As I have been reading and studying the Word, I thought maybe it might be a good idea to put my thoughts down. I’m going to shoot for a chapter a day, just a quick overview with some context. And, since I’ve never written down anything but scribbles in the margins, I figured, why not start with Romans, the [Sarcasm Alert!] one book in the Bible that doesn’t really bear on anything.
So, here goes. I’m reading in the English Standard Version, because it’s a literal (word-for-word) translation in more conversational language than many of the extant literal translations. So, crack open your own Bible, or click on the link below and read along! Comments are both encouraged and welcome!
Here, Paul sets the groundwork for the explanation of why we need salvation, why all humanity stands guilty before God, and why that (in light of God’s character) made Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice not only necessary, but ineluctable.
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle for the gospel of God… 7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called …saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul gives this lengthy introduction, which I’ve pared down, because he wanted every reader or listener to know that the person writing the letter was the well-known and trusted apostle he claimed to be. It’s sort of a short-hand C.V. He was also trying to get across how important he thought his work on God’s — and the believers in Rome — behalf was.
16For 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.
How many of us can say this? I love reading Paul’s letters! Not for nothing he told us to emulate him, as he emulates Christ. But this is not exclusionary; “Greek” here could be replaced with “Gentile.” The gospel of Christ is for everyone. As the first 39 books attest, God sent his Word to the Jews first, that they could spread knowledge of Him throughout the nations. Their efforts — when they made any — were, arguably, a failure. At any rate, the Law can only convict sin, not absolve it, as we’ll see later. Also, those who had no Law were guilty anyway:
19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For 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. [Emphasis mine]
Everyone stands guilty under the Law. Nobody can go through life and not sin against God. Nobody. And let’s face it: who would even try? Who could?
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
God said, “You want it? You got it. Do what you want to do. No, no. You don’t have to listen to me. You do what you gotta do, and I’ll do what I gotta do.” My daughters don’t particularly like to hear me say that, because they know they’re going to get in trouble if they do whatever it is they wanted to do after that. It’s much easier on them if they listen, and do as they’re told. They’re 4 and 2, respectively. I wish we were as wise as they, when God talks to us. ‘Cuz, if it’s bad when I say it, how much worse must it be when the sovereign of the universe says it?
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with one another and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
For those among my readership [quite limited, though it may be] who either cannot or will not accept the evidence of their own lying eyes, let me paint a picture for you: homosexual relations, forbidden in Leviticus 18:22, are still wrong in the New Testament. [Despite what activist Christians™ would have us believe] Contrary to some of the modern press about it, God still isn’t handing out passes for buggery. Or for heterosexual fornication, either, for that matter.
But next comes the “whammy”:
28And 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. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. [Emphasis mine]
Wow. Look here — in the midst of all these Really Bad Things (murder, inventors of evil, ruthless, etc.) you have “inconsequentials” like “gossips” and “disobedient to parents.” God doesn’t mess around, does he? That is “old school” …real old. Like, stone-your-rebellious-son-to-death-at-the-city-gates old.
What does that say about us? As I read this, I was thinking, “Paul’s talking to us. To me.” As a believer in America, how many lies do you tell? Paul wrote, “deceit.” I sometimes pat myself on the back because I don’t lie to my kids about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. [There’s that “haughty” thing] How many rumor mongering prayer requests are wrapped in some version of “bless his/her heart?” Or what about the “envy” we feel when we see that guy roll down the street in his super cherry, totally tricked-out 1965 Mustang with the over-size rear tires and racing stripes, with glass packs rattling the pictures off your walls? [Or is that just me?]
And how often do we “not only do… but give approval to those who” do? Guys, how often do we vicariously rubber-stamp the amorous exploits of the single guy at work? How often do we nod in agreement while our co-workers kvetch about our supervisor’s Big New Idea? How much of our money do we spend rewarding Hollywood for making movies that in no way reflect a Christ-centered worldview?
Don’t get me wrong: among the body of believers, I’m the worst when it comes to this stuff. But as believers in America, how can we judge anyone else, when we are so far from on-target, ourselves? And if one of the Greek words translated as “sin” simply means “missing the mark,” are we not, as a nation — as a church — steeped in sin?
And if this describes the church, how much worse off are the lost?
[Go to Romans chapter 2, here]
