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RomansSurvey of the New Testament:
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Previous: Introduction (1:1-17)
How can people who are unrighteous and the enemies of God become reconciled to God and be found righteous in His sight? (Romans 1:18-4:25)
Paul begins his argument by expressing the need for salvation for both the Gentile and the Jew. But he begins with the condemnation of the Gentile.
Paul begins with those who have not been exposed to the Law and God's written revelation, namely the Gentiles. Even though they did not have the benefit of having received the Law as the Jews did, they had the truth, and God's wrath is against those who have suppressed the truth (1:18).
If the Gentiles did not have the benefit of God's written revelation (i.e. the Law), how could one say that they suppressed the truth? Paul explains that the truth has been made evident within them and it has been revealed in creation to the point where they have no excuse(1:19b, 20b). Through this natural revelation, God's power and nature have been revealed. His invisible attributes, his eternal power, his divine nature have all been evident to the Gentiles (1:20).
What did the Gentiles do with this information? When looking at creation, they did not honor give thanks to God for the creation (1:23). Instead, they exchanged truth for a lie (1:25). For when looking at creation, they did not see the creator, but worshipped the creation instead.
That is the basis of all false religion: worshipping creation instead of the creator. Everything from Hinduism to New Age philosophy and from radical environmentalism to pure naturalistic Darwinism is a elevation of the natural order over the one who created the natural order. Instead of seeing creation as evidence of a divine creator, it is seen as divine in and of itself.
As a result of the Gentile's rejection of the truth, God gave them over to their degrading passions (1:26). While the explicit nature of this passage is lost in the euphemisms of the translators, Paul is clearly speaking of sexual perversion, and specifically homosexuality.
We must be careful to see the development of Paul's argument in this passage. Paul does not say that the wrath of God is poured out against homosexuals. Instead God's wrath is poured out against those who have exchanged truth for a lie by denying the presence of God in natural revelation. As a result of this rejection, as part of His wrath, God gave them over to the natural consequences of their truth suppression. Part of that natural consequence is the practice of sexual deviancy and homosexuality. This is not to say that Paul thinks homosexuality is an appropriate alternative lifestyle. To the contrary! However, it is not homosexuality in itself which condemns a person, but the rejection of God's natural revelation. The issue is not sexual orientation. The issue is belief in the eternal power and the divine nature of the creator.
God not only gives them over to their degrading passions, but over to depraved minds (1:28) which results in all manner of evil: envy, murder, slander, malice, gossip, arrogance, unfaithfulness, and unloving and unmerciful attitudes. Such things are a result of the rejection of truth. But the ultimate depravity of the mind is that the Gentile pagan not only practices these things, but they encourage others to practice them, knowing such things lead to death (1:32).
By this point, the Jews in his audience would be in heartfelt agreement with his harsh condemnation of the Gentiles. But Paul now shifts his focus from the pagan Gentiles to the Jews, demonstrating that God's wrath is against not just the Gentile, but against the Jew as well. The New Living Translation captures the sense of this transition well:
You may be saying, “What terrible people you have been talking about!” But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things. (Romans 2:1 NLT)
Just because you are a Jew doesn't excuse you from condemnation if you are doing the very same things as the Gentiles. In fact, as Jew the condemnation might even be worse, for the Gentile only rejects the broad natural revelation while the Jew is rejecting the specific written revelation of the Law.
It does not matter is one is Jew or Greek, those who do evil will be punished (1:9). It does not matter is one is Jew or Greek, those who do good will receive honor, glory and peace (1:10). Ethnicity has no bearing on God's condemnation and salvation, “for there is no partiality with God” (2:11).
To further this point, Paul turns the tables on his readers showing that Gentiles who do not have the Law might still be found to be law keepers while Jews who have the Law might be found to be law breakers. The critical thing is not who has heard the Law, but who has kept the Law (2:13). The Gentile who obeys the Law instinctively because it is ingrained in their heart is better off than the Jew who has grown up surrounded by the teachings of the Law but then disobey it (1:14-15).
The Jews are very proud of the Law. It is the basis of their religious and cultural identity. But Paul deals harshly with the hypocrisy which the Law brings about. Because God had entrusted the Jews with his written revelation, they saw themselves as “a light in the darkness,” “a teacher of the immature,” “a corrector of the foolish.” On this basis, Jews considered themselves superior to those pagan Gentiles. But while the Jews might be teaching the Gentiles the truth, they were not living consistent with that same truth (2:21-22). They boasted about their Law, but by breaking the Law they had dishonored and blasphemed God in front of the nations (2:23-24).
Circumcision is one of the primary identifying marks of Judaism. In accordance with Genesis 17, all Jewish males would be circumcised eight days after their birth. It was a permanent reminder of their heritage and the special covenant the Jewish people have with God.
But Paul discounts circumcision for those who disobey the Law. If one can't keep the Law, then circumcision has no value (2:25). In fact, if an uncircumcised Gentile keeps the Law, Paul considers Him more “circumcised” than the unfaithful Jew, for he has been circumcised in the heart. The true Jew, according to Paul, is not circumcised in the flesh, but inwardly in the heart (2:28-29).
At this point in the argument, Paul introduces a rhetorical technique in which he creates a hypothetical dialogue with one of his critics. He anticipates questions and concerns with the points he has just raised and addresses them before his reader can object. In most cases his answer to his critics begins with an emphatic, “may it never be!” and is followed by a demonstration of the foolishness of such an argument when taken to its logical extreme.
At the beginning of chapter 3 Paul deals with this first objection. If Gentiles can be righteous without the Law and the Jews are condemned even with the Law, then what advantage is their to being a Jew? Paul responds that there are many advantages to being a Jew, the greatest of which is that the Jews have been entrusted with God's written revelation. The Gentiles can only see God vaguely through natural revelation. The Jews are allowed to see God more fully. This is a great advantage.
Furthermore, just because some Jews aren't faithful to that revelation, this does not discount the faithfulness of God to the Jews. In fact, the Jewish nation may indeed be full of hypocrites, but it is this unfaithful hypocrisy which shows the great faithfulness and mercy of God. All through the Old Testament we see God's lovingkindness in how he deals with the unfaithfulness of the nation of Israel. Without the unfaithfulness of the Jews, we would not have an opportunity to see God's grace.
This gives rise to the second objection. If the Jews' unfaithfulness reveals God's great lovingkindness, then how can God condemn the Jews for being unfaithful? If God is glorified through the disobedience of the Jews, then how can He punish them for it? Wouldn't such a God be unrighteous?
Paul responds to the question with an emphatic, “May it Never Be!” This makes no sense, for if the logic of this objection is carried to its completion, then God could not judge anyone, not even the most evil of persons (3:7). But the judgment of those who do evil is just (3:8).
While there may be advantages to being a Jew, Paul makes it clear that Jews are not any better than Gentiles (3:9a). Indeed, both the Jew and the Greek are under sin and are condemned by God (3:9b). In fact, all of humanity is under sin and condemned by God's wrath. To drive this point home, Paul summarizes the argument of this first section of Romans by quoting from the Old Testament [1]:
"as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” " (Romans 3:10-12)
This is the basis of the doctrine of the total depravity of man. While this doctrine clearly is taught by Paul, it was first clearly defined by Augustine in reaction to a heresy taught by a British monk named Pelagius in the fifth century. Pelagius taught that man was born neutral with the ability and freedom to choose good or evil. Augustine, who is regarded as the most important theologian between Paul and Luther, through his study of the book of Romans, concluded that without God's grace, people are only free to sin and are incapable of doing what is right.
This doctrine was reiterated by the reformer, John Calvin in the 16th century. His summary of this doctrine states:
All men are conceived in sin, and born the children of wrath, indisposed to all saving good, propense to evil, dead in sin, and the slaves of sin; and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they neither are willing nor able to return to God, to correct their depraved nature, or to dispose themselves to the correction of it [2].?
Total depravity does not mean that people can not do good deeds, or that people always indulge in the most heinous acts of sin. Instead, total depravity means God must initiate the process if a person is to be saved; for no one, without intervention from God, is good enough to fellowship with God, and no one even seeks after God.
The purpose of the Law is to demonstrate this depravity, for the Law shuts everyone's mouth (3:19), lest we think we can achieve righteousness through the Law. Indeed, all the Law does is reveal to us our depravity (3:20).
Next: Justification of Humanity through Faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-5:21)
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