20230326 Romans through the Lens of Genesis: Romans 1 and Original Sin

Our scripture reading this morning is from the New Testament, Romans chapter 1. As we listen to our scripture reading this morning I would like you to look for hints of the Book of Genesis.

Romans 1 ESV

1 Paul, a servant 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 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. 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, 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, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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.” 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, 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.

An introduction to the Book of Romans

Written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome.

The date for the writing of Romans is thus placed at approximately 57 AD with an allowance of one or two years being acceptable. Paul wrote this epistle to the Jewish and Gentile believers who had formed the church in Rome but he did not plant the church and had not personally been to the church. The church was likely started by Roman Jews who had embraced the faith of Christ (Ambrosiaster’s words) at Pentecost. The expulsion of Jews and Jewish Christians from Rome allowed the Gentile Christians to flourish independently and when the Jewish Christians returned the Christian community was now firmly established in not just the synagogues but also in house churches. The question, however, is “did Paul have both groups in mind when he wrote Romans?” I believe that Paul wrote to both Jews and Gentiles, using his parental approach to the believers (see 1 Thess 2:7-12) and speaking directly at times to the Jewish believers and at other times to the Gentile believers so that both sides would understand clearly what the apostle was wanting to say.

Paul’s purpose in writing Romans was twofold: to update the church on his circumstances and situation and to deal with problems within the Christian community at Rome.

The theme of Romans is “the gospel… and the message of the gospel is that God brings guilty sinners into relationship with himself and destines them to eternal life when they believe in his son, Jesus the Messiah.”

The gospel is the good news of salvation through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to rescue us from the wrath of God. Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…” God is angry with the wicked every day. It is through the gospel that sinners like you and I are delivered and rescued from the wrath of God. You will never hear anything better than the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not just good news, it is the greatest news that will ever enter your ear and come into your heart.

If we were to divide Romans into sections we would see four major divisions, divisions which are from the perspective of the Believer

The focus of the first section (Romans 1:18-3:20) is on the condemnation in sin of the entire human race.

The apostle writes that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18).

In his presentation of the gospel, Paul began with the bad news that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This reality of divine anger against all human rebellion reveals why all people desperately need the gospel.

The focus of the second major section (Romans 3:21-5:21) is on justification by faith alone.

This is the divine act in which God declares the one who believes in Jesus Christ to be righteous. To be justified by God is to be declared righteous.

Such a standing before God has nothing to do with our practical life, but everything to do with what Jesus Christ has done on behalf of guilty, hell-bound sinners. On the basis of perfect, sinless life of Christ and His sin-bearing, substitutionary death, those who believe in Jesus Christ alone are given the imputed, perfect righteousness He achieved.

The focus of the third major section of Romans is on the sanctification of the believer (Romans 6-8).

These three chapters contain Paul’s greatest discourse on sanctification in all of his thirteen epistles.

In fact, this is the main doctrinal section on sanctification in the whole Bible.

The focus of the fourth major section, Romans 12-15, is on application: the practical application on living the Christian life.

In chapters 6-8 Paul wants the believer to understand the doctrine of sanctification, and in chapters 12-15 he wants the believer to understand its application for our lives.

Why should we study the Book of Romans?

The great German Reformer, Martin Luther, said of Romans, it is “a gateway to heaven,” “an open door into paradise.” He claimed it is “the chief part of the New Testament,” and “the very purest gospel.” Luther also stated, “Every Christian should know [Romans] word for word, by heart…[and should] occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.” According to Luther, Romans “can never be read or pondered too much. The more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.” This book is that important to every single individual, whether they recognize it or not.

We have just finished the first 15 chapters of Genesis. In Genesis 1 we see the creation of the world. In Genesis 3 we see Eve deceived by Satan and the willful disobedience of Adam. And in chapter 3 we see the first mention of the gospel, a gospel that will come through a promised savior, a savior who would one day be wounded but would also destroy Satan. In chapters 4 though 14 we see the utter depravity of the world. And just when it seems that sin and evil would triumph we see the sovereign power of the Lord, who alone will fulfill His covenant promises and raise up men and women of regenerated faith to accomplish the Father’s will.

It is also in Genesis 15 that we read these words in verse 6:

Genesis 15:6 ESV

6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis in the Book of Romans:

(1) The God of Genesis in Romans

The Father (7), the Son (vs 1-8), the Spirit of holiness (v4)

Romans 1:20 ESV

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

(2) The Sin of Genesis in Romans

Romans 1:18 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Paul then shows the wrath of God. And the foundation of the sin that he describes is Genesis 3 - the temptation of Adam and Eve

Romans 1:25 ESV

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.

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 1

1:25 the lie. A denial of God’s existence and His right to be obeyed and glorified (vv. 19–21; Is. 44:20; Jer. 13:25; cf. John 8:44).

We have to account for the fact that everybody in the world sins. Why is it that everybody sins? Why is everybody a sinner? Do we sin because we are sinners, or are we sinners because we sin? We sin because we are sinners, which is to say that every human being has a sin nature, a nature that has fallen. And out of this sin nature flows sins. I am a sinner with a capital S. That’s why I am a sinner with a little “s.”

Now, where people get confused is that people will ask me often, “Do you believe in original sin?” Well, of course I believe in original sin. And I just might add, even though that concept is under much attack today, the idea of some notion of original sin is part of the heritage of every single church... Now, they may debate about the extent of man’s fallenness and what remains in terms of man’s natural powers, but everyone recognizes that man has fallen.

Now when we talk about original sin, we do not mean the first sin. That’s where people get confused. Original sin is not the original sin, or the first sin that was ever committed. Original sin refers to the result of the first sin. What original sin refers to is this fallen sin nature that is part of the punishment for the first sin. When Adam and Eve acted against God, they didn’t act as private individuals. Adam’s very name, Adam, means what? Man. Eve, woman, the mother of the living. These two stood as our supreme representatives before almighty God. - RC Sproul

(3) The Grace of Genesis in Romans

Romans 1:18 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 1:17 ESV

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Romans 1:16 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.

The gospel is the greatest demonstration of grace - that God would give salvation to the same sinners who are under His judgment!

The gospel is the good news of salvation through the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to rescue us from the wrath of God.

It is through the gospel that sinners like you and I are delivered and rescued from the wrath of God.

You will never hear anything better than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is not just good news, it is the greatest news that will ever enter your ear and come into your heart.