CAN SUCH AMAZING LOVE BE?
STUDIES IN ROMANS
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SESSION 2:
REPROBATE HUMANITY
ROMANS 1: 18 - 32
The Gospel shines more gloriously against the pitch blackness of human depravity.
Paul argues:
I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for (the) salvation… (1:16)
(from) the wrath of God (that) is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness (1:18) since what may be known about God is plain to them…For since the
creation of the world God’s invisible qualities…have been clearly seen… (1:19-20)
a) God reveals His glory (eternal power and divine nature) in His creation (1:19-20).
b) His wrath is directed against the sin of those who distort or deny their knowledge of the
Creator (1:18).
c) He reveals how He puts sinners right with Himself in the gospel (1:17).
d) He reveals His power in believers by saving them (1:16).
We fail to know God from His works because of human depravity and sin.
There is no excuse for this (1:20).
1. An Angry God?
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of
men who suppress the truth by their wickedness… (1:18).
Many scholars have been embarrassed by the concept of an angry God, especially in the O.T.
The idea appears to contradict the God presented as gracious and loving in the rest of N.T.
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It is not human anger.
Human anger is mostly unrighteous. Most of the time, it is irrational and
uncontrollable, tinged with vanity, animosity, malice and the desire for revenge.
This despite the infrequent occasions of “righteous anger.”
But, God’s wrath has no trace of such malignant motivations.
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It is God reacting in revulsion against sin.
God’s wrath is his “deeply personal abhorrence of evil.”
It is not God “flying off the handle,” losing his temper in a fit of rage.
His anger is never vindictive, malicious or spiteful.
In a moral conflict, the opposite of wrath is not “love” but “neutrality.”
God’s wrath is “his holy hostility to evil, his refusal to condone it or come to terms
with it” but rather to enforce his just judgment upon it.
2. What is God Angry At?

God’s wrath is directed at evil alone.
Nothing arouses it except evil, and evil always does.
God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who
suppress the truth by their wickedness… (1:18).
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Godlessness (asebeia): against God
Wickedness (adikia): against Humanity
Sin against God inevitably results in sin against humanity.
The essence of sin is godlessness.
Sin is the attempt to get rid of God and, since that is impossible,
the determination to live as though one had succeeded in doing so.
There is no fear of God before their eyes (3:18)
The opposite is also true: The essence of goodness is godliness, to love Him with all our being
and to obey Him with joy.
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Suppression of Truth
God’s wrath is revealed not just on those who do wrong, but also those who suppress
the truth by their wickedness.
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to
them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power
and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that men are without excuse (1:19-20).
Although what can be known about God is limited, yet they are plain or open.
The invisible God has disclosed Himself through creation.
This is a repeated theme in Scripture:
The heavens declare the glory of God (Psa.19:1)
The whole earth is full of His glory (Isa.6:3)
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you
rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and
fills your hearts with joy (Acts 14:17)
Romans / Session 2/ Page 2
4 Main Characteristics of General Revelation:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Revealed to everyone everywhere
Revealed through natural order
Revealed continuously since beginning of time;
day after day, night after night (Psa.19:2)
Revealed through creation, rather than specifically through Christ
Conscience, though conditioned by culture and tainted with prejudices,
still testifies to everybody everywhere that there is a difference between
right and wrong, and that evil deserves to be punished (1:32)
Paul ends his statement with so men are without excuse (1:20).
Through general revelation, people can know God’s power, deity and glory.
This knowledge should lead to search for God.
Instead, humanity suppress the truth by their wickedness (1:18).
God’s wrath is directed at this willful human rebellion.
3. How is God’s Wrath Revealed?
a) God’s wrath will be revealed in full in the future. Scripture speaks of the coming wrath
(I Thess.1:10). Paul refers to this day as the day of God’s wrath (Rom.2:5, 8).
b) There is a present expression of God’s wrath through the public administration of
justice (which Paul writes later in 13:4). This is not presently on his mind.
c) A present expression of God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven.
Paul explains by the use of this refrain 3 times: God gave them over (1:24, 26, 28).
God’s judgment currently being executed is not by lightning bolts zapping sinners.
God’s anger works “quietly and invisibly” by handing sinners over to themselves (Stephen
Neill). John Ziesler says God’s judgment is exacted by not intervening, allowing men and
women to go their own way.
God abandons stubborn sinners to their willful, rebellious ways, resulting in a
process of moral and spiritual degeneration
Romans / Session 2/ Page 3
4. How Does Depravity Deepen?
Paul describes the 3 stages of deepening depravity:
a) Idolatry Leads to Immorality (1:21-24)
Exchanging God’s glory for graven images leads to depraved sexuality.
For although they knew God they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the
immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and
reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for
the degrading of their bodies with one another (1:21-24)
When we do not acknowledge (neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him)
the God that creation pointed to, our minds are futile and hearts are darkened and we
sink into idolatry. Consequently, while claiming to be wise, (we) became fools. We
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images… (1:22-23).
So, God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity… (1:24).
A false image of God leads to a false understanding of sex.
When we do not worship God, we reduce people to objects and deprive them of their
humanness. This is most evident in illicit and exploitative sexual activities.
So, God gave them over to their sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity…
(1:24).
b) Lies Lead to Human Degradation (1: 25-27)
Exchanging the Truth of God for Degradation of Body.
When we worship created things instead of our Creator, we exchange the truth of God
for a lie. So, God gave them over to shameful lusts (1:26).
Abandoning the Truth translates to abandoning what is natural:
…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 indecent acts with other men… (1: 26b-27).
Richard Hays has pointed out that when contemporary literature at Paul’s time use
“natural” vis-à-vis “unnatural” they were very frequently used…as a way of
distinguishing between heterosexual and homosexual behavior (Relations Natural and
Unnatural: A Response to John Boswell’s Exegesis of Romans 1 in Journal of Religious Ethics, Spring 1986).
For Paul, following the natural order is to behave in accordance with the intentions of
the Creator. What was happening then was men committing indecent acts with other
men, and received in themselves due penalty for their perversion (1: 27b).
When we exchange truth for lies, our private behaviors are perverse.
So, God gave them over to shameful lusts (1:26).
Romans / Session 2/ Page 4
c) Personal Depravity Leads to Social Breakdown (1: 28-32)
...since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them
over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled
with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity (1:28-29a).
In a play on words, Paul sarcastically says that since they did not see fit to retain the
knowledge of God, He gave them over to an unfit mind, playing on “not…worthwhile”
(ouk edokimasan) and “depraved mind” (adokimon noun).
Their depravity is expressed in behaviors that ought not to be done (1:28).
Paul lists 21 vices (1:29-32):
They have become filled with:
 Every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity
They are full of:
 Envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice: Expressions of broken human relationships
They are:
 Gossips, slanderers.
 God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful: Expressions of pride
They invent ways of:
 Doing evil
 Disobey their parents
They are:
 Senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless
The Jerusalem Bible translates as “without brains, honor, love or pity.”
Paul concludes by emphasizing that although these people know that such behaviors invite
God’s judgment, they deliberately pursue and encourage a perverse lifestyle: 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 to approve of those who practice them (1:32).
God’s wrath is specifically directed at those who deliberately suppress truth for the sake of
evil.
Romans / Session 2/ Page 5
IMPLICATIONS
1. Jonathan Edwards preached the sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God” in 1741. He drove home three important observations:
a. Corrupt sinners face a fearful judgment.
b. Time is short for the unrepentant: God's righteous wrath will come suddenly
and unexpectedly.
c. It is only God's free choice that extends the 'day of mercy' and provides another
opportunity to respond to his call.
2. Sin against God inevitable results in sin against humanity.
How have you seen this truth demonstrated?
3. “God gave them over” signals a warning that God will not always strive with us.
Willful rebellion has the ability to spiral downwards towards becoming reprobate.
a. Idolatry Leads to Immorality
b. Lies Lead to Human Degradation
c. Personal Depravity Leads to Social Breakdown
There will come a time when God abandons us to our rebellious ways.
How am I dangerously pushing towards being reprobate?
4. When we plead for God’s mercy, it unleashes the power of the Gospel to save us from
God’s wrath, now and in the “last day”.
Romans / Session 2/ Page 6