Romans 1:18-32

 Romans 1:18-32

We tend to look at the second half of Romans chapter 1 and focus our attention on the massive and runaway depravity described in verses 26-32. These grandiose expressions of wickedness are pretty extreme and powerful and can excite a vigorous reaction in us. The people who do them seem to be so different from us that it feels somewhat safe to talk about their sins and the extremity of the wickedness expressed in their lives. But we must recognize that evil is never static. It is always spiraling down to greater depths of depravity. We must also recognize that the deeper level of evil represents a move to an overpowering form of bondage, self-deception and personal slavery making it more difficult for a person to see their need for repentance.

What is often missed is the beginning point of this path of degradation. People do not simply end up in the state of being reprobate; perverse distortions of what God intended them to be in an instance. They are here as a result of a process, often a long and slow process.   The key question for us to consider is what is the first step in that process?  How did their slide into iniquity begin? That first step is described for us in verse 21. In verses 19-20, we see that there is evidence for God in creation around us. Atheism and agnosticism is by no means a new thing, it was widespread in Paul’s day. The denial of God is a result of a choice to live without God, not the lack of evidence for Him.   In verse 21, Paul tells us that choice is rooted in two key refusals. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks…” The first is a refusal to glorify God. The second is refusal to give thanks to Him. To glorify God, to render to Him the honor due Him requires a person to say, “God, You are greater than I.”  To give thanks demands us to say, “God, I am dependent upon You.” Those are two statements that are completely the opposite of what sinful, fallen man desires. The beginning of great depravity is to deny the goodness of God and what He has done.

Take any sin you want from the list provided in verses 26-32 and examine it and you will find it requires a person to say, “God, my plan or my will is superior to yours and I am not thankful for what you have done and created. I am convinced that there is something better than what you have given, something better than what you have done.” Also, note that worship and thankfulness are very closely related. To say, “You are great and all You have done is good” is only a slightly different statement from “I am thankful for You and for all you have done”. 

When we talk about Thanksgiving we must go much deeper than the gratitude for the 4-F’s (food, family, friends and freedom). These are just the tip of the iceberg. They are the touch point of thanks; the truth beyond them though is infinitely deep.

“Lord, help me to always be living with a heart of gratitude. AMEN”

Romans 1:1-17

Romans 1:1-17

Romans is considered by many to be the greatest theological treatise ever written. In this letter, Paul will scale the heights of the Christian faith, wrestle with the most difficult of problems, and describe what it means to live and think like a Christian. This book is the source and resource for great scholars and simple believers to understand and explain the Christian faith.

But in the depths of the theological and abstract thinking, we can sometimes lose sight of the highly practical human touch of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Paul never lost sight of the highly human side of the faith. In this passage, we see Paul’s powerful and stirring statement that he is not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of all people, both Jews and Greeks. That statement alone can fill volumes of study. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith,” a quote that helped launch the Protestant Reformation.

But even in the midst of the opening flourish, Paul gives us a humble and highly practical insight. Verse 12 is not very likely to be one of the highly memorized verses of the New Testament, but perhaps it ought to be. “…that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” Here is the leading advocate of world evangelism of his day, one of the most intelligent people in the world, a great hero of the faith, talking to a small group of Christians and telling them about their role in mutual encouragement. Paul uses a word found nowhere else in the Bible to describe what will happen when they come together. The words “mutually encouraged” are translated from a single compound word. That word is made up of the words “together/with,” which expresses closeness of association; this is a powerfully intimate word. You may sit near a stranger on a bus, but you sit with your spouse or lover on the couch. The second part of this compound word is the word Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit when He calls him “the Comforter.” That word itself is a compound word and means to “stand beside and call out for us as an advocate.”.

What all this means is that in the midst of the deep thinking and the study of the Christian faith, we must never forget the intimate and dear relationship of being together and mutually comforting and strengthening one another in the body of Christ.

"Lord, help me to never forget that I am, as a disciple, in a relationship with other believers. AMEN"