We all stand condemned before God and there is no excuse.
That's the gist of this final section of Romans chapter one: Romans 1:18-32.
As we leave behind Paul's introductory comments and finally begin to interact with his main thoughts we see that he starts off by stating the problem: the righteous shall live by faith (vs. 17) but no one is righteous and there's no real excuse (18-32).
Paul is laying the foundations for what is to come. Before we can understand what it is that Christ has accomplished we need to understand why He did what He did. Paul lays it out for us in strong, vivid language.
The Breakdown:
vs. 18-23: God's judgement and wrath are coming on humanity because we have ignored the revelation of God (evident even through nature) and chosen to go our own way.
vs. 24-25: idolatry; worshiping the created rather than the Creator
vs. 26-27: sexual immorality; specifically homosexuality vs. 28-32: in some sense, God gives them what they want and they reap the consequences of that lifestyle.
I don't know that I can think of another passage in the NT that so starkly states the human condition. Paul's analysis of the state of the world is striking and, unfortunately, fits with our world today just as well as it fit his world nearly 2000 years ago.
However, I also think that it's a bit unfortunate how I've seen this passage used. Often this passage is used in a "fire & brimstone" kind of way. Christians go around and use this to judge and condemn the world around them. However, I'm not sure that is the way that Paul intended this passage to be used. Like I said before, Paul is setting the foundations for his argument, he is stating our common condition.
That common condition is that all of us are under God's condemnation... and it's just that: God's judgement. Notice in vs. 18 that it is God's wrath which is revealed from heaven. It is God who is going to judge the world, not us.
In fact, in 2:1 he warns the Romans not to go around judging others because we are all guilty of these kinds of sins. After all, isn't that what chapter 3 is all about (3:10-12, 22-23)?
I think we should contrast this with the mission that has been given to us from God: the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:16-21). God has entrusted us with the Good News (after all, that is quite literally what euangelion means: "good message"... but we've already talked about that in past posts). In other words, He's got the whole judgement thing taken care of, our task is to spread the positive aspect of this message which is that, even though we are under God's judgement, we can be reconciled to God.
Those are just some of my thoughts coming out of this passage.
What does Romans 1:18-32 bring to your mind?
2 comments:
Richard Hays has some interesting insights into this passage in "The Moral Vision of the New Testament" (which by the way if you haven't read you need to put at the top of your too read pile).
Your observations on this passage would align pretty closely to the things that Hays points out.
For me this is an interesting passage since my Thesis is focusing in on this idea of God's wrath and forgiveness. I really like your inclusion of 2 Corinthians into this passage. I think too often people like an angry God, a God who's wrath is poured out in anger on "sinners." However, I think there are three things that need to be noted here.
1. Gods wrath is already being poured out on those who are in rebellion. The wrath of God is seen in the 'giving up' of people to their own rebellious ways.
2. This passage needs to be read in the context of the rest of Romans and the gospel message. I think Hays says it well "the wrath of God - manifested in God's 'giving up' of rebellious humanity to follow their own devices and desires - is not the last word. The gospel of the cross declares that God loves us even while we are in rebellion and that the sacrificial death of his own Son is the measure of the depth of that love." (p. 392) Personally I believe that the wrath of God is about the restoration and reconciliation of people. God wants to bring the rebels into the family of God. And I think that the next couple of chapters really bring this to light.
3. It is worth reemphasizing that this passage is about all of us. It is not just about deviant sexual practices, or those bad rebellious people out there. It is a passage about our own condition and our own sins as well. Paul is not giving us a list of the "big sins" that need to be avoided, rather he is reminding us that we are all rebels and we all need to be reconciled.
Just a few of my thoughts.
I like that, it's our job to spread the positive news of the gospel of the Kingdom of God, it's God's job to judge everything else. As hard as it is not to judge others sometimes, it's actually less stressful knowing that their problems are not our problem; their sins aren't ours to correct. It's our job only to share about the kingdom, and God will take care of the rest.
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