I. Introductory Matters (1:1-17).
A. Epistolary greetings (1:1-7).
The customary formula for letters in ancient times included (a) naming and identifying the author, (b) naming and identifying the recipient, and (c) a word of salutation. Paul followed this formula in this letter to the Romans despite the lengthy digression precipitated by the word “gospel.” The same formula is used in all the New Testament letters except Hebrews and 1 John. (See the chart, “Paul’s Introductions to His Epistles.”)
1:1. Paul identified himself first as a servant of Christ Jesus. “Servant” (doulos) means slave, a person owned by another. Paul wore this title gladly (Gal. 1:10; Titus 1:1), reveling in the Old Testament picture of a slave who in love binds himself to his master for life (Ex. 21:2-6).
Paul also identified himself as an apostle—one sent with delegated authority (cf. Matt. 10:1-2)—a position to which he was called. (Lit., the Gr. is, “a called apostle.”) This calling was from God (Acts 9:15; Gal. 1:1), though it was acknowledged by men (Gal. 2:7-9). It involved being set apart (from aphorizo; cf. Acts 13:2) for the gospel of God, the message of good news from God that centered on “His Son” (Rom. 1:2, 9) which Paul was “eager to preach” (v. 15) without shame (v. 16). This setting apart did not keep Paul from making tents to support himself and his companions (Acts 20:34; 1 Thes. 2:9; 2 Thes. 3:8) nor from mingling freely with all levels of pagan society. It was a setting apart to something—a commitment and dedication, not from things in isolation like the Pharisees. (Interestingly the word “Pharisee” means “separated one” in the sense of being isolated and segregated.)
1:2. The phrase Holy Scriptures refers obviously to the Old Testament and occurs only here in the New Testament (2 Tim. 3:15 uses different Gr. words for “holy” and “Scriptures”). Paul did not quote any prophets where the gospel was promised, but Philip’s use of Isaiah 53:7-8 with the Ethiopian eunuch is a good example (Acts 8:30-35; cf. Luke 24:25-27, 45-47).
1:3-4. God’s good news concerns His Son, identified as Jesus Christ our Lord. This asserts Christ’s deity as basic to His person and prior to His Incarnation, since His identification with David’s line “came to be,” a literal rendering of the participle genomenou, translated was. He was genuinely human too, as His tie with David and His resurrection from the dead show. That resurrection declared Him to be the Son of God because it validated His claims to deity and His predictions that He would rise from the dead (John 2:18-22; Matt. 16:21). This declaration was made through (lit., “in accord with”) the Spirit of holiness. This is the Holy Spirit, and not, as some have suggested, Christ’s human spirit.
1:5-7. Paul’s ministry from Jesus was among all the Gentiles, which included the Romans, whom Paul addressed not as a church but as individual believers. Paul was the human agent (from and for Christ he received grace and apostleship, i.e., “the grace of apostleship”; cf. 12:3; 15:15) but the calling (God’s summons to salvation; cf. 8:28, 30) came from the Lord and set his readers apart as “saints.” Obedience and faith are often linked (cf. 15:18; 16:26; also cf. 1 Peter 1:2). Just as Paul was a “called” apostle, so the believers in Rome were called to belong to Jesus Christ (lit., “called of Jesus Christ”) and called to be saints (lit., “called saints”).
Paul’s salutation like that in all his epistles, expressed the desire that they enjoy God’s grace and peace.
B. Establishing rapport (1:8-15).
1:8-15. Paul made a practice of beginning his letters with a word of thanks to God, a specific prayer, and a personal message to the recipients. For the Romans he rejoiced that news of their faith had spread all over the world, a hyperbole meaning throughout the Roman Empire. His constant intercession for them (vv. 9-10) had the new note of petition for his projected visit, a heart-desire of long standing that finally was definitely on Paul’s agenda (v. 10; cf. 15:23-24). This visit would be mutually beneficial spiritually; he desired to minister for three purposes: (a) to the strengthening of the Romans (1:11; to impart . . . some spiritual gift means either to exercise his own spiritual gift on their behalf or to bestow on them spiritual favors, i.e., blessings); (b) to see some spiritual fruit (a harvest, v. 13) among them and, in turn, (c) to be strengthened by them (v. 12). In this sense Paul’s ministry at Rome would be the same as in other centers of the empire.
As a result of his “apostleship” (v. 5) to the Gentiles Paul felt obligated (lit., “I am a debtor”) to the entire human race to proclaim God’s good news (vv. 14-15). The word translated non-Greeks is literally, “barbarians,” all other human beings from the viewpoint of the Greeks (cf. Col. 3:11). Parallel to it is the word foolish (anoetois; cf. Titus 3:3) in the next couplet, which has the significance of uncultured. Paul’s sense of debt to the Gentile world produced an eagerness (I am so eager, Rom. 1:15) to evangelize it, including Rome, capital of the empire.
C. Emphasizing theme (1:16-17).
1:16. Paul’s eagerness to evangelize sprang also from his estimate of his message, the gospel. (This is the fourth of five times Paul used the word “gospel” in these opening verses: vv. 1, 9, 15-17.) Many consider this the theme of the letter, which it is in one sense. At least Paul gladly proclaimed it as God’s panacea for mankind’s spiritual need. He identified it as the infinite resources (dynamis, “spiritual ability”) of God applied toward the goal of salvation in the life of everyone who believes regardless of racial background. He recognized, however, a priority for the Jew expressed in the word first, which has sufficient textual support here and is unquestioned in 2:9-10.
Because the Jews were God’s Chosen People (11:1), the custodians of God’s revelation (3:2), and the people through whom Christ came (9:5), they have a preference of privilege expressed historically in a chronological priority. As the Lord Jesus stated it, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). In Paul’s ministry he sought out the Jews first in every new city (Acts 13:5, 14; 14:1; 17:2, 10, 17; 18:4, 19; 19:8). Three times he responded to their rejection of his message by turning to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:25-28; cf. comments on Eph. 1:12). Today evangelism of the world must include the Jews, but the priority of the Jews has been fulfilled.
1:17. The theme of the letter is expressed in the phrase a righteousness from God is revealed. The subjective genitive (lit., “of God”) identifies this as a righteousness that God provides for people on the basis of and in response to faith in the gospel (cf. 3:22). (Niv‘s by faith from first to last renders the Gr. ek pisteos eis pistin, lit., “out of faith in reference to faith.”) Such a righteousness is totally unachieveable by human efforts. This righteousness is not God’s personal attribute, however, since it comes “from God,” it is consistent with His nature and standard. Robertson happily calls it “a God kind of righteousness” (A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1943, 4:327). In response to faith this righteousness is imputed by God in justification and imparted progressively in regeneration and sanctification, culminating in glorification when standing and state become identical. “Righteousness” and “justify,” though seemingly unrelated in English, are related in Greek. “Righteousness” is dikaiosyne, and “justify” is dikaioo. Paul used the noun many times in his epistles, including 28 times in Romans (1:17; 3:21-22, 25-26; 4:3, 5-6, 9, 11, 13, 22; 5:17, 21; 6:13, 16, 18-20; 8:10; 9:30; 10:3-6 [twice in v. 3], 10; 14:17). And Paul used the Greek verb 15 times in Romans (2:13; 3:4, 20, 24, 26, 28, 30; 4:2, 5; 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30 [twice], 33). To justify a person is to declare him forensically (legally) righteous. “Declared righteous” is the way the NIV translates dikaioo in 2:13 and 3:20 and “freed” is NIV‘s rendering in 6:7.
Paul’s closing words in 1:17, The righteous will live by faith, are a quotation from Habakkuk 2:4, also quoted in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. As a result of faith (cf. “believes” in Rom. 1:16) in Christ, a person is declared “righteous” (cf. 3:22) and is given eternal life. What a marvelous work of God!
II. God’s Righteousness Revealed in Condemnation (1:18-3:20).
The first step in the revelation of the righteousness that God provides for people by faith is to set forth their need for it because they are under God’s judgment. The human race stands condemned before God and is helpless and hopeless apart from God’s grace.
A. Condemnation against pagan humanity (1:18-32).
This section looks at the human race prior to the call of Abram and the establishment of a special people of God. This situation persisted in the pagan world of the Gentiles as distinct from the Jews.
1. reasons for condemnation (1:18-23).
God never condemns without just cause. Here three bases are stated for His judgment of the pagan world.
a. For suppressing God’s truth (1:18).
1:18. This verse serves as a topic sentence for this entire section. In addition, it stands in contrastive parallel to verse 17. The continuing revelation (the verb is being revealed is in the pres. tense) of the wrath of God is an expression of His personal righteousness (which also “is being revealed,” Gr., v. 17) and its opposition to human sinfulness. Therefore people need the continuing revelation of “a righteousness from God” (v. 17) that He provides. God’s wrath is directed against all the godlessness (asebeian, “lack of proper reverence for God”) and wickedness (adikian, “unrighteousness”) of men, not against the men as such. (God’s wrath will also be revealed in the future; cf. 2:5.) God hates sin and judges it, but loves sinners and desires their salvation.
Failure to give God His due inevitably results in failure to treat people, created by God in His image, the right way. Conversely, people (in their unrighteousness toward others) continue to suppress (katechonton, lit., “holding down”) the truth (cf. 1:25; 2:8) concerning both God and man. People had God’s truth but suppressed it, refusing to heed it. And these wicked ones did this in an attitude of wickedness (en adikia). This suppression of the truth is Paul’s first reason for God’s condemnation of the pagan world.
b. For ignoring God’s revelation (1:19-20).
These verses declare that knowledge concerning God is available to all. This knowledge is called natural revelation because it is seen in the created world, is accessible to the entire human race, and is not soteriological, dealing with salvation effected by Christ.
1:19. Paul called this knowledge plain (phaneron), which means visible or clear. This is true because God has made it plain (ephanerosen, the verb related to the noun phaneron). Some scholars translate the phrase to them as “in them,” insisting that verse 19 is speaking of the knowledge of God within the being of man through conscience and religious consciousness. Preferable is the position that verse 19 states the fact of natural revelation and verse 20 explains the process. One support for this view is the word “for” which begins verse 20 and indicates a tie between the verses.
1:20. “What may be known about God” (v. 19) is now called God’s invisible qualities and identified as His eternal power and divine nature. Since “God is spirit” (John 4:24), all His qualities are invisible to physical eyes and can be understood by the human mind only as they are reflected in what has been made, that is, in God’s creative work. The self-existent God, however, is the Creator of all things, and therefore since the Creation of the world His “invisible qualities” have been clearly seen. Paul may have intended a play on words between the noun translated “invisible qualities” (aorata) and the verb translated “clearly seen” (kathoratai) because they share a common Greek root. Both the verb “clearly seen” and the participle “being understood” are in the present tense, which emphasizes the continuous nature of the action. The word theiotes, translated “divine nature,” occurs only here in the New Testament and embraces the properties which make God God. Creation, which people see, reveals God’s unseen character—the all-powerful Deity. An Old Testament parallel to these verses is Psalm 19:1-6.
Paul’s conclusion to this description of natural revelation is important—men are without excuse. The witness to God in nature is so clear and so constant that ignoring it is indefensible. Their condemnation is based not on their rejecting Christ of whom they have not heard, but on their sinning against the light they have.
c. For perverting God’s glory (1:21-23).
1:21. This reason for God’s condemnation of the pagan world builds on the preceding one just as that one built on the first. The relationship is seen in the use of the same Greek connective (dioti) at the beginning of verses 19 and 21, in the latter translated for. People’s suppression of the truth is seen in their rejecting the clear evidence of God as the sovereign Creator and their perversion of that knowledge into idolatry.
The clause although they knew God refers to an original experiential knowledge of God such as Adam and Eve had both before and after the Fall. How long this knowledge of God continued before it was perverted is not stated, but God was known by people. This fact makes human actions all the more reprehensible. One would suppose that to know God would be to honor Him, but these people neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him. They turned from the very purpose for which God made them: to glorify Him for His Person and thank Him for His works. With such willful rebellion against God it is little wonder that their thinking became futile (emataiothesan, lit., “became worthless, purposeless”; cf. Eph. 4:17) and their foolish (asynetos, “morally senseless”; cf. Rom. 1:31) hearts were darkened (cf. Eph. 4:18). When truth is rejected, in time the ability to recognize and to receive truth is impaired (cf. John 3:19-20).
1:22-23. When the true Source of wisdom is rejected (cf. Ps. 111:10), people’s claim to be wise is an idle boast. Progressively they became fools (emoranthesan, lit., “became stupid”), a reality demonstrated by the worship as gods of idols in the forms of people and animals (cf. Rom. 1:25). The ultimate irony in humanity’s refusal to glorify the true God is the insanity or stupidity of idolatry described in Isaiah 44:9-20. Man’s refusal to acknowledge and glorify God leads to a downward path: first, worthless thinking; next, moral insensitivity; and then, religious stupidity (seen in idol-worship).
2. results of condemnation (1:24-32).
In a real sense the results of God’s condemnation on rebellious humanity are nothing more than the natural consequences of suppressing truth, ignoring revelation, and perverting God’s glory. However, God did more than simply let nature take its course. God acted to abandon (the thrice-mentioned “gave them over” [vv. 24, 26, 28] is paredoken, “abandoned”) people to expressions of a corrupt lifestyle that deserved God’s wrath and the sentence of death (v. 32).
a. Abandoned to fornication (1:24-25).
1:24. One aspect of mankind’s corruption (to which God actively let people go) was sexual profligacy. The frequency of live-in lovers, wife-swapping, and group sex parties today only confirms this result of God’s abandonment. Sex within marriage is a holy gift from God, but otherwise sex is impurity (lit., “uncleanness”) and the degrading of . . . bodies by using them contrary to God’s intent.
1:25. In a sense this verse repeats the truth of verse 23, but it expresses more. The truth of God is not only the truth concerning God but also God’s truth concerning all things, including mankind. This truth is that people are creatures of God and can find true fulfillment only in worshiping and obediently serving God the Creator. A lie (lit., “the lie”) on the other hand says that the creature—angelic (Isa. 14:13-14; John 8:44) or human (Gen. 3:4-5)—can exist independent of God, self-sufficient, self-directing, and self-fulfilling. Mankind made himself his god in place of the true God. Because God the Creator is forever praised (in contrast with creatures who are undeserving of worship), Paul added Amen. This word transliterates in both Greek and English the Hebrew word meaning “so let it be.” As an affirmation, not a wish, it places approval on what has just been said (cf. comments on 2 Cor. 1:20).
b. Abandoned to sexual perversion (1:26-27).
1:26-27. Also God gave them over to shameful lusts (lit., “passions of disgrace”). This involved, as the text states, both sexes engaging in homosexual instead of heterosexual relationships. Women deliberately exchanged natural relations (with men in marriage) for unnatural ones (with other women). This is the second “exchange” the unregenerate made (cf. v. 25). Men . . . were inflamed with lust (orexei, “sexual lust,” used only here in the NT and differing from the more common word for lust in v. 26).
The words translated women and men in these verses are the sexual words “females” and “males.” Contemporary homosexuals insist that these verses mean that it is perverse for a heterosexual male or female to engage in homosexual relations but it is not perverse for a homosexual male or female to do so since homosexuality is such a person’s natural preference. This is strained exegesis unsupported by the Bible. The only natural sexual relationship the Bible recognizes is a heterosexual one (Gen. 2:21-24; Matt. 19:4-6) within marriage. All homosexual relations constitute sexual perversion and are subject to God’s judgment. Such lustful and indecent acts have within them the seeds of punishment (due penalty).
c. Abandoned to depraved lifestyle (1:28-32).
1:28. Pagan humanity’s rebellion also included the rejection of the knowledge (epignosei, “full knowledge”; cf. v. 32) of God. In a sense they put God out of their minds. God’s responding judgment was abandonment (cf. vv. 24, 26) to a depraved (adokimon, “disapproved”) mind, which expressed itself in attitudes and actions that ought not to be done (lit., “what is unfitting or improper,” a technical Stoic word).
1:29-31. The mental vacuum created by dismissing God was filled (the perf. tense implies filled full) with four forms of active sin: wickedness (adikia; cf. v. 18), evil (poneria), greed, and depravity (kakia, “badness or malice”). These four in turn express themselves in 17 more specific types of wickedness. The first two, envy and murder, sound much alike in Greek: phthonou and phonou. Also the four vices in verse 31 each begin with the Greek letter alpha (“a” in Eng.).
1:32. This whole pattern of evil becomes the lifestyle of people who continue to do (pres. tense implies continuing or habitual action) these very things in open defiance of God, a defiance aggravated (a) by fully knowing (epignontes; cf. v. 28) that such things deserve death and (b) by encouraging others in the same lifestyle. Such extremity of human rebellion against God fully warrants God’s condemnation.
Excerpt from:
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985).
The Bible knowledge commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures.
Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
