ROMANS, CHAPTER 1
[Verses 14-32]
(4-6-11)
Romans 1:14-16) [NIV] I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
In regards to “obligated,”
“(I) One owing money (Mat_18:24).
(II) One indebted for favors (Rom_15:27).
(III) One morally bound to the performance of any duty, followed by the inf. (Gal_5:3, he is bound to keep the whole law)” [Word Study].
Concerning “Greeks and non-Greeks,”
“Gentiles without distinction. Paul takes the conventional Greek division of all mankind into Greeks and non-Greeks” [Vincent].
15) [NIV] That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
16) [NIV] I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
QUESTION: Who does Paul consider himself to be under obligation to?
ANSWER: Every Gentile.
QUESTION: What does Paul owe to these individuals?
ANSWER: He owes to them an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:17) [NIV] For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
QUESTION: Why was it so important to Paul to share the Gospel with every Gentile?
ANSWER: The Gospel message reveals how sinful man can become righteous in God’s sight.
Romans 1:18) [NIV] The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
QUESTION: What group of mankind is on God’s bad side?
ANSWER: Those who suppress the truth of the Gospel for personal gain, or agenda.
Romans 1:19-23) [NIV] since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20) [NIV] For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21) [NIV] For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22) [NIV] Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23) [NIV] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
QUESTION: What does God think about those who deny His existence?
ANSWER: They have no excuse for their denial of Him.
QUESTION: What is meant by verses 21-22?
ANSWER: Mankind was knew the true God, but then forsook Him. Also, each individual man has evidence in nature of a Creator.
Romans 1:24-25) [NIV] Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25) [NIV] They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
Regarding “God gave them over,”
“This divine abandonment of men is here strikingly traced in three successive stages, at each of which the same word is used (Rom_1:24, Rom_1:26; and Rom_1:28, where the word is rendered ‘gave over’). ‘As they deserted God, God in turn deserted them’” [JFB].
QUESTION: What did God actually do?
ANSWER: He gave them a false reality that they longed for, one without God.
QUESTION: What came about as a result of this?
ANSWER: Idol worship.
Romans 1:26-27) [NIV] Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27) [NIV] In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
QUESTION: What are these verses talking about?
ANSWER: Homosexuality.
QUESTION: What does God think about this kind of conduct?
ANSWER: He calls it “shameful lusts,” and “indecent acts.”
Romans 1:28-32) [NIV] Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29) [NIV] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30) [NIV] slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31) [NIV] they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32) [NIV] Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
QUESTION: What are these verses talking about?
ANSWER: They didn’t want God in their lives, so He allowed the inevitable to happen; their minds became depraved.
QUESTION: What was the result?
ANSWER: All of the above manner of sin was the result.
QUESTION: What kind of depravity is verse 32 talking about?
ANSWER: People who want to sin, but go beyond that, and take pleasure in causing others to sin.
QUESTION: What else does verse 32 tell us?
ANSWER: These individuals know that God will punish this kind of activity, but they continue to delight in sin, and in those who sin.