It is very fitting that the opening words of the epistle give us a summary of the Gospel. Jesus the Christ—God’s Son and our Lord—is its great theme, and the Gospel concerns Him especially as the One who has risen from the dead. He truly came into the world as a real Man, so that on one side He was a descendant of David; yet He was not only that, for there was another side, not what He was “according to the flesh,” but “according to the Spirit of holiness.” He was the Son of God in power, and the resurrection of the dead declared this—whether it was His own resurrection or His exercise of resurrection power during His earthly life.
From that same powerful Son of God, Paul received both his apostleship and the grace to fulfill it, for he was set apart to proclaim the good news. The scope of that message was not limited, as the law had been. It was for all nations, and those who received the message, by obeying it, were shown to be the called ones of Jesus Christ. Such were the Romans to whom he wrote.
The Apostle evidently knew many of the believers living in Rome—people who had likely migrated there from lands farther east—but he had not yet personally visited the great city; hence his comments in verses 8 to 15. Their reputation was good, and Paul longed and prayed to see them, though he had been hindered so far. His desire was their complete establishment in the faith through his imparting spiritual things to them. He explains what he means in verse 12: these gifts were to be a matter of mutual strengthening in the faith, rather than the bestowal of remarkable talents, miraculous powers, or similar abilities. It is better to be godly than gifted.
From verse 15, it appears that not all the believers in Rome had yet heard the Gospel presented in the full manner for which Paul had been commissioned to proclaim it. Therefore, since the Lord had entrusted the Gospel to him in a special way concerning the Gentiles, he felt indebted to them. He was ready to fulfill that obligation, and since he had been hindered from coming to them in person, he would do so by letter.
Now, the Gospel was despised. It always has been, from the earliest days; yet the Apostle felt no shame about it whatsoever because of its power. Let a person believe it—whether Jew or Gentile—and it proves itself to be God’s mighty power leading to salvation. The same is true today. People may mock it in theory, but only those who are deliberately blind can deny its power, which is most evident when those who believe have previously lived in deep moral degradation.
Notice this: it is the power of God because the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness. Here we encounter a truth of first-rate importance—there is no salvation without righteousness, nor would any right-minded person desire there to be.
But we must make sure we grasp the sense of verse 17. The “righteousness of God revealed” stands in contrast to the law, whose central feature was righteousness required from humans. The Gospel’s righteousness is “from faith.” The word from is somewhat misleading; it is better understood as by. The righteousness the law demanded from people was to be by works (or on the principle of works). The righteousness of God that the Gospel reveals is received by faith. Further, the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness to faith, whereas all that the law expressed was revealed to sight. The first mention of faith contrasts with works; the second contrasts with sight. The prophecy in Habakkuk, fulfilled in the Gospel, says, “The just shall live by faith.” The preposition translated “by” here is the same one translated “from” immediately before. Not by works—but by faith.
The Gospel, then, reveals the righteousness of God and proves itself to be the power of God for salvation. But behind it stands a dark background: the wrath of God, spoken of in verse 18. Today, righteousness and power unite for the salvation of the believer. In the coming day, they will unite to intensify the terror of God’s wrath. That wrath has not yet been executed, but it is revealed as coming from heaven without distinction upon all the evil of humanity, whether that evil is openly practiced or takes the more subtle form of “holding the truth in unrighteousness,” as was the case, for example, with the Jew.
From this point, the Apostle proceeds to show that all people are hopelessly lost and subject to God’s judgment and wrath. First—verses 19 to the end of chapter 1—he addresses the Barbarians, mentioned in verse 14. They at least had the witness of creation, which declared the Creator’s eternal power and divine nature and left them without excuse.
Here is the passage that addresses the much-debated question of the heathen’s responsibility. “What about the heathen?”—how often is that asked! Certain facts stand out very clearly:
The peoples who are now heathen once knew God. Humanity did not progress from polytheism to monotheism, as some imagine, but in the opposite direction. They sank from light into darkness. Once “they knew God” (v. 21), but “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (v. 28).
The root cause of their fall was that they did not want to give God the glory He deserved, for they wished to appear wise themselves—as shown in verses 21 and 22. In short, pride was the root, and God allowed them to make fools of themselves.
Their decline was gradual: first futile thinking; then darkened understanding; then gross idolatry; and finally shocking sins that sank them below the level of animals. Each generation went further than the one before, confirming for themselves the earlier departure.
Their condition developed under God’s government. Three times we read the expression (with slight variations), “God gave them up to…” If people choose to abandon God in their thinking, they cannot complain when He abandons them. And if they give up God—and therefore goodness—they naturally end up given over to everything evil and degrading. There is an ironic justice in God’s government.
The final element of this dreadful tragedy is that they know their actions are wrong and deserving of death, yet they not only continue in them but are utterly captivated by them. They delight in these practices to such a degree that they take pleasure in others committing the same sins.
Suppose we truly allow this fearful picture of human depravity to impress itself on our minds. In that case, we will have no difficulty agreeing with the divine verdict that all such people are “without excuse” (v. 20).
Romans 1 – Introduction & The World’s Guilt (Gentiles)
It is very fitting that the opening words of the epistle give us a summary of the Gospel. Jesus the Christ—God’s Son and our Lord—is its great theme, and the Gospel concerns Him especially as the One who has risen from the dead. He truly came into the world as a real Man, so that on one side He was a descendant of David; yet He was not only that, for there was another side, not what He was “according to the flesh,” but “according to the Spirit of holiness.” He was the Son of God in power, and the resurrection of the dead declared this—whether it was His own resurrection or His exercise of resurrection power during His earthly life.
From that same powerful Son of God, Paul received both his apostleship and the grace to fulfill it, for he was set apart to proclaim the good news. The scope of that message was not limited, as the law had been. It was for all nations, and those who received the message, by obeying it, were shown to be the called ones of Jesus Christ. Such were the Romans to whom he wrote.
The Apostle evidently knew many of the believers living in Rome—people who had likely migrated there from lands farther east—but he had not yet personally visited the great city; hence his comments in verses 8 to 15. Their reputation was good, and Paul longed and prayed to see them, though he had been hindered so far. His desire was their complete establishment in the faith through his imparting spiritual things to them. He explains what he means in verse 12: these gifts were to be a matter of mutual strengthening in the faith, rather than the bestowal of remarkable talents, miraculous powers, or similar abilities. It is better to be godly than gifted.
From verse 15, it appears that not all the believers in Rome had yet heard the Gospel presented in the full manner for which Paul had been commissioned to proclaim it. Therefore, since the Lord had entrusted the Gospel to him in a special way concerning the Gentiles, he felt indebted to them. He was ready to fulfill that obligation, and since he had been hindered from coming to them in person, he would do so by letter.
Now, the Gospel was despised. It always has been, from the earliest days; yet the Apostle felt no shame about it whatsoever because of its power. Let a person believe it—whether Jew or Gentile—and it proves itself to be God’s mighty power leading to salvation. The same is true today. People may mock it in theory, but only those who are deliberately blind can deny its power, which is most evident when those who believe have previously lived in deep moral degradation.
Notice this: it is the power of God because the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness. Here we encounter a truth of first-rate importance—there is no salvation without righteousness, nor would any right-minded person desire there to be.
But we must make sure we grasp the sense of verse 17. The “righteousness of God revealed” stands in contrast to the law, whose central feature was righteousness required from humans. The Gospel’s righteousness is “from faith.” The word from is somewhat misleading; it is better understood as by. The righteousness the law demanded from people was to be by works (or on the principle of works). The righteousness of God that the Gospel reveals is received by faith. Further, the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness to faith, whereas all that the law expressed was revealed to sight. The first mention of faith contrasts with works; the second contrasts with sight. The prophecy in Habakkuk, fulfilled in the Gospel, says, “The just shall live by faith.” The preposition translated “by” here is the same one translated “from” immediately before. Not by works—but by faith.
The Gospel, then, reveals the righteousness of God and proves itself to be the power of God for salvation. But behind it stands a dark background: the wrath of God, spoken of in verse 18. Today, righteousness and power unite for the salvation of the believer. In the coming day, they will unite to intensify the terror of God’s wrath. That wrath has not yet been executed, but it is revealed as coming from heaven without distinction upon all the evil of humanity, whether that evil is openly practiced or takes the more subtle form of “holding the truth in unrighteousness,” as was the case, for example, with the Jew.
From this point, the Apostle proceeds to show that all people are hopelessly lost and subject to God’s judgment and wrath. First—verses 19 to the end of chapter 1—he addresses the Barbarians, mentioned in verse 14. They at least had the witness of creation, which declared the Creator’s eternal power and divine nature and left them without excuse.
Here is the passage that addresses the much-debated question of the heathen’s responsibility. “What about the heathen?”—how often is that asked! Certain facts stand out very clearly:
Suppose we truly allow this fearful picture of human depravity to impress itself on our minds. In that case, we will have no difficulty agreeing with the divine verdict that all such people are “without excuse” (v. 20).
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