Romans 1:18-32

What’s Happening?

Paul has just said that the “righteousness of God is revealed” in the death and resurrection of Jesus. This can be a difficult concept to understand, but it’s massively important for Paul. The phrase “righteousness of God” in the Hebrew Bible refers to God rescuing his people, righting wrongs, punishing evil, and establishing a kingdom of justice and equity (Psalm 98:2, Isaiah 51:5-8). Jews had waited centuries for the arrival of this Kingdom, and many thought the only way to be included in God’s salvation was to be Jewish. However, Paul says that instead of ethnicity, faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection is what allows all people to experience God’s righteousness. Paul will continue this discussion about “the righteousness of God” in a few chapters (Romans 3:21). For now, Paul wants to explain precisely why faith is the only ground for inclusion in God’s long-awaited Kingdom. God’s power to establish his righteous Kingdom is not the only thing he has revealed to the world; God has also revealed his anger at human evil and unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).

Paul says humanity’s unrighteousness is clearly seen in its willful rejection of God. God has given the universe as a gift to all people. Through the created world, people can intuit that there is a powerful, life-giving deity who created them. Yet, humanity has universally responded to their Creator with ingratitude. Humans have determined to suppress the truth of God’s existence and his expectations for his creatures. Instead of worshiping the immortal God who gave them life, humans have crafted and bowed down to idols of mortal creatures (Romans 1:18-23). Humans have rejected the God of life in favor of dead idols. In response, God reveals his anger. He hands humans who have rejected their Creator and the God of life to death (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). 

Paul adds that this anger has been revealed in such a way that anyone can observe its effects. When God hands humans over to death, it inevitably manifests itself in rampant unrighteousness through self-destructive patterns and the degrading of our own and others’ bodies (Romans 1:25, 27). For Paul, the preeminent example of a world handed over to death is homosexual sex. It is a union that, by definition, cannot produce biological life. The presence of such activity in the world is evidence that humanity has been handed over to ultimately self-destructive desires. Paul also lists murder, greed, and pride as evidence that God has handed humans to desires that lead to death (Romans 1:29-31). Therefore, no one can enter the righteous kingdom that God is building.

Where is the Gospel?

The reason faith is the only ground for inclusion in God’s long-awaited Kingdom is that there is no other way to get in. Humanity has totally rejected God, and God has handed humans’ minds, desires, and hearts over to self-destruction and unrighteousness. We neither desire nor deserve to be a part of God’s life-giving and righteous kingdom. And even if we wanted to, there is no merit, no redeeming qualities, and no number of good deeds we can offer God to accept us into his righteous Kingdom (Ephesians 2:8–9). The only way to be rescued from our unrighteous state and to be included in God’s Kingdom is by faith in someone other than ourselves. Faith is the opposite of the ingratitude and suppression humanity has shown their Creator. Faith is a commitment to honor and trust that God can give us life and that he has done so in Jesus.

In Jesus’ death and resurrection, “the righteousness of God” is revealed. Part of that righteousness means he will rescue us from the death we’ve chosen, the unrighteousness we’ve committed, and the wrongs we have done. In just a few chapters, Paul says that Jesus’ death is a gift that purifies us of the unrighteousness we’ve chosen and declares that we are in good standing with the Creator we’ve rejected (Romans 3:24-25). By faith in Jesus, we are saved from being handed over to our unrighteousness and declared eternal citizens of his righteous Kingdom. While this part of Paul’s letter can seem grim, it prepares us for the good news that no matter how debased, dishonorable, or impure we might be, faith in Jesus will save us. While we might not deserve it, in him, God has given us the gift of his saving power and righteousness.

See For Yourself 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who has revealed his anger. And may you see Jesus as the one who has come to reveal God’s righteousness.