Romans 2: 17-29

"Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God." (Romans 2: 17-29)

Christians sometimes refer to unbelievers as "sinners" (condescendingly) as if Christians were not sinners. This can easily turn into a hypocritical attitude.

Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are extremely zealous in their works, known especially for knocking on doors. But they do it to work toward their salvation. The Christian, in contrast, should witness to others (evangelize) and do good works out of thankfulness and love to Christ Who has already saved them, and out of a burden for souls to be saved from Hell.

I am learning that, although we need to discern, test the spirits and guard against false doctrine (especially today when there are so many televangelists teaching false doctrine and even heresies), obedience (to Christ) is really more important than perfect doctrine. You can have all your 'doctrinal ducks' lined up perfectly in a row, but still be legalistic or prideful or a hypocrite.

"Circumcision of the heart" in verse 29 speaks of regeneration (i.e., being born again).

"And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deuteronomy 30:6)

The true sign of belonging to God is not an outward mark on the physical body (i.e., circumcision), but the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit within (i.e., circumcision of the heart).

In verse 17, Paul addresses the person who considers himself to be religious. In Paul's day this person was the Jew ("Now you, if you call yourself a Jew..."). Today the person who fills this category could be the Fundamentalist, a church-going Protestant, a devout Catholic, or some other.

Just imagine what such a religious person might be thinking. Listening to Paul describe the pagan morality of the day, he would be quick to join Paul in condemning it. He might point out that things are in such a terrible state today. Immorality, lying politicians, crime, gay marriage, abortion, pedophiles, rapists, murderers, etc. If God is a God of justice, He will certainly judge all these wicked people severely. So preach it, Paul! Tell all those drug dealers, those terrorists, and all those terrible people what they need to hear! But leave me out of it, because I'm a religious person. I go to church, I've been baptized and confirmed, I sing in the choir, I take communion, and I support the church financially.

Paul's response would be that such a religious person still needs the gospel. Why? Because God is not interested in outward things alone; things like church membership, how many church committees you're on, whether you're a deacon or a greeter at your church, etc. God is interested in what is inside a person. The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

In Romans 2:17-20, the religious person of Paul's day makes eight important claims:

-God has given us His law.
-He has entered into a special relationship with us.
-Because we have been given His law, we know His will.
-We approve only the most excellent of moral standards.
-We are guides for the blind.
-We are light for those who are in the dark.
-We are instructors for the foolish.
-We are teachers of spiritual infants.

And each of these claims is actually true. The Jews did have important spiritual advantages and were to be lights in this dark world. "Salvation is from the Jews," said Jesus (John 4:22).

But knowledge of the ways of this true God is not enough! God judges according to truth and not according to appearances; according to what men and women actually do and not according to their mere professions. "Faith without works is dead." You can say you're a Christian, but if the fruit you produce is that of a wicked pagan, then your works show that you are not what you claim to be. Larry Flynt claimed to have had a 'born again' experience many years ago, yet he refused to give up "Hustler" magazine. If he truly had been regenerated and become a true follower of Christ, surely he would have repented of having been the owner and president of one of the major pornography magazines. An apple tree does not produce lemons. If you are a follower of Christ, you will do the works of Christ, not the works of the devil. I personally knew a guy who claimed to have 'walked with the Lord' for about a year at that time. Yet he was a male stripper. His occupational profession made his verbal profession (i.e., claim) of faith seriously suspect.

What Paul tells the Jew is that God is not satisfied with knowledge of the right way only. He is concerned with deeds, exactly what Paul has written to the moral pagan (Romans 2:6-16), and by that standard the Jew is condemned exactly as the pagan is condemned. He judges another, but he is condemned out of his own mouth because he does those very same things himself (compare Romans 2:1 and Romans 2:21-23).

If you go up to say, 100 people on the street, and ask each of them, "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?", almost all of them would answer, "Yes." However, if you went over each of the Ten Commandments with them, and if you pressed them to answer honestly, you would see that all of them will have broken the Ten Commandments. For example, the questions might go like this:

"Have you ever lied? Even a white lie?"

"Have you ever stolen anything, no matter the value?"

"Have you ever lusted? Jesus said in Matthew 5:28 that even if you just look at a woman to lust after her in your heart, you have committed adultery in your heart."

"Have you ever hated anyone? Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment."

"Have you ever used God's Name as a curse word? That is called blasphemy, and is very serious."

"If, when you stand before God on judgment day, and he judges you according to the Ten Commandments, which are His Law---and we have only gone over a few of them---will you be guilty or innocent? Will you go to Heaven or Hell?"

"Jesus said, in Matthew 5:20, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." In Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

"If you think you will still go to Heaven, despite your sins, because you say that God is a forgiving and loving God, then think about this: Imagine that a murderer or rapist stands before a judge, and the judge says, "I'm feeling good today, so I think I'll just excuse you, and let you go free. I know you've raped 30 women and then mutilated them and killed them, but I'm in a forgiving mood, so you are free to go, and all charges against you are now dropped. I'm setting you free to return to society." Would that be a good judge? Would that be a fair and just judge? No, of course not. Likewise, if God just arbitrarily forgives murderers, rapists, blasphemers, child molesters, adulterers, and other wicked sinners, simply because He's loving, then He is certainly not being a good Judge. He would then be a lousy, horrible Judge. He would not be just. He would not be righteous. He would not be exercising justice."

"Now, if a judge was getting ready to send that rapist or murderer to prison for life, posting a bail of a hundred million dollars (which that rapist or murderer could never even hope to pay), and someone stepped in and paid the bail for them, so that a legal transaction was made, and the criminal was set free, shouldn't that criminal be eternally grateful to the person who paid their bail? Of course!"

"In fact, someone did just that. The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus died, paying the price, so that you and I would not have to go to Hell. If we admit that we are wicked sinners, deserving of eternal punishment, and if we repent (turn away) from our sins and surrender ourselves completely to Christ Jesus and make Him the Lord of our lives, He will wash away our sins and make them white as snow."

But the Jew had one last argument regarding his being religious. He had been circumcised, and circumcision had brought him into visible outward fellowship with that body of covenant people to whom God had made salvation promises. It was like saying that circumcision (our counterpart is baptism) had made him a member of the church; and because he was a member of the church, his salvation was assured. Paul's reply is not that circumcision has no value. Sacraments have value in pointing to spiritual realities and in strengthening faith. But they do not have value as ways of salvation, since they are only external things and God looks at what is inside a person.

Paul does not reply that one does not have to be a Jew to be saved. Instead, he states that one has to be a true Jew, which is a matter of upright conduct that flows from a new life within. "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code" (verses 28-29). God is concerned not just with our knowing the truth, but with our obeying its precepts, which we do not do. So, to become a true Jew, we need a Savior!

Romans 2: 1-16

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares." (Romans 2:1-16)

Verse 1: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else..."

This is similar to Matthew 7:1-5: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

These verses are condemning hypocritical or self-righteous judgment of others. Jews tended to look down on Gentiles and saw them as pagans.

Today, an equivalent might be a white person saying that black people are all criminals, just because they are black, or saying that Mexicans are all lazy, just because they are Mexican. This same self-righteous hypocrisy is attributed to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:13-39.

However, people will often misuse these verses to say, "You can't judge," when someone else says something like "Homosexuality is a sin." This is a wrong interpretation, because, for example, Matthew 7:6 says "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs." We must use judgment to determine who are "dogs" or "pigs."

(BTW, I believe "dogs" and "pigs" refer to those who reject the gospel after it is presented to them. If they don't want to hear the gospel, then you are wasting the words of Life on them if you continue trying to force it upon them.)

Another example of how we must use judgment is 1 Corinthians 5:9, which tells us not to associate with sexually immoral people. We must use judgment in order to determine who is sexually immoral. And 2 Corinthians 7:14 says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light, so we must use judgment and discernment to guard against this. Philippians 3:2 says "Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh," referring to Paul's opponents who were opposed to the gospel and had distorted the meaning of circumcision. They had to use judgment and discernment to determine who those people were. 1 John 4:1 exhorts us not to believe every spirit, but to test the spirits, because there have been many false prophets. Again, we have to use judgment and discernment to do so. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 also tells us to test everything.

1 Corinthians 6:3 says, "Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!"

1 Corinthians 5:3 states, "Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present."

1 Corinthians 5:12 asks, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?"

So we must judge between what is right and what is wrong (sin), and between true doctrine and false doctrine. And we must call sin what it is, because God calls it sin. However, we cannot hypocritically look down on others, and say that they are more evil than we are, because we are sinners as well.

Vs. 5. "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6. God "will give to each person according to what he has done."

Everyone will be judged according to their works. The lost will be judged (at the Great White Throne Judgment) and found wanting, because even one "tiny" sin (though in reality, no sin is tiny) will keep a person out of Heaven. God does not judge on a curve, as some people think. Neither does God weigh a person's good deeds against their bad deeds on a scale. Instead, God judges us against the standard of His own holiness.

Verse 6 suggests that there will be different levels of punishment in Hell. A person who lived a relatively moral life (at least, in comparison with other people) will not suffer the same as a mass murderer. Rev. 20:12-13 also talks about the dead being judged according to what they had done.

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:47-48) This suggests different levels of punishment. "Entrusted with much" may refer to the amount of spiritual truth they were exposed to; also compare Luke 12:47-48 to Romans 2:12-16.

But the saved will also be judged according to works. However, their sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ, and the righteousness of Christ has been attributed to them (Jesus' perfect, sinless life on earth apparently serves as a substitution for our sinful lives on earth; He lived as the Second Adam, living the perfect life which Adam failed to do). So, just as God looked down at the broken tablets containing the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant, and saw them covered by the Atonement Cover (the Mercy Seat, which was the lid covering the Ark of the Covenant) sprinkled with the blood of the spotless lamb, so God sees the believer as covered by the blood of Jesus the Spotless Lamb. God sees the ransomed elect as holy and righteous. So the Great White Throne Judgment will not be an issue for the saved.

However, the works of the saved will be judged at the Bema Seat, also referred to as the Judgment Seat of Christ. But they will not be judged as to their salvation. Heaven is already promised to them. Rather, their good works will be judged to see how much of a reward (if any) they are to receive. Those things that were not done for the sake of Christ (in other words, those 'good works' that were done for selfish reasons) will be burned up. For whatever remains, they will be rewarded. However, they will later cast their crowns at the feet of Jesus, because, without Jesus (and the power of the Holy Spirit), they wouldn't be able to do anything at all, and without Jesus, they wouldn't even make it into Heaven.

"12. All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law..."
This helps answer the question, "What about the people who have never heard the gospel?" God judges according to the light available to people. Gentiles will not be condemned for not obeying a law they did not possess. However, they still have a God-given conscience---by the conscience, God has written His law on their hearts, because they still basically know the difference between right and wrong, and our conscience accuses us of those things we know are wrong.

Romans 1:18-32

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:18-32, NIV)

1:27 "In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."

Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, gonorrhea, HIV, and the enteric parasites collectively known as the Gay Bowel Syndrome are some of those "due penalties." Since many contacts occur between strangers (70% of gays estimated that they had had sex only once with over half of their partners), and gays average somewhere between 106 and 1105 different partners/year, the potential for infection is considerable. In a San Francisco study of 655 gays, only 24% claimed to have been monogamous in the past year. In one study, the annual incidence of hepatitis A in homosexual men was 22 percent, whereas no heterosexual men acquired hepatitis A. In 1976, a rare airborne scarlet fever broke out among gays and just missed sweeping through San Francisco. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that 29% of the hepatitis A cases in Denver, 66% in New York, 50% in San Francisco, 56% in Toronto, 42% in Montreal and 26% in Melbourne in the first six months of 1991 were among gays. A 1982 study "suggested that some transmission from the homosexual group to the general population might have occurred."

25% of white gays admitted to sex with boys 16 or younger as adults. In a 9-state study, 33% of the 181 male, and 22% of the 18 female teachers caught molesting students did so homosexually (though less than 3% of men and 2% of women engage in homosexuality).

70% to 78% of gays reported having had a sexually transmitted disease. The proportion with intestinal parasites (worms, flukes, amoeba) ranged from 25% to 39% to 59%. As of 1992, 83% of U.S. AIDS in whites had occurred in gays. 10% came down with hepatitis B and 7% contracted hepatitis A during the 6-month study.

The typical life span of homosexuals suggests that their activities are more destructive than smoking and as dangerous as drugs. Obituaries numbering 6,516 from 16 U.S. homosexual journals over the past 12 years were compared to a large sample of obituaries from regular newspapers. Less than 2% of homosexuals survived to old age. If AIDS was the cause of death, the median age was 39. For the 829 gays who died of something other than AIDS, the median age of death was 42, and 9% died old. The 163 lesbians had a median age of death of 44, and 20% died old.

Two and eight-tenths percent (2.8%) of gays died violently. They were 116 times more apt to be murdered; 24 times more apt to commit suicide; and had a traffic-accident death rate 18 times the rate of comparably aged white males. Heart attacks, cancer and liver failure were exceptionally common. Twenty percent of lesbians died of murder, suicide, or accident--a rate 487 times higher than that of white females aged 25-44.

Those who treat AIDS patients are at great risk, not only from HIV infection, which as of 1992 involved over 100 health care workers, but also from TB and new strains of other diseases. Those who are housed with AIDS patients are also at risk. Dr. Max Essex, chair of the Harvard AIDS Institute, warned congress in 1992 that "AIDS has already led to other kinds of dangerous epidemics...If AIDS is not eliminated, other new lethal microbes will emerge, and neither safe sex nor drug free practices will prevent them." At least 8, and perhaps as many as 30 patients had been infected with HIV by health care workers as of 1992.

The typical sexual practices of homosexuals are a medical horror story. I will spare you the extremely perverted and disgusting details.

Unfortunately, the danger of these exchanges does not merely affect homosexuals. Travelers carried so many tropical diseases to New York City that it had to institute a tropical disease center, and gays carried HIV from New York City to the rest of the world. Most of the 6,349 Americans who got AIDS from contaminated blood as of 1992, received it from homosexuals, and most of the women in California who got AIDS through heterosexual activity got it from men who engaged in homosexual behavior. The rare form of airborne scarlet fever that stalked San Francisco in 1976 also started among homosexuals.

Those are some of the physical consequences of homosexuality. So when Romans 1:27 says "Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion," Paul is speaking volumes.

Society is legitimately concerned with health risks---they impact our taxes and everyone's chances of illness and injury. Because we care about them, smokers are discouraged from smoking by higher insurance premiums, taxes on cigarettes and bans against smoking in public. These social pressures cause many to quit. They likewise encourage non-smokers to stay non-smokers. Homosexuals are sexually troubled people engaging in sinful and very dangerous activities. If we care about them and those tempted to join them, it is important that we neither encourage nor legitimize such a destructive lifestyle.

Verses 18-20 answer the question that has been asked by many, "What about those who have never heard the gospel? Is it fair for them to go to Hell?" It's basically the argument from design. Proof of God's existence is in nature (a building requires a builder; a painting requires a painter; similarly, the extreme complexity in nature, including things like the equivalent of many factories in a single cell, etc., require an intelligent Designer), so people are without excuse. Although people have knowledge of the existence of God through nature, they act as if the true God does not exist.

Verse 18: "the wrath of God..." Wrath is retributive punishment for an offense or crime. Today, "God's wrath" is a politically incorrect term. Acceptance and tolerance have replaced it. Just as respect for authority is gone, so the fear of God is gone. The message today is that God is a God of love. Though this is true, this is only one side of God, and ignores the rest of His characteristics.

Verse 23 talks about people worshiping images made to look like the things God created, instead of God Himself. This is absurdly foolish. Today in the West, we often tend to give our passion to creations of man: cars, clothes, sports, etc.

Verse 28: "a depraved mind." If it weren't for God's providential election, including the Holy Spirit working in men's hearts to change them, we would ALL be in that same boat.

Romans chapters 1-4 contain the most penetrating and perceptive analysis of human nature in its relationship to God ever written. Paul analyzes the condition of human beings and explains the work of Christ as God's provision for that need.

Romans 1:18-32 shows that people have knowledge of God through nature, and some may even acknowledge Him verbally, but they distort this understanding so that they worship the creation rather than the Creator. But God has not overlooked this willful ignorance. Rather, He has punished it by abandoning people to the natural outworking of their sins. This spiritual outworking of sin drags the race downward and enslaves us in invisible chains. Hence, the mess that people are in.

Romans 1: 7-17

"To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1: 7-17, NIV)

Kung Fu Cat


Regarding Faith: Every time we sin, we are demonstrating, at that moment, a lack of faith/trust/confidence in God. Every time we worry, we are also demonstrating a lack of faith in God.

Verse 7: "CALLED to be saints." This speaks of Election.

Verse 13: "I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so..." The result of God keeping Paul from going to Rome is the book of Romans. (If Paul had gone to Rome, he might never have written this letter.)

Verse 17: "...a righteousness that is by faith from first to last..." For cults or anyone who says that faith alone is not enough to save a person. This is the verse God used to bring Martin Luther to become regenerated.

Some have said that all people need to know is that God loves them; that it's not what we believe that matters, but what we do; that the social teachings of the Bible are what's important; and that doctrine merely divides. But if that were true, Paul would not have written Romans (which is a theological letter, as opposed to 1 and 2 Corinthians or Galatians, that deal with problems in the churches). The problem is not that people need to know that God loves us (many unbelievers have heard that God loves them). And yes, some people do doubt sometimes that God loves them. But the real problem is that we do not love God, just as Luther discovered. We resist God vigorously because we don't want Him to rule over our lives, and we resent any meaningful attempts He makes to do so. One person summarized Romans as "Man's Total Ruin in Sin" and "God's Perfect Remedy in Christ."

Romans 1:1-6

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made 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: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:1-6, KJV)

This is a photo of my youngest brother when he went parasailing. I added a couple things using Photoshop:

This is another photo of my brother, and once again, I added some elements with Photoshop:

Paul was educated in one of the four leading universities at that time. And Gamaliel, a liberal-minded Pharisee in the Sanhedrin who had trained Paul (Acts 22:3), was one of the greatest, most prominent teachers at that time.

Paul's dad was a Roman citizen. Paul was the 13th Apostle.

A bondslave (verse 1) was one who was totally subservient to his master. The only way a bondslave could be set free from his servanthood was by death.

Verse 2: "through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures": The Old Testament had over 330 prophecies directly relating to the coming of the Messiah.

Verses 3-4: Jesus was both God and Man.

Romans 1:5: "the obedience that comes from faith." Some use the phrase "faith without works is dead" (see James 2:14-26) to claim that salvation is by faith plus works, instead of by faith alone. But Rom. 1:5 says that obedience comes from faith; and that is why faith without works is dead ("dead" = a claimed but false faith; no real faith at all; an intellectually-only faith; those who claim to be Christians but their fruit/works prove otherwise; just saying you believe in God is not enough). Also, Romans 3:28 says that a man is justified by faith APART FROM the Law. True faith will always show itself by its fruits. Paul (Romans) deals with the ROOT of faith; James deals with the FRUIT of faith. Works is the true evidence of faith, not a secondary requirement for salvation.

Approximately 2,000 years ago, in a busy commercial city in Greece called Corinth, a Jewish Christian sat down to write a letter to Christians whom he had never even seen, in the far-off city of Rome. If such a letter had been written by someone else, or in different circumstances, it would likely have soon been forgotten and lost forever. But under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and through God's providence, this ancient letter became the most influential letter in the world.

Augustine was one of those who had been brought to faith through the book of Romans.

In the late 4th century (354-430 A.D.), Augustine, a distinguished rhetorician (an expert in or teacher of rhetoric; eloquent speaker or writer; a person given to verbal extravagance) was under conviction about the truthfulness of Christianity. His mom was a Christian. Augustine was a brilliant and attractive man who had lived an immoral life, just as many of the pagan intellectuals of his day did, and he could not give up his sin. He kept putting off turning from sin and committing to Jesus Christ.

One day, he was in a garden of a friend's estate close to Milan, Italy, and he heard a child singing the words "tole lege, tole lege" ("take and read"). He had never heard a song with words like that before, so he received this as a message from God. ["...and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)]

Obeying this message, he quickly went to the other side of the garden where there was a copy of the Bible. He opened a random page and began to read the first words his eyes fell upon. They were from Romans 13: "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." (vs. 13-14) This hit home for Augustine, and was what the Lord used to bring him to Christ. Later, he wrote this: "Instantly, as the sentence ended---by a light, as it were of security infused into my heart---all the gloom of doubt was vanished away." ("Confessions," End of Book 8). Augustine became the dominant theologian and the greatest influence on the Church between the days of the Apostle Paul and Martin Luther. And God used a little child and a portion from Romans to begin this process.

Unlike the immoral Augustine, Martin Luther was a pious and earnest monk, whom most would have called a 'good Christian.' However, Luther had no peace of soul. He wanted to please God and be accepted by God. But the harder he worked, the more elusive the salvation of his soul seemed to be. Instead of growing closer to God, he seemed to be moving away from Him. Instead of coming to love God, which he knew he should do, he found himself hating God for requiring an apparently impossible standard of righteousness for human beings. In desperation, he turned to the book of Romans, and he found the solution: "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

Luther realized, by God opening the meaning of this verse to him, that the righteousness he needed was not his own righteousness, but a righteousness of God (i.e., the righteousness of Christ) freely given to all who would receive it. And this was obtained, not by any works of his own, but by faith only, through taking God at His Word and trusting Him fully. Luther did this, and it was then that he was reborn. He wrote: "I had no love for that holy and just God who punishes sinners. I was filled with secret anger against Him: I hated Him, because not content with frightening by the law and the miseries of life us wretched sinners, already ruined by original sin, He still further increased our tortures by the gospel...But when, by the Spirit of God, I understood the words,---when I learned how the justification of the sinner proceeds from the free mercy of our Lord through faith...then I felt born again like a new man...In very truth, this language of St. Paul was to me the true gate of Paradise." (J.H. Merle D'Aubigne, "The Life and Times of Martin Luther, Chicago: Moody Press, 1958, 55-56.)

Later, Luther called Romans "the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest gospel." He taught that "every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, [and] occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul." (Martin Luther, "Commentary on Romans," Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1976, xiii.)

The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) called Romans "the profoundest book in existence," and the Swiss commentator F. Godet wrote that, in all probability, "every great spiritual revival in the church will be connected as effect and cause with a deeper understanding of this book." (Frederick L. Godet, "Commentary on Romans," Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1977, 1.)

Paul: A people-person?

When you think of Paul in the Bible, what characteristics do you think of? Do you think of him as a missionary, as a writer, maybe as a scholar? Some non-Christians have even accused him of being a male chauvinist pig. But when you examine Romans 16, you see that Paul was intensely interested in people. In fact, judging by Romans 16, Paul might even be said to show more interest in people than anyone else in the Bible except Jesus!

“I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.” (Romans 16:1-2)

Phoebe is a pagan name, a feminine form of Phoibos, which was a name given to the god Apollo. But she had become a Christian.

Since Phoebe is the only one commended to the church (the first time the word “church” appears in Romans), it seems likely that she was the bearer of the letter to the church at Rome. She probably had people traveling with her, since it was not safe for a woman to travel alone in the ancient world. She was probably single and a prominent, wealthy woman, since it took money to travel, especially with companions. She had been a servant to the church in Cenchrea (the eastern port of Corinth).

In Romans 16:3-16, Paul sends greetings to over 24 people in Rome, even though he had never been in Rome. When you think about the fact that there was no Internet back then, no TV, no radio, no phones, and not even a postal service as we have today, it is amazing that Paul knew all these people, and knew so much about them. Paul knew most of them personally, so they may have been people he had come to know in his travels and missionary work. As far as the others, possibly someone had come from that city (like Priscilla and Aquila, for example) and had told Paul about them. He may have led some of them to Christ, or maybe they worked with him, or they might have been with him in prison. In any case, Paul remembered them and had kept track of them.

The Apostle Paul: Life is no picnic