Paul says very boldly, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone” (v. 16). This is the crux of the gospel: Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day and He offers forgiveness of sins to all those who turn on to Him with true repentance and faith. We are the witnesses.
Paul was longing to meet the people in Rome so that he can strengthen them with spiritual gifts and also for mutual encouragement.Paul was very confident that he would receive encouragement from the people in Rome.
Vs 18 – suppressing the truth is godlessness and wickedness .Today’s culture is no different than that of the Romans in this aspect. Vs21 – ‘Tolerance’ – diluting the truth will exchange god’s glory.
When our thinking becomes futile with no fruit, God darkens our heart and makes it a slave to sinful desires. Out of this sinful heart comes all forms of evil – lust, greed, boastfulness, arrogance, no love, no mercy and so on. In essence, utter selfish self-centeredness. May the Lord help us guard what goes into our hearts.
3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord , who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh , 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness , by the resurrection from the dead. – In flesh He is Son of David, in spirit, He is Son of God.
– we can clearly see the 2 different births in Jesus
– we can relate this to what Jesus said in John 3:3-6;
‘Born again’ means born in water and spirit which means born in flesh and spirit!
– All human beings are born in flesh. What we need is spiritual birth to enter the next level. This is the main key to enter Kingdom of God.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.
-If we think we know God, if we claim ourselves as God’s children or Christians by birth or faith, two things we must do.
1. Glorify the God, through our action
2. Give thanks to God for everything we have in our life instead of worrying about what we do not have.
If we don’t do that, our thinking will become futile, our foolish hearts will be darkened. God will give us over to a depraved mind (v28).
It is great to see the fire and spirit of Reformation burning even today. let us explore the Bible together in groups and individually. John was superb
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed (v17) – not forgiveness alone but Righteousness. This was the key verse which brought in Reformation in the Middle Ages because one monk Martin Luther was able to read his Bible. Let us remember and not settle for mere forgiveness and make Christianity only half-right. Understanding this verse is crucial for the gospel message.
When people refuse to obey God and follow their own hearts’ desire, the evil thoughts begin to control people’s behavior. God expresses his wrath by giving people to their own sinful desires
V24: they were given up to their sinful desire
V26: they were given over to shameful lusts
V28: gave them over to a depraved mind
Still trying to grasp the significance of v 17. It’s like the Mona Lisa of Christianity. You know everything is in there, the gospel, righteousness and faith and still it’s an enigma.
In this passage Paul shows us that we should spread God’s word to those who don’t know about the lord.
Impurity enters into our hearts mainly through our eyes and our ears. This impurity then comes out from our hearts and expresses itself through the various members of our bodies. Anyone who seeks to be pure must, therefore be especially careful about what he sees and what he hears.
