard of it before; but his leader called him, and said, 'Brother, will you go to Greenland?' He answered, 'Yes, sir.' 'When will you go?' 'When my boots come home from the cobbler;' and he did go as soon as his boots came home. He wanted nothing else but just that pair of boots, and he was ready to go. Paul, not even waiting for his boots to come home from the cobbler, says, 'I am ready.' Oh, it is grand to find a man so little entangled that he can go where God would have him go, and can go at once."
I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also...
NEWELL says it well too, "This is a bold way of talking. "Talk of your brave men, your great men, O world! Where in all history can you find one like Paul? Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, marched with the protection of their armies to enforce their will upon men. Paul was eager to march with Christ alone to the center of this world's greatness entrenched under Satan in Rome with the word of the cross, which he himself says is to the Jews, and offence; and to Gentiles, foolishness."
Ironically - in the mystery of God's irony, when Paul did eventually get to Rome, he came as a shipwrecked prisoner.
SPURGEON says of God's mystery, "I do not suppose that Paul guessed that he would be sent there at the government expense, but he was. The Roman Empire had to find a ship for him, and a fit escort for him, too; and he entered the city as an ambassador in bonds. When our hearts are set on a thing, and we pray for it, God may grant us the blessing; but, it may be, in a way that we never looked for. You shall go to Rome, Paul; but you shall go in chains."
Verses 16-17 tells us Paul introduces THE THEME of his letter: the righteousness of God, as revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
I am NOT ASHAMED of the gospel reveals Paul's heart.
THINK ABOUT IT...In a sophisticated city like Rome, some might be embarrassed by a gospel centered on a crucified Jewish savior, embraced by the lowest classes of people - but Paul who was raised in a wealthy, influential family, with an elitist education in all things, privileged, and a member and henchman of the Sanhedrin is NOT ashamed.
For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...
This is why Paul is not ashamed of a gospel centered on a crucified savior. He knows that the gospel - the good news of Jesus Christ - has inherent power. We do not give it power, we only stop hindering the power of the gospel when we present it effectively.
Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power, and God's power at that."
AND THINK ABOUT IT...In particular, Rome thought it knew ALL about REAL power. Power is the one thing that Rome boasted of the most. Greece might have its philosophy, but Rome had its power. Despite all their power, the Romans - like all men - were powerless to make themselves righteous before God. The ancient philosopher Seneca called Rome "a cesspool of iniquity" and the ancient writer Juvenal called it a "filthy sewer into which the dregs of the empire flood."
FOR SALVATION...
In the Roman world of Paul's day, men looked for salvation. Philosophers knew that man was sick and needed help.
EPICTETUS called his lecture room "the hospital for the sick soul."
EPICURUS called his teaching "the medicine of salvation."
Epictetus said that men were looking for a peace "not of Caesar's proclamation, but of God's."
SENECA said that because men were so conscious of "their weakness and their inefficiency in necessary things" that all men were looking "towards salvation."
The gospel's power to salvation comes to EVERYONE who believes.
God will NOT withhold salvation from the one who believes; but believing is the ONLY requirement.
The message of the gospel came for the Jew first and also for the Greek (the non-Jew).
This was demonstrated both by the ministry of Jesus (Matthew 15:24) and the initial ministry of the disciples (Matthew 10:5-6).
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed...
Simply, the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. This revelation of God's righteousness comes to those with faith, fulfilling Habakkuk 2:4, "The just - that is, the justified ones - shall live by faith."
It is essential to understand exactly what the righteousness of God revealed by the gospel is.
It is NOT speaking of the holy righteousness of God that condemns the guilty sinner, but of the God-kind of righteousness that is given to the sinner who puts their trust in Jesus Christ.
Righteousness...
BARCLAY explains the meaning of this ancient Greek word "dikaioo", which means I justify, and is the root of dikaioun (righteousness): "All verbs in Greek which end in oo … always mean to treat, or account or reckon a person as something. If God justifies a sinner, it does not mean that he finds reasons to prove that he was right - far from it. It does not even mean, at this point, that he makes the sinner a good man. It means that God treats the sinner as if he had not been a sinner at all."
This declaration is even greater when we understand that this is the righteousness of God GIVEN to the believer. It is not the righteousness of even them most holy mere man, nor is it the righteousness of innocent Adam in Eden. It is God's righteousness.
This faith (trust) in Jesus Christ becomes THE BASIS of life for those who are justified (declared righteous); truly, the just shall live by faith. They are not only SAVED by faith, but they LIVE by faith.
From faith to faith...
The idea behind this difficult phrase is, "by faith from beginning to end."
Paul is issuing a REMINDER to the believer that justifying faith is ONLY the beginning of the Christians life. The same attitude must govern him in his continuing experience as a child of God. This is an "echo" of Paul's message in Galatians 3:1-3.
PAUL NOW ANSWERS THE QUESTION...Why man must be justified by faith: the guilt of the human race in general.
Verse 18a tells us The GREATEST PERIL facing the human race: the wrath of God.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven."
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven...
The idea is simple but sobering - God's wrath is revealed from heaven against the human race, and ALL the human race DESERVES the wrath of God.
We sometimes object to the idea of the wrath of God because we equate it with human anger, which is motivated by selfish personal reasons or by a desire for revenge. We must not forget that the wrath of God is completely righteous in character.
In Romans 1:16, Paul spoke of salvation - but what are we saved from? First and foremost, we are saved from the wrath of God that we righteously deserve.
In this portion of the letter (Romans 1:18-3:20), Paul's GOAL is NOT to proclaim the good news, but to DEMONSTRATE the absolute NECESSITY of the good news of salvation from God's righteous wrath.
Verses 18b-23 tells us WHY the human race is guilty before God: demonstrations of our ungodliness and unrighteousness.
"Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."
Ungodliness refers to man's offenses AGAINST God.
Unrighteousness refers to the sins of man AGAINST man.
Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...
Mankind does in fact SUPPRESS the truth of God. Every truth revealed to man by God has been fought against, disregarded, and deliberately obscured.
His invisible attributes are clearly seen...
God has shown us something of His eternal power and divine nature through creation, by the things that are made. He has given a general revelation that is obvious both in creation and within the mind and heart of man.
CLEARLY SEEN...
The universal character of this revelation and the clarity of it leave man WITHOUT excuse for rejecting it.
Although they KNEW God, they did NOT glorify Him as God...
PAUL GOES STRAIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM.
The problem is NOT that man did NOT know God, but that he DID know Him - yet we REFUSED to glorify Him as God.
Therefore, mankind is WITHOUT excuse.
We DID NOT glorify God; we transformed our conception of Him into forms and images more comfortable to our corrupt and darkened hearts.
We CAN NOT seem to resist the temptation to create God into his own corrupt image, or even in an image beneath us. One great tragedy in this is that we inescapably become like the God we serve.
It is absolutely essential that we constantly compare our own conception of God against the reality of who God is as revealed in His Word. We can also be guilty of worshipping a self-made God.
Image in Romans 1:23 is the ancient Greek word eikon. It is a dangerous thing to change the glory of the incorruptible God into an eikon (image) of your own choosing.
Nor were thankful...
SPURGEON says it well, "Man's simple ingratitude against God is shocking. I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful to those who have been his benefactors; and when you say that he is not thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of him."
Professing to be wise, they became fools...
Our rejection of God's general revelation has not made us smarter or better. Instead, it makes mankind futile in their thoughts, and makes our foolish hearts darkened - and we BECOME FOOLS.
The fact is once a man REJECTS the truth of God in Jesus, he will FALL FOR anything foolish, and trust far more feeble and fanciful systems that what he rejects from God.
This futility of thinking, darkening of the heart, and folly must be seen as one example of God's righteous wrath against those who have rejected His revelation. Part of His judgment against us is allowing us to suffer the damage our sinful course leads to.
Verses 24-32 tells us the TRAGIC RESULT of human guilt before God.
"Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
Therefore God also GAVE THEM UP...
In His righteous wrath and judgment, God gives man up to the sin our evil hearts desire, allowing us to experience the self-destructive result of sin. This phrase is so important Paul repeats it THREE times in this passage.
HOSEA 4:17 also tells us the judgmental aspects of God "giving us up," leaving us to our own sin: "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone."
We err when we think that it is God's mercy or kindness that allows man to continue in sin. It is actually His wrath that ALLOWS us to go on destroying ourselves with sin.
Who exchanged the truth of God for THE LIE...
In every rebellion and disobedience against God we exchange the truth of God for the lie of our own choosing, and set the creature before the Creator.
YOU NOTICE...Paul uses the definite article; it is not a lie, but "THE" lie.
THE LIE is essentially idolatry - which puts us in the place of God; it is THE LIE you will be like God, told to Eve by Satan, told to us FIRST in Genesis 3:5.
For this reason God GAVE THEM UP TO VILE PASSIONS...
Paul wrote this letter from the city of Corinth, where every sort of sexual immorality and ritualistic prostitution was practiced FREELY. The terminology of Romans 1:24 refers to this combination of sexual immorality and idolatrous worship.
This begins a passage where Paul describes the sin and corruption of the pagan world with an amazing directness.
Paul uses homosexuality - BOTH FEMALE AND MALE - as an example of God giving them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.
Some say that the Bible NO WHERE condemns lesbian homosexuality, but the likewise of Romans 1:27 makes it clear that the sin of homosexuality condemned in Romans 1:27 is connected to the sin of women mentioned in Romans 1:26.
Paul DOES NOT even use the normal words for men and women here; he uses the words for male and female, using categories that describe sexuality outside of human terms, because the type of sexual sin he describes is OUTSIDE of human dignity.
Paul categorizes the WHOLE section under the idea of VILE PASSIONS- unhealthy, unholy.
Nevertheless, Paul lived in a culture that OPENLY approved of homosexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia. Paul didn't write this to a culture that agreed with him.
Paul wrote to a culture where homosexuality was ACCEPTED as a part of life for both men and women.
SECULAR HISTORY CONFIRMS THIS...For some 200 years, men who openly practiced homosexuality, often with young boys, RULED the Roman Empire.
At times, the Roman Empire specifically taxed approved homosexual prostitution and gave boy prostitutes a legal holiday.
Legal marriage between same gender couples was recognized, and even some of the emperors married other men.
SECULAR HISTORY AS WELL CONFIRMS...
At the very time Paul was writing, Nero was emperor. He took a boy named Sporus and had him castrated, then married him (with a full ceremony), brought him to the palace with a great procession, and made the boy his "wife." Later, Nero lived with another man, and Nero was the "wife."
Homosexual practice truly is an abomination in our present culture.
WHY?
Health Statistics tell us that on average 43% of homosexuals say that they have had 500 or more sexual partners in their lifetime, and only 1% of homosexuals say they have had four or less sexual partners in their lifetime.
According the Unites States Department of Health and Human Services, 77% of homosexuals say they have met sexual partners in a city park; 62% in a homosexual bar, 61% in a theater, 31% in a public restroom. Only 28% of homosexuals said that they had known their partners for at least a week before participating in homosexual sex.
Homosexuals have the HIGHEST suicide percentage in the world.
Homosexuals have the HIGHEST percentage of AIDS & STDS.
Bi-sexuals ARE responsible for the GROWING rise of AIDS & STDS in heterosexuals & in newborns born with AIDS & STDS.
Homosexuals often seem to specialize in anonymous sex with no emotional commitment.
At one time, London AIDS clinics defined a woman as promiscuous if she had more than six partners in her lifetime. They gave up trying to apply a workable definition to male homosexuals when it became clear that they saw almost no homosexual men who had less than six sexual partners a year.
Receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due...
Paul speaks of a PENALTY for homosexual conduct; Homosexuality has within itself a penalty. This speaks of the SELF-DESTRUCTIVE EMOTIONAL & PHYSICAL nature of sin; it often carries within itself it's own penalty.
Sometimes it is the penalty of disease, which is the consequence of violating nature's order.
Nature's order means God created man and woman for each other, just as nature abides by this natural order.
Sometimes it is the penalty of rebellion, resulting in spiritual emptiness and all it's ramifications.
The term "gay" is wishful thinking; it sends a message that there is something essentially happy and carefree about the homosexual lifestyle - which there is not.
Again, this "freedom" to disobey should be seen as God's judgment, NOT His kindness; those who engage in such acts are receiving in themselves the penalty of their error.
As further judgment, God gives man over to a DEBASED mind, so that things that are disgraceful and sickening are readily accepted and approved.
The word DEBASED (or, reprobate in the KJV) meant originally 'that which has not stood the test'. It was used of coins that were substandard and therefore rejected. The idea is that since man did not "approve" to know God, men came to have an "unapproved" mind.
A DEBASED MIND...
Our rebellion against God is NOT only displayed in our actions, but in our thinking. We are genuinely "spiritually insane" in our rebellion against God.
THE MEDIA VOMITS AND SENSATIONALIZES THE DEBASED MIND.
WE SEE MEN EATING ANOTHER MAN'S FACE OFF.
WE WATCH MANHUNTS FOR THOSE WHO DROWN, MURDER, SEXUALLY ABUSE, TRAFFIC HUMAN BEINGS, SODOMIZE BABIES, BEHEAD INNOCENTS, DRIVE BY SHOOTINGS, SERIAL SEXUAL SADISTS.
DEMON WORSHIP WHERE THEY DRINK BLOOD, HAVE ORGIES, CREATE SNUFF FILMS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, CUT THEMSELVES, SACRIFICE THEIR CHILDREN, KIDNAP AND TORTURE, BLUDGEON TOO DEATH STRANGERS...
AND WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT POPS INTO OUR MINDS?
HOW COULD ANYONE DO THAT?
HOW CAN THEY LIVE WITH THEMSELVES?
PAUL TELLS US RIGHT HERE...
IT IS A PENALTY OF REJECTION OF ALMIGHTY GOD, IT IS BEING GIVEN OVER TO DEBASED MINDS, IT IS BEING GIVEN OVER THE SATAN AND HIS BRUTAL INSANITY AND DESIRE TO DESTROY WHAT GOD CREATED AND WHAT GOD MADE IN HIS OWN IMAGE, INSTEAD OF CREATING MANKIND IN LUCIFER'S IMAGE.
*******The list in Romans 1:29-31 gives concrete examples of the kind of things which are not fitting. Notice how "socially acceptable" sins (such as covetousness, envy and pride) are included right along with "socially unacceptable" sins (such as murder and being unloving).
Covetousness is literally the itch FOR MORE OF THE WORLD...LESS OF GOD.
Whisperers...
"Secret detractors; those who, under pretended secrecy, carry about accusations against their neighbours, whether true or false; blasting their reputation by clandestine GOSSIP.
Is ENVY a small sin?
NO....Envy put Jesus on the cross. Pilate KNEW that they had handed Him over because of envy, confirmed to us in Matthew 27:18.
Proud...
They who are continually exalting themselves and depressing others; magnifying themselves at the expense of their neighbours.
Those who either practice or approve of these things are worthy of death.
They are the worth objects of the wrath of God.
Where does all this violence, immorality, cruelty and degradation come from?
Mankind has ABANDONED, REJECTED, AND DISMISSED the true knowledge of God, and the state of society THEN AND NOW is a reflection of God's judgment upon them for this.