Given Over to a Debased Mind (Romans 1:25–28)

Rom. 3:1-2: “What advantage then has the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that to them were committed the oracles of God.”

Having demolished the Jewish claim to automatic righteousness through the Law and circumcision, Paul now asks: if the Jew has no special advantage before God in terms of judgment and salvation, what then is the value of being Jewish? What profit is there in circumcision? The answer is clear and important: Much—every way. The Jew has great advantages, particularly the possession of the oracles of God Ps. 13:1.

“The oracles of God” refers to the whole body of divine revelation given to the Jewish people—the Law, the prophets, the psalms, the wisdom literature. This is a priceless privilege. The knowledge of the true God, the revelation of His will, the prophecies concerning the Messiah—all of these have been entrusted to the Jewish people. This is an immense advantage and a great responsibility.

The question of Jewish advantage is important because if the Jew has no advantage, then the entire Old Testament narrative—God’s choice of Abraham, the covenant with Israel, the giving of the Law, the sending of prophets—would appear meaningless. Paul must show that this narrative has meaning, that God’s promises to Israel were not in vain, even though the way of justification is now revealed to be through faith in Christ for both Jew and Gentile λατρεία.

Rom. 3:3-4: “For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged.”

Paul anticipates an objection: if the Jew is not automatically saved by his possession of the oracles of God, if many Jews have rejected Christ, then perhaps God’s promises have failed? But Paul answers with a resounding “God forbid!” God’s faithfulness is not dependent on human belief. Even if all humanity disbelieves, God remains true. God’s truth transcends and is not diminished by human unbelief.

“Let God be true, but every man a liar.” This is the fundamental posture of faith: trust in God’s truth over all human claims and appearances. When there is a conflict between what humans say (or think, or believe) and what God has said, God’s word must prevail. Human sin, human unbelief, human failure cannot alter God’s character or negate His promises Rom.1:26.

“As it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged.” Paul quotes Psalm 51:4 (Psalm 50:6 in the Septuagint). This verse affirms that God’s justice and truth are vindicated even when the psalmist confesses his sin. God’s righteousness is not compromised by human sin but is actually demonstrated through His judgment against sin.

The point is subtle but important: God’s promises to Israel have not failed, even though many Jews have disbelieved. Rather, God’s faithfulness is being fulfilled in a way that includes the Gentiles and that is based on faith rather than ethnic status. The same God who promised salvation to Israel is the God who now reveals salvation through faith in Christ to all peoples.

Rom. 3:5-8: “But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie to his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.” χρησιν παρά φύσιν

Paul now addresses another objection: if God’s righteousness is actually enhanced or displayed by human unrighteousness (just as light appears brighter against darkness), then perhaps human sin serves a good purpose? Perhaps God uses human wickedness for His glorification? And if so, why should humans be condemned for their sin? Rom.1:27

This is a subtle and dangerous argument. Paul emphatically rejects it. God is not unrighteous if He judges sinners for their sin, even if that sin somehow contributes to the manifestation of God’s righteousness. The fact that good may come from evil does not make evil good or relieve the person who commits evil of moral responsibility. The logical conclusion of this argument would be “let us do evil that good may come,” which is clearly absurd and damnable.

Rom. 3:9-18: “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Paul now summarizes the argument of chapters 1-2: both Jews and Gentiles are under sin. This is the universal verdict. No one is exempt; no one can claim righteousness before God based on his own works or position. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The quotations from the Psalms (especially Psalm 14 and 53) underscore this universal condemnation Gen. 2:24.

“And receiving in themselves the recompense which was befitting their deceit. Recompense”—requital, and as requital for sin—punishment. “Which was befitting their deceit”. Deceit, πλάνη, is error—that which they turned aside from the truth of God and changed into falsehood. The punishment which should have been inflicted upon them for such impiety, they received within themselves, received it in the very degradation and shame of their own nature. The Blessed Theophylact writes: “they received the recompense for their falling away from God and idolatrous error in this very shame and in this very self-gratification, having in it, as being contrary to nature and full of uncleanness, punishment for themselves.” Ordinarily when punishment is inflicted, one is beaten; but they, without any blows, chastised themselves more severely than any evildoer could torment them. The Blessed Theodoret writes: “as no enemy would dare to treat them, so with all zeal did they choose—and they brought punishment upon themselves, which no judge would have condemned them to.” Having explained this passage, Holy Chrysostom adds an exhortation that those guilty of such unnatural shameful deeds should cease from them. Having expressed the Apostle’s thought that the degradation of nature through such deeds is punishment for those who commit them, he seems to have heard an objection: what kind of punishment is it when they do not feel it, but throw themselves into it?—and he answers: “Do not be surprised that they do not feel it, but delight in it. The mad and those suffering from mental derangement, even while tormenting themselves and in a miserable condition, laugh and amuse themselves, although others weep for them. One cannot call even those unpunished; on the contrary, in the fact that they know not their condition, one should see the severity of punishment, and so on.”

The catalog of human sins that follows—using the Old Testament psalms—shows the totality of human corruption. It is not merely external actions but the very faculties and capacities of humans that are corrupted by sin: the throat (used for lies), the tongue (used for deceit), the lips (used for poison), the mouth (full of cursing), the feet (swift to shed blood). Sin penetrates and corrupts everything Rom.1:28.

“The way of peace have they not known.” This is the ultimate effect of sin: the loss of peace, the disruption of relationship with God and with others. The human condition outside of grace is one of alienation, conflict, and enmity. The promise of the Gospel is peace—peace with God and, through that, peace with others and within the human heart.

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” The root cause of all sin is this: the absence of the fear of God. When the human heart is not oriented toward God, when there is no reverence for Him, then humans become the measure of all things, and the result is the catalog of sins just described. The fear of God is not mere terror but a profound reverence, awe, and trust that reorients the entire human being Ἐν έπιγνώσει.

Rom. 3:19-20: “Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” ούκ έδοκίμασαν

Paul draws a crucial conclusion: the Law, with all its demands and its condemnation of sin, serves to silence all human boasting and to bring all humanity—the whole world—into guilty silence before God. The Law was never meant to justify but to condemn, to show humans their sin, to silence their self-righteous claims Rom. 1:24 Rom. 1:26.

“By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.” This is the verdict: works of the Law cannot justify anyone. The Law demands perfect obedience; no one has achieved it. The Law condemns sin; all are sinners. Therefore, the Law cannot be the basis of salvation. It serves instead to drive the sinner to despair of his own righteousness and to cast him upon the mercy of God νους.

Having expressed this general thought about how unbecoming life developed, the Apostle then shows in what deeds it was expressed, and enumerates the very vices that governed the order of life. A similar enumeration is made by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Galatians (Gal. 5:19-21) and in the Second Epistle to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:2-5)—in both deriving them from the dominance of sensuality. In the enumeration there is no apparent order: one might think that the Apostle sets forth especially what the Romans saw with their own eyes among their fellow citizens and in which some of them before their conversion, perhaps, were themselves guilty.