# Romans commentary

## 1

1-14 - preamble

15 - transition to addressing the gospel

16 - the gospel is God's saving power for everyone who believes

17 - God's righteousness is revealed through faiths changing

18-32 - a descent into lawlessness

- our suppression of the truth reveals the wrath of God (18)
  - it's plainly obvious (19)
- God's traits are apparent, so nobody has any excuse (20)
  - even while people know God, they don't praise or thank Him (21a)
  - instead, their thoughts became futile and hearts darkened (21b)
    - this is because the design of our existence is composed of worshiping God more than anything else, and all other endeavors are worthless
- they become fools while claiming wisdom (22)
  - instead of worshiping God in all things, they replace Him with something created *by* God (23)
- God then gives them over to their heart's desires (24)
  - those desires are to impurity and to dishonor their bodies with each other
- summary of the idea (25)
- this is why God gave them over to dishonorable passions
  - they exchanged the natural for unnatural, and reaped the consequences (26-27)
- summary of idea (28)
- (present-tense) they're filled with every kind of bad thing
  - unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice
  - envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility
  gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all types of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless
- they know God's righteous command that they deserve death, but go farther than doing them by also approving everyone else who does them

## 2

- whoever you are, you're without excuse when you judge someone else (1-2)
  - this is because you practice what you condemn (i.e., projecting)
  - God's judgment reflects truth against people who practice those things
- we can't escape God's judgment when we judge while doing it ourselves (3)
  - we have sentiment against God over what we see as the lack of His judgment
  - that sentiment means we miss that God's kindness, forbearance, and patience leads us to repentance
- our stubbornness and unrepentance means we stockpile wrath for ourselves on Judgment Day, which will reveal God's righteous judgment (5)
- He will reward everyone according to their works (6)
  - those who persevere seeking glory and honor and immortality receive eternal life (7)
  - those who live in selfish ambition, don't obey the truth, and follow unrighteousness receive wrath and anger (8)
  - this is God's impartial judgment on all people, Jew first and also Greek (9-11)
- all who have sinned apart from the law will die without it, and those sinning under the law are judged by it (12)
- it's about doing the law, not just hearing (13)
- the Gentiles naturally show a "law" when they do things required by the law (14)
- they show through their conscience that the law is written onto their hearts (15a)
- their conflicting thoughts show a moral accusation/defense (15b) on the day God judges their heart's secrets (16)
being a Jew is NOT superior, since you're held to a higher standard (17-24)