Study notes on Romans 1:18-23

Other notes in this series:

• Study notes on Romans 1:1-7
• Study notes on Romans 1:8-15
• Study notes on Romans 1:16-17

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,

    who in unrighteousness are suppressing the truth.

    19 For [because] what is known about God is evident to them,

        for God has made it evident to [in] them.

                20 For His invisible attributes,

                    i.e. His eternal power and divine nature,

                          from the creation of the cosmos are being clearly seen,_

                          being understood through what has been made,_

        and so they are without excuse.

    21 For though they knew God,

        they did not honor Him as God,

        nor did they give thanks to Him,

        but they became futile in their speculations [thinking, reasoning],

            and their foolish heart (singular καρδία) was darkened.

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools.

23 And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in the form for a corruptible image of man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Romans 1:18-23

Summary Statement - God's wrath is revealed against those who rebel against His rule.

My Outline

I could not decide on my own outline, so I used my former pastor's.

Notes from Former Pastor's Sermons

Title - "Getting Clear on Wrath" Main Idea - We really appreciate the gospel when we come to terms with God's wrath.

Outline

• It's active against unrighteousness, 18a
  • The wrath of God is revealed from heaven; it is also revealed when we share the gospel
  • Human wrath is full of problems because of our sin; we must not paint our faults on God
  • It is God's glory that He is slow to wrath (Exodus 33:6); God is also eternally wrathful, feeling indignation every day (Psalm 7:11)!
• It's deserved because people suppress the truth, 18b-20
  • God has written His name on everything in creation
  • => Go into evangelism knowing that the Christian faith is convincing!
  • God's wrath is an aspect of His perfect goodness.
  • We must commend God and accuse ourselves for His righteous wrath.
• It's revealed by growing darkness, 21-23.
  • God's wrath is revealed now in the form of degradation and decay. Those who experience God's wrath experience the mental and intellectual effects of this decay
  • v 22 is where they slide into darkness, v 23 is where they end up - idolatry

My Notes ¹

• Title - Wrath Revealed
• Observations
  • Some of God's characteristics are evident, others are being revealed.
  • I was just like the unbeliever, who ignores the evident to the revelation of God's wrath. But my Lord, what shall I say? I, who did not pursue righteousness have attained it (9:30), because You have been gracious!
  • the sensus divinatus is huge here; what does Oliphint say about it in Covenantal Apologetics? Three things
    1. It's infallible - not gained by experience or theory but made plain to each man (as 'all ungodliness' includes everyone) by God
    2. It's everywhere? -
    3. It's suppressed? -
  • Psalm 19 - the heavens preach His Glory day and night! The unbeliever receives this sensus infallibly, for they are without excuse. They have to do something with their knowledge of God, His eternal power, divine nature (20) and Glory (23), and so they exchange it for lesser things.
  • Man has a dialectical response here to God's revelation, and so throughout the rest of the chapter - He reveals Himself in creation, they run from the revelation and exchange His glory. It is this exchange relationship that is called suppression.
    • We know that they know God, because in order to suppress something, you must have a hold on it.
    • This works well with the idea that we are all worshippers - that's just another way of stating the same truth
    • 🤲 My Holy Triune One, let me apply this knowledge as I consider how to share the gospel with our unbelieving neighbors. Help me to find by wisdom and discernment what the person is worshipping, that I may know how to unmask the falsity of that object of worship and offer them the better alternative, that is to worship You!
  • 18
    • Murray -
      • "'The wrath of God' stands in obvious antithesis to 'the righteousness of God' in verse 17. This fact of antithesis shows unmistakably, if any confirmation was needed, that 'the righteousness of God' is not the attribute of justice but the righteousness provided in the gospel to meet the need of which the wrath of God is the manifestation." p 35
        • Wow! Another sure argument for the righteousness of God is the righteousness He gives us in the gospel.
      • "Wrath is the holy revulsion of God's being against that which is the contradiction of His holiness." p 35
        • 🤲 My Triune One, You are revulsed by my sin. Teach me to have the same mind when I am confronted with my own sin.
      • "The wrath of God is dynamically, effectively operative in the world of men and it is as proceeding from heaven, the throne of God, that it is thus active." p 35,36
        • I would add that it is as "dynamically, effectively operative" as the gospel is in revealing God's righteousness to men.
      • "'Ungodliness' refers to perversity that is religious in character, 'unrighteousness' to what is moral; the former is illustrated by idolatry, the latter by immorality. The order is, no doubt, significant. In the apostle's description of the degeneracy impiety is the precursor of immorality." p 36
        • Wow! But wait.. it's by the unrighteousness that they suppress the truth, the rest of the verse says. Isn't ungodliness also a suppression of the truth about God? This argument does have merit, though, since degeneracy does come after impiety in the following verses.
    • Calvin - that man rejects God after seeing all of creation and His goodness is the height of ingratitude.
      • 🤲 Lord, when I fail to give You glory for Your beauty expressed in creation, is that not ingratitude? When I consider my body, the strength of my hands and my mind, let me praise You! For all of Your creation, including myself, is fearfully and wonderfully made. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being made in my mother's womb, and my frame is not hidden from You now. You know what I need, my good Father. Let me draw comfort from this truth. You took care of my Savior, and so You will take care of me. All glory to Your Name, my Lord. You have established me in righteousness - but not my own! Please strengthen me for this day, prepare my heart for still more to do or bear. Make my family holy, by Your Spirit and by my leadership. Who is sufficient for these things, my Holy One? Only by Your Son's death and resurrection. May my Holy Triune One be pleased at my effort and striving this day, for I do it for love for You.
  • 19
    • τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, what is known about God, is a subjective genitive
  • 20
    • His invisible attributes are both clearly seen, and understood through the creation
      • why does Paul qualify these attributes of God as 'invisible'? Maybe this is a dumb question
        • Murray - "in characterizing them as invisible, reference is made to the fact that they are not perceived by the senses. When at the same time they are said to be 'clearly seen' this is an oxymoron to indicate that what is sensuously imperceptible is nevertheless clearly apprehended in mental conception." p 38
        • wow!
    • Murray - We should not think that Paul thinks that God's "eternal power" and "divine nature" are the only things seen from His handiwork; "the OT ... had mentioned other attributes as displayed in God's visible handiwork such as His wisdom, goodness, even His righteousness." p 39
  • 21
  • ἐματαιώθησαν, they became futile, is ominously passive. Clearly it is God who acts to make them so.
    • 🤲 "On my darkened heart the light of Christ has shown." Thank You for enlightening my eyes by Your Word, my Lord.
    • What, if anything, do I make of the singular καρδία? Is there a unified heart among all the people in their rebellion against God?
      • Murray - "the design is to show that the salvation provided in the gospel is the need of all", p. 34
  • 22
    • in greek, how do the tenses interact? One is present ('professing to be wise'), the other aorist ('they became fools')
    • Murray - "Verse 22 means not simply that they claimed to be wise when in reality they were fools but that by pretending to be wise they made themselves fools", p. 42
      • the profession makes them foolish, cf John 9:41
  • 23
    • They exchanged a glory for an image.
    • "man and birds and four-footed creatures and creeping things" is a summary of the non-plant life created in the Garden of Eden, right?
      • Yes! The Story Retold says as much: "Instead of worshipping God and giving Him glory, Adam and Eve worship themselves and commit idolatry." p. 187
      • They also say that this "taps into the first formal sin in Israel's existence as a nation" with this idolatry, p. 187.
      • This is remarkable because this section of the first three chapters is demonstrating how the Gentiles have broken God's law, even though they don't have the written code (2:12-16).
        • Even those who do not have a Christian cultural background know the law.
• Interpretation/Application
  • What does this teach me about:
    • God and His character?
      • 🤲 My God, Your revelation always does what it is intended to do, like Your word.
  • Paraphrase the section/verse in one sentence or phrase
    • God's wrath is revealed against those who foolishly rebel against His rule.
      • 🤲 I thank You, my Holy One, that You have not left me in the gap between knowing You and worshipping You. In my blindness I could not have come to You in faith, so I thank You for Your only Son, by whom I have access by faith into this grace in which I stand. Please save Steve, Rosemary and Suzy, among others in this neighborhood. Please open their eyes to Your gospel; You have opened their eyes to Your wrath and they are decaying under it. Please let us be faithful, be there, be patient, be Christ, not be Christ, be expectant, be filled, be ourselves, be prepared and be confident!

Sources:

• Wallace's Greek Grammar
• Luther's Commentary
• Calvin's Commentary
• Murray's Commentary
• Covenantal Apologetics
• The Story Retold

¹ I use the 🤲 emoji to denote inline prayers.