Romans 1

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Romans 1 opens the most influential letter in Christian history. Paul introduces himself as a servant set apart for the gospel about God's Son, greets a church he did not found, and explains that he has long wanted to visit Rome. Then he states his theme: he is not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, revealing a righteousness that comes by faith. The rest of the chapter explains why that gospel is needed. God's wrath is revealed against people who suppress the truth visible in creation, exchange the Creator for idols, and are handed over to their own desires, ending in a catalogue of vices that runs from envy to disobedience to parents.

Apri commento del capitolo

Romans 1 is the doorway into a letter that has changed the course of history more than once, through Augustine, Luther, Wesley, and Barth, and the doorway is wide. Paul spends seven verses simply saying hello, because he is writing to a church he did not plant and wants them to know who he is: a servant, an apostle, set apart for a gospel that was promised long ago and concerns God's Son, David's descendant, declared Son of God with power by rising from the dead. He tells them he has prayed for them constantly and has been trying to come for years. Then he states, in two sentences, what the whole letter will unfold. He is not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, Jew first and then Greek, and in it a righteousness from God is revealed, by faith from first to last, as Habakkuk said: the righteous will live by faith. The second half of the chapter is darker and is meant to be. Paul describes a humanity that knows God from the world he made and refuses to thank him, that swaps the glory of the immortal God for statues of men and birds and reptiles, and that is handed over, three times, to the consequences of its own choices. The list of vices at the end is long enough to include everyone, which is the point; chapter 2 will begin with "therefore you have no excuse, you who judge." The bad news is the setup for the good news of chapter 3.

Passi chiave

Romans 1:1-7 Romans 1:16-17 Romans 1:18-25 Romans 1:26-32 Habakkuk 2:4 Romans 2:1-4

Historical and literary context

Paul wrote from Corinth around AD 57, dictating to Tertius, before carrying the Jerusalem collection east and hoping to go on to Spain by way of Rome. The Roman church had grown without an apostle, mostly in house churches. In AD 49 the emperor Claudius had expelled Jews from Rome, including Christian Jews such as Priscilla and Aquila; when they returned after his death in 54, they found congregations that had become largely Gentile. The letter's long argument about Jew and Gentile addresses that strain. Verses 18 to 32 draw on a Jewish critique of pagan idolatry familiar from the Wisdom of Solomon, which Paul will turn on his own people in chapter 2.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 7 are the greeting, expanded into a summary of the gospel: promised in Scripture, concerning the Son of David declared Son of God by the resurrection. Verses 8 to 15 give thanks for the Romans' faith and explain Paul's long-delayed visit and his obligation to preach to Greeks and non-Greeks alike. Verses 16 and 17 state the thesis, with the quotation from Habakkuk 2:4. Verses 18 to 23 describe the suppression of the truth known from creation and its exchange for images. Verses 24 to 32 record three times that God "gave them over," to impurity, to dishonorable passions, and to a depraved mind, and close with a list of vices.

Why this chapter matters

Verses 16 and 17 have been called the keystone of the letter and of Protestant theology; Luther described the phrase "the righteousness of God" as the gate through which he entered paradise once he understood it as a gift rather than a demand. Verse 20 is the classic text for natural revelation, the claim that creation itself leaves people without excuse. The threefold "God gave them over" describes judgment as abandonment to one's own choices rather than as external punishment, a picture that has shaped Christian thinking about sin ever since.

Interpretive tension to watch

Verses 26 and 27 are the New Testament's most discussed statement about same-sex relations, and readers disagree sharply about what Paul had in view and how it applies today. The passage's rhetorical shape matters for any reading: it builds a case against "them," the idolatrous pagan world, so that chapter 2 can spring the trap on anyone who judges, since "you who pass judgment do the same things." Whether "the righteousness of God" in verse 17 means God's own justice, the status he gives believers, or his saving action is a further debate that runs through the whole letter.

Domande per questo capitolo

Paul says he is "not ashamed" of the gospel. What about the message might have been embarrassing in Rome, and what would it be today?
Verse 20 claims that creation makes God's power and nature plain. What can be known about God from the world, and what cannot?
Three times the chapter says God "gave them over." How is being left to your own desires a judgment?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Aggiungi alle note

1 Paul, a servant of Yeshua the Messiah, called to be an emissary, set apart for the Good News of God, 2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Yeshua the Messiah our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and the office of emissary for obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake; 6 among whom you are also called to belong to Yeshua the Messiah; 7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be holy ones: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 8 First, I thank my God through Yeshua the Messiah for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, 10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; 12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So as much as is in me, I am eager to proclaim the Good News to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Messiah, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. 17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. 20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. 21 Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; 25 who exchanged the truth of 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 vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. 28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, 30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

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