Romans 1:18-32

Notes
Transcript
Handout

Intro

Text - Romans 1.18-19
Romans 1:18–19 NKJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
Series - Studies On The Book Of Romans

Previously

Part 1 of our studyon the Book of Romans -
Paul’s salutation
Paul’s introduction of himself
Paul’s introduction of his theme

Part 2

Why the wrath of God is coming
why the sinners are deserving of God’s wrath

Why the Wrath of God is Coming

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven…
Romans 1:18 NKJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
It is revealed in prophecies
Isaiah 13:9–13 NKJV
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
it is further revealed by the gospel
John 3:36 NKJV
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Colossians 3:5–6 NKJV
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
It is coming against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
Ungodliness
grk. ASEBEIA, the behavior of not giving proper respect to God;
ungodly men - men without respect or fear of God; irreverent; wicked;
Unrighteousness
grk. ADIKIA - failure to adhere to moral principles, commands or laws
unrighteous - sinner; unjust;
2 Corinthians 6:9–10 NKJV
9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
2 Peter 2:9–10 NKJV
9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
2 Peter 3:7 NKJV
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Jude 14–15 NKJV
14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Why Sinners are Deserving of God’s Wrath

They supress the truth in unrighteousness …
Romans 1:18 NKJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
They know God, but did not give glory to Him
Romans 1:19–21 NKJV
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
God is known in His creation
creation reveals the power and nature of God
To glorify God means -
to acknowledge Him for who He is and what He does
to acknowledge Him by conforming to His principles, and laws by faith
to thank God
Luke 17:17–19 NKJV
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
to confess one’s sins
Joshua 7:19 NKJV
19 Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
They changed the glory of God…
Romans 1:22–23 NKJV
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
idolatry is foolishness
Isaiah 40:25–26 NKJV
25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
Isaiah 46:5–7 NKJV
5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? 6 They lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver on the scales; They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. 7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it And set it in its place, and it stands; From its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer Nor save him out of his trouble.
Atheism, likewise is foolishness
Psalm 14:1–3 NKJV
1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

How God responded to the Sinner’s Ungodly Attitude toward Him

God "gave them up” to uncleanness

“gave them up” - delivered; to allow to be controlled or taken over by another;
Romans 1:24–25 NKJV
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
uncleanness - grk. AKATHARSIA, immorality; filth
1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
sexual immorality is secual relations outside of marriage

God “delivered” them to vile passions

Romans 1:26–27 NKJV
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
vile passion - dishonorable desires
Leviticus 18:22–25 NKJV
22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion. 24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

God “delivered” them over to a debased mind

Romans 1:28–32 NKJV
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
debased mind - grk. ADOKIMOS NUOS, worthless, despicable thinking or imaginations
People who reject the truth are condemned already
John 3:18 NKJV
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 NKJV
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Conclusion

Why did Paul start his gospel in this way (by speaking about the evil and wickedness of sinners)?
in order to show the righteousness of God in condemning the sinners.
Psalm 19:9 NKJV
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Revelation 16:5–7 NKJV
5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” 7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
Revelation 19:1–2 NKJV
1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”
in order to underscore the need for God’s saving grace… through the One Man’s righteous act
Romans 1:16–17 NKJV
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 5:17–18 NKJV
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more
Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.