2022 0918 Romans 1:18-23 Man's Rebellion

Verse 1

Romans 1:1 NIV

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

this is the gospel

Jesus, son of man, Son of God

died and we received his grace

Verse 16

Romans 1:16 NIV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

gospel brings salvation

righteousness of God is revealed

Righteous God

God by nature and by position is righteous

There is no earning of it… he is just righteous

hence the righteous will live by faith (verse 17)

Paul now discusses why there is a need for faith and the gospel

Romans 1: 18 to 23

God displays his wrath against sinful humanity

Romans 1:18–19 NIV

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

it is exactly this righteous nature that creates God’s wrath

righteousness must take a stand against wickedness

this wickedness came into being through Adam’s disobedience

all of mankind find themselves facing the wrath of God

wrath can be consider the righteous response of God to all sin

hence the necessity of the saving work of Jesus

The Nature of God

God is righteous and loving

He is loving toward his creation

there is no conflict for God to oppose sin and wickedness and be loving

his righteous nature must inevitably oppose the path of man

it is not against the person of man but his actions

His loving nature is revealed by sending his only Son to shed his blood for the forgiveness of sin

in fact God’s nature is clearly and plainly known

Romans 1:20 NIV

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

hence this is the baseline for mankind

Adam and Eve knew the Lord - they walked with him in the garden

they knew his eternal power and divine nature

this would have been passed down through those first generations

more than this, God is known in all of creation from creation

not only seen but understood in the human mind

people are without excuse - God is the source of this understanding

Romans 1:21 NIV

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

knowing god, man turned from God

the pride of Satan begins to take force

lack of thankfulness to the Creator

lack of honour and glory to God Almighty

all the work of the devil but willingly embraced by mankind

there was doom and gloom into the hearts of man and into their minds

Romans 1:22–23 NIV

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

man wants to be wise yet they threw away divine wisdom

man started to accept his wisdom - foolishness as it is self serving and eventually self destroying

wisdom of this world and of man is generated out of the pride of Satan

instead of worshipping the one immortal God

man turns to craven images - the golden calf, of mother earth, of oneself

man rejected God and substituted himself there

The Footnote

Paul is bringing the case for Jesus’saving work

the righteous live by faith - continue to do so