Romans 1:1-32
The Reality of Sin: The Truth (vv. 18-23)
- Humanity’s suppression of Truth
- God’s expression in Truth
- Foolish profession against Truth
The Results of Sin: The Tragedy (vv. 24-32)
- Defilement and idolatry
- Deviance and perversion
- Depravity and affirmation
More to Consider
The picture Paul paints here is an ugly one. I confess that there are some neighborhoods that I dislike driving through, and I avoid them if I can.
My avoiding them does not change them or eliminate them. God's description of sinners is not a pretty one, but we cannot avoid it. This section does not teach evolution (that man started low and climbed high), but devolu-tion: he started high and, because of sin, sank lower than the beasts. Four stages mark man's tragic devolution. Warren Wiresbe
God's wrath is not an uncontrollable, destructive emotion directed against those God dislikes. Wrath describes His just, holy response to sin and rebellion. From human perspective shaped in a world permeated by sin and injustice, wrath and love are seen as polar opposites. In God, however, there is no conflict between His great love and His terrible wrath. Most human beings know that something is wrong with the world, and there is a deep longing that it be put right. The multiplicity of religions and sects give a variety of explanations of why the world isn't as it should be. They also prescribe a variety of logically incompatible solutions to right the wrongs. Both God's love and His wrath are the guarantors that what is wrong will be put right. To deny or minimize God's wrath is to obscure what He revealed in the death of His Son who bore God's wrath in our place.
The Apologetics Study Bible
The drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he'd pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. "You were drunk last night weren't you!" "No, honey." "Well, if you weren't, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?" Serminillustrations.com
