18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking[b] and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Romans 1:18-2:16
This week serves as a transition from Romans chapter 1 into Romans chapter 2, and I’d like to give you a quick flyover of the big ideas that I gleaned from reading and studying these, that the logical flow of Paul’s ideas might make sense to us.
The second half of chapter 1 speaks of Man. All men. Mankind. Humanity. All humans are lumped together corporately, but also could be considered individually in Paul’s indictment of our human inability to know God, be like God, and do like God. There have been no natural exemptions to this rule since the fall of humankind. Chapter 1 gives some critical details about how we fail, in what ways we fall short of God’s holiness, and why we perpetuate such foolish choices. The bottom line is “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (spoiler alert from Romans 3:23) and the downward spiral of degradation that we bring upon ourselves as a result of our continuance and repeated rejection of God, His will, and His ways. Without God’s intervention, this is the fate of humanity: to receive God’s just wrath for our radical (to the root) corruption.
Chapter 1 ends with a lengthy list of unrighteous thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. These ungodly things fill the hearts, minds, and lives of depraved people who both practice and approve of these things.
And then, in what seems like a total shift in direction and tense, Paul begins addressing “YOU.” It’s a little discombobulating to figure out who the YOU is he’s talking to because it shifts so suddenly.
So picture this: Pretend Paul is in an arena sharing this message, and he knows there are several groups of people in this place who are hearing this message.
- There are chapter 1 people here; depraved people who refuse to acknowledge God, are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, and PRACTICE AND APPROVE those sinful things. Paul’s words may fall on deaf ears with these, and they could be Jew or Gentile. They know God not.
- Upon hearing Paul’s indictment of sinful humanity, some people shout in the arena, “You tell them, Paul! THOSE people over there are wicked and deserve God’s wrath; get them, God!” So, the abrupt switch here is Paul turning to the heckler (YOU *points finger*) to address and challenge the condemnation, as this person belongs to the chapter 2 group. They are also guilty of PRACTICING these same things, though their outward appearance is that of DISPROVAL. These chapter 2 people would be those of a pharisaical mindset; likely, those in this category would have been the Jews who had the Law, so they understood what was right. They were blind to their inability to also live up to God’s standard. They know God not.
- There will also be people sitting back quietly, acknowledging the truth of what Paul speaks about man’s depravity and making this assessment: “Thank God for Jesus! I was lost, and now I’m found! I was dead in my sin, and now I’m alive; I’m simultaneously grateful to no longer be filled to the brim with sin, nor do I approve or practice these things any longer, but I am humbled to realize that would have been me too–if not for God’s grace in Jesus.” They know God.
Once we know who Paul is talking to in chapter 2, we can understand that Paul takes turns addressing all humanity, the self-righteous, the Jewish people, gentile non-believers, and EVENTUALLY, Paul will even have a message for believers too. Paul will continue to attempt to dismantle every excuse for those who feign ignorance, practice their sins, practice hypocrisy, rest on their works or ancestry for righteousness, or refuse to acknowledge God and walk in His ways.