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| Young Martin Luther as an Augustinian monk |
In the first discussion, we covered Paul's introduction (1:1-15) and thesis statement (1:16-17). Do you think the theme of Romans is the gospel? Paul mentions the word “gospel” (from the Greek euangelion, which means "good news") and the pronoun “it” (referring to the gospel) in verses 1, 9, 15, 16 and 17. How does he describe the gospel in these passages? You're welcome to analyze these verses and write it down. Here's my take, based on the text:
- The gospel is of and from God (v.1)
- It was promised through the prophets of the Old Testament (v.2)
- It concerns and is about His Son (vv.3-4)
- Jesus descended from David according to the flesh [Son of God in weakness].
- Declared Son of God in power according to the Spirit by the resurrection from the dead. Notice the Trinity in that statement?
- Jesus Christ the Lord
- The gospel is preached (v.15)
- The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (v.16)
- In the gospel, “… a righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (v.17)
Hmm, then we'll be discussing verses 18-32, where Paul goes into great detail about human sin and the wrath of God. And this dark theme continues through chapters two and three. We probably won't get to Romans 2 this Wednesday, but you're welcome to read it anyway. The full text of chapters 1 and 2 are available below. After the Bible texts, I've written some questions you can ponder. See you Wednesday!
ROMANS CHAPTER ONE (ESV)
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant[fn] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David[fn] according to the flesh 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, 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, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
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.
Longing to Go to Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 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. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[fn] 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. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians,[fn] both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,[fn] as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”[fn]
God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 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,[fn] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 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.
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.
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. 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.32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
ROMANS CHAPTER TWO (ESV)
God’s Righteous Judgment
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. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 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? 5 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.
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
God’s Judgment and the Law
12 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. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 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. 15 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 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 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.
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Questions to think about:
Here are several questions to stimulate your thought. If you want to, write down your ideas and share them with the group.
- Is there anything from the previous meeting that you have questions about or would like to comment on?
- Questions about the gospel:
- For now, forget about strict Biblical definitions of the gospel. What kinds of good news does God have for you? No right or wrong answers here.
- If you are a Christian, what happened to you when you first believed the gospel message?
- How do you feel when someone shares the gospel to you?
- For those who’ve thought of a Biblical definition of the gospel, would you like to share it with the group?
- How does the Gospel affect a Christian's life after conversion?
- In verse 16, Paul describes the gospel as the power of God for salvation for all who believe.
- Why do we need saved?
- What is salvation?
- If this is the first time you've understood the gospel, how should you respond to it?
The words righteousness and righteous appear over and over throughout Romans. These terms are closely related to the word justify. Scholar Douglas Moo points out that in the original Greek, justify, righteous and righteousness all share the common root: dikai-
- dikaioo: justify
- dikaiosyne: righteousness
- dikaios: righteous
F.F. Bruce quotes 19th century Scottish theologian W.R. Smith: “The ideas of right and wrong among the Hebrews are forensic ideas; that is, the Hebrew always thinks of the right and the wrong as if they were to be settled before a judge. Righteousness is to the Hebrew not so much a moral quality as a legal status. The word ‘righteous’ (saddiq) means simply ‘in the right’, and the word ‘wicked’ (rasha) means ‘in the wrong’.
- How does W.R. Smith's definition of righteousness differ from moral purity?
- Questions about righteousness and the righteousness of God:
- When you hear the phrase, "the righteousness of God," what goes through your mind?
- Many believe that "justification through faith" is a major theme of the gospel. What do you think that means?
- What do you think the gift of righteousness is?
- Read Romans 1:16-17 from the NIV:
- "16 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. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Compare that with the ESV:
- 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
- How does the NIV influence the meaning of the word “righteousness” in verse 17?
We now transition from the introduction (vv.1-17) of the letter to the main body. Starting in verse 18, Paul begins an argument describing the universality of sin, and God's justified wrath against all humanity. This lengthy section runs from chapters 1:18 through 3:20. F.F. Bruce titles this long section, Sin and Retribution: the Universal Need Diagnosed. According to Bruce, Paul focuses on four people groups, who are “under sin”:
- The pagan Gentile world (1:18-32) -- which we will discuss this Wednesday
- The moralist, or critical moralist (2:1-16)
- The Jewish people (2:17-3:8)
- Finally, all of humanity is found guilty, both Greek (Gentile world) and Jew (3:9-20)
Open-ended question:
- As stated in Romans 1:20, do you think that God’s eternal power and divine nature are “clearly perceived” in the natural world? Why or why not?
Questions:
- In v. 18, who is the wrath of God revealed against?
- Why is God’s wrath described in the present tense (v. 18), rather than as a future occurrence? Feel free to speculate.
- What truth are they suppressing?
- Why are they the objects of God’s wrath?
Verse 21 says they “knew God.” Douglas Moo states that this doesn’t refer to a relationship with God. Moo writes, “Knowing God must therefore be given a strictly limited sense compatible with Paul’s argument in this passage.”
- In verse 21, how did they respond to their limited knowledge of God?
- When they refused to honor and give thanks to God, how did this affect their hearts and minds? (vv.21b-22)
Verses 22-24 seems to indicate that idol worship (worshiping images, false gods, the creation or things) is the sin that spawns other sins.
- Why is that?
- What kinds of idols do humans worship today?
- In verses 24, 26 and 28 it says “God gave them up to….” What does that mean and why did God give them up?
- What is God’s wrath in Romans 1, according to Timothy Keller?
In verses 26-32, a long list of sins is mentioned. In fact, it's the longest continuous list of sins in the New Testament.
- Why do you think Paul emphasizes all this sin?
- Do you think God is justified in his wrath against sinful humanity? Why or why not?
- How does this dirty laundry list make you feel?
- If you see a sin in the list that applies to you, do you think the Romans epistle will show a way for you to escape God's wrath? (It may help if you read ahead to Romans 3:19-25)
- Why does Paul abruptly switch from that positive message to all this negativity about God’s wrath against the sins of humanity?
- If the Gospel is such good news, then why in Romans 1:18-3:20 does Paul dwell on such really bad stuff like human sin and God's wrath?
- Is Paul's primary purpose of the long "sin list" to shame the Roman church (and us) into better behavior? If yes, why? If no, then what is Paul's purpose? (hint: read Romans 3:19-25)
- How are modern human beings similar or different than those Paul describes in vv. 18-32?
In verses 18-32, Paul describes a cause-and-effect downward progression:
- God has revealed aspects of Himself to humanity through natural revelation.
- Human beings “clearly perceived” this knowledge of God, but suppressed this truth.
- Instead of worshiping God, they worshiped the creation.
- Because they worshiped the creation, God “gave them up” to a variety of sins. This is His wrath.
See you Wednesday!
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