Not Ashamed
As we discovered last week, Paul is writing this letter to a church he has yet to visit. He tells them he is eager to teach and preach in Rome and hopes to come to them soon. So, this letter is a way of introducing, both himself and his message. In verses 16-17, Paul states the theme of the letter: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. Paul says right away – I am not ashamed of the gospel, because the gospel is God’s power for salvation to all who believe. Why does he state it this way? Perhaps, in a sophisticated culture like Rome, a gospel grounded in the crucified Christ is embarrassing. Maybe, a triumphant entry that results in a crucifixion one week later doesn’t appeal to the citizen of Rome. It didn’t look like power to them. As the center of all the power of the Roman Empire, the citizens of Rome knew all about power. They had their vision of what it was, so what could Paul tell them? Especially if his definition of power ended in death on a cross. Power was defined by success, invincibility, and wealth. The powerful were arrogant and showed no sign of weakness. But God doesn’t define power in the same way. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount speaks of poverty in spirit, humility, mercy… Words that would not appeal to a place like Rome. But it is in these apparent weaknesses, that God showed His great strength. This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But He said to me, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.” Christ’s perceived weakness on the cross is His greatest strength. Kristyn Getty says it this way in her song “The Power of the Cross”: This the power of the cross. Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath. We stand forgiven at the cross. Because of the cross of Christ we have salvation. What Satan meant for evil, God turned around into the greatest of triumphs.
Paul then establishes who this message is for – first to the Jew and also to the Greek (or Gentile). Paul follows the pattern of Christ who traveled only in Jewish circles and in the land of Israel. He said in Matthew 15:24: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Now, before you point out that this is out of context, I will readily admit it. I only show this to make a point. Matthew 15:24 was spoken to a Gentile woman who was asking for Jesus’ help. He tests her faith and she stands strong. She knows He can help her, and He does. He also healed the Centurion’s slave, spoke to a Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus crashed through barrier after barrier. So, what’s my point? God has a plan – the gospel was to come through the nation of Israel. Isaiah 49:5-6 says, “And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel might be gathered to Him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength—He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” Christ did come to restore Israel, but, He also came to be a light to the nations. Isaiah 60:3 says of Zion, Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance. This was fulfilled by Christ’s death on the cross, and by the spread of the gospel through His Jewish disciples. Paul continued this calling when he went to the Gentile world. In each city he entered, Paul went first to the synagogue to preach to the Jews and then, he preached to the Gentiles. He didn’t want to be the only light to the nations in that city. He wanted his fellow Jews to be that light as well – so they could fulfill their calling. We will see this theme throughout Romans.
Finally, For in it (the gospel) God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4 – the righteous will live by faith. It is through faith that we come to salvation. The first part of this reminds us the gospel reveals God’s righteousness. The Greek word for righteousness is dikaiosuné and it means a righteousness that is just – a divine righteousness. In Hebrew, the word is tsaddiq which describes a blameless, innocent righteous person. So Paul says, we, who are not blameless or innocent or just, live because of our faith in the One who is blameless, innocent and just. The gospel is by faith and faith alone. And so, the theme of Romans has been established. Now we begin our trek into this wonderful, sometimes difficult to understand, letter.
Vs. 18-25 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
The first thing Paul addresses is why we need to be justified in the first place. In contrast to God, we are not righteous, or blameless, and, we don’t have any excuses. Paul says God’s wrath has been revealed. Most of us don’t really want to hear about God’s wrath. It’s unpleasant and makes us uncomfortable. No, we would much rather talk about God’s grace and mercy. So, why does Paul start with the wrath of God? Because God’s wrath comes out of His absolute righteousness. The Greek word for wrath is orgé (not to be confused with ogre!), and it comes from a verb that means to swell. This is not an anger that suddenly burst out, but an anger that is fixed and passionate against sin. Nahum 1:2-3 puts it this way: “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” God is slow to anger, but, make no mistake, sin angers Him greatly.
The next thing Paul addresses is our lack of excuse. There are no excuses for not knowing God. His very creation reveals Him. But, instead of looking to God, men have gone to many lengths to create something else to worship. They have carved idols and built temples to their gods where they bow down and worship them. God has created us with an innate desire to worship something higher than ourselves, which, reveals there is indeed a God. Paul says, we claim to have wisdom, boast in our pursuits and believe ourselves to be smart. Because of this, we believe we have no need for God in our lives. So, instead of worshiping the Creator of the universe, we would rather worship something we’ve created. Makes a lot of sense… Because of this, God has allowed us our own choices. Here it says He “delivered us over to the cravings of our hearts to sexual impurity, so that our bodies were degraded among ourselves.” In essence, God says, “if this is what you really want, you can have it.” In the next verses, Paul lays out some of the choices we have made.
Vs. 26-32 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
Paul does not mince words. He saw this happening every day in Corinth, and knowing the society of Rome was very similar, he directly calls them out for the most degrading sins of mankind. He describes what has happened because the people of Rome did not choose to acknowledge God. Their lives were filled with unrighteous, degrading, and vile acts of sin. As I read the newspaper and listen to what is going on around me today, this begins to sound all to familiar. So often, I hear people wanting to blame God for all the problems in the world. Why are there wars, hunger, violence, unnecessary death, crimes against children and rampant immorality? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do innocent people suffer? “Why does God allow this to happen?” The answer is right here. It’s not God, it’s us. God has given us free choice and we’ve made some pretty bad ones. We have the choice to either follow Him in faith, or we choose to go our own way. The consequences for those choices are far reaching – beyond just ourselves – affecting people around us, and sometimes, even entire societies. Rome, in this Paul’s day, was a place where anything went. Every kind of immorality you could think of was practiced there. Paul had called out the church at Corinth for their sin and lack of holiness and now, he is sending a warning to the church at Rome. His desire is for them to walk on the path of faith in the One who is righteous and just.
And that is the same desire the church today should have. It is so easy to give in – to societal demands, to our friends, even, at times, our family. We make excuses for the wrongs happening around us. We make concessions and compromise our beliefs to “keep the peace.” We stay silent when we should speak out. It really is easier to make excuses for behavior and come up with reasons for the sin we see. It’s easier to “play safe” and not get involved. I know God is speaking to me as I begin this study in Romans. In fact, it did cross my mind to make an excuse to study something else! But, God has something He wants to say to me – and maybe to you – in this book. So, as we continue our way through Romans, Paul reminds us we need to stop making excuses and walk in faith of God who is the Righteous One.
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