Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
February 28, 2021
Opening Prayer
Psalm 119
33 Teach me, O Lord,
the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.[a]
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
39 Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!
Prolegomena
Last week we focused on “the righteousness of God,” that is,
the righteousness that comes by faith (imputed). It is the power of God for
salvation which is revealed to us.
-
Power – dynamis
– a danger is we try to observe like a post
mortem – instead of seeing as a dynamic action that is still happening.
This week Paul begins to compare God’s Righteousness with
another revelation – God’s wrath.
Romans 1:18-23
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,[g] 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.
Wrath – a vigorous upsurge of one’s nature against someone
or something.
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Deuteronomy 32 – The Song of Moses (esp. v.
15-22)
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Close of the Commandments – Deuteronomy 5:9
Why must these things be revealed?
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Deuteronomy 12:8-9
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Judges 21:25
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Proverbs 12:15 & 21:2
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Jeremiah 17:9
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1 Corinthians 2:14
Revealed against
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Ungodliness – “disregard for religious believe
and practice”
o
Socrates was tried for atheism – not that the
gods weren’t real, but that they were ridiculous.
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Unrighteousness of men … of humanity.
o
This unrighteousness suppresses the truth.
o
John 14:6
o
21 References to truth in the Gospel of John
o
Struggle today – Quid est veritas?
§
Who determines reality?
So as Paul examines human unrighteousness, where should he
begin?
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He begins with God and humanity’s relationship
with him as our Creator.
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Natural knowledge of God
o
Psalm 19
o
Should be able to work out that there is a
Creator.
-
Leaves us without excuse.
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Expelled! – Ben Stein
They knew God
-
Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov – “I am an
atheist …”
Futility and Darkening
They, “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
-
The First Commandment – Who is your god?
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The constant issue of the Israelite people.
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Continues to today.
Romans 1:24-25
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.
-
Expanding the translation:
o
Lusts – eager desires, passions
o
Impurity – uncleanness
o
Dishonoring – treating shamefully
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Exchanged the truth… for a lie
o
Worshipped – showed reverence for the creature
instead of the Creator
o
Matthew 10:28
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We become fixated on the created – fear, love
and trust in created things instead of the Creator.
Romans 1:26-27
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.
-
Perhaps the most controversial part of this
letter from a human perspective.
-
Biblical Sexual Ethics – God’s design for human
sexuality – is very much under attack in our society.
o
Male & Female?
o
Sexual Preference?
o
Remember Romans 1:18 – ungodliness,
unrighteousness, suppress the truth
o
This is not new.
§
Genesis and sexuality
§
Balaam’s Counsel – Revelation 2:14, Numbers
22-25
-
What happens when God gives humanity what we
want?
o
Molech – religion of cruel power
o
Violating the context of being a creature who is
created by a loving Creator.
o
Becoming gods
-
How do we respond to a world that is seeing
God’s wrath – and interpreting it as freedom?
Romans 1:28-32
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.
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Inventors of evil – one who thinks of new ways
to do evil
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Though they know … He is speaking to us in the
church
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Do and approve
Homework
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Read Luther’s Large Catechism on the First
Commandment.
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Have a conversation about something that you
learned, remembered, found important about Romans.
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If you felt that this was worth your time,
invite someone to join the study, or share a recording of the study via email
or social media. (An email will go out after it has been posted.)
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Check out the church’s redesigned website. www.gloriadeihudson.org Go to the About
tab and scroll way down to Recommended Sites (below the staff
pictures) and click on Pastor’s Blog. This is the place to
find handouts and audio recordings of our sessions.
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