Romans 1:18-32
Romans 1:18-32
Why does God reveal his wrath to the ungodly?
#God
Published October 14th, 2020
Main point summary
Bracket
Notes
notes
Main point summary
God's wrath is revealed against the unrighteousness of those who know him through creation and yet reject him. They are without excuse and God has given them over to their sinful desires.
Bracket
NT
Romans 1:18-2:1
esv
ground
For k the wrath of God l is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
For what can be m known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes,
namely, his eternal power
and divine nature,
series
ideaexplanation
n have been clearly perceived,
ever since the creation of the world, 1 in the things that have been made.
temporal
So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God,
they did not honor him as God
or give thanks to him,
alternative
concessive
but they o became futile in their thinking,
and their foolish hearts were darkened.
progression
p Claiming to be wise,
they became fools,
and q exchanged the glory of r the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
negativepositive
Therefore s God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
to t the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truth about God for u a lie
and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, v who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason w God gave them up to x dishonorable passions.
For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women
and were consumed with passion for one another,
y men committing shameless acts with men
and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
actionresult
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God,
z God gave them up to a a debased mind to do b what ought not to be done.
They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know c God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things d deserve to die,
they not only do them
but e give approval to those who practice them.
inference
Therefore you have f no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.
For g in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself,
because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
This was a tough decision. I wasn't sure if 19a was the ground of why God's wrath is revealed or if it was an explanation of the idea, "suppress the truth" and explaining what that suppression looks like. I ended up going with the ground because it feels like the rest of the passage is providing reasons why God revealing his wrath against these men. But I'm open to correction.
I added this in just for myself because I think there is a clear parallel between the no excuse that the man who judges has in 2:1a and those who are without excuse in 1:20f. I wasn't sure where to connect the therefore in. It seemed primarily to connect with this last section of the unrighteous attributes, but could be from 20f onwards (they are without excuse, therefore you are also without excuse because you do the same things as them). This makes the most sense to me, but I couldn't figure out how to add in the bracket correctly.
That they are without excuse seems to be a main point for Paul in this text. He indicates in a number of different reasons why they are. - What can be known about God is plain in creation - They have known God, but have not honoured him - Worshipped creature rather than creator
Three times in this passage we see God giving them up. It seems to me to be repeating the same idea, but with more and more specificity. We see that God's response to the exchanging of his glory and false worship is to give people over to their sinful passions and desires.
This is such a wonderful thought, but also with scary implications for those who ignore it. Not only can we see God's power and his divine nature in creation (I wish I would see it more), but we must. God has made the creation in such a way that we would see who he is. His invisible attributes. We have no excuse for not honouring him as God. How lightly I take the magnificence of his created world.
discourse
Notes
See dot notes
Comments
Brent Karding
God's wrath is revealed against the unrighteousness of those who know him through creation and yet reject him. They are without excuse and God has given them over to their sinful desires.
David Kelso
Brent Karding
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.
Brent Karding
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.
Brent Karding
For his invisible attributes,
Brent Karding
have been clearly perceived,
David Kelso
Brent Karding
Brent Karding
For what can be known about God is plain to them,
David Kelso
Brent Karding
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.