Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (7.2)

The Epistle to the Romans

Romans 1:17-32 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Unbelief and Its Consequences

v.17 In the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. All other religions teach that a man is saved if he is righteous. But God tells us that “there is none righteous” (ROM 3:10) and therefore none can be saved by their own righteousness. Therefore, the only way to be saved is to receive God’s righteousness which is offered in the Gospel.

This “righteousness of God” is received when we have faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. The word “faith” is found three times in this verse, to emphasise its importance.

v.18 Man knows that he needs the Gospel, that he needs to be saved from God’s punishment for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Instinctively, man realises that God will punish him at the Day of Judgement. In other words, this impending punishment is “revealed” in his conscience by God (therefore, in this sense it is “from heaven”).

Though this truth of God’s wrath is in every man’s conscience, man tries his best to suppress this truth (ie, he tries to “hold the truth” down) so that he can continue in his unrighteousness.

v.19 The knowledge of God is put into every man’s conscience. Therefore, when we are sharing the Gospel we need not waste time trying to proof the existence of God. The Bible does not try to proof God’s existence but begins by saying: “In the beginning God created…” Whenever someone says he does not believe in God’s existence, we can be sure that he is just trying to convince himself!

v.20 This instinctive internal knowledge of God is further confirmed by His creation. When man sees a design, he naturally concludes that there must be a designer; and when he sees a brilliant design, he concludes that there must be a brilliant designer. Therefore, when man sees the immensely huge and complicated creation around him, he concludes that the Creator of this Creation has eternal power and is God.

Because of these two evidences (in man’s conscience and in creation), anyone who denies God’s existence is without excuse. When we are questioned “How can God send my grandfather to hell – after all no one shared the Gospel with him?” We can reply “Do you think that your grandfather in his many years of life ever really sought for God? Surely, in his heart he must have known there was a God – yet he probably did not even bother to find out about Him!” (see God’s promise in JER 29:13 and an example in ACT 10). Then quote these verses to tell him that man is without excuse.

v.21 However, wicked men, in spite of their knowledge of God, wanted to “remove” God from their minds, so that they could continue to live in sin. Therefore, they refused to acknowledge Him as God but did their best to “minimise” Him.

v.22 In doing this, they thought that they were “wise” though they were “fools.” However, they did not realise that they were fools because their “foolish hearts were darkened” (v.21) by their sin of rejecting the truth. When we reject the truth, then God leaves us without it. Therefore, we should not be perplexed when we see intelligent men worshipping ridiculous “gods.”

v.23 Since they could not completely “remove” God from their conscience, they “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into…man…birds…” In this way, they could “satisfy” their conscience that they were worshipping God and still continue in their sins – since their idols could not see their sin. Satan does not try to “remove” God from man’s consciousness, instead he exchanges “little gods” for the true God. Communism teaches that there is no God. This doctrine is so unacceptable to man that in communist countries religions flourish underground.

v.24 When man “gives up” the true God and turns to idols, then God “gives them up” too. In other words, under normal circumstances God restrains man from going into gross sin, so that man is not as bad as he can be. However, when man rejects God and turns to idols, then God ceases to bother with him and ceases to restrain him from sin – resulting in him committing horrible sins, eg. open sexual sins (“dishonouring their own bodies between themselves”). Therefore, we should not be shocked when we hear that in idol worshipping countries and godless societies, prostitution and adultery is considered to be “normal.”

v.26 Lesbianism is considered normal in their degenerate state.

v.27 Homosexuality is considered normal too. In other words, in these countries sexual perversions of all sorts are considered to be normal.

Homosexuals will receive God’s punishment (“recompense of their error which was meet,” ie, a punishment that fits the awfulness of their sin).

v.28 “Reprobate” means “condemned, rejected.” “Convenient” means “suitable, appropriate.”

v.29-31 All men are guilty of these sins, but those who reject God in wicked unbelief are “filled with all” these sins. In other words, idolaters are more wicked. This is expected because firstly God’s restraint has been removed. Secondly, when they commit sins, their guilty conscience can be easily appeased by performing religious rituals to their idols. Maliciousness means evil. Debate means quarrelsome. Malignity means ill-will. Whisperer means gossiper. Backbiter means slanderer. Despiteful means insulting. Covenant-breaker means promise breaker. Implacable means unreasonable.

v.32 Idolaters not only enjoy sins but also enjoy seeing others committing sins. It is common to hear of idolaters encouraging their friends to get drunk, commit adultery, gamble, etc.

Summary

A.When any man sees God's creation, he knows that there is a God and that God is powerful and divine (vs.19,20).

B. But men suppress this knowledge (v.18) because they want to continue in their sins. When they acknowledge that there is a God, they cannot sin freely because God is watching and God will punish.

C. Since they cannot "get rid" of the knowledge of God from their hearts, they "change" God into an idol (v.23). Idols cannot see their sins, so they feel free to continue in their sins. In modern societies today, the lie of evolution accomplishes the same purpose for men and women, who pride themselves on being scientific, which often means in a perverted sense, they are above all “superstitious” belief in God.  Evolution makes man, the highest evolved animal, the idol.

D. They continually reject God, so God gives them up (vs.24,26,28).

E. When God gives them up they become very evil (vs.29-33). All idolatrous countries are corrupt and filled with evil because God has given them up.  In modern societies today, which are largely influenced by the teachings of evolution, gross immorality and breakdown of social morals are considered acceptable because there is no God as man merely descended from apes!