The Great Opportunity of the Great News

Romans 1:18-32

We now change from the great news to the great context of the news. Paul shifts to the gravity of the fall, of sin and its consequences, namel- God giving “them up” to the thing(s) that were preferred in the lives of the ungodly. The “ungodly” being, those who will not live by faith, but rather by their senses. In this, we have 3 expressions preferred to living by faith: thus, they suppress the truth (v. 18)

V. 24.  Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity… V. 26.God gave them up to dishonorable passions. V. 28. God gave them up to a debased mind.

Preferences to live by the heart that was polluted. The proverbs says, we are to guard the heart, for out of it flows the well spring of life. Their hearts were impure, described as lusting hearts for dishonoring behaviors and debasing worship.

The issue is Worship: He draws a stark contrast between how God intended things to be and how things actually are. His contrasting terminology makes clear the lunacy of the exchange. He seeks to talk us out of going down this path by making it sound like a really bad idea—which it is. Those who have rejected God find other things to worship in His place (1:23). After all, the existential questions about where we came from and the meaning of life don’t go away even if we reject the correct answer to them

Runge, Steven E. 2014. High Definition Commentary: Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Runge, Steven E. 2014. High Definition Commentary: Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

From this, God have them over to their passions- the longing for what was corrupt in living life. This is the desire for emotional proofs of being loved. Passions connects to the emotional & psychological elements of the person.

Romans (Romans 1:18–32)

There is an important point to be drawn from how Paul frames this issue in Romans 1 and how it contrasts with how many present the issue today. The pendulum of public opinion has swung toward accepting same-sex relationships, a shift unlikely to change. This exchange of sexual identities falls under the general discussion of things against which God has revealed his wrath. The terms Paul uses in 1:18 are generally translated as “unrighteousness” and “ungodliness,” casting the problem in moral terms. However, it is interesting that this righteous/godly metaphor is not the one Paul uses to frame this exchange of God’s intended order. Rather than describing the behavior as immoral or ungodly, he describes it in terms of God’s natural order. It is unnatural—yet another rejection of the way God intended things to be. He also uses shame/honor language, describing the issue in terms of dishonoring passions (1:26) and shameless acts (1:27).

So why would Paul take this approach to what clearly seems to be a moral issue? If we claim to value attention to the details of the text, then we had better slow down and consider the implications of Paul’s wording. Some have claimed that what Paul has in mind here is not same-sex activity in general, but a specific kind. However, Paul’s language and the point that he draws from this argue against such a view. He includes men and women, rather than a subset of either. More important, the element of the behavior Paul focuses on is an exchange of natural relations for what is unnatural (1:27). Exclusion of certain kinds of same-sex behavior seems unlikely. But why would Paul make a shift from moral/immoral language to shame/honor language? The answer may well lie in how Paul chose to frame a potentially divisive issue.

Romans (Romans 1:18–32)

He does not describe it in terms of right and wrong behavior. Instead he uses shame and honor language to frame it as rejecting God’s natural order in favor of what is unnatural. Paul’s approach is less of a moral judgment and more of an observation regarding natural consequences of human decisions.

Despite the rising acceptance of “alternative lifestyles” and the clamor by today’s activists for our culture to celebrate diversity, Paul’s strategy here has a persisting relevance. There is still shame associated with alternative lifestyles, still a struggle with the reproductive disconnect it represents. Paul’s approach presents a more compelling appeal in our present context than the name-calling and placard-waving slogans we see in the media.Sin is sin, despite the modern church’s adoption of an informal acceptability scale. Spiritual revival is characterized as a rejection of any sin, exchanging incremental repentance for total. The claims of hypocrisy by those outside the church can be traced at least in part to our inconsistent stance on sin in practice, despite what we might say in theory.

in Romans 2:1 by showing how those who condemn others are guilty of the same thing. He shifts focus from behavior that immediately evokes moral indignation—for Jews regarding pagan, idolatrous Gentiles—to things that morally upstanding folks—like us—might do. In other words, he homes in on people who tend to think and act as if they have the Christian life pretty well figured out.

The third extension was that of a debased mind: Scripture. It carries the essence of being disqualified. Not worthy. It is the context of the term “reprobate” in thinking, reasoning. (8) unqualified 1 Co 9:27; 2 Co 13:5, 6, 7; 2 Ti 3:8; Tt 1:16; base Heb 6:8.

Romans (Romans 1:18–32)

The final part of this chapter summarizes the consequences for those who reject God’s created order. The section begins in 1:27 where Paul introduces another “giving over” using the same Greek term from 1:24 and 26. Paul now looks at giving over to a darkened or debased mind rather than to degrading passions

Paul in his letters to the Corinthians writes of not wanting himself to be disqualified nor for that church to be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

2 Corinthians 13:5 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

2 Corinthians 13:6 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.

2 Corinthians 13:7 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.

2 Timothy 3:8 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

Titus 1:16 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Hebrews 6:8 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

Each of these usages have a connecting element, and that is “truth”.

WHAT DOES THIS TELL US? It tells us that there is a test, a litmus test, to use to determine if a person is indeed living by faith. In each context of the term there is a challenge to overcome—that is to not compromise truth for the sake of comfort or discomfort.

This tells us that we are not to establish our measure of righteousness and declare that God must use it. It tells us that we cannot set our rules of what is acceptable to God. God establishes the limits, the boundaries, the opportunities.

2011. In The Lexham Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Logos Bible Software.

Romans (Romans 1:18–32)

If we can’t be won over by kindness, perhaps the fear of God will get our attention. This is not a scare tactic but an imminent reality, a natural consequence of our sin. What is there to fear? The counterpart to the revelation of God’s righteousness: the revelation of His wrath.

Runge, Steven E. 2014. High Definition Commentary: Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. (and below)

Romans (Romans 1:18–32) So why is God’s wrath revealed? What is the source of humanity’s ungodliness? They have rejected the created order of things that God set in place from the beginning. This rejection doesn’t just affect humankind; rejecting God’s created order affects God and upsets how He intended things to be. He didn’t create things for our good pleasure, but for His.

Paul characterizes this rejection as three different exchanges:1. the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of mortal beings 2. the truth of God for a lie. 3. natural sexual relations for what is unnatural.

Although these are three separate rejections, they all represent an overturning of God’s intended order. Thus, the message of Romans is not simply about the forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God. Rather, Paul describes a problem confronting all of creation, not just humankind

English Standard Version (Chapter 1) 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.

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Romans: An Introduction and Commentary (A. The Pagan World (1:18–32)) The list of vices in verses 29–31 belongs to a category well attested in Greek literature of this period. Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Galatians 5:19–21; Colossians 3:5.30.

Insolent. Greek hybristēs, one who behaves with humiliating and unconscionable arrogance to those who are not powerful enough to retaliate.

a person who is characterized by their offensive disrespectful acts or statements that are outrageously forward or bold.

Romans (Romans 1:18–32) but his main message here is that God will reveal His wrath against our rejection of His plan. We must understand this problem of sin before we can understand our need for the gospel and its power to bring about a restoration of God’s original plan.

English Standard Version Chapter 2

2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

As this chapter concludes, it actually overflows into the next. The focus of “them” changes to “you who..”. As the statement is true, that those who practice those detestable and deplorable practices will be rightly judged, (deserving death), so will there be judgement for other practices, practices that Paul has heard are evident within the church.

Some Take-a-ways: 1. There is a judgement coming for a world engulfed in sin. 2. The foolishness of humanity to reject or redefine God’s plan has been around for a long time. 3. We can see the “dis-order” that sin has caused in the created world since the days of Eden. 4. We, though not practicing these expressions, must be careful to not practices other disorders that will also be judged.