Romans: Led Astray

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.  For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the women, 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.  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; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 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 (Romans 1: 26-32).

Paul continues talking about man’s sinfulness.  The Israelites had full knowledge of God’s law, which God revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai.  They disobeyed anyway and were deserving of death.  The Gentiles, while not having specific knowledge of God’s law, still had a knowledge of God through creation but chose not to worship Him as God.  They were all led astray by their lusts, knowing in their hearts that it was sinful, but choosing to satisfy the flesh rather than worship God.  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.

I will not go over all the sins listed in this section as they speak for themselves.  I will skip ahead to the end of Chapter 1.

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.

Looking objectively at the world around us, there is nothing more natural than death.  Something is born and then it dies.  Why do human beings then have such a hard time with the concept?  I am 28 years old and in the physical prime of my life.  Honestly, I don’t think about my death too much because I feel like I will live forever.  How does that make sense with so much evidence to the contrary?  Eternal life is wired into my soul because that is what God designed me for.  However, I am deserving of death.  I fall far short of God’s law.  I have lied, so I am a liar.  I have looked at a woman lustfully, so I am an adulterer at heart.  I have coveted.  I have acted out of selfish ambition and approved of those who have done the same.  In short, I have fallen short of God’s law.  God is just and I deserve a penalty.  However, the beauty of this story is that He came down and paid it.  But I can not receive it until I know my own guilt and that I need to be saved.  Would a loving judge pardon a known murderer who believes he did not do anything wrong?  However, if the murderer confesses his crime, breaks down in the court room and acknowledges and believes in his heart that he does not deserve to live, and then the judge pardons him by having his only sinless son whom he loves pay the penalty for the murderer, would not that man be forever thankful?  Would not that man do anything for the judge or his son?  That is a tamed down version to what God has done for us.  That is why it is Good News. 

Anyways, we are getting way ahead of ourselves.

Romans: Pagans Worshiping Idols

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  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, 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. (Romans 1: 18-21)

Before Paul discusses faith and God’s righteousness, first he must discuss the evidence of man’s sinfulness.  He begins by probably referring to the Gentiles.  They had never had any direct revelations of God like the Jews had, but they still had the evidence of creation.  Paul is making a big claim: all creation has knowledge of its Creator.  Although the Gentiles never had the law of Moses, God’s moral code was still manifest in them.  They still had access to God and the choice to glorify Him as God.  Like all men born into sin, however, instead of glorifying Him, they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.    

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen. (Romans 1: 22-25)

Instead of worshipping God, they worshiped idols.  The heart of the matter is, well, the heart.  God is after our hearts.  As numerous verses throughout the entirety of the Bible say, He wants ALL our hearts.  But our hearts tend to be adulterous.  We begin to stray from the Creator and begin to lust after the created things.  We worship a significant other.  We worship money.  We worship ourselves.  We profess to be wise but become fools.  We change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man…we exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. 

Now I just twisted Paul’s words from the past tense to the present tense.  But let me ask you, don’t believers still do the same things sometimes?  Who here can honestly say they have worshiped God with all their heart, soul, and strength since being saved?  I can’t.  Paul is probably referring to the history of the immoral pagans but it is just as applicable to all humanity today as well.  At a heart level, I still struggle with worshiping and serving the Creator rather than the created.      

Romans: The Just Live by Faith

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.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1: 16-17)

Paul is now done with his introduction and ready to dive in.  He boldly states his thesis: The good news of Christ leads to salvation for everybody who believes and in it the righteousness of God is revealed.  He sums it up by quoting the prophet Habakkuk:

The just shall live by faith. 

Habakkuk writes shortly before the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem.  Habakkuk asks the Lord why He, being pure, allows a wicked nation (Babylon) to devour a nation more righteous (Judah), even though Babylon worships its own military might rather than the Lord.   Here is how the Lord answers:

Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that He may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.  Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.  Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2: 2-4)

The Lord follows this statement by spending the next 15 verses condemning proud Babylon.  I encourage you to read through those verses, a lot it rings true to our culture today as well.

In the context of Habakkuk the proud is referring to the Babylonians but can be extrapolated to refer to all who trust in themselves.  The just on the other hand live their lives in complete faith and dependence on God.  Sometimes I get into the trap of thinking that being just has to do only with good behavior or doing good things.  That is not what the Lord tells Habakkuk and that is certainly not what Jesus teaches.  The problem with this scenario is that I, and not God, receive the glory for the good things I do, fueling my pride.  Whatever good I do should come from my faith in God and not pride in myself. 

Paul will have plenty more to say about faith later. :)

Romans: Praying Without Ceasing

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established - that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.  Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruits among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.  I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.  So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. (Romans 1: 8-15)

Seeing as Rome was the most important city in the Roman Empire, I imagine the news of what happened in that city tended to permeate throughout the known world.  Paul has heard about the faith of the Roman saints and he appropriately starts off the letter by thanking God for them. 

Paul without ceasing made mention of the Roman saints in his prayers.  The verses in the Bible (mostly from Paul’s writings) that say pray without ceasing or pray always I find very challenging.  What does that exactly mean anyway?  Should we be talking to God every moment of every day?  Is it possible for Paul to pray for the Roman saints while simultaneously preaching, or while talking to people, or while making tents? 

We are finishing up Ephesians in my Home Group bible study.  After discussing the armor of God to be used for spiritual warfare, we ended with Ephesians 6:18 which reads:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…

As we discussed it, we tended to try to soften that verse.  I mean surely he doesn’t really mean praying always.  Right?  Umm, right?  One of our guys made an argument along the lines of: “Well, then how would we do anything else!”  In the following week or two, I thought of this verse from time to time.  I had days when I prayed a lot (but not always) and felt more in the Spirit.  Then, I had days where I felt selfish, empty, and then realized that I had gone through the entire day without really talking to God.  Praying and having a relationship with God is what keeps me on track.  I know this might be a reach but I have begun to think that praying always might just mean…umm…praying always.   I think the reason many of us balk at this is because of our definition of prayer.  We think of prayer as sitting in silence, closing our eyes, and then saying (or thinking) holy sounding things.  How will we get anything done?  I think the key words in the Ephesians 6:18 is in the Spirit.  You can be doing other things in the flesh while praying in the Spirit.  Somehow not all prayer involves human words but comes from the invisible, eternal realm.  To more mature Christians than myself, am I on the right track?  What do you think praying without ceasing means?

In his prayers, Paul makes requests of God to visit Rome.  He wants to give spiritual gifts and encouragement to the church and likewise be encouraged.  He has wanted to visit for a long time but it hasn’t worked out yet.  Paul sees himself as a debtor to both Greeks and the barbarians (who were perceived to be uncivilized because they were not trained in Greek language and culture).  The Lord called Paul a chosen vessel (Acts 9:15) to minister to Gentiles.  Paul feels indebted to them to do so, regardless of their societal position.  He is ready to preach the gospel in Rome.

The introduction of his letter is over.  Now let the teaching begin.               

Romans: Hello, I serve Jesus

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which he promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.  Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations to His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)

This is not exactly the “hey, how’s it going?” opening line that I would have used.  Paul has a way of saying so much with so little words.  Each word he uses there is power behind it.  There is no wasted space.  You can’t really skim through his letters without missing boat loads of truths.  What I tend to do with scripture like this is read it fast and then translate in my mind, “okay, he is saying hello.”  It is the lazy way of reading scripture.  Doing so, you can fall in to the trap of wasting time reading without really understand and letting it change your life. 

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle… (1:1)

I would have just said “This is Jordan.”  I imagine the Church in Rome already knew who Paul was without him describing himself.  We know his good friends Aquila and Priscilla were influential in the church.  Why does he describe himself in this way?  I have two theories.  One is to remind himself of who he is.  Two is to remind others of his authority.  Three is to be a living example for the church.  Four is that it was common for people at that time to write letters in this fashion.  I realize that is four theories but two came to me as I was writing.  Regardless of his reasons, this statement reveals a lot about how Paul thought of himself.  He was a “bondservant” of Christ.  He served Jesus.  That was the core of who he was.  I feel challenged, do I consider my identity: “Jordan, a servant of Jesus?”  

Paul then continues by stating great truths about the gospel (or good news) of Jesus.  These are a loaded few verses.  It was promised by the Prophets before he was born (there are so many references to this in the OT it is ridiculous; here are just a few: Isaiah 9:6-7, 53:1-12, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27).  He was born of flesh but was ultimately declared to be the Son of God through His resurrection.  It is through Jesus that believers, including Paul, have received grace.  It was nothing we deserved by works, but it is from Him alone. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2: 9-10)

This grace produces obedience to Jesus among all nations.  We have been saved and now we are his witnesses throughout the whole world, including the believers of Rome in 56 A.D. 

 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…

This is the only letter Paul writes in which he addresses the letter to “all.” He is not writing just to the church in Rome or the saints in Rome, or to a particular individual in Rome, but to everybody in Rome!  All who are in Rome (and everybody in the world) are beloved of God and called to be saints.  We are all sinners called to salvation.  He knows the initial audience will be believers but his purposes for this letter are far greater.  That is my theory anyway. 

Paul makes it clear who he is and exactly who he is writing to in relation to the Kingdom of God.  He is a servant of Christ, called to apostleship, and separated to the good news of God.  He writes in obedience to Christ because of the grace given him.  He is writing to a people who are loved by God and called to be separated to Him as well.  He finishes his greeting.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

And he is just getting warmed up.