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.

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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.

Passagens-chave

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.

Perguntas para este capítulo

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.

Adicionar às notas

1 耶稣基督的仆人保罗，奉召为使徒，特派传　神的福音。 2 这福音是　神从前借众先知在圣经上所应许的， 3 论到他儿子—我主耶稣基督。按肉体说，是从大卫后裔生的； 4 按圣善的灵说，因从死里复活，以大能显明是　神的儿子。 5 我们从他受了恩惠并使徒的职分，在万国之中叫人为他的名信服真道； 6 其中也有你们这蒙召属耶稣基督的人。 7 我写信给你们在罗马、为　神所爱、奉召作圣徒的众人。愿恩惠、平安从我们的父　神并主耶稣基督归与你们！ 8 第一，我靠着耶稣基督，为你们众人感谢我的　神，因你们的信德传遍了天下。 9 我在他儿子福音上，用心灵所事奉的　神可以见证，我怎样不住地提到你们； 10 在祷告之间常常恳求，或者照　神的旨意，终能得平坦的道路往你们那里去。 11 因为我切切地想见你们，要把些属灵的恩赐分给你们，使你们可以坚固； 12 这样，我在你们中间，因你与我彼此的信心，就可以同得安慰。 13 弟兄们，我不愿意你们不知道，我屡次定意往你们那里去，要在你们中间得些果子，如同在其余的外邦人中一样；只是到如今仍有阻隔。 14 无论是希腊人、化外人、聪明人、愚拙人，我都欠他们的债， 15 所以情愿尽我的力量，将福音也传给你们在罗马的人。 16 我不以福音为耻；这福音本是　神的大能，要救一切相信的，先是犹太人，后是希腊人。 17 因为　神的义正在这福音上显明出来；这义是本于信，以至于信。如[经上]所记：「义人必因信得生。」 18 原来，　神的忿怒从天上显明在一切不虔不义的人身上，就是那些行不义阻挡真理的人。 19 神的事情，人所能知道的，原显明在人心里，因为　神已经给他们显明。 20 自从造天地以来，　神的永能和神性是明明可知的，虽是眼不能见，但借着所造之物就可以晓得，叫人无可推诿。 21 因为，他们虽然知道　神，却不当作　神荣耀他，也不感谢他。他们的思念变为虚妄，无知的心就昏暗了。 22 自称为聪明，反成了愚拙， 23 将不能朽坏之　神的荣耀变为偶像，仿佛必朽坏的人和飞禽、走兽、昆虫的样式。 24 所以，　神任凭他们逞着心里的情欲行污秽的事，以致彼此玷辱自己的身体。 25 他们将　神的真实变为虚谎，去敬拜事奉受造之物，不敬奉那造物的主—主乃是可称颂的，直到永远。阿们！ 26 因此，　神任凭他们放纵可羞耻的情欲。他们的女人把顺性的用处变为逆性的用处； 27 男人也是如此，弃了女人顺性的用处，欲火攻心，彼此贪恋，男和男行可羞耻的事，就在自己身上受这妄为当得的报应。 28 他们既然故意不认识　神，　神就任凭他们存邪僻的心，行那些不合理的事； 29 装满了各样不义、邪恶、贪婪、恶毒；满心是嫉妒、凶杀、争竞、诡诈、毒恨； 30 又是谗毁的、背后说人的、怨恨　神的、侮慢人的、狂傲的、自夸的、捏造恶事的、违背父母的、 31 无知的、背约的、无亲情的、不怜悯人的。 32 他们虽知道　神判定行这样事的人是当死的，然而他们不但自己去行，还喜欢别人去行。

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