EXPOSITORY AND PROPHETIC THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK OF ROMANS
Introduction
I believe that people should be fed with the Word of God. It is more than just reading the Bible. It is taking a passage of Scripture and thinking more deeply about what it actually says. As we read passages of Scripture, thoughts occur to us. Where do these thoughts come from? God is communicating with our spirits all the time. It just takes time for the mind and heart to interpret what the Holy Spirit is communicating with our spirit. Therefore, when you read passages of Scripture, revelation comes to your spirit, and your mind then interprets it according your knowledge and experience. That is exposition. There are episodes where the mind will pick up revelation that does not originate from personal knowledge and experience. It comes right out of the blue, and it something that you didn't know before. That is defined as prophetic revelation.
The book will be dealt with verse by verse. Just remember, these thoughts are what I believe that the Holy Spirit has put into my mind as a result of reading the verse this time. Next time I read the verses I might get entirely different thoughts. That is indicative of the reality that the Word of God is a living Word and ministers life to the heart and mind of believing people.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
Paul puts himself into the right perspective in his status with Jesus Christ. As a minister of the gospel, he settles himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Others may see him as a 'general' in the body of Christ, but he does not see himself that way. He is a servant. A servant does not have a will of his own when he is on duty for his master. What he does in his spare time is up to him. As an individual, he may have a totally different relationship with Jesus. When he is on his own with the Lord in secret he may very well approach the Lord as an equal and co-heir of the promises of God. The book of Ephesians tells us that he is seated with Christ in the heavenly places - but that is in his personal relationship with the Lord. But when he is in ministry his state changes. He moves from being a co-heir with Christ to being a servant to do his master's bidding. As a servant, Paul does not decide where he is to go or what he is to do. Also, he is bound not to preach anything other than what the Lord gives him to preach. Servanthood has to do with yielding and surrender. We surrender our own will to the Lordship of Jesus - when we are involved in ministry for Him.
called to be an apostle,
Along with his servanthood, Paul has received a calling to a specific ministry. He does not have a choice about what that ministry is. He is called of Christ. He does not have the option to refuse if he is to have an effective ministry for the Lord. We try to choose what we want to be in the church, sometimes when God would want us to do something else. We can have a calling and be like Jonah and refuse to do it. We can exercise self will at any time. Even though what we are doing is quite okay in general terms (and would be accompanied by God's power if exercised by a person with God's calling) if we are not specifically called to do it, we will be ministering merely in the realm of man's ability and wisdom. The Holy Spirit will only support and accompany a ministry if the person doing the ministry is specifically called by the Lord to do it.
Paul was specifically called to be an apostle. Therefore as he went and ministered as an apostle, the Holy Spirit worked with him. If he had left his calling and tried, for example to pastor a church and settle down in one place, he would lose the specific anointing associated with his apostle's calling and end up being just another mediocre church pastor.
separated unto the gospel of God
There is a specific effect of the calling that Paul had. He was called to be an apostle but there is a specific brief he had to follow. He couldn't be an apostle of just anything. He was bound to promote the gospel of god. The gospel of God is the same as the gospel of Christ. To understand what Paul was called to preach, we have to have a right understanding of what the gospel of Christ is all about. This will be set out as we progress through the book of Romans. It unfolds as we study through it. Although the gospel is basically the same for all people in its foundation truths, there are differences between the Jews and the Gentiles in the presentation of it. Compare the book of Hebrews which presents the same gospel to the Jews. The gospel as presented to the Romans does not contain a lot of Jewish allusions and images. Most Gentiles would not understand the significance of them. Paul uses words, impressions, examples and images that are understandable to the ordinary Romans as they can get the best benefit from it.
Paul is separated to the gospel. This means that he is set apart to minister the gospel. This is his specific commission. He is a specialist. This means that he cannot be called away to do something else, like run a Bible college if the people in a particular place want him to do that. He is called to a specialist ministry with the promise of God's support as long as he is faithful and committed to it.
2 which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy Scriptures
The gospel was not a completely new thing that has suddenly appeared. there are links back through the Old Testament prophets. Paul would have been very conversant with all the references to the Messiah and the emerging gospel. In fact, the gospel of Christ was in the mind of God all along and the Old Covenant was a fore shadow of the gospel. Paul makes this important link because he wants to show that the gospel is not a new invention of the Christian church, but has its roots away back in the Old Testament.
3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
Paul terms the gospel the gospel of God, and then links it to his Son Jesus Christ. This shows that the gospel was not limited to Jesus alone. It was conceived and planned at the highest level before the foundation of the world. The gospel is not an add on, thought of at the last moment. It runs as a thread right through the Old Testament and progresses smoothly through to the New Testament.
It also links the person of Jesus Christ to the second person of the trinity. Jesus was more than just a good man or a wise prophet. He is the Son of God, part of the godhead itself. Jesus is here declared as God in the flesh. the human Jesus being the divine Son of God. Peter got the revelation of it when he said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter could not have known that in the natural. He received it by divine revelation. Peter was making a prophetic statement, revealing publicly that Jesus was more than just a human being. He is the divine Son of God come to earth. Paul also declares the Lordship of Christ in the declaration. He assumes that Jesus is Lord of everyone - in the Kingdom and out of it. Whether they acknowledge Him as Lord or not does not alter the status of Jesus as being the Lord of every living person on earth.
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
The human side of Jesus came through natural means. How this was achieved biologically is a mystery known only to God. He was not born into just any line. He is a descendent of David, following the generation line that had the blessing and anointing of God on it. A reading of the Old Testament can trace that line. This was no accident and it shows the link through from the Old Testament to the New Testament. This shows that the Bible is not two separate books. It is one entity in two parts, linked together by blood line and prophecy. The two testaments are prophetically linked.
4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness,
So Jesus appeared on earth in the flesh as a human being, but God declared Him to be the Son of God. This is the powerful Word of God that when He makes a declaration it is then a reality. It would be a good study to examine the declarations of God through the Old Testament. Declarations from God carry absolute authority. It would also be instructive to study the declarations of God in the New Testament as well because they also carry authority for New Testament Christians. Also, it would be instructive to see what authoritative declarations that we can make in the Name of Jesus, which would carry the same authority as the previous ones.
Jesus has not only been declared the Son of God, but also with power. Therefore He holds that the mighty power of God in His hands, as much as has been displayed at any time by God Himself. Jesus proved this through the power shown through his ministry. Another entity is introduced: the Spirit of Holiness - another way of saying the Holy Spirit. Here is the third person of the trinity. The Holy Spirit is the executive who makes the power of God operate in different situations. The power is handled by all three members of the trinity. The power originates from God the Father. The Son speaks it into being because He is the living Word of God. The Holy Spirit controls the machinery or facility for causing the power to operate.
by the resurrection from the dead
The demonstration of God's power was made through the resurrection from the dead. Jesus showed that he could raise the dead to life through some episodes in His ministry where He brought people back to life. Lazarus being an example. The great act of the power of God was to raise Jesus from the dead after three days. Jesus demonstrated resurrection power during His ministry on earth. This culminated in Jesus Himself being raised from the dead. This gives Jesus absolute credibility when He is declared the Son of God with power. When we use the Name of Jesus, we can know that the Name will be recognised in the spiritual world and if we use the Name, it will be honoured by the possessor of the power - God.
5 by whom we have received grace and apostleship,
These are the credentials that Paul uses to support his calling as an apostle. These are greater than the credentials given by any person or organisation. This is the characteristic of Paul's ministry. He did not wait to be accredited by any person. He found out what he was called to, and what God wanted him to do. Then he went and did it, no matter what anyone said. It is interesting that he did not go back and seek accreditation from the Sanhedrin, which would be the authoritative body for him. Somehow, that body did not have enough authority to accredit him for the calling that he had. Also, he could have gone to his local elders in the Christian church (which would be required for many modern ministers), but he didn't, because he knew that they did not have enough authority to accredit him. The only authority that could accredit him for his calling was the authority of God through Jesus Christ. Jesus was Himself accredited by the resurrection of the dead. It takes awesome power and authority to raise someone from the dead. It is a creative act, able to be performed by God alone. Paul's calling was accredited by this level of power and authority.
for obedience to the faith among all nations for His Name
This is the purpose for Paul's calling. That people in all nations will come to the obedience of the faith. This means that God's purpose is that all people from all nations will come to the obedience of the faith. this is an awesome task, needing the mighty power of God, and the backing of His authority. The ministry is not for a select few. It is outreaching to a broad range of people. Whereas the ministry of Jesus was limited to the lost sheep of Israel, Paul's ministry is unlimited. He has the potential to practise his ministry in any nation of the world.
The ministry is not in Paul's name. It is in the Name of Jesus. Because Paul is called of God, and accredited by Him, he can practise the ministry in His Name. God has given him His signet. As soon as he shows it people who are under the ministry recognise the authority of who owns the signet. Paul doesn't own it. He wears it and uses it, but it belongs to God.
6 among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ.
Paul has just finished talking about his own calling - where it came from, and who accredited it, and the purpose of it. Now he goes on to say that our calling has the same characteristics. We can attribute the same calling that we have to the same elements - origination, accreditation, purpose, effectiveness, and authority.
If we are called to a ministry in God, then the calling also comes from God Himself. The accreditation comes directly from God through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. What blunts an effective ministry in the Lord is that people who are called of God then wait for a body of men to give them accreditation. Because they lack the faith to depend on the Lord directly for His accreditation, they put themselves under the control of an inferior and less effective authority. this inferior authority dilutes the power of the Holy Spirit down to an effectiveness not much more than the mere use of natural gifts.
7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints.
This is the intended audience for this letter. It is directed toward Christians, called of God to be in the kingdom of God. the Christians at Rome are the representatives of Christians in the centre of the social, political and commercial centre of the world. They are the representatives of Gentile Christians. Rome was later to become the focal point of Christian faith and practice for hundreds of years.
The Christian life is not something we choose for ourselves. We have to be called to it. god has to do the calling. No person can come to God unless the Holy Spirit draws him. The Holy Spirit will not draw someone to Christ unless God has done the calling. Bringing people to Christ is initiated by God. If God did not act, we would never have made a move toward Him. No-one would even think about becoming a Christian unless God set it up in the first place.
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember that at this point Paul has established himself as an apostle, called of God, and accredited by Him. He is not preaching and teaching his own ideas and theories. He is speaking and declaring the words that the Holy Spirit has given him to build up the church and to bring about obedience to the faith among all nations. This means that when he makes statements as part of his ministry, he is being the mouthpiece of God and is expressing what God is thinking in His heart and mind toward the people Paul is writing to. this means we can accept the statement of Paul as coming from the heart of God Himself.
Also, the immediate audience is the Roman church. But the wider audience is any Christian anywhere, because this letter would have been circulated not only around Rome, but in all the churches in the area of Paul's influence. If it applies to all Christians in the then known world, then it must apply to all the Christians in the present known world.
Taking this a step further, the statements in this letter apply to you and me, as the wider audience of what God is telling Paul. so we can say that this present statement is God's attitude and desire toward you and me.
grace to you
This is the first direct word that comes from the heart of God to the people reading this letter. It all starts with God's grace. The whole foundation of the gospel is laid on God's grace. Without grace, there is no starting point. What is the definition of grace? The unmerited favour of God. We did not earn it or deserve it. it comes to us from God's heart of love. Even while we were yet sinners, God loved us and sent His son to die for us. This is God's grace in action. Because Jesus died on the Cross for us, God is able to do what He always wanted to do - relate to us according to His grace. By grace are you saved through faith; it is the gift of God. God is not coming to us on the basis of Law, to expect us to conform to a set of moral laws. Grace overrides all other obligations.
God said "My grace is sufficient for you." This is what God says when we are in the midst of trials and temptations. Do we need comfort in the time of stress? My grace is sufficient. Do we need forgiveness of sin? My grace is sufficient. Do we need healing? My grace is sufficient. Do we need financial help? My grace is sufficient. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, God's grace is sufficient. The grace of God is one of the most important characteristics of the gospel. That is the first statement that God speaks through Paul to the Roman Christians, and indirectly to us.
and peace
When a person fully realises, through revelation, that he is subject to the grace of God, the net thing that comes is peace. Grace and peace work together. Grace is the attitude that God has when He is dealing with repenting sinners and practising Christians. Peace is what happens in the heart of the person when grace is doing its work. There are two aspects of peace. The attitude of heart that the believer has, and the relationship he has with God.
What God is saying is that there is peace between Him and the born again believer. Before repenting, the sinner is in a state of rebellion, enmity and conflict with God. When the person gives his heart to the Lord, the wall of enmity is broken down and peace is made between God and the person. the warfare is over. The parties have made peace with each other.
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul identifies who is the instigator of grace and peace. It comes directly from heaven - from God Himself. The Father and the Son are fully involved in bringing grace and peace to the believer. We are dealing with the highest authority that exists in the whole universe.
There is no other name by which we can be saved except the Name of Jesus. God has stamped His seal of authority on the statement. It is the highest authority. There is no higher court of appeal. God's authority is the final authority. If anyone relates to believers on any other basis except grace and peace he is rebelling against God's authority. God has said it, stamped it with His seal, and not no-one can come along and say anything different.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ, for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
It would be interesting to know how much information he actually had about the Roman church. Paul would have known what was going on with all the churches, including the Roman church, so he would have information from passing Christians and letters from Christians in Rome. But there is a certain amount of prophetic speech in Paul's words. Part of prophetic speech is encouragement, to show people or a group things that God may see in them, that they themselves may not see.
It is important to note that when we speak to others about spiritual matters, whether we speak routinely or prophetically, that we keep things on a positive basis. New Testament prophecy is not witch hunting people's sins. Doing this is part of the natural mind and attitude and is not supported by the Holy Spirit. Of course, serious misbehaviour that would bring dishonour to God and serious damage to the church needs to be dealt with promptly and effectively. Compare Ananias and Saphira who deliberately lied to the Holy Spirit.
But routinely, the Holy Spirit seeks to make a friendly and safe environment for believers by dwelling on positive things about people. Jesus told the disciples who wanted to call fire down from heaven against some who were opposing them that they did not know what spirit they were of. They certainly were not motivated by the Holy Spirit. In the same way, people in ministry who are dwelling on the sinful and negative in others do not fully realise what spirit is motivating them.
Also, we have no knowledge of how our attitude is going to be reported and how it affects others perhaps far away from where we are. What we do affects people. We have no control about that. Many times the effects of what we do extends far beyond our normal boundaries. This is why it is important that we think very carefully about what we say and do. It is much better for people to report positive things about us, seeing that we are going to be reported on anyway.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son
Paul is not acting alone. He is aware of the watchful eye of God over him. God odes not always reveal that. He is witnessing what we do or say. He knows everything about us - the way our life has gone, the decisions we make, the direction of our life. Paul asserts that God knows him through and through, and approves of what he is doing. He has total confidence that God would fully support him without question.
Paul now makes a very interesting statement - 'whom I serve with my spirit'. We need to examine the significance of this. What does it mean to serve God with the spirit? He different is this from serving God with the heart, mind or body? The spirit is the part of a person that is in direct and constant contact with the Holy Spirit. It is the main reception point of revelation from God. So, we must kink the spirit of a person with revelation knowledge. The spirit level is the deepest level at which one can fellowship with God. It is also the most misunderstood area of our being.
There is a lot of ministry that comes out of the natural mind mistakenly thought of originating from the spirit. There has been a confusion about what is revelation, and what are natural skills based on ordinary human experience. So, to understand what Paul is meaning when he says that he is 'serving in the spirit' depends on his definition of 'spirit'. There is another place in the Scripture that talks about reasonable/spiritual service. How this is compared or contrasted with natural service of ministry could be considered in a separate study by someone who is prepared to spend the time hunting it out.
Paul does not choose to serve in any area he feels like. He has boundaries. He is limited to the ministry of the 'gospel of His Son' - that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to specify what is involved in the gospel, and this will unfold through the book of Romans as we study it further.
that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,
This is one of the significant keys of Paul's effective ministry. Unceasing prayer. According to 1Corinthians14, he prays with the understanding and with the Spirit. He uses all the modes of prayer that he can to ensure that he is praying without ceasing for all the people that he is responsible for. He also prays with a purpose. He knows what he is praying for - his prayers have direction. I believe that when he is praying in the Spirit, he knows what he is praying for. The Roman church features strongly in these prayers.
10 making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you.
Paul's prayers are discussions with God about what he is intending to do as part of his ministry. He is obviously bringing up the issues with God and stating his preferences. He is not sure at this stage how he is going to get to Rome. We don't know whether he is in custody at this time or not. But whatever he discusses with God, he is aware of the will of God and its obligations for him. It is important to ensure that the ministry is conducted according to the will of God. That is the only way that the Holy Spirit would be able to support the ministry with His supernatural power. Paul is very aware of that.
11 For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to the end you may be established,
There is a strong desire in the heart of Paul to be able to visit the Roman church. Although he can minister by agents and letters, there is nothing like actually being there in person. He knows that he has gifts and abilities to impart to them from the Holy spirit within him. many of the impartations that Paul wants to give need to be given in person. It takes a lot of faith and trust to received impartations indirectly through other media such as through an agent or a letter or any other object.
The spiritual gifts are centred around what is specified in 1Corinthians12 and Ephesians chapter 1. What is the point of imparting spiritual gifts? In order that Christians may be established. In what? The gospel of Christ.
12 that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith of you and me.
Here is the fellowship component of ministry. Ministry in the gospel is a relationship between two equal parties. Paul is not lording himself over the Romans. Ministry is servanthood. Paul is putting himself at the disposal of the Romans to share what he has in the Lord with them. He does not have authority over them from himself.
If he went there, he would not be their boss. At best, he would be an equal partner with the elders of the church. If an elder or minister lords it over others in an over inflated self view, then it can limit and stunt the growth of others under his influence. Ministers of the gospel are servants and of equal standing with the people they minister to. If a minister is domineering, he is not a minister of the gospel. The gospel equalises us all under the grace of God and the Lordship of Christ.
The benefits are shared between minister and subjects. Both are equally comforted by the ministry. The subjects because they are being fed by God's Word concerning His plans and purposes for them at that time; and the minister because he is seeing his labour hearing fruit for the Lord. This is what makes successful ministry. Both the minister and the subjects are equally built up. What goes wrong with ministries is that one of the parties is not built up and comforted by the experience. Dominant ministries that do not feed the people, making them groan under the ministry, and demanding congregations overworking ministers and making them operate outside of His calling are examples of this.
Paul identifies the faith they have is mutual - shared - not one better than the other. Paul's faith is not superior to theirs, and theirs is not superior to Paul's. They share faith in an equal spiritual relationship.
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you
Paul does not have secrets. He wants to make everything plain and open to everyone he ministers to. He wants the Romans to know that his purpose is to come to them to minister and share the gifts that the Holy Spirit has for them.
(but was let hitherto)
but the reason was that he was hindered - held back. He does not say way he was hindered, but merely that he was. he does not have to spent time vindicating himself to the Roman Christians. He assumes that they would completely understand, given the difficulties of travelling that distance when there is so much gospel work to do in other areas. There is no record that he visited Rome before he was taken there as a prisoner later on.
that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
His purpose for visiting them is that his ministry would bear fruit among them. this is the purpose for any ministry that is within the principles of the gospel. Any other purpose would not be consistent with the gospel and would not be fruitful as far as the Holy Spirit is concerned. Paul has been able to successfully minister to other Gentile churches with great success and fruitfulness. he wants the same things to happen in the Roman church as well.
14 I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and unwise.
The calling that Paul received from the Lord made him a debtor to the people he was to minister to. To whom did he owe the debt? To the Greeks and Barbarians. He owed them his ministry in the Spirit according to his calling. He owed them a ministry in the Spirit with the full power that the Spirit could provide. Anything short of this would be defrauding the people whom he is called to minister to.
This begs the question: are our ministers giving us real value according to the gospel of Christ? We need to examine the type of ministry required by the dictates of the gospel of Christ. We can't alter those standards. They are set in Scripture - as we have seen previously in this study - promised through the Old Testament. There is a definite set of parameters contained in the gospel. To say that he is called as an apostle, separated to the gospel of Christ, he has to minister according to the parameters of the gospel.
We can gain many clues about what is the gospel ministry by reading through the four gospels and seeing how Jesus conducted His ministry. The ministry of Jesus on earth is the model of gospel ministry. He included healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, casting out demons. If a minister is ministering the gospel, he needs to include those things. if not, then he is not ministering the gospel of Christ.
Also, Paul is a debtor to all the Gentiles, not just a chosen few. To the cultured Greeks and the not so cultured Barbarians. This has a lot of implications for ministry today. A minister's ministry is to all people, not just to the well heeled, but also to the great unwashed multitudes.
Also, intellectual ability of people is not a deciding factor for whom we minister to. It may be more pleasant to minister to wise and intelligent people, and it might seem more fruitful on the surface, but the gospel is for the unwise and unintelligent as well. It is an interesting fact that unwise and less intelligent people can grow in wisdom and intellectual ability as a result of receiving the gospel.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you, that are at Rome also.
Paul declares his readiness to preach the gospel to the Greeks, Barbarians, and to those at Rome. He also says that he has a finite level of expertise, resources, and energy. But with the consciousness of his own limitations, he is prepared to use what he has to the fullest extent. We have to be always mindful of our limitations, that is the wisest course when we are ministering to the level of our ability with not much left over. ministries burn out because they overreach their own energy and resources. Ministry in the Spirit does not require superhuman effort. There is a difference between ministering in the Spirit and ministering in our own strength and natural resources. While it is true that the Holy Spirit can take us beyond our natural abilities, He does it in the effects of our ministry rather than in our workload.
Although we work hard for the Lord, there are times when we rest in Him as well. God knows our limitations and He does not expect us to exceed them. Just because some of Paul's team got sick as a result of ministering, it does not mean that they should have worked so hard that they got sick doing it.
there is another principle here. Readiness to do a work for God is one thing. Getting the green light from the Holy Spirit to actually get started on it is quite another. Paul is mentally prepared to pay Rome a visit and minister the gospel. Soon the Holy Spirit will open the way for him to go there - Maybe not in the way Paul expects it.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth
Paul makes a declaration to demonstrate his own attitude to the gospel of Christ. He puts the gospel in its right place in his mind. The gospel may have some components in it that could make some people ashamed of it. There are aspects that would seem like foolishness to worldly wise minds. the gospel did not come through the wisdom of the world. It came through revelation from God. It is born of the Spirit and is communicated to the spirit of men. Because the flesh wars against the spirit, the natural mind may rebel against some of the gospel's teaching.
Paul is a very intelligent and intellectual man. If there is anyone who would have given favour to the natural mind it would have been Paul. But the opposite is the case. He has already said that he serves God with his spirit in the gospel of Christ. Therefore the gospel has much more importance to him than anything his natural mind has to offer. So what makes the gospel so important that Paul puts it ahead of all his years of learning? He answers this in the next part of the verse.
He says it is the power of God unto salvation. It is not that it contains the power of god. He says it is the power of God. This suggests that the power of God and the gospel are so bound together that without the gospel there is no power. What is the power of God directed to? Salvation. getting people out of the kingdom of darkness and into God's kingdom. This leads us to the belief that the whole focus of God's power is to bring salvation to people outside of Christ.
But there is a qualification to it. 'unto everyone that believeth'. To access salvation, a person has to believe the gospel. This refutes universalism where everyone will be saved not matter what they believe. So, the power of God is available to those who believe in it.
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Paul is giving preference to the Jew, because they are God's chosen people and were the first in line to receive the promises of God. Because there was general rejection of the gospel (although many individual Jews accepted the Lord) the leadership of the nation rejected Him. This opened up the way for the gospel to be taken to the Gentiles. Paul mentions the Greek - but he uses them to represent all the other Gentile nationalities as well.
17 for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
There is another principle revealed. the righteousness of God is revealed through the gospel of Christ. So the only way to see what the righteousness of god is all about is through the gospel of Christ. The true nature of the righteousness of God is viewed through the gospel of Christ. It is revealed through the development of one stage through to another of faith. the whole basis of access to the righteousness of God is by faith. There are developing degrees of faith according to the knowledge and level of belief in God's Word.
But to say it is a general belief in God's Word is inaccurate. Paul narrows it down to a developing belief in the gospel of Christ. the New Covenant is based exclusively o the gospel of Christ. to build New Testament doctrine on the principles of the Old Testament and the Law is to deny the precedence of the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ and what it contains overrules all other agreements and covenants. The only way through to the righteousness of god and salvation is through the gospel of Christ. This is vitally important and any doctrine based on Old Testament and Law principles needs to be abandoned. As we work through the book of Romans, we will see stage by stage, how this is going to be done.
The just shall live by faith.
Paul makes a declaration based on a previous quote from Scripture (Hab:4). Paul makes a link from the Old Testament prophets to show that the gospel has its threads running through the Old Testament. These are three main points in this statement:
the Just - justified by God;
Live - have life eternal;
Faith - through faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness,
Paul starts to talk about the natural state of mankind. It is not positive at all. Paul is showing the effect on God of the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. There is none righteous, no, not one. therefore if there are no righteous people, then all living people are subject to the wrath of God. He makes the statement that ungodly people hold the truth - they know it and maybe try to practice it in some form - but they have no standing with God to make it really effective in their lives. unrighteousness means that people cannot stand before God at all. they have no right to approach God in any way.
19 because that which may be known of God is manifest in them
The truth about God is demonstrated in the being of people. All we have to do is to look at people to have a basis for knowing that God exists, and to be able to see other attributes of His nature. Paul is going to explain this further.
for God has shown it to them.
God has not sat back and done nothing about revealing Himself to mankind. God has always been fully involved in making Himself known.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things he has made,
The creation itself is a comprehensive sermon about the nature of God. If a person looks at the designs of creation with an open mind, he can see Gods hand in it. We see that God is intelligent and meticulous in the way he designs things. Also, He loves colour and variety. he has made a world enjoyable to live in. he has made a race of human beings with needs and desires, and also an environment that meets those needs and desires.
So we can understand that the God who made this world is a loving, caring person who is mindful of our needs. We can get a whole load of information from our observance of the creation, even though it is affected by the fall at present.
even his eternal power and godhead
It is clear that our God is a person of awesome power as we examine the things He has made in the creation, but the references to His Godhead is a mystery. By Godhead we understand the three fold nature - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is hard to understand how unbelievers can see this trinity of God through the creation. Perhaps Paul has another definition of Godhead that may be consistent with observing the creation and seeing it there.
so that they are without excuse.
An unbeliever would not be able to say that he or she did not know about God if they have never actually heard the gospel preached. There seems to be a fear among some Christians that if they don't preach the gospel to everyone, they will be responsible for some people going to hell because of their shortcoming. We need to use every opportunity we can to share our faith with others, but God is not going to have a big session with us to examine why people were lost because we didn't share our faith with them on every occasion. Every person in the world has enough information through the creation to know about god and his attributes.
21 because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, either were thankful.
Paul assumes that, because of the previous reasons, they knew God. this implies strongly that every person has an inner knowledge that there is a God somewhere, and that He has a number of attributes that would make it possible to have faith in Him for salvation; but they made a choice - they decided to conduct their lives independently of God. They did not acknowledge Him as God. Knowledge is always there for us, that is, God is always communicating with us in all sorts of different ways. to unbelievers it is through the creations, because their spirits are dead to God. The other way for God to get the message across to unbelievers is through the preaching of the gospel. This is communication through the heart and mind.
Paul is speaking about the condition of mankind generally as a result of the fall, and subsequent responses from generation to generation. There was an enmity between them and God. They chose to walk away form God and turn their backs on Him. They would not acknowledge His Lordship. They did not express gratitude to God for what He did for them.
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
The result of turning away from God is that they pursue vain ideas and projects. The might think that there is a purpose in them, but they come to nothing because there is no eternal purpose in them. Often many great projects started by men in the world may go well during their lifetimes, but disappear at their death. It is the experience of many in employment that no matter how much good they have done while employed, it disappears when their employment ends. the very next working day has a new person working at another project, and the original project might as well not have started in the first place, because the results have faded away.
If a nuclear bomb were dropped on any one of our major cities and everything was wiped out, the loss would have have a major impact on the direction of the world. Most of the commercial enterprises in most cities are based on vanity, and have no real overall organisation. People can plan future direction but these plans are always being changed. A business's future only extends to the amount of the next month's sales. If people stop buying the product, the business folds. Most business enterprises base their existence on vanity products - hair dye, shampoo, deodorants, etc. All you have to do is to watch the television advertisements each night.
There is a lot of effort and much resources are used to maintain life styles where the final outcome ends in death, with nothing beyond. If God is taken out of the equation, there is a God sized gap or hole left behind. It has to be filled somehow. Paul equates principles that do not coincide with God's truth are vain imaginations. Much of science is based on theory. Many of these theories are taught as fact, but they still remain theories. For a theory to become law, it has to be proven beyond doubt. Until then it remains an idea in someone's imagination. Much of economics remains theory. Psychology is full of unproven theories.
Paul sees that people who depart from God are darkened in their hearts. God is light and in Him was no darkness at all. God is surrounded with light. People who love and honour God are filled with light. People who separate themselves from God are termed foolish, and all light departs from their hearts.
We have to accept that all people, no matter how wise they seem to be, have darkened hearts as far as God is concerned. They can make no authoritative comment about God at all, although they try hard at it.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
They would not see themselves as fools. We so often see the great people of the world as being very wise. History is full of them - teachers, businessmen, philosophers, religious people, psychologists, etc. The majority of these do not acknowledge the Lordship of God. Therefore all their wisdom is foolishness. Many, many people build their lives on the sayings and writings of these people. Notice that they profess themselves as wise, that is, they promote themselves. It is worthy to note that a lot of new age self help practitioners write books promoting their ideas, and they are best sellers. but if their work does not acknowledge God in the process then it is defined by Paul as vain imagination and foolishness according to his model. These may help people to a great extent, but only for the affairs of this life.
Paul goes on to say what the effects of all this are on the scheme of things:
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts and creeping things.
Paul lived at a time where idol worship was the norm of society. There were temples with statues of the gods in them. There were Greek and Roman gods. God is a spirit. He has no physical form, therefore there can be no image of Him. He did present Himself in human form through the person of Jesus Christ. One artist as depicted God as an old man with a long white beard, but it is not believable because God cannot be depicted in human form. There are many pictures of Jesus, but there is no real proof that any of these actually look like Him. We can only guess about what he may have looked like. Many images have been influenced by Western European culture with a white skin. The circumstantial evidence would have Him with a brown skin like the Jews who lived in Palestine at the time. Even worship of a picture of Jesus could fit into what Paul is saying here about changing the glory of God into something like corruptible man.
Paul could also be making reference to the Roman eagle when he talks about birds, and other animal and insect type gods that different nations worshipped. That would be the literal commentary of the verse, based on Paul's actual environment.
It is possible to have a modern commentary of this verse when we think of modern human icons. We don't consciously worship them as gods, but we do give them greater honour and glory than to God. anything or anyone to whom we give greater regard than to God can be termed idolatry. We don't have to bow down to anyone and actually worship them for them to fit into Paul's definition in this verse.
Certain network marketing organisations use worship style techniques in their motivation meetings. Some of these meetings are indistinguishable to evangelical crusade meetings where there is a push for converts to the faith. these secular meetings, posing as church meetings, fit quite well into Paul's definition as reflected in this verse.
24 wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.
God stopped working on trying to restore these people to Himself - as natural people. The natural person was beyond reform.
[God had another way of redeeming mankind through Jesus]
So when God withdrew Himself from mankind - it was abandoned to uncleanness. When the presence of God withdraws from a person, anything good goes away as well. "There is none righteous, no, not one." It is impossible to be righteous outside of the presence of God. When God withdraws His presence, righteousness disappears as well. The gap that is left is filled with uncleanness. When a person is excluded from the presence of God, he becomes subject to the lusts and desires of his own heart. Paul makes reference to dishonouring their own bodies between themselves. This is a fruit of people in bondage to lust. Lust of their own hearts does not have to be limited to inappropriate sexual conduct. there are a whole range of things that people's hearts lust after. But here, Paul specifies the direction of this lust - dishonouring their own bodies between themselves. This talks of inappropriate sexual conduct. Paul goes on to define this later on.
25 who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
To replace the presence of God with something else and then saying that the replacement is more meaningful and/or important for successful living is to turn the truth of God into a lie. When God's standards concerning the use of the body and how we relate to each other with our bodies are abandoned and replaced by something else, we can also say that the truth of God in this respect is turned into a lie. The issue here is who we will serve; who do we honour the most. The repeating theme through this is that righteousness depends on worshipping the Creator.
God is supreme, and is to be honoured and worshipped as such. This is serving the Creator. If we replace the worship of the Creator with the worship of the things that He made, then our behaviour fits into the definition set out in this verse.
At this point, Paul cannot help giving a but of praise to God. We cannot think about the Lord for very long before we feel like giving Him honour and glory. This is the character of a true Christian heart.
26 for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections.
God withdrew His presence and the fruit of that is a departure into behaviour that God sees as vile. In today's society many of these behaviours are viewed as being normal and acceptable; but this is an indication that the values of society have changed. During Paul's time, inappropriate sexual behaviour was the norm, especially in elite society. Because of the spread of Christianity throughout the world, society's values became more consistent with Christian values. Many forms of inappropriate sexual behaviour were suppressed. As today's society is moving away from Christian values again, these forms of inappropriate behaviour becomes acceptable again.
Paul goes on to define the behaviour"
For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
Paul uses the example of lesbianism as an example of how people have fallen short of God's standards of acceptable behaviour. Whatever our society says about it, Paul says it is against nature. According to Paul's definition, lesbians are in a state of rebellion against God and demonstrate that there is no presence of God with them. Also, there is the strong implication that homosexuality in general is the fruit of rebellion against God because it is so clearly defined as such by Paul.
[As a side note, and this also relates to verse 28. there are churches that are made up of homosexuals and they defend their right to have such relationships. They say that the love and grace of God overrules any judgement that might come as a consequence of the behaviour. Many Christians would find it difficult to reconcile Christian faith with homosexual practice. I believe that Paul would find it irreconcilable. It never became an issue for Jesus in the gospels. there are no examples of any encounters of Jesus with homosexuals to give us a standard. Of course they were not tolerated in Jewish society in the same way they were tolerated and accepted in Roman society. An argument could be introduced that if a person accepts Christ, he or she is free of the Law, and all things become lawful to them. Whether this extends to homosexual practice is clearly open to debate.]
27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves recompense of their error which was meet.
There are highlights in this verse which model the behaviour which show the elements and fruits of rebellion against God.
1. Abandons the natural use.
2. Burned in their lust.
3. Unseemly behaviour.
4. Receiving appropriate consequences.
These are characteristics of all sinful behaviour in its many forms, not just homosexuality. It would be fair to say that homosexuality is one of the fruits of being separated from God. Thinking about consequences: there are sicknesses and diseases which are the direct result of inappropriate sexual activity. Paul was aware of this in his day.
28 and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
It is characteristic of homosexuals or anyone else who is caught up in chronic sin, that they don't wish to spend too much time considering God too closely. I believe this is because, deep down, these people know that a belief in god is inconsistent with what they are doing and practising. It is normal for people who are in error like this to want to keep clear of God. There is a clearly defined barrier between them and God.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.
Paul is talking about the state of men and women generally who have rebelled against God. Homosexuality was an example of the depths that they had sunk to. He is going to list the behaviour that are characteristic of people who are in need of salvation.
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
Paul is specifying the fruit of being in a contrary condition with God. It is the fruit of the lives of people outside of Christ. a simple definition of each term will suffice for this study:
unrighteousness - general unacceptability to God.
fornication - inappropriate sexual conduct.
wickedness - violation of moral law in all its forms.
covetousness - greed, and desiring what belongs to others.
maliciousness - dealing with other people with a nasty attitude, intention to
hurt others.
These are expressed as general areas of sinful behaviour. In the ext list, Paul outlines the specific behaviours that lie under the general categories:
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;
These are specific areas of conduct that are particularly unacceptable to God. A simple definition of these terms will be useful:
envy - feeling bad that someone else has assets or status that you don't have.
murder - killing someone because of hatred, prejudice, and an intend of giving
someone the ultimate punishment, or to get rid of them from the
situations; eg: a drug deal gone wrong and the rival drug dealer
executes the person.
This does not include the action of the police or the Department of
Justice in the performance of their duties.
debate - This is a surprising one, because Christians are known to debate
strongly at times. What we have to consider if the debate has a useful
purpose, or whether it is motivate by pride or hatred or a desire to
make points at the expense of others - a desire to 'win' so the other
party will 'lose'.
deceit - This has to do with saying or doing something designed to mislead
others.
malignity - A general nastiness in attitude and conduct. Putting down and
criticising others would fall into this category.
The next list ties the conduct to categories of people who practice it consistently to the degree that they are identified as people actually being the behaviour they practice.
30, 31 whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers. without natural affections, implacable, unmerciful.
These speak for themselves and need no further definition. Paul has made his point. He has included conduct that happens in the homes of ordinary families as well as in business and politics. The inappropriate conduct is spread right across all levels of society.
It has to be remembered that Paul is talking about the state of pre-Christian people. He is using the examples to show that natural man is in a state of separation from God. There are many Christians who will identify many of these behaviours in themselves and feel condemned by them. This is the natural man in them which is warring against the Spirit in them. Paul deals with the transition to Christian life later on in the book. But for now, we are concerned with unregenerate men and women only.
32 who, knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
This is a very interesting statement because most Christians think that those outside of Christ do not know about their state or the consequences of it. Paul says otherwise. He says that all people know about the judgement of God. They also know that inappropriate behaviour is going to bring consequences to them. They know this deep in their conscience. But they go ahead and do them, and go further: they have pleasure in the behaviour and in those that behave the same way. For a Christian who has been enlightened, this is hard to accept - that a person knows the behaviour is wrong and that it is going to result in death, yet they go ahead and do it. But this is the state of rebellious people. They are driven to it because they are controlled by their lusts and not their conscience.
This is what sin does to people, and we are talking about people who are outside of Christ. And when I talk about sin, I am not talking about the behavioural acts because they are the fruits of sin. We call them sins, but the term is misleading, and causes people to confuse sin with sins. That is why I have used the term 'inappropriate behaviour' because it more accurately describes the particular conduct. But behind the conduct there is a principle of sin. This is defined as a rebellious nature that entered into mankind as a result of Adam and Eve's disobedience of God's command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they ate that fruit, a physical and spiritual change took place in them which was also genetic, because it affected all their offspring as well.
The physical change made them mortal, subject to death. The spiritual change made an impassable gulf between them and God, and opened them up to all the inroads of the sinful nature that mankind now has. This is why they not only do the inappropriate behaviour that is a fruit of disobedience and rebellion, but they take pleasure in it as well.
The spiritual change in Adam and Eve caused them to break fellowship with God to the degree that when He came to fellowship with them in the Garden, they were afraid and hid from Him. Because of the genetic and spiritual transfer between parents and children, the separation principle has continued through all the succeeding generations.
[End of Chapter One]]