Welcome to our fourth episode in Series 1 of Romans.

Recap and Background

We are in the middle of a very deep and profound discussion that Paul is having about the power of the gospel and the nature of the problem of humanity. In the first two episodes, I introduced the Roman church’s situation, Paul’s life, why he was writing to the Roman Church, and the nature of the letter that he was writing. One of the points that I made then, which is important to mention again now, is that Romans is very special to us because Paul didn’t have lots of practical down-to-earth questions about the Roman church to answer because he hadn’t been there; he wasn’t overseeing the church at the time and so he is writing a more comprehensive letter about the faith and the Christian life, without having to spend time on practical issues in the church, especially in the first half of the letter. He takes the opportunity to expand his treatment of the nature of the gospel in a way that doesn’t happen anywhere else in his writings to the same extent. It is an incredible privilege for us to see into Paul’s mind, into his heart, and into his understanding of the gospel.

Earlier, I introduced you to the key statement that Paul makes which provides the starting point for what we are talking about now, which is in Romans 1: 16 - 17.

“I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it’s the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed - a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it’s written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’.”

Romans 1:16-17, NIV

Paul loves the gospel and he believes that when the gospel comes, it is a revolution in human life. He says that God’s righteousness is revealed; something is given to humanity which they never really saw before, in a general way. They saw how in the gospel, we can be put right with God. Our status can be changed so that we are no longer in hostility to God; we are no longer his enemies; no longer estranged from him; and no longer separated from him, we are brought into his family through what Christ has done.

But, as I said in the last episode, questions come to mind immediately: ‘Why did Christ need to do this? Why aren’t the old religious ways good enough?’ In the Jewish situation, why isn’t the Old Testament good enough? Why isn’t the Law of Moses sufficient to bring people fully into right relationship with God? What is wrong with humanity that such a drastic thing as the death of the Son of God is necessary? In other words, people would argue against Paul, as they argue against Christians today, by saying that the human problem isn’t as big a problem as you think it is. What is wrong with humanity? We just need social improvements, better education, better health care, better ways of living in community and we can manage okay. Or maybe we just need our own religious systems which are based on the view that we can attain connection with God through meditation, through sacrifice, through prayer, through good moral living, or through good lifestyle habits. Paul challenges all this at an absolutely fundamental level. It started in the last episode, where he analysed the fact that humanity is fundamentally separated from God. He began to comment on the question of sin. If we go back into the book of Genesis, we find that originally mankind was walking in fellowship with God, in harmony with God but then a moment came of independence, of a decision to turn against God by Adam and Eve. Then a separation from God followed, and the rest of the Bible is a commentary on that. We see sin operating in all sorts of different ways. In the last episode, we looked more closely at what we mean by sin and I defined it in a number of different ways. One of them was living independently of God, pointing out that actually every human being has an element of that within us; we want to live independently. Paul sometimes speaks of sin like a power - not just individual actions that might be wrong; you might do a few things wrong today and a few good things tomorrow. No, sin is more fundamental than that. It is a kind of spiritual power that lives within the human person that we can’t totally control. That is how Paul sees it - it is living independently of God; a power within us that separates us from God and makes us do wrong things. Into that, Paul says, comes the gospel - the righteousness of God, the new way, breaking that power fundamentally.

In the last episode, he began to explain how sin works in human society. He concentrated on the fact that our tendency is to create what Paul calls idols - putting something in the place of God. He basically argues that humanity is religious to the very core; we have to believe in, or put our trust in, something outside of ourselves. This is what the Bible calls idolatry. The form of idolatry that took place in the Ancient World was in the form of statues and images of gods and deities that appeared in temples, shrines and households. That is what Paul was talking about in the last episode. He was pointing out that humanity in general has fallen into idolatry. God is not where he should be in our lives. He has been side-lined or ignored. We are living independently of him, and the power of sin within us makes it an inevitable fact that we head in that direction.

I was sitting in a park last summer with a friend of mine and talking about the Christian faith. It was a beautiful park and it was a beautiful sunny day. I said ‘Do you think this was created by somebody? Do you think there is a God who created it?’ And he denied this very firmly, despite all the beauty and everything that was in the environment. It is interesting that despite the evidence of God in creation, which Paul spoke about in the last episode, people very quickly say, ‘No there isn’t a God; there is another explanation. Evolution can explain how things came about'. Our thinking has been affected; sin comes in the way. We can’t see the gospel clearly without God helping us.

An Example of Idolatry

Having clearly expressed it up to this point, Paul now moves on to give examples of what happens when idolatry takes over human life. Idolatry is the basic problem; we put something in the place of God. Because of the power of sin within us, we want to live independently so we put something else in the place of God. In the passage today he gives many different examples of how this works out in human society.

“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Romans 1:24-27, NIV

The starting point is idolatry; we have put something else in the place of God. Paul gives an example. This discussion of sexual relationships is an example; it is not the root of the problem, it is an outcome of the problem. There are many other outcomes of the problem and he gives a long list of them later in this passage. But first of all, he focuses briefly on sexual morality.

He is talking to Christians living in Rome. Roman society was sexually liberal. There were many ways that this worked out: prostitution was common; sexual relationships between men and household slaves or servants were common; informal homosexual relationships were common; people often committed adultery; marriages frequently broke down through unfaithfulness; there was violence in the home very often. This was a very complex society morally, with lots of sexual immorality and Paul speaks straight into this. He says this is a symptom of us putting created things in the place of the Creator. In this example, the created thing that we put in the place of the Creator is the human body and its sexual capabilities, and the opportunity for easy pleasure through sexual relationships. Paul was quite clear in other places that sex between a man and a woman in marriage is a wholly good thing, in 1 Corinthians 7, for example. He was positive about that. Here he is talking about sex that is taking place outside the marriage relationship, between men and women in the first few verses, and then between women and women and men and men in homosexual relationships, in the second part of his example.

This is an example of idolatry.

Some churches have made the mistake of making sexual sin the central and fundamental sin that they criticize in other people. Paul doesn’t do that. He says this is an example of something much bigger; it is idolatry. It has many different manifestations but this is a very common and a very big example. Paul makes no comment here about how the State might regulate sexual relationships. He is not really interested in that. In this passage, he is interested in the difference between living faith, and a pagan lifestyle dominated by sin. He refers to homosexuality on three occasions. He refers to it in 1 Corinthians 6: 9 and in 1 Timothy 1: 20, as well as here in Romans 1. He indicates that active homosexual relationships are not part of Christian discipleship.

Further Examples of Idolatry

There is much more to be said. He is illustrating idolatry, explaining how it works in human society and in Romans 1: 28 to 32, he goes on to give an astonishing list of all the different things that take place when sin dominates human society, when we are living independently of God, when we create idols for ourselves.

“Furthermore, just this as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what they all ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They’re full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.”

Romans 1:28-32, NIV

What a remarkable and challenging passage that is.

We need to take it seriously. Paul is making a very important series of points here. First of all, he talks about depraved thinking; ‘a depraved mind’ verse 28. So when sin comes into human life, it is not just our actions that go wrong; sexual actions, for example. But he also tells us that our thinking goes wrong Sin involves misunderstanding: the world, our lives, God and moral values. Our thinking goes wrong. He gives this incredible list: verses 29 to 31. Looking at this list you will find some of them are about thinking, some about talking and words, and some about actions. For example, thinking: greed, envy, deceit: words: gossip, slander; actions: no love, no mercy, disobeying parents, murder, and strife. Sin has three different dimensions in its out-working: sometimes we think the wrong thoughts; sometimes say the wrong words; and sometimes we do the wrong things; and sometimes we are doing all three together! It is interesting how those three dimensions of human life are all mixed together in Paul’s list.

We have to remember that as Paul is arguing like this, he is using a type of argument and explanation which is very dramatic; it is based on a style of writing that was common in those days, known as a rhetorical style, where everything is presented in dramatic terms. He is adding things together to make it very clear what he is talking about. We will find in the subsequent episodes, that he introduces questioners - people saying, ‘Hang on a minute, Paul, is that really true?’ The first questioner comes up in the next episode. He is going to question what Paul is saying here, and asking, ‘Is it really as bad as that, does it really apply to everybody?’ We will come to that in the next episode but I want you to bear in mind, he is creating a very dramatic picture here.

Conscience

As Paul comes to an end of this passage, he introduces another key idea in his argument - the idea of conscience. I already explained in the last episode, that he introduced the idea that everybody has access to God through creation. We saw how we look at creation but we don’t respond to God through creation fully. Now, he is introducing a second idea which he will develop much more in chapter 2, which is the idea that everybody has a moral sense, a sense of right and wrong.

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do those very things but also to approve of those who practice them.”

Romans 1:32, NIV

How did all the people of the world know God’s righteous decree? Not many of them had heard of the Old Testament and the Law of Moses. That was given to the Jews, and it was for the Jews. Many people living in the city of Rome that Paul was writing to, knew virtually nothing about Judaism, or the God of Israel, Yahweh, whatsoever. So how did they know that such things that they did, such as things in the list here - “gossips, slanderers, God-haters insolent arrogant and boastful”, how did they know that that they were wrong? What standard did they have to go on? Paul is introducing the idea that we all have a moral sense built into us. In chapter 2, he will describe this moral sense with the word ‘conscience’, for example in Romans 2: 15. We will come to that in a subsequent episode, where he explains this more fully but he is referring to the same thing here. Paul is telling us that God has put within humanity a moral sense of right and wrong. This moral sense of right and wrong doesn’t operate perfectly within us because there is another force operating within us - the force of sin. Our conscience can be affected by how we are brought up, things that happen to us, and things that are put into our minds by other people. But even so Paul argues that behind all that there is a moral sense that every human has about right and wrong, particularly around questions like truthfulness, about honouring of relationships, and family, about helping those in need, and basic moral values like that. Some of which are referred to here.

Paul is developing his argument and beginning to lead us to the idea that there are two signposts that God has put to lead people to seek him, even if they haven’t heard of the gospel; they have got two other sources of revelation and information. One is ‘out there’ and one is ‘in here’; one is the created order which always reveals that there is a Creator behind it, if only we can find who that creator is and the other ‘in here’, is the conscience which tells us that there must be a moral law-giver; there must be somebody who created that sense of right and wrong. Paul is alluding to that here in verse 32. We find across human experience the sense of guilt for things that we have done wrong, is an ever-present sense in all societies. People sometimes fight against it but deep down they know when they have done wrong on many occasions.

In the next episode, there will be a question Paul will put - a question as if to say, ‘Well, hang on a minute Paul, is it really as bad as all that?’ But let’s not jump ahead, we haven’t got to that point in the argument yet.

Reflections

We need to think again about the question of idolatry. It is a very basic biblical idea that goes back to the Old Testament, in fact it goes back to the Ten Commandments. In the Old Testament, where the Ten Commandments are stated in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, one of the commands is to have no other image and to have no other God except the God of Israel. Idolatry is a central biblical idea; the idea that you put something else in front of God, or in place of God in your life. This is a primary outworking of sin.

I want to come back to you the listener. Maybe you are a devout follower of God, maybe you are still finding your way, maybe you are struggling with some priority in your life that means you are not putting the Kingdom of God first - this is a moment of reflection, where we can deal with idolatry in our lives - something that is standing in the way of obeying God. Some of those idols can be personal things to do with money, comfort, power, or sexual relationships that aren’t appropriate. Some of these idols can be things that are operating in our culture: maybe racist attitudes tribal attitudes, a belief in witchcraft, a belief that we can get richer and richer in our society at any cost. There are all sorts of things that can be big ideas that control the way we think. A modern one in the Western World is the idea that we need to find self-fulfilment as the primary goal of life. These are idols and they need to be challenged. Paul is challenging the idols of the Ancient World; the outcome of idolatry is living independently of God. This is a theme I’ve emphasized several times during these sessions and it is very important to grasp this point. That is what Paul is thinking behind all the examples that he has given.

A very graphic example of this in Jesus’ teaching is the parable of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15, which is one of the best known stories of Jesus.

It is about living independently of God. The father has two sons who are due to inherit portions of his estate on his death. The younger son makes a surprising and unusual request - very unusual in their culture - to receive his inheritance in money terms before his father had died. This was not common and could be considered rather an insult but the father gathered all his cash together gave him the money and released him to go his way. The story speaks of someone who is choosing to live independently, went to another country; to live another life in another place, with other people. This is like the heart of sin. The story has a good ending because he comes to his senses and he realises he has made a terrible mistake and he comes back. His restoration is shown in the story as the father embraces him back. Underneath all these behaviour patterns that Paul identifies, here is the fundamental flaw in human nature brought about by sin which is living independently of God and setting up something in God’s place in our lives.

In establishing this, he is pointing out the power of the gospel because the gospel can break through all of that. We can’t solve the problem of our sin; we can’t find our way to God, we can’t be good enough, we can’t be religious enough or righteousness enough, or moral enough to please him. But he can make a way through for us. He can break the power of sin, break the power of idolatry and give a home to the stubborn independent person who went his own way, like the second son in the parable of The Prodigal Son. Ultimately, that is what Paul wants to demonstrate very clearly in the book of Romans.

But before he does that, chapter 2 and the early part of chapter 3, will develop his arguments in different ways and show the power of sin to affect all humanity whatever their ethnic or religious background.

One of the main themes that comes out of this passage is the question of homosexuality. I want to make a few more comments about that. In the modern world it is a very controversial subject in different parts of the world and there are very different rules, regulations, rights and freedoms operating in different societies. Paul does not comment in Romans 1 on what the State should do about regulating sexual relationships of any sort. In fact, he lived in a culture in which there was very little regulation of sexual relationships; there was freedom for people to have casual sexual relationships of various sorts notably in households with domestic servants and slaves in households, and also to have homosexual relationships. That was a freedom that existed. Paul didn’t challenge that in this passage. He wasn’t talking about what the State should do. He knew that God permitted people to live in whatever way they chose to live. He didn’t suggest that the Church should prevent that freedom. That was not what he was focusing on in this passage. What he was focusing on are two things: one is that homosexuality goes against God’s created pattern for mankind, for men and women together in their sexual relationships, in their marriage relationships and in their family structures; and the second thing he confirmed is that homosexual lifestyles are therefore not part of Christian discipleship and Church communities. That was clear to Paul. He comments on homosexuality three times in his letters and makes similar points on each occasion but this is the most detailed comment that he makes. So there is a balance in a Christian understanding: respecting the freedom of others and maintaining the Integrity of Christian discipleship.

There is plenty to reflect on in this episode. I look forward to seeing you as we re-join the story for the next episode.