Chapter One

Greeting to the readers (1–7). The occasion and purpose of writing the epistle (8–17). The theme of the epistle: the revelation in the Gospel of God’s righteousness and the first proof that outside the Gospel people are subject only to the wrath of God (18–32).

Romans 1:1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a called Apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, The epistle begins with an extensive greeting addressed to the readers. Here the Apostle speaks of his right to address a letter to the Romans. He is an Apostle called by Christ and has received specific authority from him to preach the Gospel to all nations. “A servant of Jesus Christ.” All Christians are servants of Christ, who is their Redeemer and Lord (2 Pet 2:1). But Paul most likely calls himself a “servant of Christ” here in a special sense, as one chosen by Christ for a particular ministry, as the closest and most direct executor of Christ’s commands. Moses likewise calls himself a servant of God (Num 12:7 and following). In other places Paul designates this same relationship to Christ with the terms ὑπηρέτης (1 Cor 4:1), διάκονος (1 Cor 3:5), οἰκονόμος (1 Cor 4 and following). Cf. Phil 1:1, where the Apostle assigns to himself and Timothy the title of servants of Christ, calling the rest of the Christians simply saints. “A called Apostle.” In the early Church, the term apostle was sometimes applied to traveling preachers of the Gospel who had not, however, received authorization from Christ (2 Cor 11:5) or from any particular church. Paul is not like them: he received a special calling (κλητός) to be an apostle, received it from Christ himself, and was recognized as a true apostle of Christ by the representatives of the Church (cf. Gal 2:7-10). This had certainly been reported to Rome by Paul’s friends (Rom 16:3). “Set apart for the gospel of God.” The Apostle is a man separated for the proclamation of the good news that comes from God. He has been set apart, freed by God from all other duties and concerns, so that he might devote himself fully to the great work of proclamation entrusted to him (the expression ἀφωρισμένος — meaning “separated” — is the same as the Hebrew word perushim, in Greek transliteration — φαρισαῖος. Paul is a Pharisee — in the highest sense of the word: he has separated himself in Christianity from all ordinary occupations and concerns, just as he had separated himself from the common people when he was a Jew and at the same time a strict Pharisee). He is called to be the Apostle of a new divine revelation — concerning the salvation of humanity. His teaching is not human but divine.

Romans 1:2. which God promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, “Which God promised beforehand.” Wishing to assure the Romans that the Gospel he preaches as an Apostle is not a human teaching but a message of divine origin, Paul says that God himself foretold it through his prophets in the holy scriptures. The readers already knew, of course, that Christ and the apostles pointed to the fulfillment in the New Testament of Old Testament prophecies (see Luke 4:17-21; Matt 11:5; Isa 60 and following; Matt 12:17-21; Isa 42:1-4 and so on). Paul undoubtedly does not wish to repeat that idea here. He points only to the fact that the scriptures, in which the coming of the New Covenant is foretold, are holy — that is, they contain no error: one must believe them also in what they say about Christ’s Kingdom...

Romans 1:3. concerning his Son, who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh, “Concerning his Son.” The good news that God now offers to humanity through his envoys — the apostles — has as its principal subject, or rather its central point around which everything else in the Gospel revolves, the Son of God. In what sense is Christ called the Son of God here? Since the Son of God is here named the main subject of the Gospel — that is, the apostolic proclamation — and since this proclamation concerns the Son of God in general, first in the state before his incarnation and then as incarnate, one may conclude that Paul has used this expression here in a broad and most comprehensive sense, encompassing both the eternal pre-existence of the Son of God and his earthly life. He always was and remained the true Son of God even in the state of humiliation, the Only-Begotten Son. “Who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh.” Although Christ was the Son of God, he nevertheless appeared on earth as a man, assuming human flesh and blood (the phrase “according to the flesh” completes the phrase “from the seed,” that is, from the posterity of David). — As for the miraculous manner of Christ’s conception, the Apostle speaks of it in Rom 8:3 and in 2 Cor 5:21, where the sinlessness of Christ is discussed. Indeed, if Christ were called the Son of God by Paul only in an improper sense, if Paul supposed that his father was Joseph and not God, then Paul could not at the same time regard Christ as free from the inherited sin of Adam. — It is noteworthy that the most detailed information about the miraculous supernatural birth of Christ is provided by Paul’s coworker, Luke.

Romans 1:4. and was declared Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead — Jesus Christ our Lord, “And was declared Son of God.” Some modern commentators, on the basis of the meaning of the Greek verb ὁρίζειν used here — which supposedly contains an indication of some change taking place in the person to whom it refers — hold that the passage speaks of a transformation of Christ’s human nature into a glorified, divine one, for which Christ prayed to the Father before his death (John 17:5). But according to the interpretation of the ancient Fathers of the Church and other ecclesiastical commentators, the Apostle says here only that from the time of Christ’s resurrection his dignity as the Son of God, which had previously been dimly perceived even by his apostles, became clear to all. “The image of the Lord was finally defined, and all who perceived it through faith cried out with Thomas: My Lord and my God!” (Bishop Theophan). And how this was defined — the Apostle says further — “in power” — that is, the Lord appeared after the resurrection as the Mighty One who saves (Isa 63:1). Earlier he abode in a state of weakness (2 Cor 13:4; Heb 2:14). “According to the Spirit of holiness” — that is, the glorification of Christ as the God-man had as its inner and effective cause his perfect holiness, of which the Apostle also speaks in the epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 9:14). Since it was already stated in the Old Testament that the Holy One of God would not undergo corruption after death (Ps 15:10), the perfect holiness of Christ also excluded the possibility of his body’s decomposition after death, and Christ, being entirely free from corruption, necessarily had to be healed miraculously, in an instant, when the hour of his resurrection struck. Thus, the glorification of Christ in the act of the resurrection was fully in accord with that perfect holiness of his which was not for a single moment obscured by anything throughout Christ’s earthly life. “Through the resurrection from the dead” — that is, from the time (ἐξ) of the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection was for Christ the first (in time) manifestation of his glorification as the God-man. “Jesus Christ our Lord.” These words form an appositive to the expression in v. 3: “concerning his Son.” — Regarding the glorification of Christ, which, so to speak, drew him out of the narrow circle of Jewish nationality (Rom 15:8), the Apostle speaks in order to make clear to the Roman Christians that he, Paul, was called by the glorified Christ, who through this glorification entered into a relationship with all of humanity and thus also produced Paul as an Apostle for all the nations of the earth.

Romans 1:5. through whom we received grace and apostleship to bring about obedience of faith for his name’s sake among all the nations, Romans 3:24. “Through whom we received grace and apostleship.” Among the Greeks, the plural pronoun was often used in place of the singular. This was done in cases where the person speaking receded into the background and where the primary aim was to highlight the very work accomplished by that person. So the Apostle here speaks, accordingly, only of himself alone, as the apostle appointed chiefly for bringing the Gentiles into the Church of Christ. — “Grace” — that is, the saving grace that poured out upon Paul on the day of his conversion to Christ (the explanation of the word — Romans 3:24). — “Apostleship” — this is a particular grace-filled ministry consisting in bringing salvation to the whole world. — To bring about obedience of faith among all the nations — more precisely from the Greek: “to bring about obedience of faith among all nations for the glory of his name.” By faith it is better to understand the preaching about faith (cf. Acts 6:7: “many obeyed the faith”). “Nations.” The Greek word ἔθνη can be translated as “peoples,” but both in the Old Testament (Gen 12:3; Isa 14:6) and in the New (Acts 9:15; Gal 1:16; Eph 2:11 and in our epistle: Rom 2:14) it is also used as a special technical term for Gentiles, and here this expression undoubtedly carries that same meaning. — “For his name’s sake.” These words (in Greek: ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόμ — in honor of his, Christ’s, name) recall the words of Christ to Ananias about Paul: “he is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name before the nations” (Acts 9:15).

Romans 1:6. among whom you also are, called by Jesus Christ, — “Among whom you also are, called by Jesus Christ.” By this the Apostle indicates his right to address the Roman Christians with a letter. He is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and they too had been Gentiles; thus Paul is obligated to care for them, and they ought to listen to him. He was called by Christ (v. 1), and they too were called by Christ (κλητοὶ Ἰ. Χ.) — the Master is the same for both him and Paul, and if Paul serves him as an Apostle, then the Romans must serve Christ as obedient children of the Apostle.

Romans 1:7. to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. “To all.” With this addition Paul broadens the circle of persons to whom he sends his letter. It is clear that there were also Jewish Christians in Rome. — “Beloved of God.” God loves all people (John 3:16), but with regard to unbelievers the love of God can only be compassion, not that close inner communion in which God stands with his children — the believers. — “Called to be saints.” He calls them Christians in this way to show that they are holy, that is, separated from the sinful world by the call of God, which serves as their guarantee for the permanence of this holiness. — “Grace to you and peace.” By grace one should here understand the love of God manifesting itself in ever-new expressions among the faithful; and peace is that feeling of complete inward rest that the awareness of one’s reconciliation with God imparts to a person. — From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God and the love of Christ are distinct: one is the love of a Father, the other the love of a brother. Christ loves people with his own love (Rom 5:15). By showing that the giver of gifts is not only the Father but also the Son, the Apostle, according to Theodoret, “teaches us the equality of the Father and the Son.”

Romans 1:8. First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. What moves the Apostle to write to the Romans is his love for them, as well as his awareness of the duty he has toward them as Apostle and teacher of the Gentiles. This letter has as its purpose to strengthen the Romans in the Christian faith and life. It takes the place of the personal conversation the Apostle would have liked to have with the Romans but could not have until now. If they suppose that he has not come to them all this time because he was afraid to proclaim the crucified Christ in the capital of the world, they are mistaken. He is not ashamed to preach the Gospel, because it is the power of God saving people, and because in it the righteousness of God is revealed. The Apostle begins almost all his epistles with a thanksgiving to God for the flourishing of the church to which he is writing. He particularly emphasizes here the circumstance that the conversion of many Romans to faith in Christ is spoken of throughout the whole world. By this the Apostle points to the great benefit that this fact should have in the spread of Christianity: the provinces, evidently, will follow the example of the capital! — “My God.” With this expression the Apostle points to his personal experience, by which he was convinced of God’s love specifically for him, the least of all (1 Cor 15:8). — “Through Jesus Christ.” The Apostle sends up his thanksgiving to God through Christ, as the Head of the Church and as his own Head.

Romans 1:9. God is my witness — whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son — that I make mention of you without ceasing, The Apostle confirms by calling God as witness that he ceaselessly, amid all his many varied activities, remembers the Romans. “I serve” — the Greek word used here (λατρεύω) denotes a properly liturgical or cultic action (cf. Rom 15:16). So highly does the Apostle regard the work of proclaiming Christ! — “With my spirit” — that is, with his whole inner being. — “In the gospel of his Son” — that is, (I serve) by preaching about the Son of God.

Romans 1:10. always requesting in my prayers that somehow at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you, “Somehow” — more precisely from the Greek (ἤδη ποτέ): at last now, finally (cf. Phil 4:10).

Romans 1:11. for I greatly desire to see you, in order to impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, Romans 1:12. that is, to be mutually encouraged among you, each by the other’s faith — both yours and mine. “A spiritual gift.” The Apostle wishes to minister to them through one of the many spiritual gifts he possessed (cf. 1 Cor 14:26). — “To strengthen you” — more precisely from the Greek: “that you may be strengthened.” Paul, by using the passive form here, thereby draws his own person into the background and brings into the foreground only the very result of his activity, because in his conviction it is God himself who strengthens Christians. — “That is” — “or, to put it more correctly...” “To be mutually encouraged.” In strengthening others in faith, the Apostle at the same time strengthened himself as well. Such strengthening was probably needed by him then, in view of certain setbacks he had experienced (cf. Acts 28:15). “Mutually” — the Greek word used here (ἐν ἀλλήλοις) points to a mutual interaction, by virtue of which the Apostle’s faith was to act upon the faith of the Romans and the faith of the Romans upon the faith of the Apostle.

Romans 1:13. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you [but have been prevented until now], in order that I might have some fruit among you as well, as I have among the rest of the nations. Romans 1:14. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Romans 1:15. So, as far as I am concerned, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also, who are in Rome. Readers of the epistle might with some justification ask themselves: how could it happen that Paul, who had already been an Apostle for some twenty years, had not found the time to visit the capital of the Roman empire and proclaim the Gospel there? The Apostle answers this supposed question. He had many times wanted to come to them in order to spread the Gospel in Rome among those who had not yet heard it, but had until now encountered serious obstacles to the fulfillment of his desire. And he is very well aware that it is his direct duty to preach in Rome, because he is obligated to proclaim Christ to all the Gentiles (“nations,” v. 13) — both Greeks, among whom he evidently includes the Romans (Cicero in his work De finibus sets Greeks and Italians together over against the region he calls Barbaria — II, 15), and barbarians. — “You who are in Rome.” Here the Apostle evidently has in mind not only Christians but the entire Roman population in general, whose representatives for Paul are the readers of the epistle.

Romans 1:16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul did not come to Rome because he was ashamed to appear there with his supposedly too-simple proclamation, as the Roman Christians might have thought. No, he is not at all reluctant to come forward with the Gospel before the Greeks and the wise, because this Gospel is a power for salvation; and if a person brings other people salvation, they will certainly not pay attention to the form in which salvation is communicated to them, however strange and imperfect it may seem to them. “Salvation” (σωτηρία). This word contains two ideas: the idea of deliverance from evil and destruction, and the idea of the bestowal of the good — eternal life in communion with God. The possession of both these blessings is conceived of as a state of spiritual health (from σώς — healthy, normal). Christians will receive this salvation in its fullness only at the second coming of the Lord, at the last judgment (Rom 13:11, Phil 1:19; cf. 1 Cor 3:15; Rom 5:9), but in part this salvation is granted even now: the Christian in principle already possesses it (2 Cor 6:2; Rom 3:24). “To everyone who believes.” The condition for receiving salvation is faith. Salvation would not be possible for all to obtain if anything beyond faith were required — for example, the fulfillment of the Mosaic law. The faith of which the Apostle speaks here is nothing other than the simple acceptance of the salvation offered by the preachers of the Gospel. A person need only receive and believe the Gospel — and he immediately begins to enjoy the saving fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. Such is the original meaning of the expression “to believe” (πιστεύειν) so frequently used by Paul. This acceptance of the Gospel is based not on any logical proofs but on a heartfelt trust in the truthfulness of the preacher of the Gospel (Rom 4:18 and others) — a trust that a special grace of God produces in the soul of a person. Afterward, of course, faith must manifest itself in many other ways — in good works, in living by faith — but here the Apostle speaks only of the very first moment, when it is the simple reception of the truths of the Gospel. “To the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The word “first” (πρῶτον), according to Chrysostom’s explanation, indicates “only the order in receiving grace,” which, in the words of Theodoret, is based on the fact that Christ and the apostles came from the Jews, and on the further fact that promises of salvation were given to the Jews (cf. Matt 10:6). — Since the Greek is here contrasted with the Jew, by Greeks one should understand not only cultured pagans (as in v. 14) but all non-Jews or Gentiles in general. The Gentiles are called Greeks here because the Greeks were undoubtedly the most prominent nation among the pagan peoples.

Romans 1:17. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: the righteous person will live by faith. The very content of the Gospel already serves to explain its miraculous effect in the world. In it precisely is revealed the righteousness of God, previously hidden. From the Gospel we learn that God is righteous and in what exactly his righteousness consists. We learn all this through our own experience, because we appropriate and establish the righteousness of God within ourselves. Before, the possibility of appropriating this righteousness was a hidden mystery (Rom 14:24). — That “the righteousness of God” (δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ) means here precisely “God’s righteousness” is evident from the fact that this expression is paralleled in the following verse by the expression “the wrath of God” — in Greek ὀργὴ Θεοῦ, where Θεοῦ (of God) is unquestionably a possessive genitive. From this one must necessarily conclude that also in the expression δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ the word Θεοῦ is likewise a possessive genitive (cf. Rom 3:5). “From faith to faith.” These words relate to the expression “is revealed” as its nearest antecedent in the Greek text. The Apostle wants to say that not all people in the Gospel discern and appropriate the righteousness of God, but only those who have faith (“from faith”) — that is, faith in Christ who died and rose again. These truly enter a new life and advance toward a complete and saving assurance concerning their future destiny (Rom 8:38-39), or attain to the highest degree of faith (“to faith”). “As it is written.” And the prophet Habakkuk, to whom the Apostle refers as the spokesman of the Old Testament worldview, likewise says that a person can be justified and saved only by faith in God — or, what amounts to the same thing, only by appropriating within himself the righteousness of God. Habakkuk knew no other righteousness, no other way of salvation! Thus, the word “by faith” is best understood, in accordance with the context, as modifying “the righteous person,” and the words “will live” are to be understood as meaning “will be saved.”

Romans 1:18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. In order to portray the greatness of the Gospel even more clearly, the Apostle goes on to depict the wretched state in which humanity lay before Christ. Through the end of the first chapter he first of all paints the life of the Gentiles, who, although they could have had some knowledge of God, deliberately suppressed within themselves the light of truth in order to live without restraint according to the desires of their hearts, and who also invented for themselves false gods (18–23). The angered God punished them in two ways. Since they stripped the Creator of the honor due him and traded him for creatures, God allowed them to sink to the most extreme degree of depravity and to dishonor themselves through various unnatural vices (24–27). And since they disdained the knowledge of God that was available to them, God allowed them to fall into such a dark abyss of immorality that they not only committed immoral acts themselves but also approved of others who did the same (28–32). The Gospel is necessary in view of the fact that without it, first of all the Gentiles, there would remain nothing but to bear the severe punishment of God for their sins. “Is revealed.” The revelation of God’s wrath is not tied by the Apostle to any single era: the Lord has punished sin from the very moment people began to sin. Yet there is no doubt that the Apostle had in view primarily the depiction of the fall of paganism in his own time — a fall to which God, angered by the Gentiles, allowed them to descend. — “The wrath of God” (ὀργὴ Θ.). The wrath of God is in essence also the righteousness of God, but manifesting itself in a negative direction. It has as its object what is unrighteous in a person, is called forth precisely by the moral anomaly of the human being, and not so much by an offense against the divine person. The Greeks also attributed wrath to their gods, but the wrath of those gods (μῆνις) was in essence not what Paul calls the wrath of God (ὀργὴ Θ.). It had the character of implacability, envy, and hatred. The gods took offense at people chiefly because of the disrespect people showed toward their persons, and were appeased when a person compensated them with offerings, without regard for the inner state of the person offering sacrifice. But the true God can turn his wrath to mercy only when a person has completely changed for the better in a moral respect (Heb 10:5-6; cf. Ps 39:7-8). “From heaven.” The Apostle adds this to show that the phenomena described below were truly results of God’s wrath, and not merely natural consequences of the Gentiles’ errors. (Otherwise the expression “the wrath of God” might be interpreted in a figurative sense...) By heaven here is meant, of course, not the atmospheric or stellar heaven, but the mysterious dwelling place of the throne of the Eternal Judge; the visible heaven serves for us only as a symbol of that higher heaven. The prodigal son, confessing his sin before heaven and before his father (Luke 15:18), evidently looked upon heaven as the avenger of violated sacred feelings. — “Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people” — that is, against those who do not acknowledge the true God and do not wish to be guided by his laws in life (this is ungodliness — ἀσέβεια), in which the fault lies with their evil will, by which they place their own self above God (this is unrighteousness — ἀδικία). That is, unrighteousness is the cause of ungodliness. — “Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” These words more precisely define wherein lay the guilt of the Gentiles. They, as is evident from v. 19, could have known God in nature and found at least some portion of the great truth — that is, could have believed in the existence of the Eternal Judge and Rewarder — but they stubbornly strove to extinguish this saving light in their consciousness (κατέχοντας), and this, the Apostle again notes, they did precisely by virtue of the corrupt impulses of their depraved will, which did not wish to acknowledge higher divine laws of life, so as not to have to renounce their vicious pursuits (“in unrighteousness” — ἐν ἀδικίᾳ). This is evidently the same thought that the Lord expressed in his conversation with Nicodemus: “people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

Romans 1:19. Because what can be known about God is plain to them, since God has shown it to them. Here the Apostle proves that the Gentiles deliberately extinguished the light of truth, and did not merely err out of ignorance — (because) “what can be known about God” (τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ Θ.) — that is, what any person can know by natural means, without receiving special revelations from God — what this is, is stated in v. 20. — “Is plain to them” — more precisely: within them (ἐν αὐτοῖς) — that is, in their consciousness (cf. Rom 2:15). — “Since God has shown it to them.” By this the Apostle wishes to say that even natural knowledge of God ultimately has its foundation in the will of God. If the Gentiles sometimes sought, so to speak, to seize the higher divine mysteries by force, that was on their part a fruitless labor; people can come to knowledge of God only when God wills it.

Romans 1:20. For his invisible attributes — his eternal power and divinity — have been clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that are made, so that they are without excuse. “His invisible attributes.” So the Apostle calls the properties of God’s being in order to show that people needed a special divine guidance to discover a truth not accessible to ordinary observation. — “His eternal power and divinity.” This forms the closer definition of “his invisible attributes.” In the foreground stands eternal power — one aspect or one property of the Deity — namely the omnipotence of God. Indeed, God presents himself first of all to primitive humanity as the Almighty. The omnipotence of God is called eternal, since it was necessary to distinguish the First Cause of all things from various secondary causes and powers. By divinity (θειότης from θεῖος) one should understand the totality of divine attributes — wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness. (The very Godhood or divine essence is denoted by Paul with another word — θεότης. Col 2:9.) — “Have been clearly seen from the creation of the world through the things that are made.” The attributes of God (his invisible things) became accessible to observation from the time when God’s creations came into existence. Already Adam could see in God’s creations the manifestation of divine wisdom, omnipotence, and goodness. The visible world ought to have the same significance for every person who looks at it (καθοράω) not as an animal but rationally, reasoning about what in the life of nature is cause and what is effect (νοούμενα from νοῦς, mind). — “So that they are without excuse.” These words point to the purpose that God has in making himself known to humanity through nature (in the Greek text the particle εἰς is used here, not ὥστε — the latter indeed means “so that,” while εἰς always means “in order that”). Of course, the inexcusability of the Gentiles was not the chief aim of God when he unfolded before humanity the picture of the world; but it is nonetheless beyond doubt that God, wishing by this picture to lead humanity onto the path of true knowledge of God, at the same time wanted the person who, in the event of his inattention to God’s revelation in nature, was punishing himself rather than God, to condemn himself when God punished him for that inattention...

Romans 1:21. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened; Romans 1:22. claiming to be wise, they became fools, Romans 1:23. and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image resembling corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and reptiles, — In vv. 19–20 the Apostle clarified what he understood by “truth” in v. 18. In vv. 21–23 he more precisely indicates in what the suppression of truth consisted, which he mentioned at the close of v. 18. This suppression consisted in the fact that the Gentiles, although they had come to know God (γνόντες), were unable to retain this knowledge within themselves, but on the contrary hastened to extinguish in their consciousness the light of truth. — “They did not glorify him as God” — that is, they did not render him honor as the Supreme, Supra-mundane Being; they did not adorn him in their consciousness with the perfections fitting him — their minds were insufficient for this! — “Or give him thanks.” They did not even feel a heartfelt attraction toward God; they did not relate to him as to their Benefactor. — “They became futile in their thinking” — that is, they became people whose thoughts are occupied with trivial, base matters. The expression “thinking” (διαλογισμοί) points to a disordered activity of the mind. — “Their foolish hearts were darkened.” The heart, the center of mental and volitional activity, was darkened — that is, became dark, having been deprived of the light spread abroad by true knowledge of God. As a result of people’s mental degradation, their heart or, primarily, their rational capacity became foolish (ἀσύνετος). Indeed, the more a person’s mind grows unaccustomed to occupying itself with higher, divine matters, the more its receptivity and capacity for understanding those matters weakens: the mind becomes, in this respect, simply incapable of discernment... — “They became fools” — that is, they reached the extreme of stupidity. The reference is to peoples who in general prided themselves on their intellectual development (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans). — “The glory of the incorruptible God” — that is, the greatest divine perfection as it appeared to people in visible nature (see v. 20). The pagans must originally have formed an extraordinarily brilliant image of the Deity — an image in which was concentrated all that is most perfect from the standpoint of human reason. — “Exchanged for an image” — that is, replaced the image of God that had originally become clear in their consciousness with an image of various creatures. The Apostle has in mind the various idols worshiped by the Gentiles — idols depicting human beings, animals, and birds. Similarly the Psalmist speaks of the Hebrews: “and they exchanged their glory” (that is, Yahweh) “for the image of an ox that eats grass” (Ps 105:20). Of course, the Apostle does not think that the Gentiles regarded these idols as gods themselves, but he nonetheless wishes to show by this the folly of the Gentiles, who found nothing better than to depict their gods precisely under such forms. Even the image of a human being is an unsuitable representation of the Deity, since a human being is a corruptible creature and cannot represent the incorruptible God... It should be noted that, in Paul’s view, the veneration of idols was by no means a step forward from fetishism (the worship of simple natural objects — stones, trees, etc.). On the contrary, he regards polytheism with its idol-worship as the result of the spiritual degeneration of humanity, as a darkening of mind and heart that ultimately led people to the crudest fetishism. And modern scholarship confirms this view of the Apostle with its investigations. It shows that the original religion was everywhere monotheism and that the pagans of India and Africa are sinking ever lower and lower in a religious sense. [On the origin of idol-worship the Book of Wisdom of Solomon also speaks (e.g. Wis 13:1-8), but what is said there can in no way be regarded as the source of what we find in Paul: so different is the superficial description of idol-worship in the Book of Wisdom from the profound psychological analysis that Paul gives us here!]

Romans 1:24. Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, so that they dishonored their own bodies among themselves. Romans 1:25. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:26. For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions: their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones; Romans 1:27. and likewise the men, abandoning the natural use of the female, burned with desire toward one another, men committing shameless acts with men, and receiving in themselves the fitting penalty for their error. The first manifestation of God’s wrath, to the depiction of which the Apostle now turns, was the fact that God allowed people to sink to the most extreme degree of depravity: since they exchanged the word of God, God likewise allowed them to exchange or replace natural relations between men and women with unnatural or contrary-to-nature ones! — “Gave them over.” The ancient commentators unanimously render this expression as: “allowed or permitted them.” Theodoret, for example, writes: “God, seeing that they had not wished the creature to lead them to the Creator... deprived them of his providence, allowed them to drift like an unrigged boat, not wishing to govern those who had fallen into extreme impiety, which brought forth a lawless life.” But beyond the permitting, which properly implies only a passive relation of God toward sinners, in the verb “gave them over” there is also a reference to the active manifestation of God’s wrath. God by this handing-over of the person to the will of his passions punishes the person (cf. Acts 7:42; 2 Thess 2:11 and following). But can such a manner of action be reconciled with the concept of God as the Most Holy Being? It can. God here appears as a wise educator who, in order for his pupil to be fully convinced of the harm of a particular waywardness, allows him the possibility of reaching the extreme expression of that waywardness, after which a reaction must inevitably begin: the pupil, having recognized the full harm of his waywardness, turns to his teacher for guidance. An example of such a turning is the parable’s prodigal son (Luke 15:16-18). — “In the desires of their hearts.” Desires or longings directed toward everything worldly and sinful carry a person away like waves carry a boat that has broken free from the shore. — “Impurity” — that is, sins that defile a person (Rom 6:19) and preeminently fleshly sins (2 Cor 12:21; Gal 5:19). This is the abyss into which the waves carry the boat (in Greek the text reads: εἰς ἀκαθαρσίαν — into impurity). — “So that they dishonored their own bodies among themselves.” The particular feature of sins of incontinence consists in the fact that a person through them surrenders his own body to shame, as happened in various pagan cults (more precisely from the Greek: “so that their bodies were dishonored among themselves”). — “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” Verse 25 is a parenthetical remark. Here the Apostle wishes to give a more precise motivation for the divine decision cited in v. 24. People exchanged the truth of God — that is, the correct representation of God (Θεοῦ as subjective genitive) — for a lie or for false gods, for idols (cf. Ps 105:20; Jer 3:10). — “And worshiped” (in Greek ἐσεβάσθησαν) — reverenced (indicating primarily an inner religious devotion). — “Served” (in Greek ἐλάτρευσαν) — performed sacrifices and other rites required by pagan cult. — “The creature rather than the Creator.” Paganism, by its very nature, is the deification of the creature (cf. v. 23), combined with forgetfulness of God the Creator. — “Who is blessed.” The Apostle sends up praise to God, who, despite the efforts of the Gentiles to diminish him, will always be blessed as Creator and Sustainer of the world. — “For this reason he gave them over.” Here the Apostle returns to the thought expressed in v. 24. God was angered at the Gentiles and gave them over to the will of unnatural vices. Before, they were in desires (ἐπιθυμίαι) — now in passions (πάθη), which make of a person a slave who has completely lost his will. These passions are dishonorable (ἀτιμίας) — that is, shameful, consisting in the distortion of the natural order, degrading to the human being. The existence of the unnatural vices indicated in vv. 26 and 27 in paganism is confirmed by testimonies of contemporary Greek and Roman writers. — “Receiving in themselves.” For their departure from true worship of God (“error” — cf. vv. 21–23, 25) the Gentiles visibly to all (“in themselves”) received from God the fitting penalty or punishment, consisting precisely in the handing over of the Gentiles by God to such unnatural vices. It is clear that, according to the Apostle, the moral sense in a person is alive only as long as the idea of the Most Holy Being, God, lives in him. Whoever venerates God ennobles himself, and whoever rejects God falls ever lower and lower in a moral respect. The Apostle evidently does not recognize an “independent” morality.

Romans 1:28. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind to do what is improper, Romans 1:29. so that they were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, greed, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, Romans 1:30. slanderers, defamers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, Romans 1:31. foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Romans 1:32. They know the righteous decree of God — that those who practice such things deserve death — yet not only do they do them, but they even approve of those who practice them. The second manifestation of God’s wrath. Because the Gentiles did not wish to make knowledge of God the guiding principle of their life, God gave them over to the complete darkening of moral consciousness. — “A debased mind.” A debased (ἀδόκιμος) mind — incapable of distinguishing good from evil. — “What is improper” (τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα) — what had previously been considered immoral even among the Gentiles themselves, and which they afterward, having lost their properly functioning mind, began to consider acceptable and therefore performed without fear. — “So that they were filled with...” Here the Apostle gives a more detailed description of the Gentiles’ “improper” acts. Paul also provides a catalogue of vices in the following passages: Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 5:10-11; 2 Cor 12:20-21; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 4:31; Col 3:5; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Tim 3:2-5. Both there and here the Apostle does not follow a strict logical order: broader and narrower concepts appear side by side, and related vices and near-synonyms are linked (for example, φθόνος and φόνος). Paul’s catalogue of sins differs from the catalogues found in the Old Testament (for example, Exod 20-23 ch.; Lev 19; Deut 27) in that in the Old Testament, individual acts and particularly crude sins are foregrounded, while in Paul, sinful dispositions as the source of individual sins occupy the foreground. — “They know the righteous decree of God” (v. 32) — that is, what God requires as Lawgiver and Judge. This is the natural law of moral consciousness (Rom 2:15), which establishes the principle that those who do such things deserve death — that is, eternal death. It should be noted that even the Gentiles had a concept of eternal torments in Hades awaiting obstinate sinners after death. “They give approval to those who practice them.” These words point to the complete darkening of moral feeling among the Gentiles, which was the result of God’s wrathful permission. Public opinion in the pagan world began to approve of wicked people as acting rightly. It is well known that both Caligula and Nero found encouragement in Roman society. Of course, this did not preclude the possibility of a different attitude toward vices and vicious people (see 2:14, 26 and following), but such an attitude was already truly an exception to the general rule in pagan society. One might even say that Gentiles who were able to perceive and properly evaluate all the evil of depravity were, in this respect, going against the general current... * * * Notes Some wish to see here the designation of the theocratic king in the highest sense of that word, or the Messiah. But this opinion cannot be agreed with, given that in John’s Gospel (John 1:49) the expressions “Son of God” and “King of Israel” stand side by side as distinct concepts. Others hold that this expression indicates only the incomparable moral perfection of Christ and his constant communion with God. But against this supposition speaks the circumstance that Paul in our epistle (Rom 8:3) attributes to the Son a pre-existence, which the aforementioned interpretation does not allow... Others explain the title Son of God from the miraculous birth of the Lord from the Holy Spirit; but this interpretation also stands in contradiction with the passage from chapter 8 just cited. Finally, some think that the title Son of God is given to Christ by virtue of the glorification he received after the completion of the redemption. But the Apostle in v. 4 speaks of the title Son of God not as something newly acquired, but as something re-taken up. And here the personal dignity of Christ as Son of God precedes both of the forms of his existence described subsequently — the earthly and the heavenly or glorified. Thus, we have every right to see in the expression Son of God a reference to the divine dignity of Christ. The Apostle expresses faith in Christ as the true God also in other epistles (1 Cor 8:6; Phil 2:6; Col 1:15-17). Zahn renders this passage as follows: “I and the other apostles of Christ received...” According to Zahn, in view here is the command of Christ to the apostles to preach to every creature (Mark 16:15). Deissmann, however, sees here a reference only to the Christian world, to the community of those who believe in Christ, which took a lively interest in how the Gospel was being received in Rome... p. 40. “The Gospel — that is, first of all a religious spiritual power — is not merely a certain worldview, but a reality that renews your entire inner being. It is not a political program, not an ecclesiastical slogan, not a permit for residence in an earthly state, but a purely spiritual magnitude... It has significance in the matter of our relationship to God, of your soul and eternity. Yet at the same time the Gospel brings with it the highest culture, surpassing all that humanity itself could create in the cultural sphere. History has proven the truth of the Apostle’s words: Rome with its culture perished, while Christianity spread and continues to spread, reviving human creativity everywhere.” (Summary from Mayer, Neue Testament fur mod. Bedurfniss) Jülicher translates this verse as follows: “from the creation of the world, in his (God’s) works, something of his invisible being — namely his eternal power and majesty — can be perceived with the eyes of the mind...”